The question facing Swiss voters on March 3rd was called the "people’s initiative against fat-cat pay". With a billing like that

admin2018-03-01  48

问题     The question facing Swiss voters on March 3rd was called the "people’s initiative against fat-cat pay". With a billing like that, who wouldn’t vote yes? As it happened, 68% of the electorate did, passing a measure that requires listed companies to offer shareholders a binding vote on senior managers’ pay and appointments at each annual general meeting. The penalty for bosses who fail to comply is up to three years in jail or the forfeit of up to six years’ salary. Switzerland’s penchant for direct democracy has trumped its tolerance for tycoons.
    Swiss business is shaken. It had backed a "counter-initiative" giving shareholders more voting powers without threatening criminal sanction. That was rejected by voters. The new law, which will be written into the constitution, endangers Switzerland as an investment destination, the business lobby claims. Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation, now accepts the popular verdict but warns that such complex and highly charged changes must be implemented carefully. The laws needed to put the vote into practice will take ten years to write, some cynics suggest.
    The initiative is the brainchild of Thomas Minder, who runs his family’s toiletries business. He has apparently never forgiven Swissair for backing out of a contract when it nearly went bankrupt 12 years ago and then awarding its former boss a big pay-off. Mr Minder’s campaign gained momentum last month on news that Novartis, a Swiss drug firm, intended to pay its departing chairman, Daniel Vasella, a severance package of SFr72m ($76m). Mr Vasella later refused the package.
    After Mr Minder’s victory it will become harder to extend such corporate generosity. Some of the new restrictions seem sensible. Shareholder votes on executive pay, hitherto ad hoc and advisory, will become routine and binding. Pension funds will be required to vote in the interests of their members and make their votes public. Board members will not be permitted to have consulting or other contracts with firms in the same group.
    But other provisions are more burdensome. The law will ban incentives that can be useful, such as "golden hellos" and severance packages for board members. It will also bar them from accepting rewards for buying or selling company divisions.
According to the text, Thomas Minder ______.

选项 A、is a mental worker who has a child
B、has gained compensation from Novartis
C、runs his own business concerning cosmetic
D、works for a Swiss pharmaceutical company

答案C

解析 根据题干中的“Thomas Minder”定位到第三段。选项A对应该段第一句:The initiative is the brainchild of Thomas Minder…该句提到了“brainchild(脑力劳动产物)”,与该项的“mental worker”,“child”无关,故该项错误。选项B对应倒数第二句:Mr Minder’s campaign gained momentum last month…其中“gained momentum”的意思是“大获势头”,原文并没有提到Minder获得了补偿金,故该项错误。选项C对应首句:...Thomas Minder,who runs his family’s toiletries business.其中,“toiletry”一词表示“化妆品”,“his family’s toiletries business(他家族的化妆品生意)”对应该项的“his own business concerning cosmetic(与化妆品有关的生意)”。选项D对应倒数第二句Novartis,a Swiss drug finn这处信息,其中“drug finn”=“pharmaceutical company”。文章中提到该制药公司,但没有说Minder为其工作,故该项错误。综上所述,答案为选项C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/WLX7FFFM
0

最新回复(0)