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（1）　In the 1990s New York City's success in cutting crime became a model for America and the world. Innovative policing methods, guided by the “broken windows” philosophy of cracking down on minor offences to encourage a culture of lawfulness, showed that a seemingly hopeless situation could be turned around. It made the name of the mayor, Rudy Giuliani, now a presidential aspirant.                                       Hopeless is how many people feel about America's government-funded public schools, particularly in the dodgier parts of big cities, where graduation rates are shockingly low and many fail to achieve basic levels of literacy and numeracy. As with urban crime, failing urban schools are preoccupying countries the world over. And just as New York pointed the way on fighting crime, under another mayor, Michael Bloomberg, it is now emerging as a model for school reform. On November 5th Mr Bloomberg announced a new “report card” for the city's schools, designed to make them accountable for their performance. The highest-graded schools will get an increased budget and perhaps a bonus for the principal. Schools that fail will not be tolerated: unless their performance improves, their principals will be fired, and if that does not do the trick, they will be closed. This is the culmination of a series of reforms that began when Mr Bloomberg campaigned for, and won, direct control of the school system after becoming mayor in 2002. Even before the “report cards”, there have been impressive signs of improvement, including higher test scores and better graduation rates. Mr Bloomberg has not been as brave with schools as Mr Giuliani was with crime. Oddly given his belief in competition, the former media mogul shunned the most radical option—vouchers that allow parents to shop around beyond thepublic-schools system for their children's education. On the other hand, even supporters of school choice, like this newspaper, have to admit it is proving hard to sell. Nor has Mr Bloomberg made a big push to introduce large numbers of independent charter schools as exist, say, in Los Angeles. Against this, Mr Bloomberg has provided an example of what a mayor with control of schools can do even without embracing such controversial ideas. He has avoided inflammatory political terms—“merit pay” and “vouchers” are red rags to teachers' unions. Instead, by using the carrot of pay rises to extract performance concessions from principals and teachers, and by persuading philanthropists such as Bill Gates to pay for innovations that might be hard to sell to the public if the public had to pay for them, he has put in place a system based on transparency, accountability and competition that he hopes will achieve much the same effect. Will it? A lot will depend on whether Mr Bloomberg's actions continue to match his tough talk. Unless bad schools are indeed closed, his scheme will be as much good as a blackboard with no chalk. But there are some parallels with Mr Giuliani's crime reforms. For the New York Police Department's giant CompStat database, which provided useful insight into crime patterns, read a new schools information system for students, parents, teachers and schools administrators designed by IBM. For the concept of making precinct police captains personally accountable for reducing crime, read the grading of schools and firing of failing principals. 1. Which one of the following actions may be carried out according to the “broken windows” philosophy?[A] The police work hard on hopeless offences to create a lawful culture.[B] The police make the punishment harsher for all kinds of crime. [C] People are encouraged to give an immediate report about thecrime nearby.[D] Burglars are given a severe punishment. 2. The poor performance of America’s government-funded public schools in big cities is most probably due to_____[A] a rampant growth of the urban crime. [B] low rate of graduation and student literacy. [C] the poor management of the schools in terms of teaching method and teacher qualification.[D] certain reasons which are not mentioned in the passage. 3. Which one of the following is TURE of Mr Bloomberg’s reform on publcih schools? [A] He was encouraged to establish a transparent and accountable system without controversial ideas. [B] He was intentionally copying Mr Giuliani’s models in most aspects. [C] He was moderate in taking measures to change the schools system. [D] He adopted measures that were difficult for people to understand. 4. The phrase “red rag” (Line 3, Paragraph 5) most probably means______ [A] the bottom line.[B] controversial ideas.[C] irritative factors. [D] sensitive topics. 