One reason why shareholder activism has been increasing is that regulators have encouraged it, especially on pay. For a decade Britain has required firms to give shareholders a non-binding annual vote on executive pay. The colossal Dodd-Frank act of 2010 gave shareholders in American companies a " say on pay" , too. Now comes two new moves. On March 3rd the Swiss voted to oblige firms to hold a binding annual vote on director"s pay: in the small print, the referendum also banned golden handshakes and severance packages for board members, and bonuses that encourage the buying or selling of firms. Then on March 5th EU finance ministers(with only Britain objecting)agreed to cap bankers" bonuses to 100% of their basic salary, or 200% if shareholders vote for it. If the Swiss had merely given shareholders an annual vote on pay, it would have been a good thing; but the accompanying bans are not. There are times when a golden handshake to a talented manager can be in shareholders" interests: far better to let the owners vote on it than restrict the firm from trying it. The EU"s proposal has less still to recommend it. The rationale for it is that banking bonuses have encouraged risk taking, because they reward bankers hugely for bets that come off and punish them only slightly for those that don"t. But banks have come a long way since the crisis, by deferring bonuses and making them partly payable in their own debt and equity. Blunt laws could undermine such progress. And bonus caps will either hold pay down, thus sending clever people elsewhere, or push up salaries, thus making pay less responsive to performance. Enpowering shareholders is a good idea; requiring them to channel populist fury is not.

单选题 The Dodd-Frank act of 2010 gave shareholders in American companies______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：根据Dodd-Frank act of 2010定位到首段尾句：The colossal Dodd-Frank act of 2010gave shareholders in American companies a“say on pay”，too．根据对比可以知道答案是a“sayon pay”，而这个短语的意思比较难理解。通过too一词，可以知道它等于上文give后面的内容，即a non—binding annual vote on executive pay，而这个句子和选项[C]最接近，故选项[C]为答案。

单选题 What can be learned from the second paragraph?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：该题答案来源于第二段第二句：On March 3rd the Swiss voted to oblige firms to holda binding annual vote on director"s pay：in the small print，the referendum also banned golden hand-shakes and severance packages for board members，and bonuses that encourage the buying or sellingof firms．其中，binding annual vote on director’s pay(对高管工资具有约束力的投票)，banned…bonuses that encourage the buying or selling of firms(禁止鼓励公司买卖的红利)，即限制了红利，故[A]项“Executives’pay and bonuses may be curbed高管的工资和奖金可能受到限制”是正确的。选项[B]中的employees’salaries是文章没提到的，故属于无中生有。选项[C]中的“de—cided by the government由政府决定”与原文提到的“annual vote每年投票(决定)”完全不符，故错误。选项[D]中的“favored by board members受到董事会成员的欢迎”与原文“bannedgolden handshakes and severance packages for board members禁止对董事会成员发放解雇费或遣散费”不符，故错误。综上所述，答案为选项[A]。

单选题 On March 5th EU finance ministers agreed to______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：根据题干定位到第二段尾句：Then on March 5th EU finance ministers(with onlyBritain objecting)agreed to cap bankers’bonuses…其中cap bankers’bonuses是原文内容，与选项[D]明显关系不大，故可以排除[D]。而选项[A]give bankers cap as bonus显然是曲解原文意思。故答案在[B]和[C]之间。而两项区别在于“revenues收入”和“basic salaries基本工资”，原文说的是“cap bankers’bonuses限制银行人员的奖金”，而奖金是收入的一部分，和基本工资关系较小，故选择选项[B]。

单选题 It would be good for Swiss to______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：原文对应第三段第一句：If the Swiss had merely given shareholders an annual vote onpay，it would have been a good thing；but the accompanying bans are not．可见答案是give share—holders an annual vote on pay，即[D]项的前部分；而accompanying bans are not相当于选项[D]后半部分的without the bans。故确定选项[D]为答案。

单选题 We know from the last paragraph that a bonus cap may achieve all EXCEPT______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：根据bonus cap定位到最后一段倒数第二句：And bonus caps will either hold paydown，thus sending clever people elsewhere，or push up salaries，thus making pay less responsive toperformance．其中hold pay down对应选项[B]cutting down the salary；sending clever people else—where对应选项[A]making talents quit；making pay less responsive to performance对应选项[D]，故本句没有提到的只有选项[C]。