2014年四川大学考博英语真题4

Passage Four

As Facebook dominates the news with its initial public offering,activists are seizing the moment to pressure the company to add some estrogen and ethnicity to its white-male board.

A women's rights group called Ultraviolet,which has been running an online petition that claims to have attracted more than 50,000 signatures,is escalating its push,posting a new YouTube video called"Do Women Have a Future at Facebook?".The video shows photos of successful women such as Hillary Clinton getting their heads cropped off the replaced with the smiling face of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

"Facebook has grown off the backs of women,who make up the majority of its users and are responsible for the majority of sharing and fan activity on the site,"the group says in a blurb accompanying the video.An all-male board,the group says,is"not just wrong,it's bad for business".A related campaign,called Face It,criticizes the lack of ethnic diversity on the seven-member board."seven white men:That's ridiculous,"the group says on its homepage,along side headshots of the men.The campaign,which lists dozens of human-rights groups and corporate executives as supporters,also has its own YouTube video.Called"Face it,Facebook",the video cites a recent Zuckerberg letter to investors that says:"Facebook was not originally created to be a company.It was built to accomplish a social mission-to make the world more open and connected."

That message is at[odds with]the pale-faced board,activists say.Susan Stautberg,co-chairwoman of Women Corporate Directors,an organization for female corporate board members,says Zuckerberg's thinking is flawed."If you're trying to expand a company globally,then you want someone on the board who has built a global brand,"she says."Most of these guys on Facebook's board all have the same skills-they're mostly from Silicon Valley and Washington.You want someone who has worked in China and India and rising markets.You want someone who has marketed to women.When you're putting together a board,you don't want your best friends,you want the best people."

Having zero female directors does not appear to be a good business plan,research shows.Companies with women on the board perform.substantially better than companies with all-mall boards,according to a 2011 study of Fortune 500 companies conducted by the research group Catalyst.The study showed that over the course of four to five years,companies with three or more female board members,on average,outperformed companies with no female board members by 84 percent when it came to return on sales and by 60 percent when it came to return on invested capital.

Facebook may secretly be on the lookout for a female board member,according to a recent Bloomberg report.Citing unnamed sources,Bloomberg said Facebook had enlisted the corporate-recruitment firm Spencer Stuart to help seek some diversity.Spencer Stuary says it does not comment on clients due to confidentiality agreements.

16．Which of the following descriptions is CORRECT about the Ultraviolet Group?

A．It is a non-government organization.

B．It is appealing for"more female roles in big corporations like Facebook"throughthe Internet.

C．It has the support of many female celebrities such as Hillary Clinton.

D．It is getting more and more support from the society.

17．Which of the following descriptions is INCORRECT about the campaign"Face It"?

A．It pointed out the irrational composition of Facebook's board of directors.

B．The campaign has plenty of human-rights supporters.

C．It indicated the original objective of Zuckerberg's establishment of Facebook.

D．It is constantly using other media devices to support Facebook.

18．The underlined phrase"at odds with"in the fourth paragraph has the closest meaning of ____.

A．against all odds

B．supported by

C．disagree with

D．waifs and strays

19．According to Susan Stauberg,a well-performed business should _____.

A．have a complex system of management.

B．possess the most market globally.

C．have your best and close friends as your board members.

D．have a diverse board member in which everyone has his/her own specialties and can contribute different skills into the corporation.

20．What will probably happen to Facebook?

A．The corporation will turn to Spencer Stuart for recruiting more female board members.

B．The corporation will dominate the news because its worldwide popularity.

C．The corporation will gradually lose its users because it does not have female board members.

D．None of the above.

【参考翻译】

随着Facebook首次公开发行(ipo)在新闻媒体中占据主导地位，维权人士正抓紧时机向该公司施压，要求其在白人男性董事会中加入一些雌激素和种族成分。

一个名为Ultraviolet的女权组织一直在网上发起请愿活动，声称自己已经吸引了超过5万个签名。该组织正在加大力度，在YouTube上发布一个名为“女性在Facebook有未来吗?”这段视频展示了一些成功女性的照片，比如希拉里克林顿(Hillary Clinton)的头被剪掉，取而代之的是Facebook创始人马克扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)的笑脸。

该组织在视频附带的简介中称:“Facebook已经从女性的背后成长起来，女性占据了Facebook用户的绝大部分，并且在该网站上负责大部分的分享和粉丝活动。”该集团表示，全男性董事会“不仅是错误的，对企业也不利”。一个名为Face It的相关运动批评了由七名成员组成的委员会缺乏种族多样性。“七个白人:这太荒谬了，”该组织在其主页上说，旁边还有他们的头像。这场运动将数十个人权组织和企业高管列为支持者，它也有自己的YouTube视频。这段名为“面对现实吧，Facebook”的视频引用了扎克伯格最近写给投资者的一封信。它的建立是为了完成一项社会使命——使世界更加开放和互联。

活动人士表示，这一信息与脸色苍白的董事会存在分歧。女性企业董事协会(Women Corporate Directors)是一个面向女性企业董事会成员的组织，其联合主席苏珊•斯托伯格(Susan Stautberg)表示，扎克伯格的想法是有缺陷的。她表示:“如果你试图在全球范围内扩张一家公司，那么你希望董事会中有人已经建立了一个全球品牌。”Facebook董事会中的大多数人都拥有同样的技能——他们大多来自硅谷和华盛顿。你需要的是在中国、印度和新兴市场工作过的人。你想要一个向女性推销产品的人。当你组建董事会时，你不想要最好的朋友，你想要最好的人。

研究显示，没有女性董事似乎不是一个好的商业计划。董事会中有女性成员的公司表现出色。研究机构Catalyst在2011年对《财富》500强企业进行的一项研究显示，该公司的表现明显好于拥有全商场董事会的公司。研究显示，在4到5年的时间里，女性董事会成员超过3名的公司，平均而言，在销售回报和投资回报方面，女性董事会成员超过女性的公司分别高出84%和60%。

根据彭博社(Bloomberg)最近的一份报告，Facebook可能在暗中寻找一位女性董事会成员。彭博社援引未透露姓名的消息人士的话说，Facebook已经聘请了企业招聘公司斯宾塞斯图尔特(Spencer Stuart)帮助寻找多样性。斯宾塞·斯图里(Spencer Stuary)表示，由于保密协议的原因，公司不对客户置评。

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2014年四川大学考博英语真题汇总