GWD5- Q34-Q35 急！！！

蓝山六六 · 发表于 2014-3-18 10:00:37

Firms traditionally claim that they downsize (i.e., make permanent personnel cuts) for economic reasons, laying off supposedly unnecessary staff in an attempt to become more efficient and competitive.
Organization theory would explain this reasoning as an example of the “economic rationality” that it assumes underlies all organizational activities.
There is evidence that firms believe they are behaving rationally whenever they downsize; yet recent research has shown that the actual economic effects of downsizing are often negative for firms.
Thus, organization theory cannot adequately explain downsizing; non-economic factors must also be considered. One such factor is the evolution of downsizing into a powerful business myth:
managers simply believe that downsizing is efficacious.
Moreover, downsizing nowadays is greeted favorably by the business press; the press often refers to soaring stock prices of downsizing firms (even though research shows that stocks usually rise only briefly after downsizing and then suffer a prolonged decline). Once viewed as a sign of desperation, downsizing is now viewed as a signal that firms are serious about competing in the global marketplace; such signals are received positively by key actors— financial analysts, consultants, shareholders—who supply firms with vital organizing resources.
Thus, even if downsizers do not become economically more efficient, downsizing’s mythic properties give them added prestige in the business community, enhancing their survival prospects.

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Q34:
The primary purpose of the passage is to
A.criticize firms for engaging in the practice of downsizing
B.analyze the negative economic impact of downsizing on firms
C.offer an alternative to a traditional explanation for the occurrence of downsizing
D.chronicle how perceptions of downsizing have changed over time
E.provide evidence disputing the prevalence of downsizing
Q35.The passage suggests that can be beneficial to a downsizing firm because these downsizing’s mythic properties properties

A. allow the firm to achieve significant operating efficiencies
B. provide the firm with access to important organizing resources
C. encourage a long-stock price term increase in the firm’s
D. make the firm less reliant on external figures such as financial analysts and consultants
E. discourage the firm’s competitors from entering

答案 c b
Q34我选 B，因为原文中的那句"yet recent research has shown that the actual economic effects of downsizing are often negative for firms." 我觉得全文就是在说downsizing 并不像很多理论或managers 认为的都是好处，有很多不好的地方。同时c 选项说文章offer a alternative. 我并没觉得这是个alternative啊！
Q35.我选A。正确答案定位的是文章倒数第二句的“vital organizing resources.” 我怎么也没能定位在这句。我看到 mythic 就直接定位在了“into a powerful business myth” 那一句。另外，这里的properties 怎么理解才对呢？
就快考试了，多谢各位帮忙解答！！！！！！

xeniatina · 发表于 2014-3-18 12:14:04

There is evidence that firms believe they are behaving rationally whenever they downsize; yet recent research has shown that the actual economic effects of downsizing are often negative for firms.
个人觉得这是个明显的新旧对比， alternative view 转折标识呀。
b应该错在作者并没有analyze，只是例举了一些关于downsizing的myth。即使文中提到negative effect(还是上面那句），也是引用recent research而不是作者在分析。

35题。貌似是except题. efficiency有提到啊。
laying off supposedly unnecessary staff in an attempt to become more efficient and competitive.
managers simply believe that downsizing is efficacious.
然后后面又来一个。
Thus, even if downsizers do not become economically more efficient, downsizing’s mythic properties give them added prestige in the business community, enhancing their survival prospects.

property应该是性质的意思吧。

蓝山六六 · 发表于 2014-3-19 10:52:07

xeniatina 发表于 2014-3-18 12:14
There is evidence that firms believe they are behaving rationally whenever they downsize; yet recent ...

谢谢亲，34题我明白了，但是35题的答案是B呀，我选了A，没明白怎么定位到了文章倒数第二句的“vital organizing resources“。麻烦你再帮我看看吧~

marinekiller · 发表于 2014-3-19 11:18:30

蓝山六六发表于 2014-3-19 10:52
谢谢亲，34题我明白了，但是35题的答案是B呀，我选了A，没明白怎么定位到了文章倒数第二句的“vital orga ...

downsizing’s mythic properties give them added prestige in the business community
added prestige in the business community 就是 b 选项中的 resources

蓝山六六 · 发表于 2014-3-19 14:46:23

marinekiller 发表于 2014-3-19 11:18
downsizing’s mythic properties give them added prestige in the business community
added prestige ...

了解了，谢谢啦~

成成儿 · 发表于 2015-1-13 14:33:32

又开始抛旧帖了，我也纠结了半天这篇文章，感觉最主要的是理解文章的topic，文章讲的是how to explain the behavior of downsizing.

34题，choice B中的 the negative economic impact of downsizing on firms只是作者用来支持他的idea的evidence。
而他的观点是：不仅仅economic factor can explain downsizing,且现在出现了negative economic impact ，那么non-economic factors also should be considered. 正确答案的“an alternative”就是文中最后一句话，Thus, even if downsizers do not become economically more efficient, downsizing’s mythic properties give them added prestige in the business community, enhancing their survival prospects. 这句话就包含了：become economically more efficient, 和even if downsizers do not become economically more efficient，即更全面的explanation。

35题，我觉得这题我卡在对【Once viewed as a sign of desperation, downsizing is now viewed as a signal that firms are serious about competing in the global marketplace; such signals are received positively by key actors— financial analysts, consultants, shareholders—who supply firms with vital organizing resources.】的理解上。
once= at some time in the past; 说明以前是desperation的标志，现在不是（至少按时不是负面的标志吧）
serious about something=if someone is serious about something, they say or plan to do, they really mean it and are not joking or pretending.（这里的serious不是严重的意思，而是真正的正面的关心/关注）
positively = in a positive way（这个positively不能是数值上的正向，而是态度上的积极的）
所以，大致意思就是：以前的downsizing表明企业处于绝望的状态，但现在downsizing却会让核心利益者正面地关注企业，一起拯救企业。
所以作者最后得出结论：thus...enhancing their survival prospects。

GWD5- Q34-Q35 急！！！

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