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Should a leader strive to be loved or feared? This question, famously posed by Machiavelli, lies at the heart of Joseph Nye's new book. Mr. Nye, a former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and one-time chairman of America's National Intelligence Council, is best known for promoting the idea of “soft power”, based on persuasion and influence, as a counterpoint to “hard power”, based on coercion and force.
Having analyzed the use of soft and hard power in politics and diplomacy in his previous books, Mr. Nye has now turned his attention to the relationship between power and leadership, in both the political and business spheres. Machiavelli, he notes, concluded that “one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved.” In short, hard power is preferable to soft power. But modern leadership theorists have come to the opposite conclusion.
The context of leadership is changing, they observe, and the historical emphasis on hard power is becoming outdated. In modern companies and democracies, power is increasingly diffused and traditional hierarchies are being undermined, making soft power ever more important. But that does not mean coercion should now take a back seat to persuasion, Mr. Nye argues. Instead, he advocates a synthesis of these two views. The conclusion of The Powers to Lead , his survey of the theory of leadership, is that a combination of hard and soft power, which he calls “smart power”, is the best approach.
The dominant theoretical model of leadership at the moment is, apparently, the “transformational leadership pattern”. Anyone allergic to management term will already be running for the exit, but Mr. Nye has performed a valuable service in rounding up and summarizing the various academic studies and theories of leadership into a single, slim volume. He examines different approaches to leadership, the morality of leadership and how the wider context can determine the effectiveness of a particular leader. There are plenty of anecdotes and examples, both historical and contemporary, political and corporate.
Also, leadership is a slippery subject, and as he depicts various theories, even Mr. Nye never quite nails the jelly to the wall. He is at his most interesting when discussing the moral aspects of leadership—in particular, the question of whether it is sometimes necessary for good leaders to lie—and he provides a helpful 12-point summary of his conclusions. A recurring theme is that as circumstances change, different sorts of leaders are required; a leader who thrives in one environment may struggle in another, and vice versa. Ultimately that is just a fancy way of saying that leadership offers no easy answers.
1. From the first two paragraphs we may learn that Mr. Machiavelli's idea of hard power is ______.
A. well accepted by Joseph Nye
B. very influential till nowadays
C. based on sound theories
D. contrary to that of modern leadership theorists
2. Which of the following makes soft power more important today according to Mr. Nye?
A. Coercion is widespread.
B. Morality is devalued.
C. Power is no longer concentrated.
D. Traditional hierarchies are strengthened.
3. In his book The Powers to Lead , Mr. Nye has examined all the following aspects of leadership EXCEPT ______.
A. authority
B. context
C. approaches
D. morality
4. Mr. Nye's book is particularly valuable in that it ______.
A. makes little use of management terms
B. summarizes various studies concisely
C. serves as an exit for leadership researchers
D. sets a model for contemporary corporate leaders
5. According to the author, the most interesting part of Mr. Nye's book lies in his ______.
A. view of changeable leadership
B. definition of good leadership
C. summary of leadership history
D. discussion of moral leadership
In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being “tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics.” Tantalized is one of many English words that have their origins in myths and legends of the past (in this case, Greek and Roman ones). The meaning of the verb tantalize is a very particular one: “to promise or show something desirable to a person and then take it away; to tease by arousing hope.” Many (but not all) English dictionaries give you a brief indication of a word's origins in brackets before or after the explanation of the meaning. For tantalize the following explanation is given: [＞ Tantalus]. This means that you should look up the name Tantalus to find out the word's origins, and if you do, you will find out that in Greek mythology, Tantalus was a king who was punished in the lower world with eternal hunger and thirst; he was put up to his chin in water that always moved away when he tried to drink it and with fruit on branches above him placed just a little bit out of his reach. Can you see why his name was changed into a verb meaning “to tease or torment by arousing desire”?
