阅读试题

In business, there is a speed difference: It's the difference between how important a firm's leaders say speed is to their competitive (竞争的) strategy（策略）and how fast the company actually moves. The difference is important regardless of industry and company size . Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.
In our study of 343 businesses, the companies that chose to go, go, go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track. What's more, the firms that "slowed down to speed up "improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period.
How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what "slower" and "faster" mean. Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value). Simply increasing the speed of production, for example, may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference. But that often leads to reduced value over time, in the form of lower-quality products and services.
In our study, higher-performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary. They became more open to ideas and discussion. They encouraged new ways of thinking. And they allowed time to look back and learn. By contrast (相比而言), performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time, paid too much attention to improve efficiency, stuck to tested methods, didn't develop team spirit among their employee, and had little time thinking about changes.
Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership. Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals. That kind of strategy must come from the top.

57. What does the underlined part "gain an edge "in Paragraph 2 mean ?
A. Increase the speed.
B. Get an advantage.
C. Reach the limit.
D. Set a goal.

58. The underlined part "the laws of business physics in Paragraph 3 means ___________.
A. spending more time and performing worse.
B. spending more time and performing better
C. spending less time and performing worse
D. spending less time and performing better

59. What can we learn from the text?
A. how fast a firm moves depends on how big it is.
B. how competitive a firm is depends on what it produces.
C. Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes.
D. Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit.

60. Where could be the best title for the text?
A. Improve quality? Serve better.
B. Deliver value? Plough ahead.
C. Reduce time? Move faster.
D. Need speed? Slow down.

参考译文

在商业场上，速度有不同的含义：公司领导说的速度是针对他们的竞争策略以及公司运转有多快而言的。不管工业和公司的大小，这种差异都是很重要的。 公司担心失去他们的竞争优势而花费大量的时间和金钱来提速。
在我们研究的343家企业中，那些选择不断尝试新方法以获取竞争优势的公司在产品销售和营业收入上都不及那些在关键时刻及时停步休整以确保在正确的轨道上运行的公司。而且，这些公司通过“以退为进”的方式来提高销售额和盈利能力。三年间，销售额平均增长40%，运营收入平均增长52%。
他们是怎样打破商业物理法规，比对手花费的时间还多，表现得还要好呢？他们所考虑到的“减缓”和加速（运转加快）以及决策速度（减少实现价值所花的时间）不同。例如，简单的提高生产速度可能是一种缩小速度差异的方法。但是超时或产品质量低及服务差经常会导致价值降低。
在我们的研究中，拥有决策速度的更高水平的公司总是能随机应变。对于意见和议论，他们变得更加坦率。他们鼓励新的思维方式。并且他们花时间回顾和学习。相比较而言，在运转一直很快速的公司，绩效会受损。这些公司花费了太多的注意力在提高效率和检测方法上，而忽略了在他们的雇员中发展团队精神，也没有花费多少时间来思考改变。
决策速度是为某一领导阶层服务的。那些按常规花费时间让事情进展顺利，而不是在开辟一条崭新道路的团队能更成功地实现他们的商业目标。而这种决策必须来自高层。

答案解析

57. B 猜测词义题。根据第一段中的信息"Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage..."以及该短语后面的信息"ended with lower sales and operating incomes"可知gain an edge在文中意为"获得(竞争)优势"。
58. D 猜测词义题。理解该句"How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better?"中盼信息词disobey以及taking more time than competitors yet performing better可知，the laws of business physics此处意为"花更少的时间但做得更好"。
59. C 推理判断题。从第四段中的主题句"In our study，higher-performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary."以及该段中的"And they allowed time to look back and learn."可知讲究"策略速度"的公司鼓励创新思维，懂得在必要的时候花时间来回顾和学习，以求更好的发展。
60. D 标题判断题。一项对343家公司的研究结果表明，有的公司怕失去竞争优势，奋力追求速度，结果反而营业收入差；而有些些公司适时放慢速度却获得了巨大的成功。文章借此艺表达了"slowed down to speed up"的观点，所以D项最能概括文章大大意。