Key James, Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Virginia State government, loves

ns' new proposal for the future of Western Sahara is either a betrayal or a dogged【21】at a settlement. It suggests that for the next four years Western Sahara should be a part of Morocco【22】will【23】the Moroccan flag and【24】the Moroccan constitution, but at the same time it will be" autonomous". After four years there may-but only may-be a referendum to decide whether it stays Moroccan or becomes a separate state.

Morocco invaded this comer of north-west Africa in 1975 when the old colonial power, Spain, was preparing to【25】out. The International Court of Justice ruled the Moroccan occupation【26】, and a nasty little war ensued between Morocco and an independence movement, the Polisario Front. They signed a【27】in 1991 ,and agreed to a vote on the future of the territory,【28】by the UN.

Instead of grinding【29】an appeals procedure, or declaring Morocco to be in【30】, the UN now appears to have decided to abandon the whole exercise. The result may be virtually to hand the country【31】to Morocco.

The new plan, drawn up by James Baker, a former American secretary of state,【32】that the agreed list of voters should elect an executive that will.【33】the country's internal affairs for the next four years.

【34】,this executive will be responsible to an assembly elected by all adults now living in the territory, most of【35】are pro--Moroccan. After four years the assembly will appoint a new executive. Morocco will also appoint the judges and be responsible for law and order during the transition.

(21)

A．attempt

B．effort

C．try

D．endeavor

ance practices in

developing countries. Professor James West from North America argued that one of the key needs for developing

countries was to implement rigorous systems of corporate governance to underpin investor confidence in businesses

in those countries. If they did not, he warned, there would be no lasting economic growth as potential foreign inward

investors would be discouraged from investing.

In reply, Professor Amy Leroi, herself from a developing country, reported that many developing countries are

discussing these issues at governmental level. One issue, she said, was about whether to adopt a rules-based or a

principles-based approach. She pointed to evidence highlighting a reduced number of small and medium sized initial

public offerings in New York compared to significant growth in London. She suggested that this change could be

attributed to the costs of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley in the United States and that over-regulation would be the

last thing that a developing country would need. She concluded that a principles-based approach, such as in the

United Kingdom, was preferable for developing countries.

Professor Leroi drew attention to an important section of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to illustrate her point. The key

requirement of that section was to externally report on – and have attested (verified) – internal controls. This was, she

argued, far too ambitious for small and medium companies that tended to dominate the economies of developing

countries.

Professor West countered by saying that whilst Sarbanes-Oxley may have had some problems, it remained the case

that it regulated corporate governance in the ‘largest and most successful economy in the world’. He said that rules

will sometimes be hard to follow but that is no reason to abandon them in favour of what he referred to as ‘softer’

approaches.

(a) There are arguments for both rules and principles-based approaches to corporate governance.

Required:

(i) Describe the essential features of a rules-based approach to corporate governance; (3 marks)

--it won't be a bit like the Army," he said. "He'll sit there all day saying 'do this, do that, ' and nothing will happen." Truman was wrong about Ike. Dwight Eisenhower had led a fractious alliance---you didn't tell Winston Churchill what to do--in a massive, chaotic war. He was used to politics. But Truman's insight could well be applied to another, even more venerated Washington figure: the CEO-turned cabinet secretary.

A 20-year bull market has convinced us all the CEOs are geniuses, so watch with Astonishment the troubles of Donald Rumsfeld and Paul O'Neill. Here are two highly regarded businessmen, obviously intelligent and well-informed, foundering in their jobs.

Actually, we shouldn't be surprised. Rumsfeld and O'Neill are not doing badly despite having been successful CEOs but because of it. The record of senior businessmen in government is one of almost unrelieved disappointment. In fact, with the exception of Robert Rubin, it is difficult to think of a CEO who had a successful career in government.

