Before the summer of 2000, the 54-year-old John Haughom could accomplish just about anything at work. "I could move mountains if

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问题     Before the summer of 2000, the 54-year-old John Haughom could accomplish just about anything at work. "I could move mountains if I put my mind to it. " he says of those days. But that summer Haughom found he couldn’t move them any more. On the phone with his wife one morning, Haughom broke down. A couple of days later Haughom checked himself in for a three-week stay at the Professional Renewal Center, an in-patient clinic 30 miles outside Kansas City that helps him deal with stress.
    Haughom is far from alone. A host of new studies and plenty of anecdotal evidence show that stress in the workplace is skyrocketing. Whatever the cause, stress levels are at record highs. The statistics are startling. According to a new study by the federal government’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, more than half the working people in the U. S. view job stress as a major problem in their lives. This year the European Community officially dubbed stress the second-biggest occupational-health problem facing the continent.
    Ten years ago experts warned that stress was out of control, in part because of a shaky economy. What’s notable about today’s wave of stressed-out workers is that it rises all the way to the top. Lack of control is generally considered one of the biggest job stressors, so it used to be thought that middle managers carried the brunt; sandwiched between the top and the bottom, they end up with little authority. Powerful chief executive officers (CEOs) were seen as the least threatened by stress. But in today’s tough economy, top executives don’t have as much control as they used to. "Stress is just part of the job, fortunately or unfortunately, stress is part of our character building," Lebenthal says. "But I think I don’t need any more character building. What I need is a vacation. "
    But if you think that going on vacation is hard—and studies show that 85% of corporate executives don’t use all the time off they’re entitled to. Being able to handle stress is perhaps the most basic of job expectations. So among the corporate elite, succumbing to it is considered a shameful weakness. Stress has become the last affliction that people won’t dare admit to. Most senior executives who are undergoing treatment for stress—and even many who aren’t—refused to talk on the record about the topic. "Nothing good can come out of having your name in a story like this," one CEO said through his therapist.
Why are middle managers regarded as the most threatened by stress?

选项 A、Because they don’t have as much control as they used to.
B、Because they are not able to handle stress.
C、Because they have little power over the situation in the company.
D、Because they need more character building.

答案C

解析 细节题。文章第三段指出,普遍认为得不到控制是一个最大的职业紧张性刺激,所以它在过去常常被认为是中层经理们首当其冲得的病——他们夹在顶层上司和下层职员之间,而最终几乎没有什么权威。这说明中层经理对公司局势没有什么权力。因此,正确答案是C。A与原文不符,文中指出,总经理已不像以往那样对局势有更大的权力。B“他们无法应付压力”在文章中没有提到。D“他们更需要性格发展”也与原文无关。
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