21. According to Paragraph 1, Ms. Simmons was criticized for.
- A. gaining excessive profits
- B. failing to fulfill her duty
- C. refusing to make compromises
- D. leaving the board in tough times
答案：B
答案句：Ruth Simmons joined Goldman Sachs’s board as an outside director in January 2000; a year later she became president of Brown University. For the rest of the decade she apparently managed both roles without attracting much criticism. But by the end of 2009 Ms. Simmons was under fire for having sat on Goldman’s compensation committee; how could she have let those enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked?
参考译文：Ruth Simmons于2000年1月加入高盛董事会担任外部董事；一年后她成为布朗大学校长。在那十年的剩余时间里，她显然同时担任这两个角色而没有招致多少批评。但到2009年底，Simmons女士因担任高盛薪酬委员会成员而受到抨击；她怎么能让那些巨额奖金支出不被注意到呢？
定位线索：题干“According to Paragraph 1, Ms. Simmons was criticized for”→答案句取自第1段“Ms. Simmons was under fire for having sat on Goldman’s compensation committee”；文中“let those enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked”对应选项B“failing to fulfill her duty”（未能履行职责）。
解析：题干问Simmons女士因何被批评，答案句明确指出她因担任薪酬委员会成员而“under fire”，且反问“how could she have let those enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked”，即她未能阻止巨额奖金发放，属于失职。选项B“failing to fulfill her duty”正是对此的同义转述。选项A“gaining excessive profits”无中生有，文中未提她获利；选项C“refusing to make compromises”偷换概念，文中未涉及妥协；选项D“leaving the board in tough times”答非所问，离开董事会是批评后的结果而非原因。
22. We learn from Paragraph 2 that outside directors are supposed to be.
- A. generous investors
- B. unbiased executives
- C. share price forecasters
- D. independent advisers
答案：D
答案句：Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers on a firm’s board. Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere, they presumably have enough independence to disagree with the chief executive’s proposals.
参考译文：外部董事应该在公司董事会中充当有益但偏见较少的顾问。由于他们在别处已经积累了财富和声誉，他们大概有足够的独立性来反对首席执行官的提议。
定位线索：题干“We learn from Paragraph 2 that outside directors are supposed to be”→答案句取自第2段“Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers”和“have enough independence to disagree”；文中“less biased”和“independence”对应选项D“independent advisers”（独立顾问）。
解析：题干问外部董事应该是什么角色，答案句直接说明他们应作为“less biased advisers”且“have enough independence”，综合即“independent advisers”，对应选项D。选项A“generous investors”无中生有，文中未提投资；选项B“unbiased executives”偷换概念，外部董事不是高管；选项C“share price forecasters”无中生有，文中未提预测股价。
23. According to the researchers from Ohio University, after an outside director’s surprise departure, the firm is likely to.
- A. become more stable
- B. report increased earnings
- C. do less well in the stock market
- D. perform worse in lawsuits
答案：C
答案句：They found that after a surprise departure, the probability that the company will subsequently have to restate earnings increases by nearly 20%. The likelihood of being named in a federal class-action lawsuit also increases, and the stock is likely to perform worse.
参考译文：他们发现，在意外离职后，公司随后不得不重述盈利的概率增加了近20%。被卷入联邦集体诉讼的可能性也会增加，而且股票表现可能会更差。
定位线索：题干“According to the researchers from Ohio University, after an outside director’s surprise departure, the firm is likely to”→答案句取自第3段“after a surprise departure... the stock is likely to perform worse”；文中“the stock is likely to perform worse”对应选项C“do less well in the stock market”（在股市表现不佳）。
解析：题干问外部董事意外离职后公司可能怎样，答案句明确指出“the stock is likely to perform worse”，即股票表现更差，对应选项C“do less well in the stock market”。选项A“become more stable”与原文相反，原文提到业绩变差；选项B“report increased earnings”偷换概念，原文是“restate earnings”（重述盈利）而非增加盈利；选项D“perform worse in lawsuits”范围缩小，原文只说被诉讼的可能性增加，并非在诉讼中表现更差。
24. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that outside directors.
- A. may stay for the attractive offers from the firm
- B. have often had records of wrongdoings in the firm
- C. are accustomed to stress-free work in the firm
- D. will decline incentives from the firm
答案：A
答案句：Firms who want to keep their outside directors through tough times may have to create incentives. Otherwise outside directors will follow the example of Ms. Simmons, once again very popular on campus.
参考译文：想要在困难时期留住外部董事的公司可能不得不创造激励措施。否则，外部董事将效仿Simmons女士的例子，她在校园里再次大受欢迎。
定位线索：题干“It can be inferred from the last paragraph that outside directors”→答案句取自第4段“Firms who want to keep their outside directors through tough times may have to create incentives”；文中“create incentives”对应选项A“may stay for the attractive offers from the firm”（可能因公司提供的诱人条件而留下）。
解析：题干要求从最后一段推断外部董事的行为，答案句指出公司需要“create incentives”才能留住外部董事，暗示外部董事可能因激励而留下，对应选项A。选项B“have often had records of wrongdoings”无中生有，文中未提不当行为记录；选项C“are accustomed to stress-free work”无中生有，文中未提工作压力；选项D“will decline incentives”与原文相反，原文暗示激励有效。
25. The author’s attitude toward the role of outside directors is.
- A. permissive
- B. positive
- C. scornful
- D. critical
答案：B
答案句：Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers on a firm’s board. Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere, they presumably have enough independence to disagree with the chief executive’s proposals. If the sky, and the share price is falling, outside directors should be able to give advice based on having weathered their own crises.
参考译文：外部董事应该在公司董事会中充当有益但偏见较少的顾问。由于他们在别处已经积累了财富和声誉，他们大概有足够的独立性来反对首席执行官的提议。如果天空，股价下跌，外部董事应该能够基于自己经历过危机而提供建议。
定位线索：题干“The author’s attitude toward the role of outside directors”→答案句取自第2段“Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers”和“should be able to give advice”；文中“helpful”“less biased”“should be able”体现作者正面态度，对应选项B“positive”（积极的）。
解析：题干问作者对外部董事角色的态度，答案句用“helpful”“less biased”“should be able to give advice”等正面词汇描述外部董事，体现积极态度，对应选项B。选项A“permissive”（宽容的）程度过轻，作者是明确肯定而非容忍；选项C“scornful”（轻蔑的）和选项D“critical”（批评的）均与原文正面描述相反，无中生有。