2015年6月四级考试阅读真题(Reaping the Rewards of Risk-Taking

2015年6月四级考试阅读真题(Reaping the Rewards of Risk-Taking)一篇

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Eachstatement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which theinformation is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with aletter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

Reaping the Rewards of Risk-Taking

A）Since Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive of Apple , much has been said about

him as a peerlessbusiness leader who has created immense wealth for shareholders, and guided the design of hitproducts that are transforming entire industries, like music and mobile communications.

B）All true, but let’s think different, to borrow the Apple marketing slogan of years

back. Let’s look atMr. Jobs as a role model.

C） Above all, he is an innovator（创新者）. His creative force is seen in products such

as the iPod,iPhone, and iPad, and in new business models for pricing and distributing music and mobile softwareonline. Studies of innovation come to the same conclusion: you can’t engineer innovation, but you canincrease the odds of it occurring. And Mr. Jobs' career can be viewed as a consistent pursuit ofimproving those odds, both for himself and the companies he has led. Mr. Jobs , of course, hasenjoyed singular success. But innovation, broadly defined, is the crucial ingredient in all economicprogress- higher growth for nations, more competitive products for companies, and more prosperouscareers for inpiduals. And Mr. Jobs, many experts say, exemplifies what works in the innovationgame.

2015年6月四级考试阅读真题(Reaping the Rewards of Risk-Taking)一篇

D）“We can look at and learn from Steve Jobs what the essence of American

innovation is,” says JohnKao, an innovation consultant to corporations and governments. Many other nations, Mr. John Kaonotes, are now ahead of the United States in producing what are considered the raw materials ofinnovation. These include government financing for scientific research , national policies to supportemerging industries, educational achievement, engineers and scientists graduated, even the speeds ofculture of other countries doesn’t support the kind of innovation that Steve Jobsexemplifies, as America does,” Mr. John Kao says. F） Workers of every rank are told these days that wide-ranging curiosity and

continuous learning are vitalto thriving in the modern economy. Formal education matters, career counselors say, but real-lifeexperience is often even more valuable.

G） An adopted child, growing up in Silicon Valley, Mr. Jobs displayed those traits

early on. He wasfascinated by electronics as a child, building Heathkit do-it-yourself projects, like radios. Mr. Jobsdropped out of Reed College after only a semester and traveled around India in search of spiritualenlightenment, before returning to Silicon Valley to found Apple with his friend, Stephen Wozniak,an engineering wizard（奇才）. Mr. Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, went off and founded twoother companies, Next and Pixar, before returning to Apple in 1996 and becoming chief executive in1997.

H） His path was unique, but innovation experts say the pattern of exploration is not

unusual. “ It’s oftenpeople like Steve Jobs who can draw from a deep reservoir of

2015年6月四级考试阅读真题(Reaping the Rewards of Risk-Taking)一篇

perse experiences that often generatebreakthrough ideas and insights,” says Hal Gregersen, a professor at the European Institute ofBusiness Administration.

I） Mr. Gregersen is a co-author of a new book, The Innovator’s DNA, which is based

on an eight-yearstudy of 5 000 entrepreneurs（创业者） and executives worldwide. His two collaborators and co-authorsare Jeff Dyer, a professor at Brigham Young University, and Clayton Christensen, a professor at theHarvard Business School, whose 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma popularized the concept of“disruptive（颠覆性的） innovation.”

J） The academics identify five traits that are common to the disruptive innovators:

questioning,experimenting, observing, associating and networking. Their bundle of characteristics echoes theceaseless curiosity and willingness to take risks noted by other experts. Networking, Mr. HalGregersen explains, is less about career-building relationships than a consistent search for new ideas.Associating, he adds, is the ability to make idea-producing connections by linking concepts fromdifferent disciplines.

K）“Innovators engage in these mental activities regularly,” Mr. Gregersen says. “ It’s

a habit for them. ”Innovative companies, according to the authors, typically enjoy higher valuations in the stock market,which they call an “innovation premium （溢价）．” It is calculated by estimating the share of acompany’s value that cannot be accounted for by its current products and cash flow. The innovationpremium tries to quantify（量化） investors' bets that a company will do even better in the futurebecause of innovation.

2015年6月四级考试阅读真题(Reaping the Rewards of Risk-Taking)一篇

L） Apple, by their calculations, had a 37 percent innovation premium during Mr.

Jobs' first term withthe company. His years in exile resulted in a 31 percent innovation discount. After his return, Apple’sfortunes improved gradually at first, and improved markedly starting in 2005, yielding a 52 percentinnovation premium since then.

M） There is no conclusive proof, but Mr. Hal Gregersen says it is unlikely that Mr.

Jobs could havereshaped industries beyond computing. as he has done in his second term at Apple, without theexperience outside the company, especially at Pixar-the computer-animation（动画制作） studio thatcreated a str …… 此处隐藏：5445字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……