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 (贪婪) 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 are 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 says, "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 aura (光环) 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 backlash (反冲) 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 Perrin management consulting firm. (419 words) What is the passage mainly about
A. Why there is an increased 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.
Moderate Earthquake Strikes EnglandA moderate earthquake struck parts of southeast England on 28 April 2007, toppling chimneys from houses and rousing residents from their beds. Several thousand people were left without power in Kent County. One women suffered minor head and neck injuries."It felt as if the whole house was being slid across like a fun-fair ride," said the woman.The British Geological Survey said the 4.3-magnitude quake struck at 8:19 a.m. and was centered under the English Channel, about 8.5 miles south of Dover and near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel.Witnesses said cracks appeared in walls and chimneys collapsed across the county. Residents said the tremor had lasted for about 10 to 15 seconds."I was lying in bed and it felt as if someone had just got up from bed next to me." said Hendrick van Eck, 27, of Canterbury about 60 miles southeast of London. "I then heard the sound of cracking, and it was getting heavier and heavier. It felt as if someone was at the end of my bed hopping up and down."There are thousands of moderate quakes on this scale around the world each year, but they are rare in Britain. The April 28 quake was the strongest in Britain since 2002 when a 4.8-magnitude quake struck the central England city of Birmingham.The country"s strongest earthquake took place in the North Sea in 1931, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale. British Geological Survey scientist Roger Musson said the quake took place on 28 April in an area that had seen several of the biggest earthquakes ever to strike Britain, including one in 1580 that caused damage in London and was felt in France. Musson predicted that it was only a matter of time before another earthquake struck this part of England. However, people should not be scared too much by this prediction, Musson said, as the modern earthquake warning system of Britain should be able to detect a forthcoming quake and announce it several hours before it takes place. This would allow time for people to evacuate and reduce damage to the minimum. Musson predicted that another earthquake would occur in southeast England sooner or later.
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned