2020考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 26

Unit 26

The idea that corporations bear a responsibility that stretches beyond their shareholders is not new. Many companies in the 19th century built special housing for their employees in the belief that a well-housed employee was more productive than one living in a dump. In the early years of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt, then president of the United States, said, “Corporations are indispensable instruments of our modern civilization; but I believe that they should be so supervised and so regulated that they shall act for the interests of the community as a whole.” He introduced antitrust legislation and rules on health and safety, and on working hours.

In 1987, Adrian Cadbury, head of the Eponymous chocolate firm, wrote in Harvard Business Review: the possibility that ethical and commercial considerations will conflict has always faced those who run companies. It is not a new problem. The difference now is that a more widespread and critical interest is being taken in our decisions and in the ethical judgments which lie behind them.

The debate then focused on how much of Roosevelt’s supervision and regulation was needed to make sure that corporations act sufficiently in the interests of the wider community. Extreme free-marketers say all that is required to ensure the responsible behavior of corporations is transparency about their affairs. Corporations will then behave responsibly towards the wider community without any coercion because it is in their own best interests. “Being good”, said Anita Roddick, founder of an “ethical” cosmetics firm, The Body Shop, “is good business.” In the United States, the Better Business Bureau goes further and argues that unethical business is bad for business as a whole, not just for individual firms.

The recent debate about corporate social responsibility（CSR）has focused on three main areas:

● The environment. This has stretched way beyond the simple demand that companies stop belching smoke out of factory chimneys to a demand that they control their appetite for natural resources—for bits of Brazilian rain forest, for example, or for the skins of rare animals. The organized hostility to such behavior has forced companies to change. For example, suppliers frightened by the venom of the anti-fur lobby felt compelled to boast: “Make no mistake; all our furs are fake.”

● Exploitation. The second strand is the exploitation of workers, especially of women in the developed world and of children in the developing world. There is a feeling that globalization has increased the power of multinationals to exploit the poor and underpaid, at the same time as it has weakened the influence of trade unions and other organizations designed to protect them.

● Bribery and corruption. The third strand focuses on corruption, in particular on the question of what constitutes a bribe（when does generous corporate hospitality step over the line?）, and what protections should be given to whistleblowers（employees or other insiders who report corporate misdeeds）. Here there is a strong cultural element to confuse the issue. What constitutes bribery in western countries, for example, may not be considered such in regions such as the Middle East.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象為2004年真題Text 1。

1. What was Theodore Roosevelt’s view on corporate social responsibility（CSR）?

A) He thought that corporations should be able to fulfill CSR for their own interests.

B) He insisted that CSR meant all employees should be treated equally.

C) He believed that the fulfillment of CSR must rely on government.

D) He suspected that CSR would violate corporations’ own benefit.

2. Which of the following is NOT an aspect relevant to CSR?

A) Governmental regulation.

B) Ethics.

C) Transparency.

D) Community responsibility.

3. The expression “Being good”（Line 5, Paragraph 3） most probably means ______.

A) producing quality products

B) maintaining profitable business

C) being conscious of community

D) being socially accountable

4. The debate about CSR in the three main areas reveals that ______.

A) companies’ environmental protection measures should focus on factory chimneys

B) a better understanding of the best CSR practices requires a thorough comprehension of various cultures

C) globalization is by nature against the promotion of CSR

D) CSR makes it more difficult to bribe in a decent way

5. What can we infer from the text?

A) CSR is a recent concept, emerging from the 20th century.

B) Theodore Roosevelt was the first US president who was concerned with CSR.

C) CSR is not only beneficial to individual companies, but the entire business sphere.

D) Trade unions are equally powerful in developed and developing countries.

篇章剖析

本文主要討論企業(yè)的社會(huì)責(zé)任問題（即CSR）。第一段介紹了歷史上對(duì)企業(yè)社會(huì)責(zé)任問題的看法，主要是羅斯?？偨y(tǒng)采取的一些措施；第二段承上啟下，自然過渡到如今企業(yè)社會(huì)責(zé)任的新變化；第三段至文章最后概述了目前關(guān)于企業(yè)社會(huì)責(zé)任這個(gè)概念的爭(zhēng)論及其所涉及的主要方面。

