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1、Unit laStudents taking business courses are sometimes a little surprised to find that classes on businessethics have been included in their schedule.They often do not realize that bribery in various forms is on the increase in manycountries and,in some,has been a way of life for centuries.Suppose th
2、at during a negotiation with some government officials,the Minister of Trade makes itclear to you that if you offer him a substantial bribe,you will find it much easier to get an importlicense for your goods,and you are also likely to avoid procedural delays1,as he puts it.Now,the question is:Do you
3、 pay up or stand by your principles?It is easy to talk about having high moral standards but,in practice,what would one really do insuch a situation?Some time ago a British car manufacturer was accused of operating a fund to pay bribes,and ofother questionable practices such as paying agents and pur
4、chasers an exaggerated commission,offering additional discounts,and making payments to numbered bank accounts in Switzerland.The company rejected these charges and they were later withdrawn.Nevertheless,at that time,there were people in the motor industry in Britain who were prepared tosay in privat
5、e:Look,were in a very competitive business.Every year were selling more than a Ibillion worth of cars abroad.If we spend a few million pounds to keep some of the buyers happy,whos hurt?If we didnt do it,someone else would.It is difficult to resist the impression that bribery and other questionable p
6、ayments are on theincrease.Indeed,they seem to have become a fact of commercial life.To take just one example,the Chrysler Corporation,the third largest of the US car manufacturers,revealed that it made questionable payments of more than$2.5 million between 1971 and 1976.By announcing this,it joined
7、 more than 300 other US companies that had admitted to the USSecurities and Exchange Commission that they had made payments of one kind oranotherbribes,extra discounts,etc.in recent years.For discussion purposes,we can divide these payments into three broad categories.The first category consists of
8、substantial payments made for political purposes or to secure majorcontracts.For example,one US corporation offered a large sum of money in support of a US presidentialcandidate at a time when the company was under investigation for possible violations of USbusiness laws.This same company,it was rev
9、ealed,was ready to finance secret US efforts to throw out thegovernment of Chile.In this category,we may also include large payments made to ruling families or their closeadvisers in order to secure arms sales or major petroleum or construction contracts.In a court case involving an arms deal with I
10、ran,a witness claimed that 1 million had been paidby a British company to a negotiator*who helped close a deal for the supply of tanks and othermilitary equipment to that country.Other countries have also been known to put pressure on foreign companies to make donations toparty bank accounts.The sec
11、ond category covers payments made to obtain quicker official approval of some project,tospeed up the wheels of government.An interesting example of this kind of payment is provided by the story of a sales manager whohad been trying for some months to sell road machinery to the Minister of Works of a
12、 Caribbeancountry.Finally,he hit upon the answer.Discovering that the minister collected rare books,he bought a rare edition of a book,slipped$20,000 within its pages,then presented it to the minister.This man examined its contents,then said,nI understand there is a two-volume edition of thiswork.Th
