The timing of the offer was equally astute, coming after the family had realised that the company faced huge strategic problems, but before the new chief executive they appointed last year had had time to show he could solve them, and so enable Dow Jones to prosper as an independent business. Arguably, Mr. Murdoch's eventual triumph was guaranteed from the moment Dow Jones' board admitted that a merger might be the best strategy for the firm, and started to negotiate.

The biggest risk to Mr. Murdoch was that another buyer, more acceptable to the family, would appear. But his generous offer scared off potential private-equity bidders. Mr. Murdoch's only real worry was that there might be a serious counterbid from the two firms with most to lose from his acquisition of Dow Jones: Pearson, which owns the Financial Times, and General Electric (GE), which owns CNBC, a business-news channel. With Mr. Murdoch's backing the Wall Street Journal will surely prove a much tougher rival to the Financial Times, and Dow Jones' resources might enable News Corporation's new business-TV channel, due to be launched in October, to do serious damage to CNBC. Yet despite rumours of a joint Pearson-GE bid, no such offer materialised.

Mr. Murdoch has, however, paid a high price for Dow Jones—at least $1 billion, and perhaps $2 billion, more than appears justified by the fundamentals of the business—so News Corporation's shareholders may come to regard his victory as pyrrhic. No doubt Mr. Murdoch's tougher management will squeeze out some cost savings. But his plans to generate strong growth, by expanding the Wall Street Journal and linking it with his other online and broadcast properties, do not seem terribly convincing. Which is why some News Corporation shareholders suspect that they are just excuses, and that Mr. Murdoch has put his long-standing desire to own one of the world's great newspapers before any serious consideration of value for money.

1. Mr. Murdoch could successfully purchase Dow Jones at his offer because of the following reasons except _____.

[A] he had the situations of the Bancroft family conflicts at his fingertips

[B] his $5 billion offer far exceeded other bidders and was difficult to be refused

[C] he promised that the editors would be entitled to a large degree of freedom

[D] he would not interfere with the internal issues as he pleases

2. The word “inhibiting” (Line 8, Paragraph 2) most probably means _____.

[A] giving full swing to

[B] reducing

[C] restraining

[D] depriving

3. The problems Dow Jones were facing when Mr. Murdoch decided to buy it were the following ones except _____.

[A] there was divergence between different generations of the Bancroft family

[B] the board had some difficulties in making strategic decisions

[C] the new chief executive was not allowed sufficient time to demonstrate his capability of managing the company

[D] the Bancroft came to the awareness that the company was already trapped into severe problems

4. Pearson and General Electric will probably impede Mr. Murdoch's purchase of Dow Jones because _____.

[A] acquisition of Dow Jones would bring any bidder great profit in the future

[B] Dow Jones would be more competitive after the purchase to threat their business

[C] their joint bid would turn out to be more acceptable to the Bancroft family than Mr. Murdoch

[D] they were the most powerful rivals of Mr. Murdoch's media corporation

5. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of Mr. Murdoch's offer for Dow Jones?

[A] News Corporation's shareholders think Mr Murdoch's offer was not so reasonable.

[B] News Corporation's shareholders suspect that his offer was only a start of an ambitious plan.

[C] Mr. Murdoch will make up his loss in the offer by reducing the cost of running Dow Jones.

[D] Mr. Murdoch's offer was higher than what the business had expected.





文章剖析


这篇文章讲述了Murdoch先生收购道·琼斯公司的情况。第一段讲述了一些Murdoch先生成功收购道·琼斯公司的情况；第二段和第三段讲述他收购的技巧；第四段讲述了这起收购面临的困难；第五段讲述了股东们对这起收购的看法。





词汇注释


salve vt. 缓解，减轻

astute adj. 机敏的





难句突破


① So when Mr. Murdoch's News Corporation offered in April to buy Dow Jones, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, he was already pretty sure that the reply, which eventually came in the early hours of August 1st, would be yes—and it was.

主体句式：So when Mr. Murdoch's News Corporation offered... to..., he was already... sure that...

结构分析：这是一个复合句，when引导的是句子的时间状语从句；that引导的是宾语从句，在该从句中，which引导的是定语从句，用来修饰先行词reply。

句子译文：因此，当Murdoch先生的新闻集团4月份开始收购《华尔街日报》的东家道·琼斯时，他已经确定答复会是肯定的，而事实也正是如此，他于8月1号的早上得到了这个答复。

② He also agreed to various measures to safeguard the Wall Street Journal's editorial independence that were just sufficient to salve enough Bancroft consciences, without meaningfully inhibiting his ability to do as he pleases.

