2015年MBA全国联考英语阅读理解练习（11）
发布时间：2009/12/14 16:54:48 来源：城市学习网 编辑：紫藤
Evolve or die
不进则退
（1）THE personal computer spawned[1] a new industry. But many of the firms that initially flourished in the PC era are now finding life difficult. Dell, the leading PC-maker, issued a profit warning last week that sent its share-price to a five-year low. Intel is trying to regain ground lost to AMD, its increasingly confident competitor. Microsoft has just announced that it will buy back 8% of its shares for around $20 billion—a sign that its high-growth days are behind it.
（2）But none of these firms is in mortal danger. That is more than can be said for many of the smaller firms of a similar vintage[2] to the PC. Novell's two top executives departed in June following a string of poor results. Silicon Graphics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. 3Com replaced its boss earlier this year following lacklustre[3] performance. Borland shed one-fifth of its workforce and is preparing to sell the best-known part of its business; this month its finance chief r_______①.
All four firms are c_______② of the IBM PC, the creatures of a distant era when only around 200 institutions were connected to the internet. （3）Each had a bold vision of technology, but then failed to evolve as the very innovations they pioneered became commonplace.
Novell prospered by selling networking software to link up computers and enable group-working. Yet the firm failed to keep up with its rivals, c_______③ Microsoft and IBM. It then shifted strategy and acquired an open-source software company in 2004, leaving users of its earlier products feeling neglected.
Silicon Graphics, founded in 1982, makes sophisticated computers for modelling things such as cars and aeroplanes. But as PCs became more powerful, the firm was wrongfooted[4] by the shift to commoditised hardware: its last profitable year was 1999. (The firm has kept itself afloat by selling its lavish office buildings to Google, the technology industry's d______④ today.)
Similarly, 3Com, which makes computer-networking gear, floundered[5] as such products turned into low-cost commodities. （4）And Borland, which makes programming tools, was squeezed between industry giants on the one hand and free software on the other.
（5）Companies that start off with a wildly successful product often fail to stay the course, explains Jim Collins, the author of “Built to Last”. “If you have a great idea, it creates a false sense that you are stronger and more successful than you actually are,” he says. Failure to evolve can then lead to e_______⑤.
个人计算机（PC）造就了一个新产业。然而，众多最初在PC时代兴盛一时的公司如今却发现举步维艰。头号PC制造商戴尔公司上周发布了一则利润警报，造成其股价跌至五年来最低水平。因特尔也在设法夺回被其信心与日俱增的对手——AMD所占领的市场。微软则刚刚宣布将以200亿美元左右的价格回购其8%的股份——这意味着它曾经的高速增长时代已成过眼烟云。
不过，这些公司还没有哪一家面临灭顶之灾，而许多同期开始生产PC的小公司就说不准了。Novell公司的两位最高执行官由于一连串糟糕的业绩已于6月份离职。硅谷制图公司则于5月份申请了《破产法》第11章规定的破产保护。3Com公司的老总也因无出众成绩而于今年早些时候被免职。Borland公司则裁减了五分之一的员工，并拟转让公司部分知名业务；其财务主管也已在这个月辞职。
这四家公司与IBM个人计算机均处于同一时代，都出自那个久远的年代——当时只有200家左右的公共机构接通了互联网。在技术上，它们个个都曾有着大胆的洞察力，可当它们开创的新技术广为应用时，自己却止步不前了。
Novell依靠销售连接计算机并实现群组工作的网络软件获得成功，可是最终却被它的对手（主要是微软和IBM）甩到了后面。后来，它又转变战略，于2004年接手了一家开放源代码软件公司，这又让其前期产品的用户有一种被怠慢的感觉。
成立于1982年的硅谷制图公司生产用于绘制汽车、飞机之类模型的高尖端计算机。但是随着PC功能日趋强大，硬件商品化的转变将该公司逼入了尴尬境地：它最近一个创收年还是1999年。（该公司已将其奢华的办公大楼卖给了当今技术产业新宠Google公司，从而得以走出困境。）
同样，生产计算机网络设备的3Com公司由于此类产品沦为廉价商品而感到不知所措。还有生产程序设计工具的Borlan公司可谓腹背受敌，一边是各大公司，另一边则是自由（免费/少许收费）软件。
《以建设谋持久》一书作者吉姆?科林斯解释说，依靠某种红极一时的产品发家的公司常常都无法坚持到最后。（译注：按照Longman注解，wildly一词有两个意思，一是“in a very uncontrolled or excited way”，即“失控地，兴奋地，狂热地”，二是“extremely”，即“极度，非常”。这句话的意思是指：有些公司刚开始推出一种产品并大获成功，从而得以扬名立万，可由于缺乏与时俱进的意识而原地踏步或者干脆倒闭。这句话为后面的引语作了铺垫。“有了一个好主意”是不够的，不能吃老本，要不断“想出好主意”，不断进步。）他说：“如果你想出一个好主意，就会给你一种错觉，以为你自己很强大，很成功，其实并非如此。”不进则退啊（不能进化就会走向灭绝）。
1. 根据上下文和英文释义，补全单词：
①r_______（v. to officially announce that you have decided to leave your job or an organization）
②c_______（n. someone who lived or was in a particular place at the same time as someone else）
③c________（adv. mostly but not completely [= mainly]）
④d________（n. used when speaking to someone you love；the most popular person or thing in a particular group or area of activity）
⑤e________（n. when a particular type of animal or plant stops existing）
2. 英译汉（将划线部分英文翻译成中文）：
词汇：
1. spawn v. 产卵，大量繁殖后代；造成，产生
2. vintage n. 葡萄酒酿造年期；制造年期
3. lackluster adj. 无光泽的；黯淡的，不活跃的
4. wrongfoot v. to surprise and embarrass someone, especially by asking a question they did not expect使难堪；使窘促不安: Woo's political skill and ability to wrongfoot the opposition
5. flounder v. 挣扎；踌躇，不知所措；有很多问题且极有可能失败
答案：
1. ①resigned 辞职（表示“to leave a job or organization”：leave ? quit ? resign ? retire ? hand in your notice/resignation递交离职通知/辞职书 ? pack/jack it in辞掉；离开；停止）
②contemporaries 同时代的人（物）
③chiefly 首要地；主要地（用于表达“the main reason for something or the main part of something”的词有：mainly ? largely/chiefly ? primarily/principally ? above all ? first and foremost）
④darling 心爱的人；宠儿
⑤extinction 消灭；灭绝
2.（见译文，仅供参考，欢迎指正）