13、e sales manager,who was quick-witted,replied,My company cannot afford atwo-volume edition,sir,but we could offer you a copy with a preface!A short time later,the deal was approved.The third category involves payments made in countries where it is traditional to pay people tohelp with the passage of
14、a business deal.Some Middle East countries would be included on this list,as well as certain Asian countries.Is it possible to devise a code of rules for companies that would prohibit bribery in all its forms?The International Chamber of Commerce(ICC)favors a code of conduct that would ban thegiving
15、 and seeking of bribes.This code would try to distinguish between commissions paid for real services and exaggeratedfees that really amount to bribes.A council has been proposed to manage the code.Unfortunately,opinions differ among members of the ICC concerning how to enforce the code.The British m
16、embers would like the system to have enough legal power to make companiesbehave themselves.However,the French delegates think it is the business of governments to make and impose law.The job of a business community like the ICC is to say what is right and wrong,but not to imposeanything.In a well-kn
17、own British newspaper,a writer argued recently that industry is caught in a webof bribery and that everyone is on the take.This is probably an exaggeration.However,todays businessman,selling in overseas markets,will frequently meet situationswhere it is difficult to square his business interests wit
18、h his moral conscience.商科学生有时对课程里包含商业道德课略感吃惊。他们通常没意识到在很多国家，形形色色的贿赂行为正日益增多。在某些国家，这已成为人们几百年来的种生活方式。假定在一场与政府官员的谈判中，贸易部长向你明确表示如能给他一大笔贿赂，那么你的商品拿到进口许可证就会容易得多，还可能避免他所说的“程序上的延误”。现在的问题是：你是被迫掏钱呢，还是坚持原则？高尚的道德标准说起来容易，但实际上人们在这种情况下究竟会怎么做呢？早些时候，一家英国汽车制造商被指控利用一笔基金行贿，并进行其他一些可疑运作，如给代理商和客户高额回扣、提供额外折扣、向一些在瑞士银行开的匿名账户汇款等
19、。这家汽车公司否认了这些指控，后来指控也被撤销了。然而，当时英国汽车业里就有人准备私下里说：“瞧，我们这一行竞争激烈，每年我们汽车的海外销售额超过10亿英镑。如果花几百万英镑能让一些客户高兴，谁会有损失呢？我们不这样干，别人也会这样干的。”很容易产生这样的印象：贿赂以及其他可疑开支正11渐增多。的确，这似乎已成为商界的个事实。仅举一例：美国第三大汽车制造企业克莱斯勒汽车公司透露，它 在 1971至 1976年间共发生了 250万美元的可疑开支。这一事实的披露，使克莱斯勒与其他300多家美国公司一样，向美国证券交易委员会承认自己近年曾有过某种形式的支出，像贿赂、额外打折等。为方便讨论起见，我们可
20、将这些支出分为三大类。第一大类是那些为政治目的或为获得大宗合同所付出的大笔款项。比如，有一家美国企业曾因可能违反美国商业法规而受调查，当时它捐出一大笔款项支持一位总统候选人。后来发现，这家公司也打算资助美国推翻智利政府的秘密行动。这一大类也包括为得到武器销售或重大的石油、建筑等项目的合同而向权势家族及其身边的顾问所付出的大笔款项。在一桩涉及对伊朗武器销售的案子中，一位证人声称家英国公司曾付给某“洽谈人”100万英镑。此人帮忙做成了一笔向伊朗提供坦克和其他军事装备的交易。据闻其他国家也是如此，向外国公司施压，要他们向党派组织的账户捐款。第二大类包括旨在促使政府加快对某些工程项目的正式批准而作的支
21、出。关于这一点有个有趣的例子：有个销售经理几个月来一直试图向加勒比地区一个国家的建工部长推销道路工程机械。后来，他想到了办法。了解到建工部长收藏珍本书，他买了一本书的珍藏版，在书里夹了两万美元，将其送给部长。部长看了书的内容后说：“我知道这书有两卷本的。”机敏的销售经理答道：“先生，我们公司买不起两卷本，不过可以给你弄一本带 前言 的！”不久，这笔生意获准了。第三大类指某些国家按照传统做法付给在交易中起作用的人的费用。中东的一些国家和某些亚洲国家的做法都属此类。是否有可能制订一套公司法规，防止各种类型的贿赂呢？国际商会（ICC）赞成用一套行为准则来制止行贿索贿。这一准则试图区分哪些是真正为服务
22、所付的佣金，哪些是等同于贿赂的过高费用。已经成立了一个委员会来实际操作这一准则。可惜的是，国际商会委员们就如何实行这一法规的意见不一。英国委员们希望这一体系有充分的法律效力以使公司规范行事。而法国代表认为制定和实施法律是政府的事。像国际商会这样的商业团体该做的是表明孰对孰错，而非强制实行什么。在一家知名英国报纸上，最近有位作者指出 企业已陷入贿赂网”，人人都“贪赃枉法”。这一说法可能有些夸张。然而，如今做海外销售的商人们常常难以做到既确保自己的商业利益，又无愧于道德良心。Unit5 bEvery summer about a dozen journalists gather at a form
23、er army training camp north of London tospend the day watching the training of Londons special armed police unit.These are the people who regularly have to tackle the increasing number of criminals who areprepared to carry guns.The journalists also get a chance to shoot a gun on the practice rangeno
24、ne of it seems thatdifficult,and we put most of the bullets somewhere on the target.But then we move on to the next stage of the training,where some of the problems,whichactually crop up on the street are imitated.The lights on the range are dimmed and we are stood in front of a large screen.We stil
25、l have guns,but the bullets are fake,and videos are played where actors act out varioustypes of situations.Does the man holding a woman in front of him really have a gun or not?Is the man apparently preparing to surrender really going to,or is he going to raise the gun in frontof him and shoot?We ha