主体句式：He also agreed...

结构分析：这是一个复合句，that引导的定语从句用来修饰independence；后面的分词结构作句子的伴随状语。

句子译文：他也同意采取各种措施来保证《华尔街日报》编辑的独立性，这些措施足以缓解Bancroft良心上的不安，同时也不会约束他随心所欲做事的能力。





题目分析


1. Mr. Murdoch could successfully purchase Dow Jones at his offer because of the following reasons except _____.

[A] he had the situations of the Bancroft family conflicts at his fingertips

[B] his $5 billion offer far exceeded other bidders and was difficult to be refused

[C] he promised that the editors would be entitled to a large degree of freedom

[D] he would not interfere with the internal issues as he pleases

1. Murdoch先生可以成功地以他的出价收购道·琼斯，是因为除了以下 _____ 外的原因。

[A] 他完全掌握了Bancroft家族内部斗争的情况

[B] 他50亿美元的出价比其他竞价者的价格要高，很难被拒绝

[C] 他承诺让编辑能享有很大的自由

[D] 他不会按自己的喜好来插手内部事务

答案：D　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：细节题。从文章第二段可以看出，他之所以能成功收购道·琼斯有几个原因：掌握了Bancroft家族的内部情况、出价高、保证编辑的独立性，因此选项A、B和C是正确的。选项D的错误在于，文章第二段提到了他研究和掌握了Bancroft家族的内部情况。

2. The word “inhibiting” (Line 8, Paragraph 2) most probably means _____.

[A] giving full swing to

[B] reducing

[C] restraining

[D] depriving

2. inhibiting这个词（第二段第八行） 最有可能的意思是 _____。

[A] 放任自流

[B] 减少

[C] 遏制

[D] 剥夺

答案：C　难度系数：☆

分析：猜词题。根据上下文：He also agreed to various measures to safeguard the Wall Street Journal's editorial independence that were just sufficient to salve enough Bancroft consciences, without meaningfully inhibiting his ability to do as he pleases. 表明，虽然Murdoch先生同意给予编辑自由，但是他不会约束他自己随心所欲做事的能力。因此，选项C最为符合。

3. The problems Dow Jones were facing when Mr. Murdoch decided to buy it were the following ones except _____.

[A] there was divergence between different generations of the Bancroft family

[B] the board had some difficulties in making strategic decisions

[C] the new chief executive was not allowed sufficient time to demonstrate his capability of managing the company

[D] the Bancroft came to the awareness that the company was already trapped into severe problems

3. Murdoch先生决定收购道·琼斯时，道·琼斯所面临的问题不是 _____。

[A] Bancroft家族几代成员之间存在分歧

[B] 董事会做决策时面临很多困难

[C] 新的首席执行官没有得到足够的时间来展示他管理公司的能力

[D] Bancroft家族意识到公司已经面临重大问题

答案：B　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：细节题。文章提到了公司面临的一些问题，其中文章第二段提到：He read the internal politics of the sprawling Bancroft clan, which owns a controlling stake in Dow Jones, perfectly—perhaps better than he reads his own family. 对应于选项A。第三段谈到：The timing of the offer was equally astute, coming after the family had realised that the company faced huge strategic problems, but before the new chief executive they appointed last year had had time to show he could solve them, and so enable Dow Jones to prosper as an independent business. 分别对应于选项C和D。而选项B并不是公司面临的重大问题，因此是正确答案。

4. Pearson and General Electric will probably impede Mr. Murdoch's purchase of Dow Jones because _____.

[A] acquisition of Dow Jones would bring any bidder great profit in the future

[B] Dow Jones would be more competitive after the purchase to threat their business

[C] their joint bid would turn out to be more acceptable to the Bancroft family than Mr. Murdoch

