2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 26

Unit 26

The idea that corporations bear a responsibility that stretches beyond their shareholders is not new. Many companies in the 19th century built special housing for their employees in the belief that a well-housed employee was more productive than one living in a dump. In the early years of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt, then president of the United States, said, “Corporations are indispensable instruments of our modern civilization; but I believe that they should be so supervised and so regulated that they shall act for the interests of the community as a whole.” He introduced antitrust legislation and rules on health and safety, and on working hours.

In 1987, Adrian Cadbury, head of the Eponymous chocolate firm, wrote in Harvard Business Review: the possibility that ethical and commercial considerations will conflict has always faced those who run companies. It is not a new problem. The difference now is that a more widespread and critical interest is being taken in our decisions and in the ethical judgments which lie behind them.

The debate then focused on how much of Roosevelt’s supervision and regulation was needed to make sure that corporations act sufficiently in the interests of the wider community. Extreme free-marketers say all that is required to ensure the responsible behavior of corporations is transparency about their affairs. Corporations will then behave responsibly towards the wider community without any coercion because it is in their own best interests. “Being good”, said Anita Roddick, founder of an “ethical” cosmetics firm, The Body Shop, “is good business.” In the United States, the Better Business Bureau goes further and argues that unethical business is bad for business as a whole, not just for individual firms.

The recent debate about corporate social responsibility（CSR）has focused on three main areas:

● The environment. This has stretched way beyond the simple demand that companies stop belching smoke out of factory chimneys to a demand that they control their appetite for natural resources—for bits of Brazilian rain forest, for example, or for the skins of rare animals. The organized hostility to such behavior has forced companies to change. For example, suppliers frightened by the venom of the anti-fur lobby felt compelled to boast: “Make no mistake; all our furs are fake.”

● Exploitation. The second strand is the exploitation of workers, especially of women in the developed world and of children in the developing world. There is a feeling that globalization has increased the power of multinationals to exploit the poor and underpaid, at the same time as it has weakened the influence of trade unions and other organizations designed to protect them.

● Bribery and corruption. The third strand focuses on corruption, in particular on the question of what constitutes a bribe（when does generous corporate hospitality step over the line?）, and what protections should be given to whistleblowers（employees or other insiders who report corporate misdeeds）. Here there is a strong cultural element to confuse the issue. What constitutes bribery in western countries, for example, may not be considered such in regions such as the Middle East.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為2004年真題Text 1。

1. What was Theodore Roosevelt’s view on corporate social responsibility（CSR）?

A) He thought that corporations should be able to fulfill CSR for their own interests.

B) He insisted that CSR meant all employees should be treated equally.

C) He believed that the fulfillment of CSR must rely on government.

D) He suspected that CSR would violate corporations’ own benefit.

2. Which of the following is NOT an aspect relevant to CSR?

A) Governmental regulation.

B) Ethics.

C) Transparency.

D) Community responsibility.

3. The expression “Being good”（Line 5, Paragraph 3） most probably means ______.

A) producing quality products

B) maintaining profitable business

C) being conscious of community

D) being socially accountable

4. The debate about CSR in the three main areas reveals that ______.

A) companies’ environmental protection measures should focus on factory chimneys

B) a better understanding of the best CSR practices requires a thorough comprehension of various cultures

C) globalization is by nature against the promotion of CSR

D) CSR makes it more difficult to bribe in a decent way

5. What can we infer from the text?

A) CSR is a recent concept, emerging from the 20th century.

B) Theodore Roosevelt was the first US president who was concerned with CSR.

C) CSR is not only beneficial to individual companies, but the entire business sphere.

D) Trade unions are equally powerful in developed and developing countries.

篇章剖析

本文主要討論企業(yè)的社會責任問題（即CSR）。第一段介紹了歷史上對企業(yè)社會責任問題的看法，主要是羅斯?？偨y(tǒng)采取的一些措施；第二段承上啟下，自然過渡到如今企業(yè)社會責任的新變化；第三段至文章最后概述了目前關于企業(yè)社會責任這個概念的爭論及其所涉及的主要方面。

詞匯注釋

dump /d?mp/ n. 臟亂的地方

indispensable /??nd?s?pens?bl/ adj. 必不可少的，必需的

supervise /?sju?p?va?z/ v. 監(jiān)督，管理，指導

antitrust /??nt??tr?st/ adj. 反托拉斯的，反壟斷的

legislation /?led??s?le???n/ n. 制定法律，立法

transparency /tr?ns?p?r?nsi/ n. 透明，透明度

coercion /k???????n/ n. 強迫，脅迫

belch /belt?/ v. 噴出，噴射

venom /?ven?m/ n. 怨恨，憤恨

strand /str?nd/ n. （構成整體的）一個組成部分

multinational /?m?lt??n???nl/ n. 跨國公司

bribery /?bra?b?ri/ n. 行賄，受賄

constitute /?k?nst?tju?t/ v. 構成，組成

難句突破

This has stretched way beyond the simple demand that companies stop belching smoke out of factory chimneys to a demand that they control their appetite for natural resources—for bits of Brazilian rain forest, for example, or for the skins of rare animals.

主體句式：This has stretched way beyond...to...

