Ellen Pao spent the last few years spotlighting the technology industry's lack of diversity, in court and beyond. Erica Baker caused a stir at Google when she started a spreadsheet last year for employees to share their salaries, highlighting the pay disparities between those of different genders doing the same job. Laura I. Gomez founded a start-up focused on improving diversity in the hiring process. Now the three are starting an effort to collect and share data to help diversify the rank-and-file employees who make up tech companies. The nonprofit venture, called Project Include, was unveiled on Tuesday.
As part of Project Include, the group plans to extract commitments from tech companies to track the diversity of their work forces over time and eventually share that data with other start-ups. The effort will focus on start-ups that employ 25 to 1,000 workers, in the hope of spurring the companies to think about equality sooner rather than later. The project will also ask for participation from venture capital firms that advise and mentor the start-ups.
Project Include aims to have 18 companies as part of its first cohort; a few have already signed up. The group will meet regularly for seven months to define and track specific metrics. At the end of that period, the group will publish an anonymized set of results to show the progress—or lack thereof—that the start-ups have made around diversity.
The group' s push is intended to cut through tech' s slow pace of change on diversity. Large companies, including Google, Facebook and Microsoft, have openly admitted their failings in creating diverse work forces, and some have started programs to move
the needle
. But that has not seemed to spur much movement in views on the issue. In December, for instance, Michael Moritz, a partner at the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, made headlines when he said in an interview that his firm—which had no female investment partners in the United States—would focus on hiring women but would not "lower its standards" to do so. He also said the firm was blind to gender and race.
"It is this incredibly self-serving mythology that we are the best and the brightest, and that the best ideas rise to the top and will get funded," said Ms. Kapor Klein, noting there is plenty of data to show that minority access to tech programs and networks is worse than that of white males. "Despite an avalanche of rigorous data to the contrary, the belief in pure meritocracy persists."
单选题
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that_____.
单选题
The effort of Project Include on start-ups expects to_____.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第二段。根据The effort will focus on start-ups that employ 25 to 1，000 workers，in the hope of spurring the companies to think about equality sooner rather than later．可知这一计划将聚焦雇员人数为25人到1 000人的初创企业，希 望能够推动它们及早考虑平等问题。故C项为正确答案。其中expect to是in the hope of的同义替换：urge是spur的同义替换。A项“获得科技企业的承诺”，B项“获得相关数 据”和D项“鼓励风险投资公司参与其中”均不符合题意，故排除。
单选题
What will Project Include not do to 18 companies during the seven months?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第三段。根据Project Include aims to have 18 com panies as part of its first cohort；a few have already signed up．The group will meet regularly for seven months to define and track specific metrics．可知“容纳计划”当前的目标是说服 18家企业作为第一批合作者加入进来；有几家已经签约。该组织会在七个月的时间里 定期组织会议来定义和追踪具体指标。故B项、C项和D项均与原文相符。A项“使他 们认同这个团队”属于过于推断。故A项为正确答案。
单选题
The phrase "the needle"(Para. 4)probably refers to______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：含义题。根据题干关键词定位到第四段。根据Large companies，including Google， Facebook and Microsoft，have openly admitted their failings in creating diverse work forces， and some have started programs to move the needle．可知谷歌、脸谱网和微软等大公司已 经公开承认自己没能让员工队伍变得更为多元，一些公司已经启动了旨在促成改变的 计划。联系上下文可知，the needle指代的是diverse work forces这件事，故A项为正确 答案。B项“纺织用的针”是字面意思，排除。C项“对于多元化的看法”和D项“容纳计划 的措施”均不符合题意，故排除。