[D] they were the most powerful rivals of Mr. Murdoch's media corporation

4. 培生和通用电气可能会阻碍Murdoch先生收购道·琼斯，因为 _____。

[A] 收购道·琼斯可以为任何竞价人带来巨大的利润

[B] 道·琼斯在被收购后会更有竞争力，这会威胁到它们的业务

[C] 比起Murdoch先生来说，Bancroft家族更欢迎它们的联合竞价

[D] 它们是Murdoch先生的媒体集团最为有力的对手

答案：B　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：细节题。根据第四段，因为道·琼斯被收购后会更具竞争力，从而威胁到它们的生意，所以他们才阻挠收购，因此答案为B。选项C具有一定的干扰性，但是文章第四段最后一句指出：Yet despite rumours of a joint Pearson-GE bid, no such offer materialised. 也就是说，尽管有传闻说培生和通用会联合竞价，但是实际上并没有这样做，因此他们的竞价是否更好是不得而知的。

5. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of Mr. Murdoch's offer for Dow Jones?

[A] News Corporation's shareholders think Mr. Murdoch's offer was not so reasonable.

[B] News Corporation's shareholders suspect that his offer was only a start of an ambitious plan.

[C] Mr. Murdoch will make up his loss in the offer by reducing the cost of running Dow Jones.

[D] Mr. Murdoch's offer was higher than what the business had expected.

5. 关于Murdoch先生给道·琼斯的出价，下列哪个陈述是正确的？

[A] 新闻集团的股东认为，Murdoch先生的出价不那么合理。

[B] 新闻集团的股东怀疑他的出价只是其野心勃勃的计划的开始而已。

[C] Murdoch先生会减少运营道·琼斯的成本，来弥补自己的损失。

[D] Murdoch先生的出价比公司预想的要高。

答案：B　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：细节题。根据最后一段，股东们认为他出价过高，因此怀疑这只是个借口，后面有更大的野心，那么选项B是正确的。选项A，文中并未说Murdoch的出价是不合理的。选项C，最后一段提到，Murdoch先生会通过严格管理来降低成本。选项D的表述在文中没有提到。因此，选项B为正确答案。





参考译文


新闻报道认为一直到最后，结果也还是个未知数，但是Rupert Murdoch的崇拜者却坚信他会获胜。因此，当Murdoch先生的新闻集团4月份开始收购《华尔街日报》的东家道·琼斯时，他已经确定答复会是肯定的，而事实也正是如此，他于8月1号的早上得到了这个答复。

Murdoch先生成功地完成了一项艰难的任务。他研究了复杂的Bancroft家族的内部政治，该家族在道·琼斯拥有控股权，而Murdoch对这一家族的了解程度大概更甚于对自己家族的了解。他出的50亿美元的高价已经足够将Bancrofts家族两代间的政治都玩弄于股掌之中。他之所以能够做到这一点，是因为他引诱家族中年轻的成员把钱放到了比家族对公司的长期管理更为重要的位置。而当家族的某些成员要Murdoch先生提高出价时，他拒绝了，并威胁要放弃收购，他不容分辩的态度使他们同意了他最初的出价。他也同意采取各种措施来保证《华尔街日报》编辑的独立性，这些措施足以缓解Bancroft良心上的不安，同时也不会约束他随心所欲做事的能力。

Murdoch对收购时间的选择也颇具技巧，正好是在该家族意识到自己面临巨大的策略问题之后，而在他们去年指定的新任首席执行官有时间来表明自己可以解决这些问题，从而能让道·琼斯作为一个独立的企业兴盛起来之前。当道·琼斯的董事会承认合并可能是对公司来说最好的策略时，Murdoch才最终确保了他的胜利，谈判也就是从那时开始的。

对于Murdoch先生来说，最大的风险就是，另外一个该家族比较喜欢的买家会出现，但是他的高出价吓跑了可能的私募基金竞价者。Murdoch先生唯一的担忧就是，有两家因他收购道·琼斯而蒙受巨大损失的公司会来出价拆台，它们分别是拥有《金融时报》的培生公司和拥有商业新闻频道CNBC的通用电气公司。有Murdoch先生做后台，《华尔街日报》肯定会成为《金融时报》更为强有力的竞争对手，而道·琼斯的资源也可以让新闻集团于10月份新开播的商业电视频道对CNBC造成巨大的威胁。尽管有传闻说培生和通用会联合竞价，但是实际上它们并没有这么做。

但是Murdoch先生已经为道·琼斯支付了高昂的费用，至少有10亿美元，也可能是20亿美元，这比该行业基本认可的价格要高得多。因此，新闻集团的股东会认为，Murdoch的胜利是付出了昂贵代价的。毫无疑问，Murdoch先生更为严格的管理会降低一些成本，但是扩展《华尔街日报》，并将其与自己其他的网络和广播实体结合起来，这种加速发展的计划并不是很让人信服。这也就是为什么新闻集团的一些股东怀疑这些只是借口而已，Murdoch先生的长远计划是要拥有世界上最大的报纸之一，与金钱的价值相比，他对此要更为看重。





TEXT THREE


Psychologists have known for a long time that economists are wrong. Most economists—at least, those of the classical persuasion—believe that any financial gain, however small, is worth having. But psychologists know this is not true. They know because of the ultimatum game, the outcome of which is often the rejection of free money.

