2．In business，there's a speed difference：lt's the difference between how important a firm's leaders say speed is to their competitive strategy and how fast the company actually moves．The difference is important regardless of industry and company size．Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed．
In our study of 343 businesses，the companies that chose to go，go，go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track．What's more，the firms that"slowed down to speed up"improved their top and bottom lines，averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period．
How did they disobey the laws of business physics，taking more time than competitors yet performing better？They thought differently about what"slower"and"faster"mean．Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed （moving quickly） and strategic speed （reducing the time it takes to deliver value）．Simply increasing the speed of production，for example，may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference．But that often leads to reduced value over time，in the form of lower-quality products and services．
In our study，higher-companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary．They became more open to ideas and discussion．They encouraged new ways of thinking．And they allowed time to look back and learn．By contrast，performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time，paid too much attention to improving efficiency，stuck to tested methods，didn't develop team spirit among their employees，and had little time thinking about changes．
Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership．Teams that regularly take time to get things right，rather than plough ahead full bore，are more successful in meeting their business goals．That kind of strategy must come from the top．
41．What does the underlined part"gain an edge"in Paragraph 2 mean？A
A．Get an advantage．
B．Increase the speed．
C．Reach the limit．
D．Set a goal．
42．The underlined part"the laws of business physics"in Paragraph 3 meansD．
A．spending more time and performing worse
B．spending more time and performing better
C．spending less time and performing worse
D．spending less time and performing better
43．What can we learn from the text？C
A．How fast a firm moves depends on how big it is．
B．How competitive a firm is depends on what it produces．
C．Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes．
D．Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit．
44．According to the author，what is the key to deciding strategic speed？C
A．Pausing at key moments．
B．The size of company．
C．The boss．
D．The quality of the products．
45．Which could be the best title for the text？D
A．Improve Quality？Serve Better．
B．Deliver Value？Plough Ahead．
C．Reduce Time？Move Faster．
D．Need Speed？Slow Down．
分析 本文是一篇新聞報道類閱讀，屬于議論文，主要闡述了在商業(yè)競爭中并不是速度越快越好，相反那些速度慢的公司會根據(jù)情況實時調(diào)整戰(zhàn)略往往會取的競爭的優(yōu)勢．
解答 41．A．推理判斷題．根據(jù)第一段中"Companies fearful or losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed．"和第二段中的"the companies that chose to go，go，go to try to gain an edge ended with lower sales and operating incomes…"可知那些害怕丟掉競爭優(yōu)勢的公司會一味的追求速度． 故選A．
42．D．推理判斷題．根據(jù)第三段中第一句話可知那些"不遵循"（disobey）商業(yè)法則的公司比競爭者花的時間多（速度慢）卻表現(xiàn)得更好，反過來商業(yè)法則應(yīng)該是"花更少的時間（速度快），做得更好"．故選D．
43．C．細節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段中的"higher performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary"可知受戰(zhàn)略速度指導(dǎo)的公司會實時的對公司的戰(zhàn)略做出調(diào)整．根據(jù)第一段中的"The difference is important regardless of industry and company size．"可知公司行動的快慢，競爭力的大小與公司的大小和生產(chǎn)的東西無關(guān)，排除A、B項． 故選C．
44．C．推理判斷題．根據(jù)Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed （moving quickly） and strategic speed （reducing the time it takes to deliver value）．可以推測出，老板會決定戰(zhàn)略速度．故選C．
45．D．主旨大意題．本文主要闡述了在商業(yè)競爭中并不是速度越快越好，相反那些速度慢的公司會根據(jù)情況實時調(diào)整戰(zhàn)略往往會取的競爭的優(yōu)勢．故D項"我們真的需要速度嗎？慢點吧！"符合題意．故選D．
點評 本文是一篇新聞報道類閱讀，題目涉及多道細節(jié)理解題，推理判斷題，主旨大意題．做題時學(xué)生應(yīng)仔細閱讀原文，把握文章主要內(nèi)容，聯(lián)系文章上下文內(nèi)容并結(jié)合所給選項含義，從中選出正確答案，一定要做到有理有據(jù)，切忌胡亂猜測