Why is this？ Well, first the CEO has to recognize that he is no longer the CEO. He is at best an adviser to the CEO, the president. But even the president is not really the CEO. No one is. Power in a corporation is concentrated and vertically structured. Power in Washington is diffuse and horizontally spread out. The secretary might think he's in charge of his agency. But the chairman of the congressional committee funding that agency feels the same. In his famous study "Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents," Richard Neustadt explains how little power the president actually has and concludes that the only lasting presidential power is "the power to persuade."

Take Rumsfeld's attempt to transform. the cold-war military into one geared for the future. It's innovative but deeply threatening to almost everyone in Washington. The Defense Secretary did not try to sell it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Congress, the budget office or the White House. As a result, the idea is collapsing.

Second, what power you have, you must use carefully. For example, O'Neill's position as Treasury Secretary is one with little formal authority. Unlike Finance Ministers around the world, Treasury does not control the budget. But it has symbolic power. The secretary is seen as the chief economic spokesman for the administration and, if he plays it right, the chief economic adviser for the president.

O'Neill has been publicly critical of the IMF’s bailout packages for developing countries while at the same time approving such packages for Turkey, Argentina and Brazil. As a result, he has gotten the worst of both worlds. The bailouts continue, but their effect in holstering investor confidence is limited because the markets are rattled by his skepticism.

Perhaps the government doesn't do bailouts well. But that leads to a third rule: you can't just quit. Jack Welch's famous law for re-engineering General Electric was to be first or second in any given product category, or else get out of that business. But if the government isn't doing a particular job at peak level, it doesn't always have the option of relieving itself of that function. The Pentagon probably wastes a lot of money. But it can't get out of the national-security business.

The key to former Treasury secretary Rubin's success may have been that he fully understood that business and government are, in his words, "necessarily and properly very different.' In a recent speech he explained, "Business functions around one predominate organizing principle, profitability…Government, on the other hand, deals with a vast number of equally legitimate and often potentially competing objectives---for example, energy production versus environmental protection, or safety regulations versus productivity.”

Rubin's example shows that talented people can do well in g

A．regard the president as the CEO

B．take absolute control of his department

C．exercise more power than the congressional committee

D．become acquainted with its power structure

阅读材料，回答题。

Much unfriendly feeling towards computers has been based on the fear of widespread unemployment resulting from their introduction. Computers are often used as part of automated(自动化的) production systems requiring a least possible number of operators, causing the loss of many jobs. This has happened, for example, in many steelworks.

On the other hand, computers do create jobs. They are more skilled and better paid, though fewer in number than those they replace. Many activities could not continue in their present form. without computers, no matter how many people are employed. Examples are the check clearing (交换) system of major banks and the weather forecasting system.

When a form. introduces computers, a few people are usually employed in key posts (such as jobs of operations managers) while other staff are w-trained as operators, programmers, and data preparation staff. After the new system has settled down, people in non-computer jobs are not always replaced when they leave, resulting in a decrease in the number of employees. This decrease is sometimes balanced by a substantial increase in the activity of the frim, resulting from the introduction of computers.

The attitudes of workers towards computers vary. There is fear of widespread unemployment and of the takeover of many jobs by computer-trained workers, making promotion for older workers not skilled in computers more difficult.

On the other hand, many workers regard the trend toward wider use of computers inevitable.They realize that computers bring about greater efficiency and productivity, which will improve the condition of the whole economy, and lead to the creation of more jobs. This view was supported by the former British Prime Minister, James Callaghan in 1954, when he made the point that new technologies hold the key to increased productivity, which will benefit the economy in the long ran.

The unfriendly feeling towards computers is developed from 查看材料

A.the possible widespread unemployment caused by their introduction

B.their use as part of automated production systems

C.the least possible number of operators

D.the production system in steelworks

seriousness we often find there？ According to a survey, only 15 percent of workers are fired because of lack of competence.The remaining 85 percent are let go because of their inability to get along with fellow employees.When asked about the qualities of an effective employee, the answer is "humor".Why has humor become a recognized asset in the workplace？ Humor facilitates communication, builds relationships, reduces stress, and promotes attendance and energy.

