单选题 It was about 2 p.m. on Mar. 9 when three Nucor Corp. electricians got the call from their colleagues at the Hickman (Ark.) plant. It was bad news: Hickman's electrical grid had failed. For a minimill steelmaker like Nucor, which melts scrap steel from autos, dishwashers, mobile homes, and the like in an electric arc furnace to make new steel, there's little that could be worse. The trio immediately dropped what they were doing and headed out to the plant.
No supervisor had asked them to make the trip, and no one had to. They went on their own. There wasn't any direct financial incentive for them to blow their weekends, no extra money in their next paycheck, but for the company their, contribution was huge.
What's most amazing about this story is that at Nucor it's not considered particularly remarkable. "It could have easily been a Hickman operator going to help the Crawfordsville [Ind. ] mill," says Executive Vice-President John J. Ferriola "It happens daily." Nucor has nurtured one of the most dynamic and engaged workforces around. The 11 300 nonunion employees at the Charlotte (N. C. ) company don't see themselves as worker bees waiting for instructions from above. Nucor's flattened hierarchy and emphasis on pushing power to the front line lead its employees to adopt the mindset of owner-operators.
Nucor gained renown in the late 1980s for its radical pay practices, which base the vast majority of most workers' income on their performance. An upstart nipping at the heels of the integrated steel giants, Nucor had a close-knit culture that was the natural outgrowth of its underdog identity. Legendary leader F. Kenneth Iverson's radical insight: that employees, even hourly clock-punchers, will make an extraordinary effort if you reward them richly,treat them with respect ,and give them real power.
Nucor is an upstart no more, and the untold story of how it has clung to that core philosophy even as it has grown into the largest steel company in the U, S. is in many ways as compelling as the celebrated tale of its brash youth. Iverson retired in 1999.
Under CEO Daniel R. DiMicco, a 23-year veteran, Nucor has snapped up 13 plants over the past five years while managing to instill its unique culture in all of the facilities it has bought, an achievement that makes him a more than worthy successor to Iverson.

单选题 For a steel maker like Nucor Corp, the electric grid of which ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】这句话的意思是:理解题。第1段第3句。there's little that could be worse,意思是说“很少发生比这更糟糕的事情了。”对于Nucor这样的一个小钢厂来说,电力系统出现故障是很要命的事。由此可以推断选项B对。
单选题 Form the paragraph 2 we know the trio electrician ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】总结归纳题。第2段介绍了三位电力工程师不计个人得失,用于承担责任的工作态度。他们加班完全是自愿的,而不是为了得到奖金或职位升迁。
单选题 Which of the following is NOT true about the employees at the Charlotte (N. C. )plant of Nucor?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推理判断题。第3段最后一句说企业扁平式的管理结构以及将权利下放到生产一线使得员工把自己既看成管理者又看成操作工。从这一句可推出答案。C选项属于含义的过度引申,实际上员工还不能参与和制定关键性的决策。
单选题 The driving force for Nucor's rapid development, according to the passage, lies in
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推断题。见第4段第2句话:Nucor构建了一种让员工紧密团结的企业文化,这成为小企业快速成长的动力。A与大企业的紧密关系,B行业中所处的上升地位,C位置优势都不是企业快速成长的必要条件。
单选题 The statement of "The achievement makes him more than a worthy successor to Iverson" in the last paragraph may imply that ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】最后一段最后一句可以看出DiMicco在成功并购小企业后,还有一项目也是最重要的任务就是让公司特有的企业文化在这些新企业中得到传承。
单选题 Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】总结归纳题目。全文主要讲述了Nucor的企业文化,这种企业文化使该公司不断发展壮大。