1、Text 1The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least. “Hooray! At last!” wrote
2、 Anthony Tommasini, a sober-sided classical-music critic.One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilberts appointment in the Times, calls him “an unpretentious musician with no air of th
3、e formidable conductor about him.” As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise.For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a g
4、reat conductor or even a good one. To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music. All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and downlo
5、ad still more recorded music from iTunes.Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point. For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theate
6、r companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century. There recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than todays live performances; moreover, they can be “consumed” at a time and place
7、 of the listeners choosing. The widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert.One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record. Gilberts own inter
8、est in new music has been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into “a markedly different, more vibrant organization.” But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestras repertoire will n
9、ot be enough. If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between Americas oldest orchestra and the new audience it hops to attract.21. We learn from Para.1 that Gilberts appointment hasAincurred criticism. Braised suspicion. Creceived acclaim. Daroused cu
10、riosity.22. Tommasini regards Gilbert as an artist who isAinfluential. Bmodest. Crespectable. Dtalented.23. The author believes that the devoted concertgoersAignore the expenses of live performances. Breject most kinds of recorded performances.Cexaggerate the variety of live performances. Doverestim
11、ate the value of live performances.24. According to the text, which of the following is true of recordings?AThey are often inferior to live concerts in quality. BThey are easily accessible to the general public.CThey help improve the quality of music. DThey have only covered masterpieces.25. Regardi
12、ng Gilberts role in revitalizing the Philharmonic, the author feelsAdoubtful. Benthusiastic. Cconfident. Dpuzzled.Text 2When Liam McGee departed as president of Bank of America in August, his explanation was surprisingly straight up. Rather than cloaking his exit in the usual vague excuses, he came
13、right out and said he was leaving “to pursue my goal of running a company.” Broadcasting his ambition was “very much my decision,” McGee says. Within two weeks, he was talking for the first time with the board of Hartford Financial Services Group, which named him CEO and chairman on September 29.McG
14、ee says leaving without a position lined up gave him time to reflect on what kind of company he wanted to run. It also sent a clear message to the outside world about his aspirations. And McGee isnt alone. In recent weeks the No.2 executives at Avon and American Express quit with the explanation tha
15、t they were looking for a CEO post. As boards scrutinize succession plans in response to shareholder pressure, executives who dont get the nod also may wish to move on. A turbulent business environment also has senior managers cautious of letting vague pronouncements cloud their reputations.As the f
16、irst signs of recovery begin to take hold, deputy chiefs may be more willing to make the jump without a net. In the third quarter, CEO turnover was down 23% from a year ago as nervous boards stuck with the leaders they had, according to Liberum Research. As the economy picks up, opportunities will a
17、bound for aspiring leaders.The decision to quit a senior position to look for a better one is unconventional. For years executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO candidates are the ones who must be poached. Says Korn/Ferry senior partner Dennis Carey:”I cant th
18、ink of a single search Ive done where a board has not instructed me to look at sitting CEOs first.”Those who jumped without a job havent always landed in top positions quickly. Ellen Marram quit as chief of Tropicana a decade age, saying she wanted to be a CEO. It was a year before she became head o
19、f a tiny Internet-based commodities exchange. Robert Willumstad left Citigroup in 2005 with ambitions to be a CEO. He finally took that post at a major financial institution three years later.Many recruiters say the old disgrace is fading for top performers. The financial crisis has made it more acc
20、eptable to be between jobs or to leave a bad one. “The traditional rule was its safer to stay where you are, but thats been fundamentally inverted,” says one headhunter. “The people whove been hurt the worst are those whove stayed too long.”26.When McGee announced his departure, his manner can best
21、be described as beingAarrogant. Bfrank. Cself-centered. Dimpulsive.27. According to Paragraph 2, senior executives quitting may be spurred byAtheir expectation of better financial status. Btheir need to reflect on their private life.Ctheir strained relations with the boards. Dtheir pursuit of new ca
22、reer goals.28.The word “poached” (Line 3, Paragraph 4) most probably meansAapproved of. Battended to. Chunted for. Dguarded against.29. It can be inferred from the last paragraph thatAtop performers used to cling to their posts. Bloyalty of top performers is getting out-dated.Ctop performers care mo
23、re about reputations. Dits safer to stick to the traditional rules.30. Which of the following is the best title for the text?ACEOs: Where to Go? BCEOs: All the Way Up?CTop Managers Jump without a Net DThe Only Way Out for Top PerformersText 3The rough guide to marketing success used to be that you g