Humor provides a non-threatening way for an employee or employer to communicate with each other.Consider the secretary who posts the sign "I have only two speeds.If this one isn't fast enough, you're not going to like my other one." Or the somewhat scattered boss whose messy desk has the sign, "A Creative Mess is Better than Tidy Idleness." The message is clear, yet the communication is done in a light and, therefore, less stressful way.The secretary's sign makes fun at the situation, and the boss's note makes fun at himself.

Humor can also facilitate staff connection and a sense of team effort in the workplace.Bulletin boards, electronic mail, office memos, and voicemail are all mediums through which we can share humor with co-workers.Office jokes that take the seriousness of work lightly give us the opportunity to become more connected with others.

Work is often associated with stress, and stress is one of the main causes of illness and employee burnout.Humor helps relieve stress because it makes us feel good, and we can't feel good and feel stressed at the same time.At the moment we experience humor, feelings like depression, anger, and anxiety dissolve.When we laugh we feel physically better, and after laughter we feel happier and more relaxed.In addition, humor helps reduce psychological stress.

Humor wakes us up and increases our attention.An office bulletin board full of cartoons, jokes, and funny pictures is one way to invite humor into the workplace.A few moments of humor at work can lead to increased productivity.In working environments where humor is supported, a culture develops that uses humor to reduce stress.Learning to laugh at ourselves and our work lightens the workload.

1.Whether you're humorous will somehow affect ________.

A.your relationship with the boss

B.your confidence in your company

C.your hiring status at your workplace

D.your image in your colleagues' eyes

2.What's the implication of the secretary's sign？

A.Please don't worry about my speed.

B.My 1st speed is not as fast as the 2nd one.

C.My 2nd speed is slower than the 1st one.

D.Be a little patient about my speed.

3."A Creative Mess is Better than Tidy Idleness" means that ________.

A.being messy is better than being tidy

B.being messy sometimes needs creativity

C.working hard is better than idling away time

D.working creatively is better than being tidy

4.Which statement is true according to the passage？

A.Humor is a remedy for miscommunication.

B.Humor enhances better cooperation at work.

C.Humor makes people more creative.

D.Humor can be seen from various mediums.

5.What does the author want to tell us？

A.Humor is the key to work efficiency.

B.Being humorous is not that difficult.

C.Boss-and-employee relationship is enhanced by humor.

D.Humorous employees work more happily.

U.S. fourth- and eighth-graders improved their math scores in a closely watched international test, but continued to lag well behind peers from top-performing Asian countries.

The U.S. and other governments on Tuesday 11 the results of the test, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, the world’s largest assessment of international achievement. Some 425,000 students in almost 60 countries took the exam, administered every four years, starting in 1995.

The test results come as businesses have warned that poor performance in math is eroding U.S. 12 , and as lawmakers in Washington prepare for a key battle over education policy.

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and some experts said the 13 suggest a victory for tougher teaching standards, increased rigor in math instruction, and the frequent standardized testing 14 by President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law. Critics of the law found little evidence to support that conclusion.

In math, U.S. fourth-graders ranked No. 11 on the international test, 15 surpassed by eight countries, led by China, Singapore and Japan, researchers said.

U.S. fourth-graders on average scored 529 in 2007, up from 518 in both 2003 and 1995. The results are reported on a zero to 1,000-point scale, with 500 16 the international average. Top-performing China scored 607. U.S. eighth-graders ranked No. 9 in math with a score of 508, behind many of the 17 Asian countries atop the fourth-grade chart.

“In math, the U.S. is making 18 progress,” says Michael O. Martin, one of the directors of the study at Boston College, which 19_ the test. But Mr. Martin said he worried about the huge gap between the U.S. and Asian countries, which aren’t 20 on their laurels.

A) management I) representingB) truly J) takesC) steady K) promotedD) resting L) sameE) released M) administersF) rapid N) words

G) roughly O) competitivenessH) results