Still High in A Slowdown, Executive Pay Draws
Looks
Business has slowed, layoffs mount, but
executive pay continues to roar-at least so far. Business Week's annual survey
finds that chief executive officers (CEOS) at 365 of the largest companies got
compensation last year averaging $3.1 million-up 1.3 percent from
1994. Why are the top bosses getting an estimated 485 times the
pay of a typical factory worker? That is up from 475 times in 1999 and a mere 42
times in 1980. One reason may be what experts call the "Lake Wobegon effect".
Corporate boards tend to reckon that "all CEOs are above average" -a play on
Garrison Keillor's famous line in his public radio show, A Prairie Home
Companion, that all the town's children are "above average". Consultants provide
boards with surveys of corporate CEO compensation. Since directors are reluctant
to regard their CEOs as below average, the compensation committees of boards
tend to set pay at an above-average level. The result: Pay levels get ratcheted
up (一步步地增加). Defenders of lavish CEO pay argue there is such a
strong demand for experienced CEOs that the free market forces their pay up.
They further maintain most boards structure pay packages to reflect an
executive's performance. They get paid more if their companies and their stock
do well. So companies with high-paid CEOs generate great wealth for their
shareholders. But the supposed cream-of-the-crop executives did
surprisingly poorly for their shareholders in1999, says Scott Klinger, author of
this report by a Boston-based Organization United for a Fair Economy. If an
investor had put $10,000 apiece at the end of 1999 into the stock of those
companies with the 10 highest-paid CEOs, by year-end 2000 the investment would
have shrunk to $8,132. If $10,000 had been put into the Standard & Poor's
500 stocks, it would have been worth $9,090. To Mr. Klinger, these findings
suggest that the theory that one person, the CEO, is responsible for creating
most of a corporation's value is dead wrong. "It takes many employees to make a
corporation profitable." With profits down, corporate boards
may make more effort to tame executive compensation. And executives are making
greater efforts to avoid pay cuts. Some CEOs, seeing their options "under water"
or worthless because of falling stock prices, are seeking more pay in cash or in
restricted stock.
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A. chief executive officers have dismissed many workers since business
slowed
B. business has slowed for executive pay increased too much
C. pay of top bosses continues to increase while more workers are
unemployed
D. pay of both CEOs and factory workers continue to increase
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 文中第一句“Business has slowed，layoffs mount, but, executive pay continues to roar-at least so far.”(商业发展减慢失业人数增加，但公司管理层的薪酬却在继续增加——至今仍是如此。)与C选项的答案相近。
单选题
The author mentioned "Lake Wobegon effect" in the second paragraph in
order to ______.
A. explain why all CEOs are above average
B. show the play named A Prairie Home companion
C. describe the town's children who are above average
D. suggest one possible reason for why CEOs get high pay
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 第二段第三句“One reason maybe what experts call the Lake Wobegon effect”可知，Lake Wobegon effect是CEO的薪酬持续升高的一个理由，与D选项表达一致。
单选题
According to the passage, Scott Klinger thinks ______.
A. all chief executive officers are above average
B. high executive pay reflects executives' performance
C. the performance of high-paid executives wasn' t satisfying
D. the CEOs have created most of corporations' value
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 第四段第一句“…did surprising poorly for their shareholders in 1999…”(CEO的成绩出奇地差)从中我们可以看出CEO们的表现不令人满意，所以C的表述是正确的。
单选题
The expression "cream-of-the-crop" in the first sentence of paragraph 4
most probably means ______.
A. creative
B. high-quality
C. delicious
D. crisp
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] A creative“创造的”；B high-quality“高质量的”；C delicious“美味的”；D crisp“脆弱的”。第四段第一句“被看作素质极高的CEO，却做得出奇地差”，故答案应为B高质量的。
单选题
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. Still High in A Slowdown, Executive Pay Draws Looks.