24、ot what you paid for. No longer. While traditional “paid” media such as television commercials and print advertisements still play a major role, companies today can exploit many alternative forms of media. Consumers passionate about a product may create “owned” media by sending e-mail alerts about p
25、roducts and sales to customers registered with its Web site. The way consumers now approach the broad range of factors beyond conventional paid media.Paid and owned media are controlled by marketers promoting their own products. For earned media , such marketers act as the initiator for users respon
26、ses. But in some cases, one marketers owned media become another marketers paid media for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad space on its Web site. We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines withi
27、n that environment. This trend ,which we believe is still in its infancy, effectively began with retailers and travel providers such as airlines and hotels and will no doubt go further. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has created BabyCenter, a stand-alone media property that promotes complementary a
28、nd even competitive products. Besides generating income, the presence of other marketers makes the site seem objective, gives companies opportunities to learn valuable information about the appeal of other companies marketing, and may help expand user traffic for all companies concerned.The same dra
29、matic technological changes that have provided marketers with more (and more diverse) communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate consumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways. Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media: a
30、n asset or campaign becomes hostage to consumers, other stakeholders, or activists who make negative allegations about a brand or product. Members of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack media to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them.If that happen
31、s, passionate consumers would try to persuade others to boycott products, putting the reputation of the target company at risk. In such a case, the companys response may not be sufficiently quick or thoughtful, and the learning curve has been steep. Toyota Motor, for example, alleviated some of the
32、damage from its recall crisis earlier this year with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign, which included efforts to engage with consumers directly on sites such as Twitter and the social-news site Digg.31.Consumers may create “earned” media when they areA obscssed
33、 with online shopping at certain Web sites. B inspired by product-promoting e-mails sent to them.C eager to help their friends promote quality products. D enthusiastic about recommending their favorite products.32. According to Paragraph 2,sold media featureA a safe business environment. B random co
34、mpetition. C strong user traffic. D flexibility in organization.33. The author indicates in Paragraph 3 that earned mediaA invite constant conflicts with passionate consumers. B can be used to produce negative effects in marketing.C may be responsible for fiercer competition. D deserve all the negat
35、ive comments about them.34. Toyota Motors experience is cited as an example ofA responding effectively to hijacked media. B persuading customers into boycotting products.C cooperating with supportive consumers. D taking advantage of hijacked media.35. Which of the following is the text mainly about
36、?A Alternatives to conventional paid media. B Conflict between hijacked and earned media.C Dominance of hijacked media. D Popularity of owned media.Text 4Its no surprise that Jennifer Seniors insightful, provocative magazine cover story, “I love My Children, I Hate My Life,” is arousing much chatter
37、 nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as somet
38、hing that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that “the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense grat
39、ification and delight.”The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about newly adoptive and newly single mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual “Jennifer Aniston is pregnant” news. Pr
40、actically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing ? It doesnt seem quite fair, th
41、en, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the children. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldnt have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be
42、 a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are les
43、s happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their “own” (read: with round-the-clock help) is a piece of cake.Its hard t
44、o imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But its interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood arent in some small
45、, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting “ the Rachel” might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston.36.Jennifer Senior suggests in her article that raising a child can bringAtemporary d
46、elight Benjoyment in progress Chappiness in retrospect Dlasting reward37.We learn from Paragraph 2 thatAcelebrity moms are a permanent source for gossip.Bsingle mothers with babies deserve greater attention.Cnews about pregnant celebrities is entertaining. Dhaving children is highly valued by the pu
47、blic.38.It is suggested in Paragraph 3 that childless folksAare constantly exposed to criticism. Bare largely ignored by the media.Cfail to fulfill their social responsibilities. Dare less likely to be satisfied with their life.39.According to Paragraph 4, the message conveyed by celebrity magazines
48、 isAsoothing. Bambiguous. Ccompensatory. Dmisleading.40.Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?AHaving children contributes little to the glamour of celebrity moms.BCelebrity moms have influenced our attitude towards child rearing.CHaving children intensifies our dissatisfaction with life. DWe sometimes neglect the happiness from child rearing.
