The question facing Swiss voters on March 3rd was called the "people"s initiative against fat-cat pay ". With a billing like that, who wouldn"t vote yes? As it happened, 68% of the electorate did, passing a measure that requires listed companies to offer shareholders a binding vote on senior managers" pay and appointments at each annual general meeting. The penalty for bosses who fail to comply is up to three years in jail or the forfeit of up to six years" salary. Switzerland"s penchant for direct democracy has trumped its tolerance for tycoons. Swiss business is shaken. It had backed a "counter-initiative" giving shareholders more voting powers without threatening criminal sanction. That was rejected by voters. The new law, which will be written into the constitution, endangers Switzerland as an investment destination, the business lobby claims. Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation, now accepts the popular verdict but warns that such complex and highly charged changes must be implemented carefully. The laws needed to put the vote into practice will take ten years to write, some cynics suggest. The initiative is the brainchild of Thomas Minder, who runs his family"s toiletries business. He has apparently never forgiven Swissair for backing out of a contract when it nearly went bankrupt 12 years ago and then awarding its former boss a big pay-off. Mr Minder"s campaign gained momentum last month on news that Novartis, a Swiss drug firm, intended to pay its departing chairman, Daniel Vasella, a severance package of SFr72m($ 76m). Mr Vasella later refused the package. After Mr Minder"s victory it will become harder to extend such corporate generosity. Some of the new restrictions seem sensible. Shareholder votes on executive pay, hitherto ad hoc and advisory, will become routine and binding. Pension funds will be required to vote in the interests of their members and make their votes public. Board members will not be permitted to have consulting or other contracts with firms in the same group. But other provisions are more burdensome. The law will ban incentives that can be useful, such as "golden hellos" and severance packages for board members. It will also bar them from accepting rewards for buying or selling company divisions.

单选题 The underlined phrase "fat-cat pay"(Para 1 , Line 1)refers to______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：语义题的总思路是在文章上下文寻找同义替换信息，文章提到fat-cat pay是在第一句，而文章第三句提到：As it happened，68％of the electorate did，passing a measure that requires listed companies to offer shareholders a binding vote on senior managers" pay and appoint—ments at each annual general meeting．其中的senior managers’pay对应选项[B]seniorexecutives’salaries。而其余几项在文中都未提及，属于无中生有。

单选题 What can be implied from the second paragraph?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：选项[A]是对于第二段中间的Economiesuisse，the Swiss Business Federation，nowaccepts the popular verdict一句的设置。其中popular verdict=public accusation，但其主语错误，原文说的是Economiesuisse这个组织，而不是瑞士。选项[B]对应该段第一、二句：Swiss business is shaken．It had backed a“counter—initiative”giving shareholders more voting powers…可见瑞士是给了股东更多的投票权，而非给了选民更多投票权，故选项[B]错误。选项[C]项对应该段最后一句：The laws needed to put the vote into practice will take ten years to write，some cynics suggest．是“落实投票选举的法律将花费十年才能完成”，而不是该项的“在瑞士，写一部法律需耗费十年”。故该项错误。选项[D]对应原文：The new law，which will be written into theconstitution，endangers Switzerland as an investment destination．意为：这部将写入宪法的新法律，使作为投资目的地的瑞士受到威胁。可见瑞士本来就是一个投资目的地，故选项[D]是正确的。

单选题 According to the text, Thomas Minder______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：根据Thomas Minder定位到第三段。选项[A]对应该段第一句：The initiative is thebrainchild of Thomas Minder…该句提到了brainchild(脑力劳动产物)，与该项的mental worker，child无关，故该项错误。选项[B]对应倒数第二句：Mr Minder"s campaign gained momentum lastmonth…其中gained momentum的意思是“大获势头”，原文并没有提到Minder获得了补偿金，故该项错误。选项[C]对应首句:．．．Thomas Minder，who runs his family’s toiletries business．其中，toiletry一词表示“化妆品”，“his family’s toiletries business他家族的化妆品生意”对应该项的“his own business concerning cosmetic与化妆品有关的生意”。选项[D]对应倒数第二句No一vartis，a Swiss drug firm这处信息，其中drug firm=pharmaceutical company。文章中提到该制药公司，但没有说Minder为其工作，故该项错误。综上所述，答案为选项[C]。

单选题 The new bindings include all EXCEPT that______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的“new bindings新的约束”定位到第四段的“new restrictions新的限制”。答案来自后面几个句子。选项[A]对应第三句：Shareholder votes on executive pay…其中stakeholder=shareholder；determine…through voting=vote；manager"s salary=executive pay。故该项与原文相符。选项[D]对应倒数第二句：Pension funds will be required to vote in the interests of their members and make their votes public．其中retirement money=pension fund；should bevoted=will be required to vote；announced=make their votes public。故该项与原文相符。选项[B]和[C]对应最后一句：Board members will not be permitted to have consulting or other con—tracts with firms in the same group．其中选项[C]中的“not allowed to contact with other companies不能与其他公司交流”与原文“not be permitted to have consulting or other contracts with firms inthe same group不能与同一集团的其他公司商议或签署合同”不符。而选项[B]的“bannedfrom making internal deal禁止内部交易”与之相符。故本题与原文表述不一致的答案为选项[C]。

单选题 The author"s attitude towards new rules and restrictions seems to be______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：根据new rules and restrictions定位到最后两段。注意文中出现了两处信息，第一处是第四段的第二句：Some of the new restrictions seem sensible．既然出现some of，必然会出现other这个信息，故第二处信息在最后一段首句：But other provisions are more burdensome．其中provisions=rules。我们从这两句话可以看出作者的态度。两句中，sensible表示“明智的”，而burdensome表示“繁重的，恼人的”，作者既表达肯定，也指出不足，显然是在客观分析，故作者的态度是客观的。答案为选项[A]。而选项[B]意为“支持的”；选项[C]意为“反对的”；选项[D]意为“怀疑的”。这三项无法表达作者的全部态度，故错误。