詞匯注釋

dump /d?mp/ n. 臟亂的地方

indispensable /??nd?s?pens?bl/ adj. 必不可少的，必需的

supervise /?sju?p?va?z/ v. 監(jiān)督，管理，指導(dǎo)

antitrust /??nt??tr?st/ adj. 反托拉斯的，反壟斷的

legislation /?led??s?le???n/ n. 制定法律，立法

transparency /tr?ns?p?r?nsi/ n. 透明，透明度

coercion /k???????n/ n. 強(qiáng)迫，脅迫

belch /belt?/ v. 噴出，噴射

venom /?ven?m/ n. 怨恨，憤恨

strand /str?nd/ n. （構(gòu)成整體的）一個(gè)組成部分

multinational /?m?lt??n???nl/ n. 跨國(guó)公司

bribery /?bra?b?ri/ n. 行賄，受賄

constitute /?k?nst?tju?t/ v. 構(gòu)成，組成

難句突破

This has stretched way beyond the simple demand that companies stop belching smoke out of factory chimneys to a demand that they control their appetite for natural resources—for bits of Brazilian rain forest, for example, or for the skins of rare animals.

主體句式：This has stretched way beyond...to...

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句的難點(diǎn)在于stretch beyond...to...這個(gè)結(jié)構(gòu)。beyond的賓語(yǔ)the simple demand又跟了一個(gè)that引導(dǎo)的定語(yǔ)從句，to后面的賓語(yǔ)是a demand，也跟了一個(gè)that引導(dǎo)的同語(yǔ)從句來進(jìn)一步說明，最后破折號(hào)后面的內(nèi)容是對(duì)the appetite for natural resources的補(bǔ)充說明。

句子譯文：這不僅僅是要求企業(yè)停止用煙囪排煙，還要求它們控制其對(duì)自然資源的掠奪，例如巴西的熱帶雨林，或者稀有動(dòng)物的皮。

題目分析

1. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第一段西奧多·羅斯福說：“企業(yè)是現(xiàn)代文明進(jìn)程中不可或缺的工具，但是我認(rèn)為必須對(duì)其加以監(jiān)管，使其為整個(gè)社會(huì)的利益服務(wù)”，也就是說他認(rèn)為企業(yè)必須要有政府的監(jiān)督，才能履行社會(huì)責(zé)任，因此C為正確選項(xiàng)。選項(xiàng)A的含義與之相反，選項(xiàng)B和D在文中均沒有對(duì)應(yīng)信息，因此都是錯(cuò)誤的。

2. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。第三段開頭指出“人們爭(zhēng)論的焦點(diǎn)在于，要確保企業(yè)充分地為整個(gè)社會(huì)謀利，羅斯福所提出的監(jiān)管有多大必要?！币虼丝梢娬?guī)定并不屬于CSR的一個(gè)方面，而是一個(gè)外在因素。B、C、D三個(gè)選項(xiàng)在第二、三段均有提及。

3. D 語(yǔ)義題。本文主要談的是企業(yè)如何對(duì)社區(qū)和社會(huì)盡到社會(huì)責(zé)任，因此安妮塔·羅迪克說的good business指的就是負(fù)責(zé)任的企業(yè)，因此D是最佳答案。C選項(xiàng)具有一定迷惑性，但是僅僅有社區(qū)意識(shí)是不夠的，企業(yè)需要用實(shí)際行動(dòng)去履行自己的責(zé)任，因此該選項(xiàng)不正確。

4. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章最后一段指出“在西方國(guó)家被認(rèn)定為賄賂的行為在中東地區(qū)或許是合情合理的。”可見要更好地實(shí)踐CSR還需要理解不同文化，因此B是正確答案。文章倒數(shù)第三段指出“這不僅僅是要求企業(yè)停止用煙囪排煙，還要求制約對(duì)自然資源的掠奪，例如巴西的熱帶雨林，或者稀有動(dòng)物的皮?！倍鳤選項(xiàng)說，環(huán)境保護(hù)措施應(yīng)側(cè)重于工廠的煙囪，這顯然是不正確的。倒數(shù)第二段指出“人們覺得全球化助長(zhǎng)了跨國(guó)公司剝削窮困工人的勢(shì)力，同時(shí)也削弱了工會(huì)和其他為保護(hù)員工權(quán)益而設(shè)立的組織的影響力?！笨梢娺@里僅僅是一個(gè)猜測(cè)，選項(xiàng)C用了by nature是不對(duì)的。D選項(xiàng)的說法本身錯(cuò)誤。

