阅读训练

　　Passage Two

　　The General Electric Company, often criticized for the complexity of its structure and the resulting opacity of its numbers, said yesterday that it would break GE Capital, by far its largest business, into four businesses. The reorganization effectively eliminates the job of Denis J. Nayden, 48, the chairman of GE Capital. Each of the new units will have its own chief, who Will report directly to Jeffrey R. Immelt, G. E.'s chairman. "The reason for doing this is simple. I want more direct contact with the financial services teams," Mr. Immelt said.

　　The new businesses are GE Commercial Finance, GE Insurance, SE Consumer Finance and GE Equipment Management. Some support functions within GE Capital, including risk management and treasury, will now report to Dennis Dammerman, 57, a G. E. vice chairman who preceded Mr. Nayden as GE Capital's chlef. Mr, Nayden will remain at G. E. as an adviser for now, but is expected to leave shortly to start a financial services firm.

　　Mr. Dammerman insisted that the reorganization had nothing to do with the increasing clamor from investors, regulators and the news media for greater transparency in accounting and for chief executives to take more responsibility for businesses: Analysts seem to believe him. "This is just what it appears to be, a managerial, reorganization which gives leaders more direct access to the office of the chairman," said Martin A. Sankey, a G. E. analyst.

　　The executives leading the new units will also sit on G.. E. 's corporate executive council, a committee made up of the company's top 25 executives, which meets periodically and discusses various strategic and management issues.

　　GE Capital, the company's largest nit, provided $55 billion of G. E. 's $124 billion in revenue last year and $ 5.6 billion of its $19.7 billion in pretax profits. The rest of G. E. had been divided into 11 other businesses, many of them--lighting and appliances are examples-much smaller than the new GE Capital units, yet each run by someone who reports directly to the chairman. Mr. Dammermn said that Mr. Immelt began talking about breaking GE Capital into more manageable pieces as soon as he took over as chief executive last September. "Jeff didn't like the extra layer between him and the GE Capital businesses,"

　　G. E. has tried to make GE Capital less mysterious to 'the outside world. Although GE Capital was officially one unit, it had begun to report quarterly results in live product-related segments--a number that will be reduced to four with the new organization. And analysts say GE Capital's management has been more accessible than it was in past years, and that Mr. Immelt and other G. E. corporate executives have been willing to discuss GE Capital in more depth.

　　57. After the reorganization, GE will have altogether ______.

　　A) six businesses B) sixteen businesses

　　C) four businesses . D) fifteen businesses

　　58. Which of the following statements is NOT true of Dennis Dammerman?

　　A) He is now a GE's vice chairman.

　　B) He is expected to leave GE to start a new financial services firm.

　　C) He was once the chairman of GE Capital.

　　D) He regards the reorganization of GE as an initiative of its own.

　　59. All the following statements are False of Denis Nayden EXCEPT that ______.

　　A) the reorganization makes him lose his position as a chairman

　　B) he will remain for some time at GE as an analyst

　　C) he is currently GE's chairman

　　D) he is expected to start a new GE financial firm in the near future

　　60. The reorganization will enable GE's chief executive to ______.

　　A) quiet down the unrest in the world

　　B) work in a more friendly business environment

　　C) have more direct contact with GE's financial services teams

　　D) appear less mysterious to the outside world

　　61. The General Electric Capital ______.

　　A) is divided into five product-related segments now

　　B) provided more than 1/3 of GE's revenue last year

　　C) is going to be broken into more businesses

　　D) now has smaller units than all other businesses in GE

阅读答案及解析

　　57.文章第五段提到“the rest of G.E，had been divided into 11 other businesses”，也就是除 GE Capital之外共有11家公司。文章第一段指出GE Capital将被分成4家公司。因此，调整结构以后，GE共有15家公司。答案为D项。

　　58.第二段第二句指出Dennis Dammerman是GE的副总裁，曾在Nayden之前做过GE Capital的主席。因此，选项A和C都排除。第三段中，Dammerman否认GE的结构调整和外界的压力有关，因此选项D说结构调整是GE自己的主动性举措符合原文意思，可排除。而第二段的最后一句中明确陈述即将离开GE的是Nayden，故答案为B项。

　　59.根据文章第一段中的“The reorganization effectively eliminates the job of Denis J. Nayden，48，the chairman of GE Capital.”可知正确答案为A项。

　　60.第三段的最后一句“This is just what it appears to be，a managerial reorganization which gives leaders more direct access to the office of the chairman”指出了结构调整的目的是以主席为首的GE高层可以和GE Capital的管理者更直接有效地沟通。文章最后一段提到调整结果时再次出现了这一信息，即“And analysts say GE Capital's management has been more accessible than it was in past years”，因此，答案为C项。

　　61.此题是关于GE Capital的细节信息题。文章第五段第一句“GE Capital，the company's largest nit，provided $55 billion of G.E.'s $124 billion in revenue last year and $5.6 billion of its $19.7 billion in pretax profits.”提到去年GE Capital收入550亿美金占GE总收入1240亿的三分之一多。因此，正确答案为B项。