Another example is the word siren, familiar to us as the mechanical device that makes such an alarming sound when police cars, ambulances, or fire engines approach. This word also has its origins in Greek mythology. The traveler Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans) made his men plug their ears so that they wouldn't hear the dangerous voices of the sirens, creatures who were half bird and half woman and who lured sailors to their deaths on sharp rocks. So the word came to be associated both with a loud sound and with danger!
When someone speaks of a “ jovial mood ” or a “ herculean effort ”, he or she is using words with origins in mythology. Look these words up to find their meaning and relationship to myths.
Many common words, such as the names for the days of the week and the months of the year, also come from mythology. Wednesday derives from the ancient Norse king of the gods, Woden, and Thursday was originally Thor's day, in honor of Thor, the god of thunder. As a matter of fact, all the planets, except the one we live on, bear names that come from Roman mythology, including the planet that is farthest away from the sun and for that reason was called after the Roman god of the dead. This god has also given his name to one of the chemical elements. Several other elements have names that come from mythology, too.
It seems that myths and legends live on in the English language.
1. The purpose of the first sentence in Para. 1 is ______.
A. to describe the work of some Chinese scholars
B. to arouse readers' interest in hieroglyphics
C. to lead readers onto the main theme
D. to link the preceding part to the present one
2. We learn from the passage that all English dictionaries include ______.
A. legends
B. mythology
C. word origins
D. word definitions
3. The example of tantalize is to show ______.
A. how the word came into existence
B. how Tantalus was punished in the lower world
C. how all English dictionaries show word origins
D. how the meaning of the word changed over the years
4. According to the passage, which of the following does NOT have origins in myths or legends?
A. Jovial.
B. Wednesday.
C. Earth.
D. March.
5. Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
A. Greek and Roman Mythology in Language
B. Mythological Origins of English Words
C. Historical Changes in Word Meanings
D. Mythology and Common Words
The Nobels are the originals, of course. However, not all rewards are as noble as the Nobels. There are now hundreds of awards and award ceremonies for all kinds of things.
The Oscars are probably the most famous, a time for the (mostly American) film industry to tell itself how good it is and an annual opportunity for lots of big stars to give each other awards and make tearful speeches. As well as that there are also the Golden Globes, evidently for the same thing.
But it's not only films—there are also Grammies, Brits, the Mercury Prize and the MTV for music. In Britain, a writer who wins the Booker Prize can expect to see their difficult, literary novel hit the bestseller lists and compete with The Da Vinci Code for popularity. The Turner Prize is an award for British contemporary artists—each year it causes controversy by apparently giving lots of money to artists who do things like displaying their beds, putting animals in glass cases or—this year—building a garden shed.
Many small towns and communities all over the world also have their own award ceremonies, for local writers or artists, or just for people who have graduated from high school or, got a university degree. Even the British Council has its own awards for “Innovation in English Language Teaching”.
Why have all these awards and ceremonies appeared recently? It would be possible to say, however, that in the past, scientists and artists could win “patronage” from rich people—a king or a lord would give the artists or scientists money to have them paint their palaces or help them develop new ways of making money. With the change in social systems across the world, this no longer happens. A lot of scientific research is now either funded by the state or by private companies.
Perhaps award ceremonies are just the most recent phase of this process. However, there is more to it than that. When a film wins an Oscar, many more people will go and see it, or buy the DVD. When a writer wins the Nobel Prize, many more people buy their books.
Most award ceremonies are now sponsored by big organizations or companies. This means that it is not only the person who wins the award who benefits—but also the sponsors. The MTV awards, for example, are great for publicizing not only music, but also MTV itself! On the surface, it seems to be a “win-win” situation, with everyone being happy, but let me ask you a question—how far do you think that publicity and marketing are winning here, and how much genuine recognition of achievement is taking place?
