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Financial regulators in Britain have imposed a rather unusual rule on the bosses of big banks. Starting next year, any guaranteed bonus of top executives could be delayed 10 years if their banks are under investigation for wrongdoing. The main purpose of this “clawback” rule is to hold bankers accountable for harmful risk-taking and to restore public trust in financial institutions. Yet officials also hope for a much larger benefit: more long-term decision-making, not only by banks but by all corporations, to build a stronger economy for future generations.

“Short-termism” or the desire for quick profits, has worsened in publicly traded companies, says the Bank of England’s top economist, Andrew Haldane. He quotes a giant of classical economics, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting like “children who pick the plums out of their pudding to eat them at once” rather than putting them aside to be eaten last.

The average time for holding a stock in both the United States and Britain, he notes, has dropped from seven years to seven months in recent decades. Transient investors, who demand high quarterly profits from companies, can hinder a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer loyalty. This has been dubbed “quarterly capitalism.”

In addition, new digital technologies have allowed more rapid trading of equities, quicker use of information, and thus shorter attention spans in financial markets. “There seems to be a predominance of short-term thinking at the expense of long-term investing,” said Commissioner Daniel Gallagher of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in a speech this week.

In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has pushed most public companies to defer performance bonuses for senior executives by about a year, slightly helping reduce “short-termism.” In its latest survey of CEO pay, The Wall Street Journal finds that “a substantial part” of executive pay is now tied to performance.

Much more could be done to encourage “long-termism,” such as changes in the tax code and quicker disclosure of stock acquisitions. In France, shareholders who hold onto a company investment for at least two years can sometimes earn more voting rights in a company.

Within companies, the right compensation design can provide incentives for executives to think beyond their own time at the company and on behalf of all stakeholders. Britain’s new rule is a reminder to bankers that society has an interest in their performance, not just for the short term but for the long term.

 

1. According to Paragraph 1, one motive in imposing the new rule is to

[A] enhance bankers’ sense of responsibility.

[B] help corporations achieve larger profits.

[C] build a new system of financial regulation.

[D] guarantee the bonuses of top executives.

 

2. Alfred Marshall is quoted to indicate

[A] the conditions for generating quick profits.

[B] governments’ impatience indecision-making.

[C] the solid structure of publicly traded companies.

[D] “short-termism” in economic activities.

 

3. It is argued that the influence of transient investment on public companies canbe

[A] indirect.

[B] adverse.

[C] minimal.

[D] temporary.

 

4. The US and France examples are used to illustrate

[A] the obstacles to preventing“short-termism”.

[B] the significance of long-term thinking.

[C] the approaches to promoting“long-termism”.

[D] the prevalence of short-term thinking.

 

5. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

[A] Failure of Quarterly Capitalism

[B] Patience as a Corporate Virtue

[C] Decisiveness Required of Top Executives

[D] Frustration of Risk-taking Bankers

 

难度：容易

 

导读：当前经济活动中短期主义盛行、危害经济发展；企业应进行长远决策， 为后代建立更强健的经济。脉络：引入“英国银行业监管新规”并说明其长远目的“使企业做出更多长远 决策，为后代建立更强健的经济"（第一段）——剖析当前社会现象:上市公司中短期主义盛行（第二至四 段）一提出削弱短期主义、鼓励长期主义的方法，肯定英国新规（第五至七段）。

 

单词：

regulator 监管人，监管机构

impose 强制推行，强制实行

guaranteed 有保证的

clawback （政府或机构）收回（已给出的钱）

financial institution 金融机构

worsen 恶化

publicly traded company 上市公司

giant伟人，卓越人物

classical economics古典经济学

pick sth out of sth 把...从...中挖走/ 剔除

put sth aside省下，留出

transient 短暂的，转瞬即逝的

customer loyalty顾客忠诚

dub 把...称为，给...起绰号

equity (分享红利而非固定股息的)股票

attention span注意力的持续时间

predominance 主导地位

defer 推迟

performance bonus 绩效奖金

disclosure 披露

acquisition 收购

shareholder 股东

 

长难句：

1.He quotes a giant of classical economics, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting like “children who pick the plums out of their pudding to eat them at once” rather than putting them aside to be eaten last.

翻译：他援引古典经济学巨匠阿尔弗雷德-马歇尔之言， 把这种“经济上的急躁”形容成就像是“从布丁里把葡萄干拣出马上吃掉的孩子"一样行事， 而非先把葡萄干放到一边，留到最后再吃。

分析：句子主干为He quotes a giant of classical economics,但核心信息在状语部分in describing. . . as...，状语以比喻修辞阐明“经济上的无耐心(this financial impatience)”内涵：rather than 取舍结构以“从布丁中拣出葡萄干马上吃掉VS留着葡萄干最后吃”形象明确其所指“注重眼前利益，忽视长期回报"。

2. Transient investors, who demand high quarterly profits from companies, can hinder a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer loyalty.

翻译：短暂投资者——那些要求从公司获得高额季度收益的投资者——会阻碍公司投资长期研究或者增进客户忠诚的努力。

分析：句子主干为 Transient investors can hinder a firm's efforts, who 定语从句说明 Transient investors行为倾向，后置定语详述“（被短暂投资者所阻碍的）两大长期投资方向”。

 

答案解析：

1.细节理解题。第一段③句指出，新规主要目的是让银行家对有害冒险负责，并重建公众信任，概括即 为增强银行家的责任感，［A］正确。

2.细节理解题。二段首先指出，Andrew Haldane提岀上市公司中“短期主义”(“ Short-termism”)加剧。随后指出他援引Alfred Marshall之言，将"这种经济上的烦躁(this financial impatience)”形容为“从布丁里拣出葡萄干马上吃掉的孩子行为”。可见this financial impatience与Short-termism同指，援引 Marshall之言意在形象说明经济行为中的“短期主义”，［D］正确。

3.推理判断题。第三段②句指出，短暂投资者会妨碍公司投资长期研究或提升客户忠诚度。第四段②句 也指出：短期主义思维盛行的代价是长期投资受损。可见短暂型投资的影响是消极的、不利的，［B］正确。

4. 细节理解题。第五段指出，美国施行《萨班斯一奥克斯利法案》使得短期主义稍有削弱。第六段则先指出鼓励长期主义的方法还有很多，随后例举法国举措。综合可知，文中举美国和法国事例是为了说明 “削弱短期主义、增进长期主义的方法”，［C］正确。

5. 主旨大意题。文首段引入“英国银行业监管新规''并说明其长远目的“让银行及其他所有企业能够做 出更长远的决策，为后代建立更强健的经济”。第二至四段剖析现状“上市公司中短期主义盛行”并明确 其消极影响。第五至七段则说明削弱短期主义、鼓励长期主义的方法，可见，文章旨在倡导企业奉行长期主义、多些耐心，以为后代建立更强健的经济，［B］正确。

 

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