英語(yǔ)六級(jí)巔峰閱讀附詳解:高層薪酬

　　Business has slowed, layoffs mount, but executive pay continues to roar-at least so far. Business Week's annual survey finds that chief executive officers (CEOs) at 365 0f the largest US companies got compensation last year averaging $3.1 million-up l.3 percent from 1994.

　　Why are the top bosses getting an estimated 485 times the pay of a typical factory worker? That is up from 475 times in 1999 and a mere 42 times in 1980. One reason may be what experts call the "Lake Wobegon effect". Corporate boards tend to reckon that "all CEOs are above average"-a play on Garrison Keillor's famous line in his public radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, that all the town's children arc "above average". Consultants provide boards with surveys of corporate CEO compensation. Since directors are reluctant to regard their CEOs as below average, the compensation committees of boards tend to set pay at an above-average level. The result; Pay levels get ratcheted up.

　　Defenders of lavish CEO pay argue there is such a strong demand for experienced CEOs that the free market forces their pay up. They further maintain most boards structure pay packages to reflect an executive's performance. They get paid more if their companies and their stock do well. So companies with high-paid CEOs generate great wealth for their shareholders.

　　But the supposed cream-of-the-crop executives did surprisingly poorly for their shareholders in 1999, says Scott Klinger, author of this report by a Bostonbased Organization United for a Fair Economy. If an investor had put $10,000 apiece at the end of 1999 into the stock of those companies with the 10 highest-paid CEOs, by year-end 2000 the investment would have shrunk to $8.132. If $10,000 had been put into the Standard & Poor's 500 stocks, it would have been worth $9,090. To Mr. Klinger, these findings suggest that the theory that one person, the CEO, is responsible for creating most of a corporation's value is dead wrong. "It takes many employees to make a corporation profitable."

　　With profits down, corporate boards may make more effort to tame executive compensation. And executives are making greater efforts to avoid pay cut. Since CEOs, seeing their options "under water" or worthless because of falling stock prices, are seeking more pay in cash or in restricted stock.

　　經(jīng)濟(jì)減速，失業(yè)增加，但首席執(zhí)行官的報(bào)酬卻依然風(fēng)光——至少迄今為止還是這樣?！渡虡I(yè)周刊》的年度調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)365家美國(guó)最大型公司的首席執(zhí)行官(CEO)去年的報(bào)酬平均為3lO萬(wàn)美元——比1994年上升了1.3%。

　　為什么他們的所得大約是一個(gè)普通工廠工人工資的4.85倍?這比1999年的475倍和1980年的42倍都上升了。原因之一可能是專家們所謂的“瓦伯格湖效應(yīng)”。[1]公司董事會(huì)傾向于認(rèn)為“所有首席執(zhí)行官都在平均水平之上”——改編自蓋瑞森·凱勒著名的公共電臺(tái)系列節(jié)目《牧場(chǎng)之家好伙伴》中的一個(gè)段子，原句是說(shuō)鎮(zhèn)上的所有孩子都是“平均水平之上”。顧問(wèn)們向董事會(huì)提交有關(guān)公司首席執(zhí)行官薪酬的調(diào)查。[2]因?yàn)槎聜儾辉敢獬姓J(rèn)他們的首席執(zhí)行官是平均水平之下，董事會(huì)的薪酬委員會(huì)就會(huì)把他們的薪酬定在平均水平之上。結(jié)果就是，首席執(zhí)行官得到的薪酬節(jié)節(jié)上升。

　　為首席執(zhí)行官得高薪而辯護(hù)的人聲稱，因?yàn)閷?duì)有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的首席執(zhí)行官的需求很強(qiáng)烈，是自由市場(chǎng)把他們的薪酬推高。他們進(jìn)一步辯解說(shuō)，大多數(shù)董事會(huì)會(huì)制訂一攬子薪酬結(jié)構(gòu)計(jì)劃，以反映首席執(zhí)行官的業(yè)績(jī)。如果公司和股票績(jī)優(yōu)，首席執(zhí)行官的所得就越多。所以有高薪首席執(zhí)行官的公司就能夠?yàn)樗麄兊墓蓶|創(chuàng)造巨大的財(cái)富。

　　[4]可是，對(duì)于股東來(lái)說(shuō)，那些本應(yīng)表現(xiàn)相當(dāng)杰出的首席執(zhí)行官們1999年的業(yè)績(jī)卻相當(dāng)糟糕，令人頗為吃驚——本報(bào)告的作者斯科特·克林格如是說(shuō)。此報(bào)告是由波士頓的“爭(zhēng)取公平經(jīng)濟(jì)聯(lián)合組織”發(fā)表的。如果一位投資者在1999年底拿1萬(wàn)美元分別購(gòu)買10家給首席執(zhí)行官最高薪酬的公司的股票，到2000年底投資會(huì)縮水到8132 美元;如果用l萬(wàn)美元來(lái)買標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾500的股票，其價(jià)值則只降低為9090美元。[3]以克林格而言，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，“一家公司的大部分價(jià)值是由首席執(zhí)行官一個(gè)人創(chuàng)造的”這一理論是十分錯(cuò)誤的。“一家公司賺錢，應(yīng)該歸功于眾多雇員的共同努力。”

　　[5]隨著利潤(rùn)的下降，公司董事會(huì)可能會(huì)花更大力氣削減首席執(zhí)行官的薪酬，而首席執(zhí)行官們則在花更大的力氣來(lái)避免薪金的削減。首席執(zhí)行官們看到他們的期權(quán)目為股票價(jià)格下降而貶值甚或毫無(wú)價(jià)值，于是都在爭(zhēng)取更多的以現(xiàn)金或受限制勝票的方式的薪酬。

　　1.Which of the following statements is true about Garrison Keillor?

