1、大学英语四级-阅读 3及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：0，分数：0.00)When Companies Know More but Say Less About Their Gender Gap?A. New York CityTwo years ago, Avon executives made a startling discovery: The company, a beauty brand known for its legions of “Avon ladies,“ had relatively few wo
2、men in top management positions. Ninety-eight percent of employees in district sales management were women. But most top leadership roles in that area were held by men, said Leslie Mays, Avon“s vice president of global inclusion. “Even though we were predominantly women, we were dominated by men,“ s
3、he told a conference room of business leaders this week in New York. B. The event, hosted by UN Women“s Empowerment Principles, focused on how organizations chart progress toward gender equality. Yet representatives for Avon, when later reached for comment, declined to release the specific percentag
4、e of women in upper-management roles at the company. Avon is among a growing number of multinational companies that have turned to analytics to track what happens to female employees throughout their careersbut like many businesses, it is hesitant to disclose what it finds. C. Google is a prime exam
5、ple. The company has long gathered data on its own workforce. Only last year, after outside pressure, did it make those figures public. “We“ve always been reluctant to publish numbers about the diversity of our workforce at Google,“ senior vice president Lazslo Bock wrote in a company post. Only 17
6、percent of Google“s technology workers are female. Avon“s gender breakdown is far less stark, so its reluctance to share senior management numbers is more puzzling. Avon employs 33,200 people across the globe, 60 percent of whom are women. Seven of the company“s 11 board members are women, a rare ma
7、jority in corporate America, where women fill only 16.9 percent of Fortune 500 board seats. D. The cosmetics juggernaut also publicly strives to be a gender diversity champion, running breast cancer and domestic violence charities. So why was it struggling to promote its female employees to senior r
8、anks? And why won“t it share a status update? “We agree that it is important to assess and track gender-specific data and this is an important part of Avon“s Global Women“s Strategy,“ the company said in a statement to the Post. “During her presentation this week, Leslie shared several data points f
9、rom an internal study to help illustrate our program.“ Avon added, however: “The full findings of our gender analytics is confidential.“ Representatives from L“Oreal and Carrefour also spoke on the UN panel about data reporting Wednesday. Both emphasized the importance of tracking female employee ou
10、tcomes. Neither company, however, has released findings on how near it is to closing the gender gap. E. For companies like Avonwhich Mays said is building a “women-centric environment“the roadblocks to female employees“ advancement are harder to discern than at male-dominated companies, where cultur
11、al barriers are more obvious. So, Avon started collecting gender-specific data to answer a few questions: How often were women getting promoted? Where did corporate mobility stagnate? What forces pushed turnover? What policies helped new parents stick around? F. Mercer, a talent consulting firm, wor
12、ks with global companies to crunch such numbers. Though a Mercer spokesperson declined to reveal how specific companies like Avon monitor their workforce, he explained that, in general, analysts sift through administrative data stored in a company“s HR system. Every career event is recorded: a promo
13、tion, pay raise, a supervisor change, a relocation. “Data tells the story of what happens to talent inside the bounds of the company,“ said Brian Levine, partner and co-leader of strategy and analytics at Mercer. “You can map out the best experiences and paths and look to replicate those, to ensure
14、everyone has access to high-potential paths.“ G. Mercer examined the careers of 1.7 million employees at 164 companies in 28 countries. Results, published last year, reinforced what a wide body of previous evidence has suggested: Women worldwide appear to have a tougher time breaking into their empl
15、oyers“ upper ranks. At the average global organization, researchers found, support staffemployees at the bottom of the corporate hierarchyis 56 percent men and 44 percent women. Senior management, however, is 76 percent male. H. Over the last three years, Levine said, more companies have begun searc
16、hing for ways to better balance gender ratios: “I think that“s because companies are struggling to find access to talent,“ he said. “Innovation has become front and centerand research shows diversity links to innovation.“ Still, companies prefer confidentiality. Levine can“t reveal any information a
17、bout his clients, or who his clients are, or how many clients Mercer assists with gender tracking. Results, too, largely remain under wraps. I. That may soon change. As of last October, firm participants in the UN Global Compact, a human-rights policy initiative for businesses, could start answering
