Question

Picture a typical MBA lecture theatre twenty years ago. In it the majority of students will have conformed to the standard model of the time: male, middle class and Western. Walk into a class today, however, and you’ll get a completely different impression. For a start, you will now see plenty more women—the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, for example, boasts that 40% of its new enrolment is female. You will also see a wide range of ethnic groups and nationals of practically every country.

It might be tempting, therefore, to think that the old barriers have been broken down and equal opportunity achieved. But, increasingly, this apparent diversity is becoming a mask for a new type of conformity. Behind the differences in sex, skin tones and mother tongues, there are common attitudes, expectations and ambitions which risk creating a set of clones among the business leaders of the future.

Diversity, it seems, has not helped to address fundamental weaknesses in business leadership. So what can be done to create more effective managers of the commercial world? According to Valerie Gauthier, associate dean at HEC Paris, the key lies in the process by which MBA programmes recruit their students. At the moment candidates are selected on a fairly narrow set of criteria such as prior academic and career performance, and analytical and problem solving abilities. This is then coupled to a school’s picture of what a diverse class should look like, with the result that passport, ethnic origin and sex can all become influencing factors. But schools rarely dig down to find out what really makes an applicant succeed, to create a class which also contains diversity of attitude and approach—arguably the only diversity that, in a business context, really matters.

Professor Gauthier believes schools should not just be selecting candidates from traditional sectors such as banking, consultancy and industry. They should also be seeking individuals who have backgrounds in areas such as political science, the creative arts, history or philosophy, which will allow them to put business decisions into a wider context.

Indeed, there does seem to be a demand for the more rounded leaders such diversity might create. A study by Mannaz, a leadership development company, suggests that, while the bully-boy chief executive of old may not have been eradicated completely, there is a definite shift in emphasis towards less tough styles of management—at least in America and Europe. Perhaps most significant, according to Mannaz, is the increasing interest large companies have in more collaborative management models, such as those prevalent in Scandinavia, which seek to integrate the hard and soft aspects of leadership and encourage delegated responsibility and accountability.

1.What characterizes the business school student population of today?

A. Greater diversity.

B. Intellectual maturity.

C. Exceptional diligence.

D. Higher ambition.

2.What is the author’s concern about current business school education?

A. It will arouse students’ unrealistic expectations.

B. It will produce business leaders of a uniform style.

C. It focuses on theory rather than on practical skills.

D. It stresses competition rather than cooperation.

3.What aspect of diversity does Valerie Gauthier think is most important?

A. Age and educational background.

C. Attitude and approach to business.

B. Social and professional experience.

D. Ethnic origin and gender.

4.What does Mannaz say about the current management style?

A. It is eradicating the tough aspects of management.

B. It encourages male and female executives to work side by side.

C. It adopts the bully-boy chief executive model.

D. It is shifting towards more collaborative models.

Answer 1

1.A

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：文章大意：文章介绍了商业学校的学生现在更加的多样化，但是作者担心他们会培养出来的是一样的未来领导，所以有的专家认为商业学校的学生的多样化应该在于更广泛的社会或专业的经验。

1. will also see a wide range of ethnic groups and nationals of practically every country.可知商业学校的学生现在更加的多样化，选 A

2. the differences in sex, skin tones and mother tongues, there are common attitudes, expectations and ambitions which risk creating a set of clones among the business leaders of the future.可知作者对现在的商业学校的担心是他们培养出一样的未来的领导，选B

3. should also be seeking individuals who have backgrounds in areas such as political science, the creative arts, history or philosophy, which will allow them to put business decisions into a wider context. 可知Valerie Gauthier认为这种多样化应该在于社会或专业的经验。选C

4. most significant, according to Mannaz, is the increasing interest large companies have in more collaborative (合作的) management models, 可知Mannaz,认为现在的管理模式朝着更加合作的方式转变，选D

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