2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 13

Unit 13

As a track star in high school, Sallie Krawcheck ranked among her state’s best at the high jump. ① But she hasn’t jumped for anyone since, and her unshakable independence has propelled her career on Wall Street to heights unimaginable to a girl coming of age in Charleston, S.C., in the 1970s. Then, Krawcheck—always an outstanding student—thought mostly of cheerleading and “dating the coolest boy,” she acknowledges. “She was in danger of becoming terminally cute,” recalls her high school guidance counselor, Nancy Wise, who recognized Krawcheck’s potential early and stoked her business ambitions. Today Krawcheck, 37, is one of the most powerful women in the corporate world and a rising star.

② How far she climbs depends on how well she meets her latest challenge: closing the credibility gap at financial-services giant Citigroup, after government inquiries put a cloud over the firm’s reputation—and its stock. Krawcheck was hired in October from the independent stock-research firm Sanford C. Bernstein（where she was CEO）to be Citi’s designated savior. Citigroup’s proud CEO, Sanford Weill, personally wooed her, reorganizing a large chunk of Citi around her. Krawcheck is now CEO of a reconstituted Smith Barney, which encompasses Citi’s stock-research and retail-brokerage operations.

This large stage leaves Krawcheck outwardly undaunted. She’s relaxed and confident, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. She says she’s “incredibly insecure,” and has had nightmares in which she fails to win the respect of her new colleagues. But this soft-spoken humility belies a toughness present from the start. Daughter of a lawyer and sister of three more, Krawcheck learned early on to substantiate her assertions—or keep quiet.

“It used to get quite interesting around the dinner table,” says her father Lenny, who practices law in Charleston. “Politics, relationships—you name it. It was every man for himself and awful tough to make your point.” says jokes Sallie, “None of us could get a friend to come over for dinner.”

Krawcheck earned a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. She went to work at Salomon Brothers but soon moved to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where she met her husband Gary Appel. In 1994 Krawcheck moved to Bernstein and dived into stock research. She began covering financial-services firms in 1997 and immediately became the most influential analyst in that field. During those years, Krawcheck earned Weill’s ire—and respect when she was later proved correct—by dwelling on the pitfalls of Weill’s acquisition of Salomon.

注（1）：本文選自Time；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象為2003年真題Text 2。

1. The author begins his article by ______.

A) making a comparison

B) posing a contrast

C) justifying an assumption

D) explaining a phenomenon

2. Krawcheck was chosen the CEO of Smith Barney because ______.

A) the CEO of Citigroup trusted her

B) she was thought to be able to save Citigroup out of trouble

C) she has wonderful experience in this field

D) she is the new rising star

3. Krawcheck’s success depends on ______.

A) how well she can regain the firm’s reputation

B) how well she can save the firm’s credibility crisis

C) how well she can raise the firm’s stock

D) krawcheck’s family members discuss she can fulfill her own plan and aim

4. The previous days Krawcheck spent at home are mentioned to show that ______.

A) Krawcheck knows well how to prove her ideas

B) family members are always on different sides

C) there is an air of freedom at Krawcheck’s home

D) family members discuss a variety of topics at dinner

5. From the text we learn that Krawcheck is ______.

A) humorous

B) soft-hearted

C) sensitive

D) strong-minded

篇章剖析

本文記述了薩莉·克勞切克成功的職業(yè)生涯。第一段指出中學(xué)時(shí)代的克勞切克就相當(dāng)出色，今天的她更是出類拔萃；第二段指出她臨危受命，擔(dān)任花旗集團(tuán)新組建的史密斯·巴尼公司首席執(zhí)行官；第三段和第四段介紹了她的性格以及家庭對(duì)她的影響；第五段介紹了她輝煌的從業(yè)經(jīng)歷。

詞匯注釋

stoke /st??k/ vt. 添加燃料撥旺（爐火）；激發(fā)

credibility gap 信用差距

put (cast) a cloud over(on/upon) 在…上投下一層陰影

woo /wu?/ vt. 追逐；爭(zhēng)取，努力說服；求愛

belie /b??lai/ vt. 掩飾；使人對(duì)…誤解；證明…虛假；辜負(fù)

early on 在早期

substantiate /s?bs?t?n??e?t/ vt. 證明；使…具體化；使成為現(xiàn)實(shí)

assertion /??s????n/ n. 主張，要求，斷言

stand to one’s assertion 堅(jiān)持己見

for oneself 為自己；代表自己；獨(dú)自地

ire /?a??(r)/ n. 憤怒，怒火

dwell on 細(xì)想；詳述

pitfall /?p?tf??l/ n. 陷阱，圈套；隱藏的危險(xiǎn)；易犯的錯(cuò)誤

難句突破

① But she hasn’t jumped for anyone since, and her unshakable independence has propelled her career on Wall Street to heights unimaginable to a girl coming of age in Charleston, S.C., in the 1970s.

主體句式：She hasn’t jumped for anyone since, and her independence has propelled her career to heights...

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句由and引導(dǎo)的兩個(gè)并列分句組成。在這個(gè)句子中，注意propel的用法：propel sb. to do sth.，意思是“促使、推動(dòng)某人做某事”；unimaginable to a girl作后置定語來修飾heights；coming of age作后置定語修飾a girl，其中age的意思是“成年”。

句子譯文：但她從那以后再也沒有為任何人跳過，憑借著她那份不可動(dòng)搖的獨(dú)立個(gè)性，她在華爾街的職業(yè)生涯達(dá)到了一個(gè)受人矚目的高度，這對(duì)于一個(gè)在20世紀(jì)70年代才步入成年之列的南卡羅來納州查爾斯頓少女來說簡(jiǎn)直是不可思議。

② How far she climbs depends on how well she meets her latest challenge: closing the credibility gap at financial-services giant Citigroup, after government inquiries put a cloud over the firm’s reputation—and its stock.