結構分析：本句的難點在于stretch beyond...to...這個結構。beyond的賓語the simple demand又跟了一個that引導的定語從句，to后面的賓語是a demand，也跟了一個that引導的同語從句來進一步說明，最后破折號后面的內容是對the appetite for natural resources的補充說明。

句子譯文：這不僅僅是要求企業(yè)停止用煙囪排煙，還要求它們控制其對自然資源的掠奪，例如巴西的熱帶雨林，或者稀有動物的皮。

題目分析

1. C 細節(jié)題。文章第一段西奧多·羅斯福說：“企業(yè)是現(xiàn)代文明進程中不可或缺的工具，但是我認為必須對其加以監(jiān)管，使其為整個社會的利益服務”，也就是說他認為企業(yè)必須要有政府的監(jiān)督，才能履行社會責任，因此C為正確選項。選項A的含義與之相反，選項B和D在文中均沒有對應信息，因此都是錯誤的。

2. A 細節(jié)題。第三段開頭指出“人們爭論的焦點在于，要確保企業(yè)充分地為整個社會謀利，羅斯福所提出的監(jiān)管有多大必要?！币虼丝梢娬?guī)定并不屬于CSR的一個方面，而是一個外在因素。B、C、D三個選項在第二、三段均有提及。

3. D 語義題。本文主要談的是企業(yè)如何對社區(qū)和社會盡到社會責任，因此安妮塔·羅迪克說的good business指的就是負責任的企業(yè)，因此D是最佳答案。C選項具有一定迷惑性，但是僅僅有社區(qū)意識是不夠的，企業(yè)需要用實際行動去履行自己的責任，因此該選項不正確。

4. B 細節(jié)題。文章最后一段指出“在西方國家被認定為賄賂的行為在中東地區(qū)或許是合情合理的。”可見要更好地實踐CSR還需要理解不同文化，因此B是正確答案。文章倒數(shù)第三段指出“這不僅僅是要求企業(yè)停止用煙囪排煙，還要求制約對自然資源的掠奪，例如巴西的熱帶雨林，或者稀有動物的皮?！倍鳤選項說，環(huán)境保護措施應側重于工廠的煙囪，這顯然是不正確的。倒數(shù)第二段指出“人們覺得全球化助長了跨國公司剝削窮困工人的勢力，同時也削弱了工會和其他為保護員工權益而設立的組織的影響力?！笨梢娺@里僅僅是一個猜測，選項C用了by nature是不對的。D選項的說法本身錯誤。

5. C 推理題。文章第一段指出19世紀就出現(xiàn)了企業(yè)履行社會責任的做法，因此A不正確。B和D的信息文章中沒有提供，因此也不能入選。文章第三段指出“個別缺乏社會責任感的企業(yè)不僅會影響企業(yè)自身的聲譽，還會累及整個行業(yè)”，所以C是正確答案。

參考譯文

企業(yè)不只對股東負有責任，這一觀念并不是最近才出現(xiàn)。19世紀，很多企業(yè)專門為員工提供了住房，他們認為，比起居住條件簡陋的員工，居住條件好的員工生產(chǎn)效率更高。20世紀初期，時任美國總統(tǒng)的西奧多·羅斯福就說：“企業(yè)是現(xiàn)代文明進程中不可或缺的工具，但是我認為必須對其加以監(jiān)管，使其為整個社會的利益服務。”羅斯福在位期間頒布了“反托拉斯法”，以及一系列關于健康、安全、工時等的法規(guī)。

1987年，吉百利巧克力公司的董事長阿德里安·卡德伯里在《哈佛商業(yè)評論》中寫道：道德和商業(yè)決策之間會存在沖突是公司經(jīng)營者一直面臨的問題。這并不是一個新問題，如今的不同在于，每個決策及其背后的道德評判都觸及了更廣、更重要的利益。

人們爭論的焦點在于，要確保企業(yè)充分地為整個社會謀利，羅斯福所提出的監(jiān)管有多大必要。極端自由市場主義者認為，要保證企業(yè)承擔責任，只需將其各項事務透明公開。這樣一來，不需要任何強制措施，公司就會主動承擔社會責任，因為這樣做符合公司自身的利益。英國化妝品公司“美體小鋪”是一家“道德水平高的”公司，其創(chuàng)始人安妮塔·羅迪克說：“做善事的企業(yè)，才是好的企業(yè)?！泵绹纳虡I(yè)促進局更進一步表示，個別缺乏社會責任感的企業(yè)不僅會影響企業(yè)自身的聲譽，還會累及整個行業(yè)。

近期對企業(yè)社會責任的爭論主要集中在以下三方面：

一、環(huán)境。這不僅僅是要求企業(yè)停止用煙囪排煙，還要求它們控制其對自然資源的掠奪，例如巴西的熱帶雨林，或者稀有動物的皮。有組織的抗爭活動已迫使相關企業(yè)做出改變。例如，懾于反皮毛游說組織的攻擊，一些供應商不得不聲稱：“不要搞錯，我們所有的皮毛都是仿制品?！?

二、剝削行為。第二方面是企業(yè)對工人的剝削，尤其是在發(fā)達國家對女性員工的剝削，和在發(fā)展中國家對童工的剝削。人們覺得全球化助長了跨國公司剝削窮困工人的勢力，同時也削弱了工會和其他為保護員工權益而設立的組織的影響力。

三、賄賂和腐敗。第三方面是腐敗問題，尤其是如何定義腐?。ㄆ髽I(yè)各種慷慨接待的底線在哪），以及怎樣保護舉報者（舉報公司不當行為的內部員工或其他知情者）。文化因素使這些問題更加復雜。例如，在西方國家被認定為賄賂的行為在中東地區(qū)或許是合情合理的。