18、 gender-specific questions as part of their public Communication On Progress annual reports. So far, only 60 companies have participated, though more than 8,000 companies worldwide are part of the UN Global Compact network. Stephanie Oueda, who leads the international diversity team for L“Oreal in P
19、aris, sat on the panel Wednesday with Mays. She said L“Oreal, like Avon, is using data to understand how to retain highly skilled female employees. The company found, for example, that a 14-week maternity leave reduces turnover. J. Google also found its data reveal a strong correlation between mater
20、nity leave and retention. In 2007, the company increased paid maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks, and saw that the rate at which new moms left Google subsequently fell by 50 percent, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal column. K. Better analytics on gender could drive e
21、conomic growth worldwide, said Levine, the Mercer executive. Eliminating the gap between male and female employment rates could boost GDP in the United States by 5 percent, in Japan by 9 percent, in the United Arab Emirates by 12 percent and in Egypt by 34 percent, according to calculations by the I
22、nternational Monetary Fund. L. Avon“s 2013 study, which revealed an uneven gender ratio in sales management, looked at the company“s top-performing markets. On the list: Brazil, Russia, Mexico and the United States. “Even with all of our success in gender diversity“, we still had to step back and as
23、k, “What do women need?“ Mays told the conference crowd. “We still have to focus on making this mission and living this mission into reality.“ M. That could mean sharing its numbers publicly in the future, an Avon spokesperson said. In the meantime, the company will just share them with HR and sales
24、 team leaders.（分数：20.00）(1).It is proved by official numbers that gender equality could improve a country“s economy.（分数：2.00）(2).Although many giant companies sent representatives to have a speech on the conference hosted by the UN expert group, none of them disclosed their finding results on gender
25、 equality.（分数：2.00）(3).Mercer has a way to get data about the real state of the employees inside the companies which are not willing to release their workforce data.（分数：2.00）(4).Since Google extended the maternity leave, more female employees who just had babies chose to stay in the company.（分数：2.00
26、）(5).Companies find workforce data is useful in keeping qualified women to continue making contributions.（分数：2.00）(6).Mercer“s research on workers in dozens of countries indicates that in the bottom rank, women relatively get the equal chance with men while in senior rank, management positions are d
27、ominated most by men.（分数：2.00）(7).One of the United Nations“ organization launched an activity to get information about whether women have equal opportunity in working.（分数：2.00）(8).Avon will probably reveal its data to the public but at present, they are only available inside the company.（分数：2.00）(9
28、).According to Leslie, almost all the employees in Avon are women, but they work under men“s control.（分数：2.00）(10).Not until last year, did Google disclose its workforce numbers to the public that no more than one fifth of its technology talents are women.（分数：2.00）A Smart Way to Help Mothers Return
29、to WorkA. Last week, Johnson government budgets will be in better shape, as high earners pay taxes for longer. Rich countries with lots of well-educated older people will find the burden of ageing easier to bear. I. At the other end of the social scale, however, things look grim. Manual work gets ha
30、rder as people get older, and public pensions look more attractive to those on low wages and the unemployed. In the lexicon of popular hate-figures, work-shirking welfare queens breeding at the taxpayer“s expense may be replaced by deadbeat grandads collecting taxpayer handouts while their hard-work
31、ing contemporaries strive on. J. Nor are all the effects on the economy beneficial. Wealthy old people will accumulate more savings, which will weaken demand. Inequality will increase and a growing share of wealth will eventually be transferred to the next generation via inheritance, entrenching (牢固
32、地确立) the division between winners and losers still further. One likely response is to impose higher inheritance taxes. So long as they replaced less-fair taxes, that might make sense. They would probably encourage old people to spend their cash rather than salt it away. But governments should focus
33、not on redistributing income but on generating more of it by reforming retirement and education. K. Age should no longer determine the appropriate end of a working life. Mandatory (强迫的) retirement ages and pension rules that discourage people from working longer should go. Welfare should reflect the
