阅读理解 It is very interesting to note where the debate about diversity (多样化) is taking place. It is taking place primarily in political circles. Here at the College Fund, we have a lot of contact with top corporate (公司的) leaders: none of them is talking about getting rid of those instruments that produce diversity. In fact, they say that if their companies are to compete in the global village and in the global market place, diversity is an imperative. They also say that the need for talented, skilled Americans means we have to expand the pool of potential employees. And in looking at where birth rate are growing and at where the population is shifting, corporate America understands that expanding the pool means promoting policies that help provide skills to more minorities, more women, and more immigrants. Corporate leaders know that if that doesn't occur in our society, they will not have the engineers, the scientists, the lawyers, or the business managers they will need.
Likewise, I don't hear people in the academy saying, "Let's go backward. Let's go back to the good old days, when we had a meritocracy (不拘一格选人才) " , which was never true—we never had a meritocracy, although we've come closer to it in the last 30 years. I recently visited a great little college in New York where the campus has doubled its minority population in the last six years. I talked with an African American who has been professor there for a long time. And she remembers that when she first joined the community, there were fewer than a handful of minorities on campus. Now all of us feel the way is better because of the diversity. So where we hear this debates is primarily in political circles and in the media—not in corporate board rooms or on college campuses.

单选题 The word "imperative" (Para. 1) most probably refers to something________.

A、 superficial
B、 remarkable
C、 debatable
D、 essential

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据文中具体语言环境可知该词的意思为“必需的，不可缺少的”，故选D。

单选题 Which of the following groups of people still differ in their views on diversity?

A、 Minorities.
B、 Politicians.
C、 Professors.
D、 Managers.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】根据文中前两句It is very interesting to note where the debate about diversity(多样化)is taking place．It is taking place primarily in political circles．可知对多样化的讨论多发生在政界，所以应该是政客谈论的较多。故选B。

单选题 High corporate leaders seem to be in favor of promoting diversity so as to________.

A、 lower the rate of unemployment
B、 American political circles will not accept diversity
C、 be competitive in the world market
D、 satisfy the demand of a growing population

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据文中第一段In fact，they say that if their companies are to compete in the global village and in the global market place，diversity is an imperative．可知公司要在市场上更具竞争力就要注意多样化发展，故C正确。

单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A、 meritocracy can never be realized without diversity
B、 American political circles will not accept diversity
C、 It is unlikely that diversity will occur in the U. S. media
D、 minorities can only enter the fields where no debate is heard about diversity

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据文中第二段…which was never true——we never had a meritocracy， although we’ve come closer to it in the last 30 years．及后面的Now all of us feel the way is better because of the diversity．可知选A。

单选题 According to the passage, diversity can be achieved in American society by________.

A、 expanding the pool of potential employees
B、 promoting the pool of potential employees
C、 training more engineers, scientists, lawyers and business managers
D、 providing education for all regardless of race or sex

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据文章意思America understands that expanding the pool means promoting policies that help provide skills to more minorities，more women，and more immigrants．因此D为正确选项。