26、ve to decide whether to shoot and when,just like the police officer has to when facedwith this situation for real.The journalists results here were not so impressive.I am afraid we killed many an innocent person carrying nothing more lethal than a stick.The debate over whether more police in Britain
27、 should be armed with guns has been going on foryears.The current policy is to have a small number of specialists available in each of the 43 policedepartments in Britain.They are kept up to scratch with intensive and regular training.But the wisdom of that policy has been questioned as the amount o
28、f violence encountered by thepolice has grown.It is usually the ordinary street officer who is on the wrong end of this,rather than the armedexperts who arrive rather later.To see the direction in which the British police are heading,consider the experience of theNorthumbria police who have responsi
29、bility for law and order in 5,000 square kilometers ofNortheast England.The population is 1.5 million,living in rural areas and a few urban centers.The 3,600 police officers in the force deal with all the typical problems thrown up by the Britainof the 1990s.John Stevens,head of the Northumbria Poli
30、ce Department,has just published his review of thepast years.During 1994,for example,61 officers(54 men and 7 women)were forced into early retirementafter being attacked on duty.Before being allowed to leave the police for medical reasons,they lost between them 12,000days on sick leave:the equivalen
31、t of 50 police officers off the street for a full year.Stevens makes this observation:The personal cost of policing has never been so high.One-third of the officers leaving were disabled in the very worst degree and will sufferfor the rest of their lives for their efforts in the fight against crime.
32、This picture of a policemans lot could be repeated in many other parts of Britain,yet the policethemselves still oppose more widespread arming of their officers.The most recent survey,conducted last year,showed that only 46%were in favor.The general public,however,likes the idea:67%favored wider iss
33、uing of guns.But they,of course,would not have to carry them and maybe even use them.Recalling my own experience shooting a gun on the practice range,I certainly would not want theresponsibility.It is clear to everyone that the police need more protection against the gun and the knife.They already c
34、arry longer clubs to replace the old ones.They have access to knife-resistant coats and gloves.The likely next step is agreement from the government to test pepper spray,an organic substancederived from peppers that disables an attacker if sprayed in his face.If used properly,the discomfort,although
35、 extreme,is only temporary.Provided the spray is washed away with water,recovery should be complete within a couple ofhours.Unpleasant,certainly,but better than being shot.Many people in Britain would not mind seeing their police with longer clubs or even pepper spray.They would just like to see the
36、m.I have lost count of the times we have been filming police officers on the street when localresidents have come up to us and told us it is the first time in weeks they have seen police in thearea.Actually the biggest threat to the traditional image and role of police officers does not come fromgun
37、s and armed crime but the increase in the tasks we expect the police to carry out.New laws and police priorities are taking up so much time that many forces simply cannotafford to let their officers walk up and down the streets.Politicians are now asking members of the public to watch the streets.In