34、 greater opportunities open to the higher-skilled. Pensions should become more progressive. At the same time, this trend underlines the importance of increasing public investment in education at all stages of life, so that more people acquire the skills they need to thrive in the modem labour market
35、. L. Today, many governments are understandably loth to spend money retraining older folk who are likely to retire soon. But if people can work for longer, that investment makes much more sense. Deadbeat 60-year-olds are unlikely to become computer scientists, but they could learn useful vocational
36、skills, such as caring for the growing number of very old people. M. How likely are governments to make these changes? Look around the rich world today, and it is hard to be optimistic. The swelling ranks of older voters, and their disproportionate propensity to vote, have left politicians keener to
37、 pander to them than to implement disruptive reforms. Germany, despite being the fastest-ageing country in Europe, plans to cut the statutory retirement age for some people. N. In America both Social Security and the fast-growing system of disability benefits remain untouched by reform. Politicians
38、need to convince less-skilled older voters that it is in their interests to go on working. Doing so will not be easy. But the alternativeeconomic stagnation and even greater inequalityis worse.（分数：20.00）(1).The reasons why oldies still work after retirement are somewhat due to the changed policy and
39、 the nature of work.（分数：2.00）(2).To avoid old people give their fortune to next generation, government is likely to find ways to make old people spend money.（分数：2.00）(3).For the less educated or unskilled people, their working hours are short and their salary is quite low.（分数：2.00）(4).It is proposed
40、 that government should add more opportunities for people to learn knowledge and be skilled to earn their living.（分数：2.00）(5).Global aging is a widespread problem especially for developed countries which probably will have impact on economic growth etc.（分数：2.00）(6).It is necessary for politicians to
41、 persuade aged voters to continue work which is an uneasy job.（分数：2.00）(7).More than half of the American old people who have received good education are still at work after retirement.（分数：2.00）(8).Since aged people are increasing rapidly and people live much longer than before, government has to pa
42、y a great sum of pensions which is a heavy burden.（分数：2.00）(9).Presently, many governments are reluctant to invest money getting the aged who are going to retire in the near future retrained.（分数：2.00）(10).In some areas, well-educated old people are more popular and needed for work which results in t
43、heir continuously getting good salary.（分数：2.00）Who Are the 1% Richest?A. Mitt Romney is not the first multi-millionaire to seek the presidency, nor the richest. Ross Perot, the record-holder, spent some of his billions earned from computer data on losing bids in 1992 and 1996. Since then men who owe
44、 their or their family“s fortunes to oil, sport, publishing, trial law, ketchup, beer and bestselling autobiographies have followed. B. But Mr. Romney, who earned his $200 million or so as a private-equity executive buying and selling companies, is the first candidate from the world of high-octane f
45、inance. As such, he illustrates the changing complexion of America“s rich. The wealthiest 1% of Americans not only get more of the pie; they are increasingly creatures of finance. C. The average household income of the 1% was $1.2 million in 2008, according to federal tax data. The ultra-rich skew t
46、hat average upwards: admission to the 1% began at $380,000 in 2008. The Congressional Budget Office puts the cut-off lower, at $347,000 in 2007, or $252,000 after subtracting federal taxes and adding back transfers. Measured by net worth, rather than income, the top 1% started at $6.9 million in 200
47、9, according to the Federal Reserve, down 23% from 2007. D. The richest 1% earn roughly half their income from wages and salaries, a quarter from self-employment and business income, and the remainder from interest, dividends, capital gains and rent. According to an analysis of tax returns by JonBak
48、ija of Williams College and two others, 16% of the top 1% were in medical professions and 8% were lawyers: shares that have changed little between 1979 and 2005, the latest year the authors examined. The most striking shift has been the growth of financial occupations, from just under 8% of the weal
49、thy in 1979 to 13.9% in 2005. Their representation within the top 0.1% is even more pronounced: 18%, up from 11% in 1979. E. Steve Kaplan of the University of Chicago thinks finance explains much of the rise in inequality. Updating a series developed by Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, Mr. Kaplan notes that the share of income going to the 1% reached an 80-year high of 23.5% in 2007, only to sink to 17.6% in 2009 as the financial markets deflated. The trend is even more pronounced for the top 0.1%, whose share of total income rose to 12.3% in 2007 but sank to a still disproportionate
