Text 1
Financial regulators in Britain have imposed a rather unusual rule on the bosses of big banks.
Starting next year, any guaranteed bonus of top executives could be delayed 10 years if their banks
are under investigation for wrongdoing. The main purpose of this “clawback” rule is to hold
bankers accountable for harmful risk-taking and to restore public trust in financial institutions. Yet
officials also hope for a much larger benefit: more long-term decision-making, not only by banks
but also by all corporations, to build a stronger economy for future generations.
“Short-termism” or the desire for quick profits, has worsened in publicly traded companies,
says the Bank of England’s top economist, Andrew Haldane. He quotes a giant of classical
economics, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting like “children who
pick the plums out of their pudding to eat them at once” rather than putting them aside to be eaten
last.
The average time for holding a stock in both the United States and Britain, he notes, has
dropped from seven years to seven months in recent decades. Transient investors, who demand
high quarterly profits from companies, can hinder a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research
or to build up customer loyalty. This has been dubbed “quarterly capitalism.”
In addition, new digital technologies have allowed more rapid trading of equities, quicker use
of information, and thus shorter attention spans in financial markets. “There seems to be a
predominance of short-term thinking at the expense of long-term investing,” said Commissioner
Daniel Gallagher of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in a speech this week.
In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has pushed most public companies to defer
performance bonuses for senior executives by about a year, slightly helping reduce “short
termism.” In its last survey of CEO pay, The Wall Street Journal finds that “a substantial part” of
executive pay is now tied to performance.
Much more could be done to encourage “long-termism”, such as changes in the tax code and
quicker disclosure of stock acquisitions. In France, shareholders who hold onto a company
investment for at least two years can sometimes earn more voting rights in a company.
Within companies, the right compensation design can provide incentives for executives to
think beyond their own time at the company and on behalf of all stakeholders. Britain’s new rule is 3
a reminder to bankers that society has an interest in their performance, not just for the short term,
but for the long term.
21.
According to Paragraph 1, one motive in imposing the new rule is to ________.
[A] enhance bankers’ sense of responsibility
[B] help corporations achieve larger profits
[C] build a new system of financial regulation
[D] guarantee the bonuses of top executives
22.
Alfred Marshall is quoted to indicate ________.
[A] the conditions for generating quick profits
[B] governments’ impatience in decision-making
[C] the solid structure of publicly traded companies
[D] “short-termism” in economic activities
23. It is argued that the influence of transient investment on public companies can be ________.
[A] indirect
[B] adverse
[C] minimal
[D] temporary
24. The US and France examples are used to illustrate ________.
[A] the obstacles to preventing “short-termism”
[B] the significance of long-term thinking
[C] the approaches to promoting “long-termism”
[D] the prevalence of short-term thinking
25. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
[A] Failure of Quarterly Capitalism
[B] Patience as a Corporate Virtue
[C] Decisiveness Required of Top Executives
[D] Frustration of Risk-taking Bankers
21. 【答案】 A
【解析】 根据题干关键词“Paragraph 1”和“one motive in imposing the new rule”，可
回文定位至第一段第三句 “The main purpose of this “clawback” rule is to hold bankers
accountable for harmful risk-taking and to restore public trust in financial institutions”。由此
句可知，制定这个规则的主要目的是让银行家为不良风险负责以及恢复公众对金融机
构的信任。对比所给四个选项，只有[A]（增加银行的责任感）与原文表述一致，故为
正确答案。故选[A]。
22. 【答案】 D
【解析】 根据题干中的关键词“Alfred Marshall”，可回文定位至第二段最后一句“He
quotes a giant of classical economics, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial
impatience…”，其中的“this financial impatience”指的是上文提到的“short-termism”，
也就是作者引用 Alfred Marshall 来描述“短期主义”，由此可知，[D]（经济活动中的
“短期主义”）为正确答案。故选[D]。
1523. 【答案】 B
【解析】 根据题干关键词“transient investment”定位第三段第二句，“Transient
investors, ... can hinder a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer
loyalty”。由此句可知，短暂投资会对公司的长期规划设阻或增进客户忠诚的努力，此
句中重要的单词是 hinder（阻碍）。此题提问这种投资形式对上市公司的影响，结合四
个选项，[B]（不利的）对应原文“hinder”，故为正确选项。故选[B]。
24. 【答案】 C
【解析】 根据题干中的“US”和“France”可回文定位至第五、六段。第五段描述了
美国延迟了约一年发放高管绩效奖金，稍稍削弱了“短期主义”（reduce “short
termism”）；第六段指出，在法国持股两年以上者拥有更大的表决权，并且在第一句话
中就提到了要 encourage “long-termism”，此两段提到的都是促进“长期主义”的方
式，故[C]为正确选项。故选[C]。
25. 【答案】 B
【解析】 根据题干关键词 best title 可知此题考查的是文章的主旨大意。文章主要围绕
西方国家的金融行业的“短期主义”投资和“长期主义”投资进行展开。第一段开篇
就表明了要让银行家对自己的有害的投资行为负责；第二段阐述英国银行高管中“短
期主义”投资占主流；第三段具体说明“短期投资”的害处；第四段说明“短期投
资”很流行；第五、第六两段是用美、法两国举例，说明促进“长期投资”的方式；
最后一段是总结，并且说明社会的利益对银行家们不仅是短期，也是长期的。所以，
[B]中的 patience 对应文章中的主题词 long-termisim, corporate 本身在文章中就多次出
现，因此为最佳标题。[A] 意为“季度资本主义的失败”；[C] 意为“高管需要的决断
力”；[D] 意为“冒险型银行家的挫败感”均不能概括全文，故排除。故选[B]。