单项选择题Leadership is hardly a new area of research, of course. For years, academics have debated whether leaders are born or made, whether a person who lacks charisma (capacity to inspire devotion and enthusiasm) can become a leader, and what makes leaders fail. Warren G. Bennis, possibly the world’s foremost expert on leading, has, together with his co-author, written two bestsellers on the topic. Generally, researchers have found that you can’t explain leadership by way of intelligence, birth order, family wealth or stability, level of education, race, or sex. From one leader to the next, there’s enormous variance in every one of those factors.
The authors’ research led to a new and telling discovery: that every leader, regardless of age, had undergone at least one intense, transformational experience -- what the authors call a "crucible" (severe test). These events can either make you or break you. For emerging leaders, they do more making than breaking, providing key lessons to help a person move ahead confidently.
If a crucible helps a person to become leader, there are four essential qualities that allow someone to remain one, according to the authors. They are: an "adaptive capacity" that lets people not only survive inevitable setbacks, heartbreaks, and difficulties but also learn from them; an ability to engage others through shared meaning or a common vision; a distinctive and compelling voice that communicates one’s conviction and desire to do the right thing; and a sense of integrity that allows a leader to distinguish between good and evil.
That sounds obvious enough to be commonplace, until you look at some recent failures that show how valid these dictums (formal statements of opinion) are. The authors believe that former Coca Cola Co. Chairman M. Douglas Ivester lasted just 28 months because "his grasp of context was sorrowful". Among other things, Ivester degraded Coke’s highest-ranking African-American even as the company was losing a ＄200 million class action brought by black employees. Procter & Gamble Co. ex-CEO Durk Jager lost his job because he failed to communicate the urgent need for the sweeping changes he was making.
It’s striking, too, that the authors found their geezers ( whose formative period, as the authors define them, was 1945 to 1954, and who were shaped by World Wm’ Il) sharing what they believed to be a critical trait -- the sense of possibility and wonder more often associated with childhood. "Unlike those defeated by time and age, our geezers have remained much like our geeks (who came of age between 1991 and 2000, and grew up ’ virtual’ , ’ visual’ , and ’ digital’ ) -- open, willing to take risks, hungry for knowledge and experience, courageous, and eager to see what the new day brings", the authors write.
The passage indicates that leadership research ______.A．has been a controversial study for years
B．predicts how a leader comes to be
C．defines the likelihood to be a leader
D．probes the mysteries of leadership
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1.单项选择题The most noticeable trend among today’s media companies is vertical integration -- an attempt to control several related aspects of the media business at once, each part helping the other. Besides publishing magazines and books, Time Warner, for example, owns Home Box Office (HBO), Warner movie studios, various cable TV systems throughout the United States and CNN as well. The Japanese company Matsushita owns MCA Records and Universal Studios and manufactures broadcast production equipment.
To describe the financial status of today’s media is also to talk about acquisitions. The media are buying and selling each other in unprecedented numbers and forming media groups to position themselves in the marketplace to maintain and increase their profits. In 1986, the first time a broadcast network had been sold, two networks were sold that year -- ABC and NBC.
Media acquisitions have skyrocketed since 1980 for two reasons. The first is that most big corporations today are publicly-traded companies, which means that their stock is traded on one of the nation stock exchanges. This makes acquisitions relatively easier.
A media company that wants to buy a publicly-owned company can buy that company’s stock when the stock becomes available. The open availability of stock in these companies means that anybody with enough money can invest in the American media industries, which is exactly how Rupert Murdoch joined the media business.
The second reason for the increase in media alliances is that beginning in 1980, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gradually deregulated the broadcast media. Before 1980, for example, the FCC allowed one company to own only five TV stations, five AM radio stations, and five FM radio stations; companies also are required to hold onto a station for three years before the station could be sold. The post-1980 FCC eliminated the three-year rule and raised the number of broadcast holdings allowed for one owner. This trend of media acquisitions is continuing throughout the 1990s, as changing technology expands the market for media products. The issue of media ownership is important. If only a few corporations direct the media industries in this country, the outlets for differing political viewpoints and innovative ideas could be limited.
What do Time Warner and Matsushita have in commonA．They both belong to Rupert Murdoch.
B．They are both big American media corporations.
C．They are both outlet of differing viewpoints and innovative ideas.
D．They both own several different but related media businesses.
3.填空题Americans are proud of their variety and individuality, yet they 10ve and respect few things more than a uniform, whether it is the uniform of an elevator operator or the uniform of a five-star general. Why are uniforms so popular in the United States
Among the arguments for uniforms, one of the first is that in the eyes of most people they look more professional than civilian clothes. People have become conditioned to expect superior quality from a man who wears a uniform. The television repairman who wears a uniform tends to inspire more trust than one who appears in civilian clothes. Faith in the Skill of a garage mechanic is increased by a uniform. What an easier way is there for a nurse, a policeman, a barber, or a waiter to lose professional identity than to step out of uniform
Uniforms also have many practical benefits. They save on other clothes. They save on laundry hills. They are tax-deductible (可减税的). They are often more comfortable and more durable than civilian clothes.
Primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequent loss of individuality experienced by people who must wear them. Though there are many types of uniforms, the wearer of any particular type is generally stuck with it, without change, until retirement. When people look alike, they tend to think, speak, and act similarly, on the job at least.
Uniforms also give rise to some practical problems. Though they are long-lasting, often their initial expense is greater than the cost of civilian clothes. Some uniforms are also expensive to maintain, requiring professional dry cleaning rather than the home laundering possible with many types of civilian clothes.
The chief function of a uniform is to provide the wearer with a ______ 参考答案：professional identity 9.填空题Americans are proud of their variety and individuality, yet they 10ve and respect few things more than a uniform, whether it is the uniform of an elevator operator or the uniform of a five-star general. Why are uniforms so popular in the United States
Among the arguments for uniforms, one of the first is that in the eyes of most people they look more professional than civilian clothes. People have become conditioned to expect superior quality from a man who wears a uniform. The television repairman who wears a uniform tends to inspire more trust than one who appears in civilian clothes. Faith in the Skill of a garage mechanic is increased by a uniform. What an easier way is there for a nurse, a policeman, a barber, or a waiter to lose professional identity than to step out of uniform
Uniforms also have many practical benefits. They save on other clothes. They save on laundry hills. They are tax-deductible (可减税的). They are often more comfortable and more durable than civilian clothes.
Primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequent loss of individuality experienced by people who must wear them. Though there are many types of uniforms, the wearer of any particular type is generally stuck with it, without change, until retirement. When people look alike, they tend to think, speak, and act similarly, on the job at least.
Uniforms also give rise to some practical problems. Though they are long-lasting, often their initial expense is greater than the cost of civilian clothes. Some uniforms are also expensive to maintain, requiring professional dry cleaning rather than the home laundering possible with many types of civilian clothes.
People are accustomed to think that a man in uniform does ______. 参考答案：(superior)quality work