2016年考研英语阅读真题(一)text3
text3选自2015年6月25日的 the economist(《经济学人》),原文标题为“?the?halo effect:do- gooding policies help firms when they get prosecuted”(《光环效应:公司被起诉时,行善政策会 助他们》)。本文是社会经济类文本,主要探讨公司承担企业社会责任的程度对自身的影响。
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①“there is one and only one social responsibility of business,” wrote milton friedman, a nobel prize-winning economist, “that is, to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” ②but even if you accept friedman’s premise and regard corporate social responsibility (csr) policies as a waste of shareholders’ money, things may not be absolutely clear-cut. ③new research suggests that csr may create monetary value for companies—at least when they are prosecuted for corruption.
“企业有且只有一种社会责任,”诺贝尔奖获得者,经济学家米尔顿·弗里德曼曾写道,“那就是,运用自身资源并从事旨在增加其利润的活动。”(31)但是,即使你接受弗里德曼的前提,认为企业社会责任(csr)政策是在浪费股东的钱,事情也可能并不是绝对明确的。新的研究表明,csr可能会为公司创造货币价值——一至少在公司因腐败而被起诉时会是如此。
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①the largest firms in america and britain t
ogether spend more than $15 billion a year on csr, according to an estimate by epg, a consulting firm. ②this could add value to their businesses in three ways. ③first, consumers may take csr spending as a “signal” that a company’s products are of high quality. ④second, customers may be willing to buy a company’s products as an indirect way to donate to the good causes it helps. ⑤and third, through a more diffuse “halo effect,” whereby its good deeds earn it greater consideration from consumers and others.
根据epg咨询公司的估算,美国和英国最大的公司每年在csr上的支出总计超过150亿美元。这能从三个方面增加公司的价值。(32)首先,消费者可能会将csr费用视为公司产品质量高的“信号”。其次,消费者可能会愿意购买某个公司的产品,以一种间接的方式来捐助该公司所资助的公益事业。最后,通过一种更广泛的“光环效应”,公司的善行会贏得消费者和其他群体更多的关注。
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①previous studies on csr have had trouble differentiating these effects because consumers can be affected by all three. ②a recent study attempts to separate them by looking at bribery prosecutions under america’s foreign corrupt practices act (fcpa). ③it argues that since prosecutors do not consume a company’s products as part of their investigations, they could be influenced only by the halo effect.
先前有关csr的研究都很难区分这些影响,因为消费者可能会受到以上三个方面的综合影响。最近的一项研究试图通过分析美国《反海外腐败法》(fcpa)下的行贿起诉来区分它们。该研究认为,由于检察官们不会把消费某个公司的产品作为其调查的一部分,因此他们可能只会受到光环效应的影响。
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①the study found that, among prosecuted firms, those with the most comprehensive csr programmes tended to get more lenient?penalties. ②their analysis ruled out the possibility that it was firms’ political influence, rather than their csr stand, that accounted for the leniency: companies that contributed more to political campaigns did not receive lower fines.
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(33)研究发现,在被起诉的公司中,那些有着最全面csr方案的公司往往会受到更宽大的处罚。他们的分析排除了如下可能性,公司受到宽大处理是因为其政治影响力,而非csr立场:为政治运动做出了更多贡献的公司并没有得到较轻的处罚。
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①in all, the study concludes that whereas prosecutors should only evaluate a case based on its merits, they do seem to be influenced by a company’s record in csr. ②“we estimate that either eliminating a substantial labour-rights concern, such as child labour, or increasing corporate giving by about 20% results in fines that generally are 40% lower than the typical punishment for bribing foreign officials,” says one researcher.
(34)总之,该研究得出的结论是,尽管检察官应仅根据案情本身来评估案件,但他们似乎确实也受到了公司csr记录的影响。一名研究人员称,“我们估计,不管是消除诸如童工这样的实质性劳工权益问题,还是将企业捐赠增加约20%,其结果通常是,罚款金额比贿赂外国官员的典型处罚金额低40%”。
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①researchers admit that their study does not answer the question of how much businesses ought to spend on csr. ②nor does it reveal how much companies are banking on the halo effect, rather than the other possible benefits, when they decide their do-gooding policies. ③but at least they have demonstrated that when companies get into trouble with the law, evidence of good character can win them a less costly punishment.
(35)研究人员承认,他们的研究未能解答企业应在csr上支出多少的问题。同时也没有表明公司在做善行决策时应寄多少希望于光环效应,而不是其他可能的利益。但至少他们证明了在公司陷入法律纠纷时,品质良好的证据会让它们付出更少的罚金。
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31. the author views milton friedman’s statement about csr with
a. uncertainty. b. skepticism.
c. approval. d. tolerance.
对米尔顿·弗里德曼关于csr的说法,作者持的态度。
ａ.不确定 b.怀疑 ｃ.赞成 ｄ．容忍
32. according to paragraph 2, csr helps a company by
a. guarding it against malpractices.
b. protecting it from being defamed.
c. winning trust from consumers.
d. raising the quality of its products.
根据第二段所述,csr通过来 助公司。
ａ.防范出现不法行为
ｂ.保护公司免遭诽谤
ｃ.赢得消费者的信任
d.提高公司产品质量
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33. the expression “more lenient” (para. 4) is closest in meaning to
a. less controversial.
b. more lasting.
c. more effective.
d. less severe.
与“ more lenient”(第四段第二行)这表述意思最为接近的是
ａ.争议更少的
ｃ．更有效的
ｂ.更持久的
ｄ.不太严厉的
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34. when prosecutors evaluate a case, a company’s csr record
a. comes across as reliable evidence.
b. has an impact on their decision.
c. increases the chance of being penalized.
d. constitutes part of the investigation.
当检察官评估案件时,公司的csr记录
ａ.会成为可靠的证据
ｂ.会影响他们的决定
c.会增加被处罚的可能性
d.是调查的组成部分
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35. which of the following is true of csr, according to the last paragraph?
a. the necessary amount of companies’ spending on it is unknown.
b. companies’ financial capacity for it has been overestimated.
c. its negative effects on businesses are often overlooked.
d. it has brought much benefit to the banking industry.
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由最后一段可知,以下关于csr的叙述,哪一项是正确的?
ａ.公司在csr上的必要支出金额是未知的。
ｂ.公司在csr上的财务能力被高估了。
ｃ.csr对企业的负面影响常常被忽略。
d.csr为银行业带来了诸多益处。
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