A few years ago, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, where I was employed. purchased Norand Corporation. Pioneer's sales representatives in the field used Norand hand-held terminals to upload daily sales information and download new price and sales incentive information. Pioneer bought so many of these hand-held-terminals, the economies made the purchase of Norand look interesting. Owning Norand also allowed Pioneer to explore high-technology markets outside agriculture.
But after a few years, the emerging laptop PC technology made the hand-held units obsolete (已废弃的). Pioneer sold Norand at a loss. Pioneer always took a given percent of the annual profits to divide equally among all employees, so our profit-sharing checks were lower than if Pioneer had not purchased Norand. Additionally, my Pioneer stock was lower than it had been before the purchase of Norand. I was not pleased.
The CEO of Pioneer, Tom Urban, made annual formal visits to each of the Pioneer divisions to talk about the state of the business and to listen to employees' concerns. When he walked into the meeting room for his first visit after the sale of Norand, he acknowledged the group, remove his jacket, and neatly folded it across the back of the chair. He loosened his tie, undid his collar and rolled up his sleeves.The next thing he said was the last thing I ever expected to hear a CEO say.
He said, I made a mistake buying Norand and I am sorry. I am sorry your profit-sharing was lower because of the purchase, and I am sorry your stock was hurt by the purchase. I will continue to take risks, but I am a bit smarter now, and I will work harder for you.
A great man and leader stood before us that day. As I sat listening to him, I knew I could trust him, and that he deserved every bit of loyalty I could give to him and to Pioneer. I also knew I could take risks in my own job.
In the brief moment of silence before the questions started, I recall thinking that follow him into any battle.
【小题1】All of the following are the results brought by Pioneer's purchase of Norand except .A．Pioneer can explore high-technology markets outside agricultureB．Pioneer's sales representatives can upload information using Norand hand-held terminalsC．some of Norand's employees joined the PioneerD．it later led to the lower of profit-sharing checks of Pioneer's original employees【小题2】The underlined sentence in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to .A．the next thing he said was what I expected least to hear a CEO sayB．the next thing he said was the last thing I heard from a CEOC．the next thing he said was what I expected most to hear a CEO sayD．the next thing he said was what I heard from the last CEO【小题3】Why did Tom Urban remove his jacket, loosen his tie, undo his collar and roll up his sleeves before he spoke?A．He felt hot in the room.B．He wanted to look cool by doing this.C．He was too excited.D．He wanted to be close and frank with his employees.【小题4】What did the employees feel after Tom Urban apologized to them?A．They felt he was a stupid CEO.B．They felt he did not deserve their loyaltyC．They felt he was more trustworthy.D．They didn't want to take risks with him.C
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(答案→)C
解析：文章讲述了一位CEO决策失误以后坦诚的承认自己的失误，反而受到员工的信任的小故事。本篇文章需要考生有一定的耐心。
【小题1】细节题。第一段最后一行说明A正确。第一段2,3行说明B正确。第二段第三行说明D正确。C文章没有提及。
【小题2】推理题。注意这里的last的意思，这里是指最不想听见一个CEO说的话，根据下文可知这位首席执行官承认自己的错误。
【小题3】推理题。根据文章的意思可知他的决策有误，损失了员工的利益，所以他做出这样的一系列动作，就是为了拉近与员工的距离。
【小题4】推理题。根据文章倒数第二段2,3行he deserved every bit of loyalty I could give to him and to Pioneer. I also knew I could take risks in my own job.可知我更加信任他了。