5. C 推理題。文章第一段指出19世紀(jì)就出現(xiàn)了企業(yè)履行社會(huì)責(zé)任的做法，因此A不正確。B和D的信息文章中沒有提供，因此也不能入選。文章第三段指出“個(gè)別缺乏社會(huì)責(zé)任感的企業(yè)不僅會(huì)影響企業(yè)自身的聲譽(yù)，還會(huì)累及整個(gè)行業(yè)”，所以C是正確答案。

參考譯文

企業(yè)不只對(duì)股東負(fù)有責(zé)任，這一觀念并不是最近才出現(xiàn)。19世紀(jì)，很多企業(yè)專門為員工提供了住房，他們認(rèn)為，比起居住條件簡(jiǎn)陋的員工，居住條件好的員工生產(chǎn)效率更高。20世紀(jì)初期，時(shí)任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)的西奧多·羅斯福就說：“企業(yè)是現(xiàn)代文明進(jìn)程中不可或缺的工具，但是我認(rèn)為必須對(duì)其加以監(jiān)管，使其為整個(gè)社會(huì)的利益服務(wù)?！绷_斯福在位期間頒布了“反托拉斯法”，以及一系列關(guān)于健康、安全、工時(shí)等的法規(guī)。

1987年，吉百利巧克力公司的董事長(zhǎng)阿德里安·卡德伯里在《哈佛商業(yè)評(píng)論》中寫道：道德和商業(yè)決策之間會(huì)存在沖突是公司經(jīng)營(yíng)者一直面臨的問題。這并不是一個(gè)新問題，如今的不同在于，每個(gè)決策及其背后的道德評(píng)判都觸及了更廣、更重要的利益。

人們爭(zhēng)論的焦點(diǎn)在于，要確保企業(yè)充分地為整個(gè)社會(huì)謀利，羅斯福所提出的監(jiān)管有多大必要。極端自由市場(chǎng)主義者認(rèn)為，要保證企業(yè)承擔(dān)責(zé)任，只需將其各項(xiàng)事務(wù)透明公開。這樣一來，不需要任何強(qiáng)制措施，公司就會(huì)主動(dòng)承擔(dān)社會(huì)責(zé)任，因?yàn)檫@樣做符合公司自身的利益。英國(guó)化妝品公司“美體小鋪”是一家“道德水平高的”公司，其創(chuàng)始人安妮塔·羅迪克說：“做善事的企業(yè)，才是好的企業(yè)?！泵绹?guó)的商業(yè)促進(jìn)局更進(jìn)一步表示，個(gè)別缺乏社會(huì)責(zé)任感的企業(yè)不僅會(huì)影響企業(yè)自身的聲譽(yù)，還會(huì)累及整個(gè)行業(yè)。

近期對(duì)企業(yè)社會(huì)責(zé)任的爭(zhēng)論主要集中在以下三方面：

一、環(huán)境。這不僅僅是要求企業(yè)停止用煙囪排煙，還要求它們控制其對(duì)自然資源的掠奪，例如巴西的熱帶雨林，或者稀有動(dòng)物的皮。有組織的抗?fàn)幓顒?dòng)已迫使相關(guān)企業(yè)做出改變。例如，懾于反皮毛游說組織的攻擊，一些供應(yīng)商不得不聲稱：“不要搞錯(cuò)，我們所有的皮毛都是仿制品?！?

二、剝削行為。第二方面是企業(yè)對(duì)工人的剝削，尤其是在發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家對(duì)女性員工的剝削，和在發(fā)展中國(guó)家對(duì)童工的剝削。人們覺得全球化助長(zhǎng)了跨國(guó)公司剝削窮困工人的勢(shì)力，同時(shí)也削弱了工會(huì)和其他為保護(hù)員工權(quán)益而設(shè)立的組織的影響力。

三、賄賂和腐敗。第三方面是腐敗問題，尤其是如何定義腐敗（企業(yè)各種慷慨接待的底線在哪），以及怎樣保護(hù)舉報(bào)者（舉報(bào)公司不當(dāng)行為的內(nèi)部員工或其他知情者）。文化因素使這些問題更加復(fù)雜。例如，在西方國(guó)家被認(rèn)定為賄賂的行為在中東地區(qū)或許是合情合理的。