主體句式：How far she climbs depends on how well she meets her latest challenge.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：從句how far she climbs作句子主語；從句how well she meets... challenge作動(dòng)詞短語depend on的賓語；closing the credibility gap是challenge的同位語，其中credibility gap的意思是“信用差距”，put a cloud over的意思是“在…上投下一層陰影”。

句子譯文：她能取得多大的成就取決于她如何迎接她的最新挑戰(zhàn)：縮小財(cái)政服務(wù)巨人花旗集團(tuán)的信用差距。由于政府的調(diào)查，該集團(tuán)的名譽(yù)——及其股票——都被籠罩上了一層陰影。

題目分析

1. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章中提到高中時(shí)代的克勞切克和今天的克勞切克都是相當(dāng)成功的。

2. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息在第二段：“Krawcheck was hired in October from the independent stock-research firm Sanford C. Bernstein（where she was CEO）to be Citi’s designated savior.”

3. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息在第二段：“How far she climbs depends on how well she meets her latest challenge: closing the credibility gap at financial-services giant Citigroup, after government inquiries put a cloud over the firm’s reputation—and its stock.”本句的分析請(qǐng)參見難句突破。

4. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。第三段最后一句指出“Daughter of a lawyer and sister of three more, Krawcheck learned early on to substantiate her assertions—or keep quiet.”然后作者在第四段給出克勞切克的父親和她本人的感受，來進(jìn)一步說明這一句話。

5. D 推理題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息在第三段：“But this soft-spoken humility belies a toughness present from the start.”

參考譯文

作為高中時(shí)代的徑賽明星，薩莉·克勞切克曾名列她所在州跳高運(yùn)動(dòng)員的榜首。但她從那以后再也沒有為任何人跳過，憑借著她那份不可動(dòng)搖的獨(dú)立個(gè)性，她在華爾街的職業(yè)生涯達(dá)到了一個(gè)受人矚目的高度，這對(duì)于一個(gè)在20世紀(jì)70年代才步入成年之列的南卡羅來納州查爾斯頓少女來說簡(jiǎn)直是不可思議。學(xué)生時(shí)代一貫杰出的克勞切克承認(rèn)說，當(dāng)時(shí)主要想的就是如何帶領(lǐng)拉拉隊(duì)和“約會(huì)最酷的男孩”。很早就意識(shí)到她的潛能并激發(fā)她商業(yè)雄心的高中指導(dǎo)顧問南?！阉够貞浾f：“她極有可能成為絕頂聰明之人?！苯裉?，37歲的克勞切克是商界最強(qiáng)有力的女人之一，是一顆冉冉升起的明星。

她能取得多大的成就取決于她如何迎接她的最新挑戰(zhàn)：縮小財(cái)政服務(wù)巨人花旗集團(tuán)的信用差距。由于政府的調(diào)查，該集團(tuán)的名譽(yù)——及其股票——都被籠罩上了一層陰影?？藙谇锌耸?0月從獨(dú)立的股票研究公司——桑福德·伯恩斯坦公司（在這家公司她是首席執(zhí)行官）被招聘至花旗集團(tuán)，并被賦予救星的使命。花旗集團(tuán)高傲的首席執(zhí)行官桑福德·韋爾親自邀請(qǐng)她，并且將花旗集團(tuán)的一大塊業(yè)務(wù)以她為核心進(jìn)行重組?？藙谇锌爽F(xiàn)在是重組后的史密斯·巴尼公司（其中包括花旗集團(tuán)的股票研究和零售經(jīng)紀(jì)業(yè)務(wù)）的首席執(zhí)行官。

這個(gè)大舞臺(tái)并沒有讓克勞切克心存膽怯。她顯得輕松自如且胸有成竹，帶有幾分自嘲式的幽默感。她說她感到“難以置信地沒有把握”，常常做噩夢(mèng)，夢(mèng)見她得不到新同事的尊敬。但是這種說起話來讓人感到溫柔可親的謙卑掩飾了她一開始就有的堅(jiān)韌。作為律師的女兒并有三個(gè)做律師的姊妹，克勞切克很早就學(xué)會(huì)了如何證實(shí)自己的主張——或保持鎮(zhèn)靜。

“過去圍坐餐桌就餐是相當(dāng)有趣的，”她在查爾斯頓當(dāng)律師的父親倫尼這樣說?！罢巍⒛信P(guān)系，你想到的我們都談。每個(gè)人都有自己的觀點(diǎn)，要想說服別人著實(shí)很困難。”薩莉開玩笑說，“我們誰也不可能邀請(qǐng)朋友來吃飯?！?

克勞切克先后獲得北卡羅來納州立大學(xué)的新聞學(xué)學(xué)士學(xué)位和哥倫比亞大學(xué)的工商管理碩士學(xué)位。她到薩洛蒙兄弟公司工作，但很快就轉(zhuǎn)到帝杰公司工作，在那兒她遇見了她的丈夫加里·阿普爾。1994年，克勞切克轉(zhuǎn)入伯恩斯坦公司，此后便一頭扎進(jìn)股票研究工作。1997年，她開始涉足金融服務(wù)公司，很快便成為該領(lǐng)域最有影響力的分析家。在那幾年中，克勞切克對(duì)韋爾收購(gòu)薩洛蒙公司的錯(cuò)誤做法進(jìn)行了詳細(xì)評(píng)述，這激起了韋爾的憤怒，同時(shí)也贏得了他的尊重，因?yàn)楹髞淼陌l(fā)展證明她是正確的。