5. Mr. Bloomberg’s scheme is compared to a blackboard with no chalk because_____[A] his scheme is only empty talk. [B] his scheme has not been implemented. [C] his scheme sounds too good to be true.[D] his scheme awaits to be rectified.  （2）  Peter Lscher， the first outsider to become chief executive of Siemens， one of the world's biggest electrical-engineering firms， spent his first three months at the firm travelling and listening. Then on October 4th he announced plans to centralise the conglomerate， reduce its nine divisions to three and downsize its 11-man executive board， which would truncate the power of the company's regional bosses. On the same day Siemens accepted a 201m （285m） fine imposed by a court in Munich for bribery by its communications division， forgoing the right to appeal. The coincidence could mark a turning point in attempts to change the firm's culture and put past scandals behind it. Last November police raided Siemens's offices， starting a scourge on bribery which so far has cost the company its chairman， its chief executive， another board member and its chief compliance officer， as well as at least 239m in fines and 179m in tax liabilities （the bribes had been deducted）。   What is more， in the nine months to June 30th alone， the bill for legal expenses and external advice came to 188m. The affair has cost a great deal of management time too. Debevoise & Plimpton， an American law firm， and forensic auditors from Deloitte are still scouring the company for evidence of more irregularities. In America the Department of Justice has two investigations running， and the Securities & Exchange Commission （SEC） is also examining claims of corruption.   Legal proceedings in America alone could cost Siemens billions of dollars， say analysts， although Siemens argues in its most recent quarterly filing with the SEC that its "consolidated financial position should not be materially affected" by the welter of litigation. Analysts are confident that Siemens will not only survive but benefit from all the upheaval. "Comparable American companies have gone through this， so have Alstom in France and ABB in Sweden， and they have emerged stronger and better run，" says James Stettler of Dresdner Kleinwort， an investment bank. The three divisions Mr Lscher has unveiled are energy products （such as power turbines and transmission equipment）， infrastructure （such as factories and trains） and health care （such as MRI scanners and other clever medical kit）。 That does not necessarily mean Mr Lscher will sell the businesses that do not fit， such as Osram， a maker of light bulbs， BSH， a joint venture with Bosch in household appliances， and Nokia Siemens Networks， recently formed to build telecom infrastructure. The company's supervisory board will vet the changes on November 28th. Mr Lscher may have most difficulty winning approval for those that will affect workers in Germany， whose representatives make up half the membership of the 20-strong supervisory board. If he gets his way， however， Mr Lscher's next proposal may be to register Siemens as a Societas Europaea （SE） instead of as a German joint-stock company （AG）。 That would entail a slimmer supervisory board with reduced representation for German workers， but would give a voice to employees abroad. Other icons of German business， most notably Siemens's Munich neighbour， Allianz， a big insurer， have already made the switch. Mr Lscher is chummy with Paul Achleitner， a member of Allianz's board and a fellow Austrian， with whom he recently stayed for three months. 1. The word "forgoing" （Line 7， Paragraph 1） most probably means_____ [A] refusing. [B] reserving. [C] withdrawing. [D] considering. 2. What Mr Lscher will probably do to the three divisions he has unveiled？ [A] He will transfer them to other companies. [B] He will downsize the executive board of the three divisions. [C] He will recombine them into large division. [D] It is not mentioned in the passage. 3. Mr Lscher wants to register Siemens as a SE instead of an AG because_____ [A] he aims to cut the number of German representatives in the supervisory board. [B] he seeks to centralise the conglomerate. [C] he wants to include multiple voices of the employees so as to enhance the democracy of the decision-making. [D] he strives to transform the company into a more international one. 4. Towards the future of Siemens， the author's attitude can be said to be_____ [A] optimistic. [B] pessimistic. [C] neutral. [D] unclear. 5. By the close relationship between Mr Lscher and Paul Achleitner， the author wants to imply that_____ [A] Siemens will gain great support from Allianz. [B] Mr Lscher made the decision to have a change under the influence of his friend. [C] Mr. Lscher wanted switch Siemens into an insurer in the future. [D] Mr. Lscher greatly valued his friend's suggestion.