Bill Gates, the billionaire Microsoft chairman without a single earned university degree, is by his success raising new doubts about the worth of the business world' s favorite academic title : the MBA ( Master of Business Administration).
The MBA, a 20th century product, always has borne the mark of lowly commerce and greed on the tree-lined campuses ruled by purer disciplines such as philosophy and literature.
But even with the recession apparently cutting into the hiring of business school graduates,about 79,000 people were expected to receive MBAs in 1993. This is nearly 16 times the number of business graduates in 1960, a testimony to the widespread assumption that the MBA is vital for young men and women who want to run companies some day.
"If you are going into the, corporate world it is still a disadvantage not to have one, " said Donald Morrison, professor of marketing and management science. "But in the last five years or so, when someone asks, ' Should I attempt to get an MBA?" The answer a lot more is: ' It depends. ' "
The success of Bill Gates and other non-MBAs, such as the late Sam Walton of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has helped inspire self-conscious debates on business school campuses over the worth of a business degree and whether management skills can be taught.
The Harvard Business Review printed a lively, fictional exchange of letters to dramatize complaints about business degree holders. The article called MBA hires "extremely disappointing" and said "MBAs want to move up too fast, they don' t understand politics and people, and they aren' t able to function as part of a team until their third year. But by then, they' re out looking for other jobs. "
The problem, most participants in the debate acknowledge, is that the MBA has acquired an image of future riches and power far beyond its actual importance and usefulness.
Enrollment in business schools exploded in the 1970s and 1980s and created the assumption that no one who pursued a business career could do without one. The growth was fueled by a drive against the anti-business values of the 1960s and by the women' s movement.
Business people who have hired or worked with MBAs say those with the degrees often know how to analyze systems but are not so skillful at motivating people. "They don' t get a lot of grounding in the people side of the business", said James Shaffer, vice-president and principal of the Towers Pen-in Management Consulting Firm.
46. According to Paragraph 2, what is the general attitude towards business on campuses dominated by purer disciplines?
A. Scornful.
B. Appreciative.
C. Envious.
D. Realistic.
47. It seems that the controversy over the value of MBA degrees had been fueled mainly by .
A. the complaints from various employers
B. the success of many non-MBAs
C. the criticism from the scientists of purer disciplines
D. the poor performance of MBAs at work
48. What is the major weakness of MBA holders according to the Harvard Business Review?
A. They are usually self-centered.
B. They are aggressive and greedy.
C. They keep complaining about their jobs.
D. They are not good at dealing with people.
49. From the passage we know that most MBAs
A. can climb the corporate ladder fairly quickly
B. quit their jobs once they are familiar with their workmates
C. receive salaries that do not match their professional training
D. cherish unrealistic expectations about their future
50. What is the passage mainly about?
A. The reason for an enrollment in MBA programs.
B. The necessity of reforming MBA programs in business schools.
C. Doubts about the worth of holding an MBA degree.
D. A debate held recently on university campuses.
阅读赏析
本文首先以比尔·盖茨为例来对现在风靡世界的MBA(工商管理学硕士)的价值表示质疑，紧接着讨论了人们对MBA的看法，指出MBA实际上只是一个拥有未来财富的形象，而其重要性和实用性却并不大，获得 MBA的人往往会做理论分析，而不善于利用和处理公司中的人际关系。 MBA人才欠缺的正是与人打交道和激励人的本领。
答案及解析
46.A
【命题目的】此题考查考生推断作者观点态度的能力。
【解题要点】第二段中“lowly commerce”和“greed”有明显的轻视意味。A项意为“轻蔑的”，B项意为“赞赏的”，c项意为“嫉妒的”，D 项意为“现实的”。
47.B
【命题目的】此题考查对文章信息的捕捉。
【解题要点】段提到“亿万富翁和微软主席比尔·盖茨，没有任何大学学历，通过其成功引起人们对商界所喜爱的MBA学术头衔的价值的新的怀疑”，第五段更明确地指出“比尔·盖茨及其他非MBA人士的成功，激起了人们对商校学位价值的自省式的争论”，恰和B 项吻合。
48.D
【命题目的】此题考查对文章信息的理解。
【解题要点】第六段谈到“MBA人想很快提升，他们不懂政治，不懂人事，他们直到3年后才能与集体协作，可那时，他们已转向其他工作了”，即“MBA人不善于处理人际关系”。A项有可能是“不善于处理人际关系”的原因，但原文没有明确提出，因而不选，而B、c两项文中未提及，因而也不选。
49.D
【命题目的】此题考查对文章信息的捕捉。
【解题要点】此题用排除法，文中均未提过ABC三项的说法，而 D项则在第七段可找到相似说法。“The problem…is that the MBA has acquired an image of future riches and power far beyond its actual importance and usefulness”，即“问题在于…MBA已被套上了一圈光 环，其对未来权力及富裕的期望远远超出了它自身实际的重要性和 用途。”
50.C
【命题目的】此题考查学生综合概括中心思想的能力。
【解题要点】A项“为什么MBA项目要招生”，是无关项。8项“改革 MBA项目的必要性”，说得过于肯定，文中意见尚未到达论证“必须 改革”的地步。D项“在大学校园上展开的一场辩论”，说得过于泛 泛。文章从头至尾围绕一个主题“doubts or debates over the worth of MBA”。
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