The Occupy Wall Street protest movement has raised serious questions about the role of capitalist institutions，particularly corporations in American society．Well before the first protester set foot in Zucotti Park，a heckler（擾亂分子） urged Mitt Romney to tax corporations rather than people．Romney's response-- "Corporations are people" stirred a brief but intense controversy．Now thousands of demonstrators have in effect joined the heckler，denouncing（抨擊） corporations as "enemies of the people．"
Far more important than questions about what corporations are is the question of what attitude we should have toward them．Should we，as corporate public relations statements often suggest，think of them as friends （if we buy and are satisfied with their products） or as family （if we work for them）？Does it make sense to be loyal to a corporation as either a customer or as an employee？More generally，even granted that corporations are not fully persons in the way that individuals are，do they have some important moral standing in our society？
My answer to all these questions is no，because corporations have no core dedication to fundamental human values．Such corporations exist as instruments of profit for their shareholders．In fact，left to themselves，they can be serious threats to human values that conflict with the goal of corporate profit．Corporations are a particular threat to truth，a value essential in a democracy，which places a premium on the informed decisions of individual citizens．The corporate threat is most apparent in advertising，which explicitly aims at convincing us to prefer a product regardless of its actual merit．Their defining goal is to generate profit．There are cases when telling the truth is the best means to advance corporate profits．In 1982，when seven people in Chicago died from poisoned Tylenol，Johnson & Johnson appealed to its credo，which makes concern for its customers primary corporate goal，and told the entire truth about what had happened．This honesty turned a potential public-relations disaster into a triumph．But Johnson & Johnson's impressive corporate credo ends by saying， "Our final responsibility is to our stockholders and must make solid profit．The credo is unclear about what happens when there is a conflict between responsible action and long-term profit．
None of this means that corporations are evil or that socialism should replace the free-enterprise system．As Michel Foucault said of all power structures，it's not that corporations are bad but that they are dangerous．The self-serving corporate speech that fills our media and halls of government is particularly dangerous for our democracy．At least for this reason，the Occupy Wall Street protesters are right to distrust corporations．
（1）Mitt Romney most probably believes thatBB．
A．individuals should pay more taxes than corporations
B．corporations should not be forced to pay more taxes
C．people should care more about corporations' development
D．corporations should enjoy all the legal rights as people do
（2）According to Paragraphs 2 and 3，it can be inferred that corporationsCC．
A．should be set as moral examples of the society
B．take employees' faithfulness as part of their goals
C．contribute little to the most essential human values
D．a(chǎn)re actually means by which people share profits
（3）The 1982 event is cited in Paragraph 3 to illustrate thatCC．
A．corporations always make profits at the expense of people's health
B．customers should always keep an eye on the quality of any product
C．corporations take economic profit as their priority essentially
D．corporation profit is always in contradiction with customer interests
（4）Which of the following is the best title for the text？AA
A．Corporations，People and Truth
B．Corporations Are Different from People
C．Corporations Are Untrustworthy
D．The Occupy Wall Street Protest
【答案】B；C；C；A
【解答】
【點(diǎn)評(píng)】
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發(fā)布：2024/5/27 14:0:0組卷：5引用：2難度：0.7
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（1）What can we know about Burlington School？
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B．It is located in London.
C．It provides no accommodation.
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2．Hi Judy!
You often complain to me that you always buy goods unreasonably on sale promotion（促銷）and feel it shameful after going back to your school dormitory with new things not needed，considering all the money you spend is your parents' income．
In fact，this is a common phenomenon，called impulsive buying，a buying unplanned and hard to control．It usually happens when a store offers discounts（打折）or sales promotion-a special way used by stores to get more customers，which means you may fall into its traps even without notice．
Stores，with a good knowledge of customers' psychology（心理），make use of it to drive business．Avoiding all the impulsive buying is a hard thing．However，knowing our psychology behind it and reducing the times when influenced by sales promotion may be useful．So you should keep calm when facing the sales promotion by keeping in mind what you really need．
Find out the conditions where you are likely to buy things blindly．When seeing a dress advertised at 20% off，do not concentrate on the discount，but warn yourself against falling into the trap of "saving money''．
Besides，do not forget the long-term effects of your choice when meeting a sales promotion．Short-term benefits，like excited feeling just after buying items encourage impulsive buying．But the long-term costs such as waste of money and the sense of shame really annoy you．When seeing the advertisements，remember what you really want to buy originally and warn yourself of that terrible feeling．Only in this way can you save money for really needed things．
Yours，
Rachel
（1）Judy felt it a shame to．
A．complain to others about the poverty of her family
B．waste her parents' money on unneeded things
C．buy cheap things at lower prices or with less money
D．rely on her parents for further education
（2）Which of the following is true of impulsive buying according to Rachel？
A．It is designed by shops to draw customers' attention．
B．It can be brought under control with the help of stores．
C．It is planned by buyers with the purpose of saving money．
D．It is done by customers without considering its bad effects．
（3）In face of sales promotion Judy is advised to．
A．have belief in her own immediate decision
B．check the quality of the goods at low prices
C．stay calm by thinking about what she really needs
D．take the chance to learn more about stores tricks
（4）How do buyers usually feel in the long run after buying discounted things？
A．Regretful．
B．Thrilled．
C．Relaxed．
D．Sceptical．發(fā)布：2025/1/10 8:0:1組卷：4引用：2難度：0.6 -
3．Ever since I graduated from high school I've worked in the factories surrounding my hometown every summer.However，making the transformation between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any easier.For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be unacceptable，getting to a factory by 6 o'clock each morning is suffering.My friends never seem to understand why I'm so relieved to be back at school or that my summer vacation has been anything but a vacation.
There are few people as self-confident as a college student who has never been out in the real world.People of my age always seem to overestimate the value of their time and knowledge.In fact，all the classes did not prepare me for my battles with the machine I ran in the plant，which would jam whenever I absent-mindedly put in a part backward or upside down.
The most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear over night.Issues like being laid off and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers told me that the unit I was working in would shut down within six months and move to Mexico，where people would work for 60 cents an hour.
After working 12-hour shifts（輪班）in a factory，the other options have become only too clear. "This job pays well，but it's hell on the body，" said one co-worker. "Study hard and keep reading." she added.When I'm back at the university，skipping classes and turning in lazy re-writes seems too irresponsible after seeing what I would be doing without school.All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to sound stale（陳腐的）now ring true.
My experiences in the factories have inspired me to make the most of my college years before I enter the real world for good.
（1）What does the author think of his summer holiday？
A．It was no holiday for him at all.
B．It brought him nothing but suffering.
C．It was a relief from his hard work at school.
D．It offered him a chance to make more friends.
（2）What can we infer about most college students？
A．They do better in the real world.
B．They are confident when they work.
C．They think too highly of themselves.
D．They are expert at handling machines.
（3）What is the biggest pressure for blue-collar workers？
A．A low income.
B．The lack of security.
C．An unstable location.
D．Less break.
（4）How did the working experiences change the author？
A．He became responsible for his work.
B．He learned to be more practical at work.
C．He began to respect blue-collar workers.
D．He came to appreciate his college education.發(fā)布：2025/1/6 16:30:6組卷：0引用：1難度：0.5
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