1. What is the author's tone when he mentions awards such as the Oscars, the Golden Globes and Grammies?
A. Amused.
B. Appreciative.
C. Sarcastic.
D. Serious.
2. According to Para. 3, what would happen to award winning writers?
A. They would enjoy a much larger readership.
B. They would turn to popular novel writing.
C. They would continue non-fiction writing.
D. They would try controversial forms of art.
3. Which of the following statements best sums up Para. 4?
A. Awards ceremonies are held for local people.
B. Awards ceremonies are held on important occasions.
C. Awards ceremonies are held in certain professions.
D. Awards ceremonies are held for all sorts of reasons.
4. According to Para. 5, one difference between scientists and artists in the past and those at present lies in ______.
A. nature of work
B. personal contact
C. source of funding
D. social status
5. It can be concluded from Para. 7 that the author thinks awards ______.
A. do good to both market and popularity
B. promote market rather than achievements
C. help those who are really talented
D. are effective in making people popular
The costs associated with natural disasters are increasing rapidly. As a result, officials in government and industry have focused more attention on disasters and their effects. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has estimated that disasters cost the country about 1 billion per week. Hurricane Andrew, the Midwest flood of 1993, and the Hanshin earthquake have shown that individual disasters can cost tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars. This increasing cost has resulted in greater funding from government and industry for the development of technologies related to disaster prediction, and has led to more research into the effective use of predictive information.
The insurance industry has long been aware of the dangers of natural disasters; the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, California, bankrupted scores of insurance companies. But the industry has focused particular attention on disaster prediction in recent years, as spiraling costs revealed that many companies had underestimated their financial exposure. For instance, prior to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, many insurance experts thought that the worst hurricane possible would do no more than 8 billion in damages to the industry. The damages caused by Hurricane Andrew, estimated at about 17 billion, shattered these beliefs. Today, estimates of worst-case disaster scenarios approach 100 billion.
The insurance industry has therefore increased its support for research into disaster prediction. One such effort involves a number of companies that have joined together to support the Bermuda-based Risk Prediction Initiative, which funds disaster research. The expectation is that the resulting information will place the industry on a more solid foundation to make decisions about the risk of future disasters. The industry has also lobbied for the government to bear some of the financial burden of disaster insurance. Such a program already exists for flood insurance, set up in the late 1960s by the federal government to insure flood-prone areas. These types of programs, effectively implemented, could be increasingly necessary in the future to make insurance available in areas prone to disasters.
Because the stakes are so high, the science of disaster prediction has a bright future. The various projects and programs illustrate that disaster prediction is a topic of concern to scientists and policy makers alike. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes all show that the effective use of disaster predictions not only requires advanced technology but also requires that society consider the entire process of prediction—forecasts, communication, and use of information. Because they cannot predict the future with certainty, and because much remains to be learned, scientists warn that society must understand the limits of scientific predictions and be prepared to employ alternatives. Wisely used, however, disaster prediction has the potential to reduce society's vulnerability to natural disasters.
1. The result of the increasing costs in natural disasters is ______.
A. great loss suffered by commercial companies
B. organizations' increased attention on disasters
C. individual awareness to natural disasters
D. more funds to support the prediction research
2. The difference between the actual loss caused by Hurricane Andrew and the loss estimated by insurance companies before the hurricane is ______.
A. 1 billion dollars
B. 8 billion dollars
C. 9 billion dollars
D. 17 billion dollars
3. The purpose of insurance companies to support disaster prediction research is that ______.
A. companies want to make more money from the insured places
B. companies may thus have a better idea of the future risks
C. companies can get more sympathies from the government
D. companies intend to make use of people's trust in the industry
4. The key factor to reduce society's vulnerability to natural disasters is ______.
A. insurance companies should be wise enough in their estimates of losses
B. the government should bear some of the financial risks of disaster insurance
C. the general public should be made fully aware of the possible damages
D. technology should be improved and three phases of prediction be considered
5. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. There are a lot of things that human beings don't know.
B. We will never predict disasters with certainty.
C. Scientists are afraid of making mistakes.
D. Disaster prediction is a tough task.