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　　Text 2

　　It is fashionable today to bash Big Business. And there is one issue on which the many critics

　　agree: CEO pay. We hear that CEOs are paid too much (or too much relative to workers), or that

　　they rig others’ pay, or that their pay is insufficiently related to positive outcomes. But the more

　　likely truth is CEO pay is largely caused by intense competition.

　　It is true that CEO pay has gone up—top ones may make 300 times the pay of typical

　　workers on average, and since the mid-1970s, CEO pay for large publicly traded American

　　corporations has, by varying estimates, gone up by about 500%. The typical CEO of a top

　　American corporation—from the 350 largest such companies—now makes about $18.9 million a

　　year.

　　While individual cases of overpayment definitely exist, in general, the determinants of CEO

　　pay are not so mysterious and not so mired in corruption. In fact, overall CEO compensation for

　　the top companies rises pretty much. In lockstep with the value of those companies on the stock

　　market.

　　The best model for understanding the growth of CEO pay, though, is that of limited CEO

　　talent in a world where business opportunities for the top firms are growing rapidly. The efforts of

　　America’s highest-earning 1% have been one of the more dynamic elements of the global

　　economy. It’s not popular to say, but one reason their pay has gone up so much is that CEOs really

　　have upped their game relative to many other workers in the U.S. economy.

　　Today’s CEO, at least for major American firms, must have many more skills than simply

　　being able to “run the company.” CEOs must have a good sense of financial markets and maybe

　　even how the company should trade in them. They also need better public relations skills than

　　their predecessors, as the costs of even a minor slipup can be significant. Then there’s the fact that

　　large American companies are much more globalized than ever before, with supply chains spread

　　across a larger number of countries. To lead in that system requires knowledge that is fairly

　　mind-boggling.

　　There is yet another trend: virtually all major American companies are becoming tech

　　companies, one way or another. An agribusiness company, for instance, may focus on R&D in

　　highly IT-intensive areas such as genome sequencing. Similarly, it is hard to do a good job running

　　the Walt Disney Company just by picking good movie scripts and courting stars; you also need to

　　build a firm capable of creating significant CGI products for animated movies at the highest levels

　　of technical sophistication and with many frontier innovations along the way.

　　On top of all of this, major CEOs still have to do the job they have always done—which

　　includes motivating employees, serving as an internal role model, helping to define and extend a

　　corporate culture, understanding the internal accounting, and presenting budgets and business

　　plans to the board. Good CEOs are some of the world’s most potent creators and have some of the

　　very deepest skills of understanding.

　　26. which of the following has contributed to CEO pay rise?

　　A. The growth in the number of cooperations

　　B. The general pay rise with a better economy

　　C. Increased business opportunities for top firms

　　D. Close cooperation among leading economics

　　27. Compared with their predecessors, today’s CEOs are required to__.

　　A. foster a stronger sense of teamwork

　　B. finance more research and development

　　C. establish closer ties with tech companies

　　D. operate more globalized companies

　　28. CEO pay has been rising since the 1970s despite__.

　　A. continual internal opposition

　　B. strict corporate governance

　　C. conservative business strategies

　　D. repeated governance warnings

　　29. High CEO pay can be justified by the fact that it helps__.

　　A. confirm the status of CEOs

　　B. motive inside candidates

　　C. boost the efficiency of CEOs

　　D. increase corporate value

　　30. The most suitable title for this text would be__.

　　A. CEOs Are Not Overpaid

　　B. CEO Pay: Past and Present

　　C. CEOs’ Challenges of Today

　　D. CEO Traits: Not Easy to Define

　　Text 3

　　Madrid was hailed as a public health beacon last November when it rolled out ambitious

　　restrictions on the most polluting cars. Seven months and one election day later, a new

　　conservative city council suspended enforcement of the clean air zone, a first step toward its

　　possible demise.

　　Mayor Jose Luis Martínez -Almeida made opposition to the zone a centrepiece of his election

　　campaign, despite its success in improving air quality. A judge has now overruled the city's

　　decision to stop levying fines, ordering them reinstated. But with legal battles ahead, the zone's

　　future looks uncertain at best.

　　Among other weaknesses, the measures cities must employ when left to tackle dirty air on

　　their own are politically contentious, and therefore vulnerable. That’s because they inevitably put

　　the costs of cleaning the air on to individual drivers—who must pay fees or buy better vehicles—

　　rather than on to the car manufacturers whose cheating is the real cause of our toxic pollution.

　　It’s not hard to imagine a similar reversal happening in London. The new ultra-low emission

　　zone (Ulez) is likely to be a big issue in next year's mayoral election. And if Sadiq Khan wins and

　　extends it to the North and South Circular roads in 2021 as he intends, it is sure to spark intense

　　opposition from the far larger number of motorists who will then be affected.

　　It's not that measures such as London’s Ulez are useless. Far from it. Local officials are using

　　the levers that are available to them to safeguard residents' health in the face of a serious threat.

　　The zones do deliver some improvements to air quality, and the science tells us that means real

　　health benefits - fewer heart attacks, stokes and premature births, less cancer, dementia and asthma.

　　Fewer untimely deaths.

　　But mayors and councilors can only do so much about a problem that is far bigger than any

　　one city or town. They are acting because national governments — Britain’s and others across

　　Europe—have failed to do so.

　　Restrictions that keep highly polluting cars out of certain areas—city centres,“school streets”,

　　even individual roads-are a response to the absence of a larger effort to properly enforce existing

　　regulations and require auto companies to bring their vehicles into compliance. Wales has

　　introduced special low speed limits to minimise pollution. We re doing everything but insist that

　　manufacturers clean up their cars.

　　31. Which of the following is true about Madrid’s clean air zone?

　　[A] Its effects are questionable

　　[B] It has been opposed by a judge

　　[C] It needs tougher enforcement

　　[D] Its fate is yet to be decided

　　32. Which is considered a weakness of the city-level measures to tackle dirty air?

　　[A] They are biased against car manufacturers.

　　[B] They prove impractical for city councils.

　　[C] They are deemed too mild for politicians.

　　[D] They put too much burden on individual motorists.

　　33. The author believes that the extension of London’s Ulez will .

　　[A] arouse strong resistance.

　　[B] ensure Khan’s electoral success.

　　[C] improve the city’s traffic.

　　[D] discourage car manufacturing.

　　34. Who does the author think should have addressed the problem?

　　[A] Local residents

　　[B] Mayors.

　　[C] Councilors.

　　[D] National governments.

　　35. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that auto companies .

　　[A] will raise low-emission car production

　　[B] should be forced to follow regulations

　　[C] will upgrade the design of their vehicles

　　[D] should be put under public supervision