时间:2012-04-29 22:46:56
三、阅读理解（每题3分，共30分）
（一）186187
Piece-rate, wage incentive plans, profit-sharing, and lump-sum bonuses are all forms of performance-based compensation. What differentiates these forms of pay from more traditional plans is that instead of paying a person for time on the job, their pay is adjusted to reflect some performance measure. That might be individual productivity, work group or departmental productivity, unit profitability, or the overall organization’s profit performance. Two of the more widely used of the performance-based compensation plans are piece-rate wages for production workers and annual performance bonuses based on corporate profits for senior executives.
In piece-rate pay plans, workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed. When an employee gets no base salary and is paid only on what he or she produces, this is a pure piece-rate plan. People who work ball parks selling peanuts and soda pop frequently are paid this way. They might get to keep twenty-five cents for every bag of peanuts they sell. If they sell 200 bags during a game, they make $50. If they sell only forty bags, their take is a mere $10. The harder they work and the more peanuts they sell, the more they earn. Many organizations use a modified piece-rate plan, where employees earn a base hourly wage plus a piece-rate differential. So a legal typist might be paid $6 an hour plus twenty cents per page. Such modified plans provide a floor under an employee’s earnings, while still offering a productivity incentive.
For years, senior corporate executives received regular increases in their pay, regardless of their company’s success or failure. More top executives than ever are now finding their compensation linked directly to corporate performance. When things go well for a firm, it is assumed that management had a large part in that outcome, so they should share in the good times. For example, Charles Lazarus, chairman of Toys ‘R’ Us Inc., earns a base salary of $315 000 a year. Because his contract provides him an annual performance bonus of one percent of all pretax profits over $321 million – a full twenty percent jump from 1988 – Lazarus pocketed over $3 million in performance pay. Of course, in a bad year, executives may get no bonus at all.
1. Which of the following isn’t a form of performance-based compensation? .
A. piece-rate
B. profit-sharing
C. minimum wage
D. lump-sum bonuses
2. The performance measures that might be used for performance-based compensation include the following except .
A. individual work time
B. departmental productivity
C. unit profitability
D. the overall organization’s profitability
3.According to the passage, which one of the following statements about piece-rate pay plans is false? .
A. Workers are paid a unstable sum for each unit of production completed.
B. If an employee gets no base salary and is paid only on what he or she produces, he or she is involved in a pure piece-rate plan.
C. The harder employees work, the more they earn.
D. A modified piece-rate plan make employees earn a base hourly wage plus a piece-rate differential.
4. About the compensation plan for senior executives, the author might most likely agree that .
A. The more widely used of the performance-based compensation plan is piece-ra