If you know exactly what you want, the best route to a job is to get specialized training. A recent survey shows that companies like graduates in such fields as business and health care who can go to work immediately with very little on-the-job training. That"s especially true of booming fields that are challenging for workers. At Cornell"s School of Hotel Administration, for example, bachelor"s degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries ranging from the high teens to the low 20s and plenty of chances for rapid advancement. Large companies, especially, like a background of formal education coupled with work experience. But in the long run, too much specialization doesn"t pay off. Business, which has been flooded with MBAs, no longer considers the degree an automatic stamp of approval. The MBA may open doors and command a higher salary initially, but the impact of a degree washes out after five years. As further evidence of the erosion (销蚀) of corporate (公司的) faith in specialized degrees, Michigan State"s Scheetz cites a pattern in corporate hiring practices, although companies tend to take on specialists as new hires, they often seek out generalists for middle and upper-level management. "They want someone who isn"t constrained (限制) by nuts and bolts to look at the big picture," says Scheetz. This sounds suspiciously like a formal statement that you approve of the liberal-arts graduate. Time and again labor-market analysts mention a need for talents that liberal-arts majors are assumed to have: writing and communication skills, organizational skills, open-mindedness and adaptability, and the ability to analyze and solve problems. David Birch claims he does not hire anybody with an MBA or an engineering degree, "I hire only liberal-arts people because they have a less-than-canned way of doing things," says Birch. Liberal-arts means an academically thorough and strict program that includes literature, history, mathematics, economics, science, human behavior—plus a computer course or two. With that under your belt, you can feel free to specialize. "A liberal-arts degree coupled with an MBA or some other technical training is a very good combination in the marketplace," says Scheetz. (365 words) Which of the following statements does the author support
A. Specialists are more expensive to hire than generalists.
B. Formal schooling is less important than job training.
C. On-the-job training is, in the long run, less costly.
D. Generalists will outdo specialists in management.
It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip to Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross"s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the World were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. "I knew the statistics," she said. "But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her. " The Princess concluded, with a simple message: "We must stop landmines. " And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message. But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as "very ill-informed" and a "loose cannon (乱放炮的人)". The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: "This is a distraction (干扰) we do not need. All I"m trying to do is to help. " Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess"s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government"s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government. To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, claimed that the Princess"s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was "working towards" a worldwide ban. The Defense Secretary, Michael Porti-llo, claimed the matter was "a misinterpretation or misunderstanding". For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems. (357 words) What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola
A. It had caused embarrassment to the British government.
B. It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.
C. It had greatly promoted her popularity.
D. It had affected her relations with the British government.
In 1985 when a Japan Air Lines (JAL) jet crashed, its president, Yasumoto Takagi, called each victim"s family to apologize, and then promptly resigned. And in 1987, when a subsidiary of Toshiba sold sensitive military technology to the former Soviet Union, the chairman of Toshiba gave up his post. These executive actions, which Toshiba calls "the highest form of apology", may seem bizarre to US managers. No one at Boeing resigned after the JAL crash, which may have been caused by a faulty Boeing repair. The difference between the two business cultures centers around different definitions of delegation. While US executives give both responsibility and authority to their employees, Japanese executives delegate only authority—the responsibility is still theirs. Although the subsidiary that sold the sensitive technology to the Soviets had its own management, the Toshiba top executives said they "must take personal responsibility for not creating an atmosphere throughout the Toshiba group that would make such activity unthinkable, even in an independently run subsidiary. " Such acceptance of community responsibility is not unique to businesses in Japan. School principals in Japan have resigned when their students committed major crimes after school hours. Even if they do not quit, Japanese executives will often accept primary responsibility in other ways, such as taking the first pay cut when a company gets into financial trouble. Such personal sacrifices, even if they are largely symbolic, help to create the sense of community and employee loyalty that is crucial to the Japanese way of doing business. Harvard Business School professor George Lodge calls the ritual acceptance of blame "almost a feudal (封建的) way of purging (清除) the community of dishonor", and to some in the United States, such resignations look cowardly. However, in an era in which both business and governmental leaders seem particularly good at evading responsibility, many US managers would probably welcome an infusion (灌输) of the Japanese sense of responsibility. If, for instance, US automobile company executives offered to reduce their own salaries before they asked their workers to take pay cuts, negotiations would probably take on a very different character. (359 words) According to the passage if you want to be a good manager in Japan, you have to
A. apologize promptly for your subordinates" mistakes
B. be skillful in accepting blames from customers
C. make symbolic sacrifices whenever necessary
D. create a strong sense of company loyalty
In 1985 when a Japan Air Lines (JAL) jet crashed, its president, Yasumoto Takagi, called each victim"s family to apologize, and then promptly resigned. And in 1987, when a subsidiary of Toshiba sold sensitive military technology to the former Soviet Union, the chairman of Toshiba gave up his post. These executive actions, which Toshiba calls "the highest form of apology", may seem bizarre to US managers. No one at Boeing resigned after the JAL crash, which may have been caused by a faulty Boeing repair. The difference between the two business cultures centers around different definitions of delegation. While US executives give both responsibility and authority to their employees, Japanese executives delegate only authority—the responsibility is still theirs. Although the subsidiary that sold the sensitive technology to the Soviets had its own management, the Toshiba top executives said they "must take personal responsibility for not creating an atmosphere throughout the Toshiba group that would make such activity unthinkable, even in an independently run subsidiary. " Such acceptance of community responsibility is not unique to businesses in Japan. School principals in Japan have resigned when their students committed major crimes after school hours. Even if they do not quit, Japanese executives will often accept primary responsibility in other ways, such as taking the first pay cut when a company gets into financial trouble. Such personal sacrifices, even if they are largely symbolic, help to create the sense of community and employee loyalty that is crucial to the Japanese way of doing business. Harvard Business School professor George Lodge calls the ritual acceptance of blame "almost a feudal (封建的) way of purging (清除) the community of dishonor", and to some in the United States, such resignations look cowardly. However, in an era in which both business and governmental leaders seem particularly good at evading responsibility, many US managers would probably welcome an infusion (灌输) of the Japanese sense of responsibility. If, for instance, US automobile company executives offered to reduce their own salaries before they asked their workers to take pay cuts, negotiations would probably take on a very different character. (359 words) Which of the following statements is TRUE
A. Boeing had nothing to do with the JAL air crash in 1985.
B. American executives consider authority and responsibility inseparable.
C. School principals bear legal responsibility for students" crimes.
D. Persuading employees to take pay cuts doesn"t help solve corporate crises.