2014年MBA英语阅读理解(精读精解)(40)

　　Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard's chief executive, came out fighting on November 14th. In a conference call with analysts, she announced better-than-expected quarterly results, even though profits were down. Ms Fiorina also reiterated why she believes her $24 billion plan to acquire Compaq is the best way forward for HP, despite objections by Hewlett and Packard family members. Last week Walter Hewlett, whose father co-founded the company, expressed concern that the merger would increase HP's exposure to the shrinking PC market and would distract managers from the more important task of navigating through the recession.

　　There are two ways to defend the deal. One is to point out its advantages, which is what Ms Fiorina did this week. Merging with Compaq, she said, would enable HP to reach its goals faster than it could on its own. The deal would improve HP's position in key markets such as storage and high-end computing, as well as the economics of its PC business. It would double the size of HP's sales force and broaden its customer base, providing more potential clients for its services and consulting arms. It would improve cashflow, margins and efficiency by adding "breadth and depth" to HP. "Having spent the last several months planning the integration of these two companies, we are even more convinced of the power of this combination," Ms Fiorina concluded.

　　It sounds too good to be true, and it almost certainly is. But the other way to defend the deal is to point out that, even if it was a bad idea to start with, abandoning it could be even worse--a view that, unsurprisingly, Ms Fiorina chose not to advance, but is being quietly put forward by the deal's supporters.

　　Scrapping the merger would be extremely painful for a number of reasons. Since the executive teams of both firms have committed themselves to the deal, they would be utterly discredited if it fell apart, and would probably have to go. Under the terms of the merger agreement, HP might have to pay Compaq as much as $675m if it backed out. The two firms would be considerably weakened; they would also be rivals again, despite having shared confidential technical and marketing information with each other over the past few months. In short, it would all be horribly messy. What can be done to save the deal? Part of the problem is that HP has no plan B. "They need a brand-recovery effort immediately," says one industry analyst. HP must give the impression that it is strong and vital, rather than desperate, and that its future is not dependent on the deal going forward. That could make the merger look more attractive and bring investors back on board.

　　This week's results will certainly help. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which owns just over one-tenth of HP's shares, will decide whether to back the merger in the next few weeks, and HP's shareholders are to vote on it early next year. The more credible HP's plan B, the less likely it is that it will be needed.

　　1. What is Ms Fiorina’s attitude toward the merging of HP and Compaq?

　　[A]Reserved consent.

　　[B]Strong disapproval.

　　[C]Enthusiastic support.

　　[D]Slight contempt.

　　2. Which of the following is not the good reason to promote the merger?

　　[A]The majority of the firm are in favor of the merger.

　　[B]No combination is even worse than merger.

　　[C]It can bring about a lot of advantages.

　　[D]There is no plan B to save the firm from trouble.

　　3. The expression “The more credible HP's plan B, the less likely it is that it will be needed.”(Last Line, Last Paragraph) most probably indicates _____________.

　　[A]plan B can win people’s trust

　　[B]the merger needs people’s trust in plan B

　　[C]the reliance on plan B determines the success of the merger

　　[D]appearing not to be dependent on the merger will make the merger go well

　　4. What can we learn from paragraph 4?

　　[A]The executive teams of both firms can benefit a lot from the merger.

　　[B]The future of HP depends much on the merger.

　　[C]The two sides are eager to make this deal.

　　[D]Plan B can save HP out of trouble.

　　5. What is the author’s attitude toward the merger of HP?

　　[A]Negative.

　　[B]Supportive.

　　[C]Objective.

　　[D]Apprehensive.

　　答案：CADBC

　　篇章剖析

　　本文主要阐述了已陷入困境的惠普公司意欲收购康柏公司这一事件，其中包括计划的原因、股东的态度以及计划失败会造成的后果。第一段指出惠普公司首席执行官和惠普股东对收购问题的不同看法;第二段和三段指出有两种办法可以维护这一协议;第四段指出这一方案失败将会造成什么样的后果以及惠普公司如何能促成这一方案;最后一段：对最终的结果大家拭目以待。

　　词汇注释

　　Hewlett-Packard休利特-帕卡德公司(也就是中国人习惯称为惠普公司)

　　denounce[dI5naJns]vt.公开指责, 公然抨击, 谴责

　　Compaq n.美国COMPAQ电脑公司;美国康柏公司，世界著名的电脑生产厂家

　　conference call n.电话会议

　　reiterate[ri:5ItEreIt]vt.反复地说, 重申, 重做

　　merger[5m\:dVE(r)]n.合并, 归并

　　scrap [skrAp]vt.扔弃, 敲碎, 拆毁

　　commit oneself to 致力于

　　discredit[dIs5kredIt]vt.不信, 怀疑, 使丢脸

　　confidential[kRnfI5denF(E)l]adj.秘密的, 机密的

　　back out v.收回, 停止不干

　　难句突破

　　Walter Hewlett, whose father co-founded the company, expressed concern that the merger would increase HP's exposure to the shrinking PC market and would distract managers from the more important task of navigating through the recession.

　　主体句式：Walter Hewlett expressed concern that …

　　结构分析：本句是一个定语从句。“whose father co-founded the company”是主语“Walter Hewlett”的同位语;that引导宾语从句，在这里应注意从句中一些单词的用法：exposure to的意思是“使受影响”;shrinking的意思是“萎缩的”;“navigating”的意思是“引领，驾驶，操纵”;“recession”的意思是“不景气”。

　　句子译文：上周，沃尔特·休利特—他的父亲曾组建了惠普公司---表达了他的忧虑，他担心公司的合并将会使惠普公司在应对萎缩的电脑市场时增加财政损失的风险，并且这将会使公司经理在担当引领公司度过低靡期这一更为重要的任务时分心走神。