Question

One of the executives gathered at the Aspen Institute for a day-long leadership workshop using the works of Shakespeare was discussing the role of Brutus in the death of Julius Caesar. “Brutus was not an honorable man,” he said. “He was a traitor（叛徒）. And he murdered someone in cold blood.” The agreement was that Brutus had acted with cruelty when other options were available to him. He made a bad decision, they said—at least as it was presented by Shakespeare—to take the lead in murdering Julius Caesar. And though one of the executives acknowledged that Brutus had the good of the republic in mind, Caesar was nevertheless his superior. “You have to endeavor,” the executives said, “our policy is to obey the chain of command.”

During the last few years, business executives and book writers looking for a new way to advise corporate America have been exploiting Shakespeare’s wisdom for profitable ends. None more so than husband and wife team Kenneth and Carol Adelman, well-known advisers to the White House, who started up a training company called “Movers and Shakespeares”. They are amateur Shakespeare scholars and Shakespeare lovers, and they have combined their passion and their high level contacts into a management training business. They conduct between 30 and 40 workshops annually, focusing on half a dozen different plays, mostly for corporations, but also for government agencies.

The workshops all take the same form, focusing on a single play as a kind of case study, and using individual scenes as specific lessons. In Julius Caesar , sly provocation（狡诈的挑唆） of Brutus to take up arms against the what was a basis for a discussion of methods of team building and grass roots organism.

Although neither of the Adelmans is academically trained in literature, the programmes, contain plenty of Shakespeare tradition and background. Their workshop on Henry V, for example, includes a helpful explanation of Henry’s winning strategy at the Battle of Agincourt. But they do come to the text with a few biases (偏向): their reading of Henry V minimizes his misuse of power. Instead, they emphasize the story of the youth who seizes opportunity and becomes a masterful leader. And at the workshop on Caesar, Mr. Adelmans had little good to say about Brutus, saying “the noblest Roman of them all” couldn’t make his mind up about things.

Many of the participants pointed to very specific elements in the play that they felt related Caesar’s pride, which led to his murder, and Brutus’s mistakes in leading the  after the murder, they said, raise vital questions for anyone serving as a business when and how do you resist the boss?

1.According to paragraph 1, what did all the executives think of Brutus?

A. Cruel.                B. Superior.

C. Honorable.            D. Bade

2.According to the passage, the Adelmans set up “Movers and Shakespeares” to ________.

A. help executives to understand Shakespeare’s plays better

B. give advice on leadership by analyzing Shakespeare’s plays

C. provide case studies of Shakespeare’s plays in literature workshops

D. guide government agencies to follow the characters in Shakespeare’s plays.

3.Why do the Adelmans conduct a workshop on Henry V?

A. To highlight the importance of catching opportunities.

B. To encourage masterful leaders to plan strategies to win.

C. To illustrate the harm of prejudices in management.

D. To warn executives against power misuse.

4.It can be inferred from the passage that ____.

A. the Adelmans’ programme proves biased as the roles of characters are maximized.

B. executives feel bored with too many specific elements of Shakespeare’s plays.

C. the Adelmans will make more profits if they are professional scholars.

D. Shakespeare has played an important role in the management field.

5.The best title for the passage is _____.

A. Shakespeare’s plays: Executives reconsider corporate culture

B. Shakespeare’s plays: An essential key to business success

C. Shakespeare’s plays: a lesson for business motivation

D. Shakespeare’s plays: Dramatic training brings dramatic results

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.A

4.D

5.D

【解析】

试题分析：文章介绍了莎士比亚戏剧在商业管理方面的运用。

1.】A 细节理解题 根据第一段描述所用的一些词语“not an honorable man 不是一个受敬仰的人”,“traitor 叛徒”，“in cold blood 冷血”等可以得出答案为cruel 残忍的。Superior 意为较高的（级别、地位）; 较好的（在质量等方面）; 较多的（数量）; 上等的; rude 意为粗鲁的。

2.】B 细节题 根据第二段的一些用词“well-known advisers to the White House 著名的白宫顾问”,”management training business 管理训练商业”，可以知道答案是与leadership 管理有关。其中leadership（领导）和management 是同义词。

3.】A 细节理解题 根据“Instead, they emphasize the story of the youth who seizes opportunity and becomes a masterful leader. 相反，他们强调年轻人的故事。这些年轻人能够抓住机会以及成为有能力的领导” 可以知道答案是强调抓住机会的重要性。其中highlight强调和emphasize 是同义词，seizes opportunity 和catch opportunities 是同义词。

4.】D 推理题，纵观全文，本文提到的一个是莎士比亚，以及是Adelmans所创立的一个培训商业，这个培训主要是管理有关，也与领导有关。所以答案是D Shakespeare has played an important role in the management field.（莎士比亚在管理领域也起着重要作用）。

5.】D 标题题 四个选项的意思分别是A. Shakespeare’s plays: Executives reconsider corporate culture （莎士比亚戏剧：管理层重新认识企业文化）；B. Shakespeare’s plays: An essential key to business success （莎士比亚戏剧：成功商业的关键）；C. Shakespeare’s plays: a lesson for business motivation（莎士比亚戏剧：商业动机的一节课）；D. Shakespeare’s plays: Dramatic training brings dramatic results（莎士比亚戏剧：戏剧的训练带来喜剧的结果）。标题题选择的正确答案是简练高度概括，而且以文章主题相关，综合这几个因素只有D选项才符合，其他选项，要么和主题无关，要么就是扩大了范围。

【考点定位】 这是一篇论说文