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Evaluating the performance of the board
Few employees escape the annual or twice-yearly performance review. (0) .....G......The answer is not a great number. And the smaller the company, the fewer checks there are on how well the directors are doing. Some of the largest companies formally assess the performance of their board, but very few new or growing companies have managed to get round to establishing any such procedure.
Many business experts believe, however, that it is important for all companies to review the performance of the board. (8) .............Another reason is that the board itself needs information on how well it is doing, just as much as other employees do. For the chief executive, appraisal of some sort is absolutely essential for his or her own sake and for the good of the company. Indeed, many of those who have reached this level remark on how lonely the job of chief executive is and how few opportunities they get to discuss issues relating to it.
There is some evidence to show that once smaller companies put a board appraisal process in place, they find this process relatively easy to operate. (9) .............Their counterparts in larger organisations, however, are often afraid that appraisals could be a challenge to their status.
So, how should companies assess their board? (10) .............At a very basic level,this could simply mean getting all the directors to write down what they have achieved and how they can improve on it. At the other end of the scale is the full '360-degree' appraisal. Here, each director is appraised in a systematic manner by a combination of the chairman and fellow directors.
In the largest companies there are many methods for assessing the board. A number of such companies have self-assessment schemes. The chairman may meet each board member individually to ask how things are going, in a fairly informal way. The whole board might also meet to talk about its progress in open session. (11).............These might ask for people's opinions on the board's main tasks or on how well the committees are working.
Research indicates there has been some improvement in the way the appraisal of board members is conducted. (12) .............The chairman will have been involved directly or indirectly in the appraisal of all members of the board. Whose job is it, then, to appraise the chairman?
A It is often the case that the directors of such companies are even happy to receive criticism, as this can prevent them from making basic mistakes.
B The rest of the workforce sees it as unfair if the directors are the only members of the company to escape appraisal.
C These are encouraging as they put a limit on the power of the chairman to assess fellow directors.
D Alternatively, questionnaires might be distributed to directors, forming the basis for future discussion.
E One issue remains, however, when all the others have been dealt with.
F It is generally agreed that it is the chairman's responsibility to ensure the regular appraisal of each member of the board.
G However, one wonders how many companies have in place a formal appraisal process for their board of directors.
《Evaluating the performance of the board》，评估董事局的表现。众所周知一个公司里面是经常对员工的表现进行评估的，那么谁又来评估董事局的表现呢?这篇文章讲了对董事局表现进行评估的重要性和一些方法。
第八题，前面说对董事局的表现进行评估是很重要的。空格后面的句子中有another reason，可见这个第八空应该填入对董事局表现进行评估原因的句子。B符合这一特点，为什么要进行评估，因为“如果决策层是公司唯一逃避评估的成员的话，其他的员工会视之为不公平。”
第九题，前面说小公司会发现这种评估过程更容易操作。空格后面一个however，说大公司的决策层会认为评估是对他们地位的一种挑战。可见这个空格应该填入表示小公司愿意接受评估的句子。A符合这一特点：通常这些公司的决策层会很乐意接受批评，因为这可以防止他们犯错误。这里的such companies是个暗示，可以和前面的smaller companies对应上。
第十题，前面问怎样对公司的董事局进行评估。那么很明显，后面跟的句子应该和评估的方式方法有关。符合这一标准的只有F：一般认为确保对董事局里每个成员的定期评估是主席的责任。也就是说是依赖于主席进行评估。responsibility是个关键词。
第十一题。第五段依然是讲评估的方法，具体的过程。空格的前面说主席可以单独会见董事局的每一个成员，或者是集体在一起谈话。空格后面说这些可以询问人们关于董事局主要任务以及委员会的工作进展情况的意见。ask for people’s opinion是个关键点，什么可以询问人们的观点?调查。选D，questionnaires是个关键的暗示：或者，也许可以给经理们分发调查问卷，形成未来讨论的基础。
第十二题，这一空前面说有调查显示对董事局成员进行评估的方法有所改善。空格后面来了一个疑问，提出没有人评估主席。可见第十二题有转折的意思，选E，有关键的连词however,而且E的one issue remains，正好对应最后一段最后一句话的一个问题。内容上也吻合。