It’s very interesting to note where the debate about diversity (not being the same) is taking place. It is taking place primarily in political circles. Here at the College Fund, we have a lot of contact with top corporate leaders; none of them is talking about getting rid of those instruments that produce diversity. In fact, they say that if their companies are to compete in the global village and in the global market place, diversity is imperative. They also say that the need for talented, skilled Americans means we have to expand the pool of potential employees. And in looking at where birthrates are growing and at where the population is shifting, corporate America understands that expanding the pool and promoting policies can help provide skills to more minorities, more women and more immigrants. Corporate leaders know that if that doesn’t occur in our society, they will not have the engineers, the scientists, the lawyers, or the business managers they will need.
Likewise, I don’t hear people in the academy saying “Let’s go backward. Let’s go back to the good old days, when we had a meritocracy (不拘一格选人才) (which was never true we never had a meritocracy (精英), although we’ve come closer to it in the last 30 years). I recently visited a great little college in New York where the campus has doubled its small population in the last six years. I talked with an African American who has been a professor there for a long time, and she remembers that when she first joined the community, there were fewer than a handful of minorities on campus. Now, all of us feel the university is better because of the diversity. So where we hear this debate is primarily in political circles and in the media not in corporate board rooms or on college campuses.”
1．The underlined word “imperative” most probably means “ ”.
A．superficial B．remarkable C．debatable D．necessary
2．Which of the following groups of people still disagree in their views on diversity?
A．Meritocracies. B．Politicians. C．Professors. D．Managers.
3．High corporate leaders seem to be in favor of promoting diversity so as to .
A．lower the rate of unemployment
B．win equal political rights
C．be competitive in the world market
D．satisfy the demands of a growing population
4．It can be inferred from the passage that .
A．meritocracy can never be realized without diversity
B．American political circles will not accept diversity
C．it is unlikely that diversity will occur in the U.S. media
D．in order to compete in the global market place, diversity is unnecessary.
5．According to the passage diversity can be achieved in American society by .
A．expanding the pool of potential employees.
B．promoting policies that provide skills to employees
C．training more engineers, scientists lawyers and business managers
D．providing education for all regardless of race or sex