38、 some prosperous areas,local people pay private security firms.Many officers believe it is all these extra duties,rather than the fear of being shot,that have reallychanged their role.In future,if you want to know what time it is there might not be much point asking a policeman.He either will not be
39、 there to ask or will not have the time to answer.每年夏天，总有大约十几名记者聚集在伦敦北部的一个I日军训营，用 整天的时间来观看伦敦特警部队的训练。特警通常要对付日益增多的携带枪支的犯罪分子。记者们也有机会在练习场射击。射击似乎并不难，我们的子弹几乎都打到靶上了。然后我们进入训练的下一步：模拟在街道上实际会出现的一些问题。场上的灯光暗了下去，我们面对一块大屏幕站着，手中仍有枪，但子弹是假的。屏幕上演员们在扮演着各种场面。那个抓着一名妇女挡在身前的人真拿着枪吗？那个看似要投降的人是否真会投降，还是会举枪射击？我们必须判断是否该开枪，该何时开枪，
40、就像警察真实地面对此情此景时必须做出判断样。记者们在这一阶段的表现不太出色。恐怕我们打死了不少无辜的人，他们手中最致命的东西只不过是一根棍子而已。多年来，对于是否该给更多的英国警员配枪，人们一直争论不休。目前的做法是给英国所有的43个警局都配备少数特警,他们定期接受强化训练来保持达标。但是随着警察遭遇的暴力事件逐渐增多，人们对这一做法是否明智提出了疑问。通常，遭殃的是在街上巡逻的普通警察，而不是姗姗来迟的武装特警。为了了解英国警方面临的局面，可以看一下诺森布里亚郡警局的情况。该局负责英格兰东北部 5,000平方公里区域内的治安。所辖的乡村和几个城区内居住着150万人口。那里的3,600名警察要
41、应付英国20世纪90年代常见的各类事件。该警局负责人约翰 史蒂文斯最近发表了他对过去几年工作的述评。例如，1994年，共有61名 警 员（男性54人，女性7 人）由于履行职责时遭受攻击而不得不提早退休。在因健康原因获准退休前，他们共请病假12,000天，相当于50名警员休假一年。史蒂文斯这样评论道：“警务的人力成本从未如此之高，离职的警员中严重伤残的达三分之一，他们因打击犯罪而将在余生中承受痛苦。”警察的这种遭遇也发生在英国其他地方。不过警局本身仍反对扩大为警员配备武器的范围。去年进行的最新调查表明，赞成者只占46%。但是普通老百姓赞成这一做法，他们中的67%赞成扩大配发枪支的范围。但他们自己
42、当然不想带枪，更不会想用枪。回想一下我自己在练习场射击的经历，我肯定也不想负这个责任。人人都清楚警察需要更多的保护，以防刀枪。他们现在所携的警棍较以前的要长，也有了防利器的上衣和手套。下一步可能的做法是政府同意试验胡椒喷雾剂，一种从胡椒中提取的有机物质。如果喷在脸上，它能使袭击者丧失行动能力。运用得当的话，所产生的不适就只是暂时的，尽管很强烈.只要用水冲洗，几个小时内应可彻底恢复。这当然是难受的，但比挨子弹要好。很多英国人不反对警察携带加长的警棍或胡椒喷雾剂。他们只是想见到警察。不知多少次，当我们在街上拍摄警察镜头时，总有当地居民过来告诉我们，这是几周以来他们在此地第一次看到警察。实际上，对传
43、统瞥察形象和职责构成最大威胁的并不是枪支和武装犯罪，而是我们要求警察做的日益增多的工作。新的法令和重点警务工作占去了大量时间，结果使得很多警队派不出警员上街巡逻。官员们要求民众留意街区治安。在一些繁华地区，居民们雇请私人保安公司。很多警员认为正是这些额外工作改变了他们的职责，而非担心被枪击。今后，如果你想知道时间，去问警察恐怕会没有用。要么你连见都见不到他，要么他没有时间回答。Unit7 aWhile not exactly a top-selling book,The History and Geography of Human Genes isa remarkable collection
44、 of more than 50 years of research in population genetics.It stands as the most extensive survey to date on how humans vary at the level of their genes.The books firm conclusion:Once the genes for surface features such as skin color and heightare discounted,the races1 1 are remarkably alike under th
45、e skin.The variation among individuals is much greater than the differences among groups.In fact,thereis no scientific basis for theories advocating the genetic superiority of any one populationover another.The book,however,is much more than an argument against the latest racially biasedtheory.The p
46、rime mover behind the project,Luca Cavalli-Sforza,a Stanford professor,labored with hiscolleagues for 16 years to create nothing less than the first genetic map of the world.The book features more than 500 maps that show areas of genetic similarity-much asplaces of equal altitude are shown by the sa
47、me color on other maps.By measuring how closely current populations are related,the writers trace the routes by whichearly humans migrated around the earth.Result:the closest thing we have to a global familytree.The information needed to draw that tree is found in human blood:various proteins that s
48、erve asmarkers to reveal a persons genetic makeup.Using data collected by scientists over decades,the writers assembled profiles of hundreds ofthousands of individuals from almost 2,000 groups.And to ensure the populations were pure,the study was confined to groups that were intheir present location
49、s as of 1492,before the first major movements from Europe beganin effect,a genetic photo of the world when Columbus sailed for America.Collecting blood,particularly from ancient populations in remote areas,was not always easy.Potential donors were often afraid to cooperate,or had religious concerns.
50、On one occasion,when Cavalli-Sforza was taking blood samples from children in a rural region ofAfrica,he was confronted by an angry farmer waving an axe.Recalls the scientist:nI remember him saying/If you take the blood of the children,1*1 1 takeyours.1 He was worried that we might want to do some m