　　A) His idea on the CEOs was recognized by cor[,orate boards.

　　B) One of his lines had been modified to describe the CEOs.

　　C) His play pointed out that "all CEOs are above average".

　　D) His radio program aroused the "Lake Wobegon effect".

　　2.According to the second paragraph. CEOs' pay keeps soaring mainly because___________.

　　A) surveys indicate that CEOs deserve higher pay

　　B) consultants tend to believe CEOs are above average

　　C) directors' belief greatly influences the pay standard

　　D) compensation committees seldom evaluate the CEOs' ability

　　3.Scott Klinger most probably tends to agree Chat____________.

　　A) most people lose money in the investment into the stocks

　　B) the CEOs performance can't be reflected by the value of stocks

　　C) the CEOs are not the only factor that prospers a corporation

　　D) the pay of the CEOs greatly influences the profit of' a company

　　4."Cream-of-the-crop" is closest in meaning to____________.

　　A) competent

　　B) courageous

　　C) disappointing

　　D) hard-working

　　5.Which of the following is the biggest concern of the corporate boards?

　　A)The free market.

　　B)The CEOs’ performance.

　　C) The corporations' profit.

　　D)The CEOs’ pay.

　　1.關(guān)于Garrison Keillor，下列哪種說(shuō)法是正確的?

　　A)他關(guān)于CEO的想法為公司董事會(huì)所認(rèn)可。

　　B)他的一句臺(tái)詞經(jīng)過(guò)修改后用來(lái)描連CE0的情況。

　　C)他在節(jié)目中指出“所有的CEO都是高人一等的”。

　　D)他的電臺(tái)節(jié)目引發(fā)了“瓦伯格湖效應(yīng)”。

　　[B]原文第2段第4句中的破折號(hào)后的內(nèi)存表明“all CEOs are above average”這一說(shuō)法是對(duì)Garrison Keillor的某句臺(tái)詞的修改，故選項(xiàng)B為本題答案。

　　2.根據(jù)第二段的內(nèi)容，CEO的薪酬不斷上漲。這主要是因?yàn)開_____________。

　　A)調(diào)查顯示，CEO值得獲得更高的薪酬

　　B)顧問(wèn)們都傾向于相信CEO是高人一等的

　　C)董事們的想法對(duì)薪酬標(biāo)準(zhǔn)影響很大

　　D)薪酬委員會(huì)極少衡量CEO的能力

　　[C]第2段最后兩句的Since... The result...表明這兩句之問(wèn)存在著因果關(guān)系，由倒數(shù)第2句可以推斷CEOs報(bào)酬不斷上漲主要是因?yàn)槭艿蕉聜兊南敕ǖ挠绊?，選項(xiàng)C提到了董事們的想法，為本題答案。

　　3.Scott Klinger最可能會(huì)同意下列哪一種說(shuō)法?

　　A)大部分人在投資股票的時(shí)候都是虧錢的。

　　B)CEO的績(jī)效不能從股票的價(jià)值中體現(xiàn)出來(lái)。

　　C)CEO并不是使公司發(fā)展壯大的唯一因素。

　　D)CEO的薪酬在很大程度上影響公司的利潤(rùn)。

　　[C]原文第4段倒數(shù)第2句中的...is dead wrong表明選項(xiàng)C符合Klinger對(duì)CEOs的看法，因此選項(xiàng)C為本題答案。

　　4.與“Cream-of-the-crop”的意思最接近的是____。

　　A)有能力的

　　B)令人鼓舞的

　　C)令人失望的

　　D)工作努力的

　　[A] 從原文第4段首句中cream-of-the-crop之前的supposed以及But,did surprisingly poorly可以推斷cream-of-the-crop應(yīng)該與poor的意思相反，而該段主要討論CEOs的能力，因此cream-of-the- crop應(yīng)表示CEOs被認(rèn)為“能力卓著”，因此選項(xiàng)A為本題答案。

　　5.以下的那一點(diǎn)是公司董事會(huì)最關(guān)心的因素?

　　A)自由市場(chǎng)。

　　B) CEO的績(jī)效。

　　C)公司利潤(rùn)。

　　D)CEO的薪酬。

　　[C]原文末段首句表明董事會(huì)關(guān)心的是利潤(rùn)，其他任何因素都與利潤(rùn)掛鉤，因此選項(xiàng)C為本題答案。

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