In this game, one player divides a pot of money between himself and another. The other then chooses whether to accept the offer. If he rejects it, neither player benefits. And despite the instincts of classical economics, a stingy offer (one that is less than about a quarter of the total) is, indeed, usually rejected. The question is, why?

One explanation of the rejectionist strategy is that human psychology is adapted for repeated interactions rather than one-off trades. In this case, taking a tough, if self-sacrificial, line at the beginning pays dividends in future rounds of the game. Rejecting a stingy offer in a one-off game is thus just a single move in a larger strategy. And indeed, when one-off ultimatum games are played by trained economists, who know all this, they do tend to accept stingy offers more often than other people would. But even they have their limits. To throw some light on why those limits exist, Terence Burnham of Harvard University recently gathered a group of students of microeconomics and asked them to play the ultimatum game. All of the students he recruited were men.

Dr. Burnham's research budget ran to a bunch of $40 games. When there are many rounds in the ultimatum game, players learn to split the money more or less equally. But Dr. Burnham was interested in a game of only one round. In this game, which the players knew in advance was final and could thus not affect future outcomes, proposers could choose only between offering the other player $25 (i.e., more than half the total) or $5. Responders could accept or reject the offer as usual. Those results recorded, Dr. Burnham took saliva samples from all the students and compared the testosterone levels assessed from those samples with decisions made in the one-round game.

As he describes in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, the responders who rejected a low final offer had an average testosterone level more than 50% higher than the average of those who accepted. Five of the seven men with the highest testosterone levels in the study rejected a $5 ultimate offer but only one of the 19 others made the same decision.

What Dr. Burnham's result supports is a much deeper rejection of the tenets of classical economics than one based on a slight mis-evolution of negotiating skills. It backs the idea that what people really strive for is relative rather than absolute prosperity. They would rather accept less themselves than see a rival get ahead. That is likely to be particularly true in individuals with high testosterone levels, since that hormone is correlated with social dominance in many species.

Economists often refer to this sort of behaviour as irrational. In fact, it is not. It is simply, as it were, differently rational. The things that money can buy are merely means to an end—social status—that brings desirable reproductive opportunities. If another route brings that status more directly, money is irrelevant.

1. According to the passage, psychologists are different from economists in that _____.

[A] they think any financial gain is worthless if it could not guarantee the ultimatum game

[B] they understand how economists are wrong by proving trivial financial gain could be ignored

[C] they believe that it is necessary to reject some trivial gains to get bigger ones

[D] they have known for a long time that from the perspective of psychology, financial gains are not worth pursuing

2. In the second paragraph, the sentence “In this case, taking a tough, if self-sacrificial, line at the beginning pays dividends in future rounds of the game.” means that _____.

[A] taking an uncompromising attitude at the beginning will lose more in the future rounds of the game

[B] people who are not so calculating at the beginning will get good returns in the end

[C] people who are selfless will get more in the end

[D] taking a tough line at the beginning will pay more cost in the future game

3. The result of Dr. Burnham's study in the one-round game players shows that _____.

[A] men with high testosterone levels are usually more motivated to reject by the low offer

[B] the fact testosterone is closely connected with social dominance proves people could hardly see a rival go ahead

[C] men with high testosterone are more likely to reject the tenets of classical economics

[D] men with high testosterone pay more attention to the relative gains

4. The point Dr. Burnham has concluded from his study is that _____.

[A] money is irrelevant when people seek for reproductive opportunities

[B] people prefer non-financial ways to fulfill their purpose of gaining social status

[C] what people really strive for is relative rather than absolute prosperity

[D] the definition of rationality is different between the fields of economics and psychology

5. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the behaviour of rejecting a low offer mentioned in the passage?