单选题It has been a wretched few weeks for America's. celebrity bosses. AIG's Maurice Greenberg has been dramatically ousted from the firm through which he dominated global insurance for decades. At Morgan Stanley a mutiny is forcing Philip Purcell, a boss used to getting his own way, into an increasingly desperate campaign to save his skin. At Boeing, Harry Stonecipher was called out of retirement to lead the scandal-hit firm and raise ethical standards, only to commit a lapse of his own, being sacked for sending e-mails to a lover who was also an employee. Carly Fiorina was the most powerful woman in corporate America until a few weeks ago, when Hewlett-Packard (HP) sacked her for poor performance. The fate of Bernie Ebbers is much grimmer. The once high-profile boss of WorldCom could well spend the rest of his life behind bars following his conviction last month on fraud charges. In different ways, each of these examples appears to point to the same welcome conclusion: that the imbalance in corporate power of the late 1990s, when many bosses were allowed to behave like absolute monarchs, has been corrected. Alas, appearances can be deceptive. While each of these recent tales of chief-executive woo is a sis of progress, none provides much evidence that the crisis in American corporate governance is yet over. In fact, each of these cases is an example of failed, not successful, governance. At the very least, the beards of both Morgan Stanley and HP were far too slow to address their bosses' inadequacies. The record of the Boeing beard in picking chiefs prone to ethical lapses is too long to be dismissed as mere bad luck. The fall of Messrs Greenberg and Ebbers, meanwhile, highlights the growing role of government-and in particular, of criminal prosecutors in holding bosses to account: a development that is, at best, a mixed blessing. The Sarbanes-Oxley act, passed in haste following the Enron and WorldCom scandals, is imposing heavy costs on American companies; whether these are exceeded by any benefits is the subject of fierce debate and may not be known for years. Eliot Spitzer, New York's attorney-general, is the leading advocate and practitioner of an energetic "law enforcement" approach. He may be right that the recent burst of punitive actions has been good for the economy, even if some of his own decisions have been open to question. Where he is undoubtedly right is in arguing that corporate America has done a lamentable job of governing itself. As he says in an article in the Wall Street Journal this week: "The hour cede among CEOs didn't work. Board oversight didn't work. Ser-regulation was a complete failure." AIG's board, for example, did nothing about Mr Greenberg's use of murky accounting, or the conflicts posed by his use of offshore vehicles, or his constant bullying of his critics let alone the firm's alleged participation in bid-rigging--until Mr Spitzer threatened a criminal prosecution that might have destroyed the firm.

单选题 On April 20, 2000, in Accra, Ghana, the leaders of six West African countries declared their intention to proceed to monetary union among the non-CFA franc countries of the region by January 2003, as first step toward a wider monetary union including all the ECOWAS countries in 2004. The six countries{{U}} (1) {{/U}}themselves to reducing central bank financing of budget deficits{{U}} (2) {{/U}}10 percent of the previous years government{{U}} (3) {{/U}}; reducing budget deficits to 4 percent of the second phase by 2003; creating a Convergence Council to help{{U}} (4) {{/U}}macroeconomic policies; and{{U}} (5) {{/U}}up a common central bank. Their declaration{{U}} (6) {{/U}}that, "Member States{{U}} (7) {{/U}}the need{{U}} (8) {{/U}}strong political commitment and{{U}} (9) {{/U}}to{{U}} (10) {{/U}}all such national policies{{U}} (11) {{/U}}would facilitate the regional monetary integration process." The goal of a monetary union in ECOWAS has long been an objective of the organization, going back to its formation in 1975, and is intended to{{U}} (12) {{/U}}broader integration process that would include enhanced regional trade and{{U}} (13) {{/U}}institutions. In the colonial period, currency boards linked sets of countries in the region.{{U}} (14) {{/U}}independence,{{U}} (15) {{/U}}, these currency boards were{{U}} (16) {{/U}}, with the{{U}} (17) {{/U}}of the CFA franc zone, which included the francophone countries of the region. Although there have been attempts to advance the agenda of ECOWAS monetary cooperation, political problems and other economic priorities in several of the region's countries have to{{U}} (18) {{/U}}inhibited progress. Although some problems remain, the recent initiative has been bolstered by the election in I999 of a democratic government and a leader who is committed to regional{{U}} (19) {{/U}}in Nigeria, the largest economy of the region, raising hopes that the long-delayed project can be{{U}} (20) {{/U}}.

单选题The advocates of realist international relations tend to think that

单选题Which of the following is TRUE according the text?

单选题Shakespeare's plays were

单选题In a bidding deal, ______.

单选题The phrase "made a hash of things" ( Line 1 , Paragraph 6) most probably means

单选题Plastic is the panacea of the ages. Nearly every man-made object (1) (2) of, or at least (3) its very structure, to this wonder compound. Rain slickers, computer terminals, automobile engine parts, coffee cups (and the sugar stirrers too), breast implants, toy soldiers--they are all made up of plastic, or one of its many (4) . Since the (5) of civilization, humankind has been experimenting (6) a multifunctional material--one that had to be equally strong and lightweight--to carry, contain and protect valuables. (7) it could carry, contain and protect humans too, even Better. Generations of tinkerers and scientists set off (8) the challenge, striking gold some 170 years ago. By mixing natural rubber with sulphur they created the world's most utilized material ever. In developing a (9) , malleable and durable substance, the most important inventions of the industrial age were to follow shortly thereafter. The automobile and airplane industries, to (10) just two, owe their very existence to plastic. And, (11) celluloid plastic strips, the Lumiere Brothers would never have brought moving pictures to the big screen. The development of plastic is a story of human (12) , ingenuity and luck. (13) the legend now goes, in 1839, the American inventor Charles Goodyear (the famous tyre company would later use his name) was experimenting with the sulphur treatment of natural rubber when he dropped a piece of sulphur treated rubber on a stove; The heat seemed to give rubber (14) properties. It was stronger, more (15) to abrasion, more elastic, much less (16) to temperature, (17) to gases, and highly resistant to chemicals and electric (18) . Eyeing this as a cheaply and easily reproduced construction material, a whirlwind of work (19) and the birth of (20) plastic and plastic-derivatives were born from camphor to celluloid to rayon; cellophane, polyvinyl chloride (or PVC); styrofoam and nylon were soon to follow.

单选题What does the author think of the OSAF?

单选题Dr. Vink's results must be interpreted with care because

单选题What scientists Johan Feenstra and Rob Hayes did was that

单选题The key point of the first paragraph is that______

单选题By the phrase "raised eyebrows within the industry" (Line 7, Paragraph 2), we can learn that Google has