One of the executives gathered at the Aspen Institute for a day-long leadership workshop using the works of Shakespeare was discussing the role of Brutus in the death of Julius Caesar. “Brutus was not an honorable man,” he said. “He was a traitor (叛徒). And he murdered someone in cold blood.” The agreement was that Brutus had acted with cruelty when other options were available to him. He made a bad decision, they said—at least as it was presented by Shakespeare—to take the lead in murdering Julius Caesar. And though one of the executives acknowledged that Brutus had the good of the republic in mind, Caesar was nevertheless his superior. “You have to endeavor,” the executives said, “our policy is to obey the chain of command.”

During the last few years, business executives and book writers looking for a new way to advise corporate America have been exploiting Shakespeare’s wisdom for profitable ends. None more so than husband and wife team Kenneth and Carol Adelman, well-known advisers to the White House, who started up a training company called “Movers and Shakespeare”. They are amateur Shakespeare scholars and Shakespeare lovers, and they have combined their passion and their high level contacts into a management training business. They conduct between 30 and 40 workshops annually, focusing on half a dozen different plays, mostly for corporations, but also for government agencies. 

The workshops all take the same form, focusing on a single play as a kind of case study, and using individual scenes as specific lessons. In Julius Caesar, sly provocation (狡诈的挑唆) of Brutus to take up arms against the what was a basis for a discussion of methods of team building and grass roots organism.

Although neither of the Adelmans is academically trained in literature, the programmes, contain plenty of Shakespeare tradition and background. Their workshop on Henry V, for example, includes a helpful explanation of Henry’s winning strategy at the Battle of Agincourt. But they do come to the text with a few biases (偏向): their reading of Henry V minimizes his misuse of power. Instead, they emphasize the story of the youth who seizes opportunity and becomes a masterful leader. And at the workshop on Caesar, Mr. Adelmans had little good to say about Brutus, saying “the noblest Roman of them all” couldn’t make his mind up about things.

Many of the participants pointed to very specific elements in the play that they felt related Caesar’s pride, which led to his murder, and Brutus’s mistakes in leading the after the murder, they said, raise vital questions for anyone serving as a business when and how do you resist the boss?

1.According to paragraph 1, what did all the executives think of Brutus?

A Cruel.

B Superior.

C Honorable.

D Fake.

解析：选A。A. 细节理解题。A. Cruel残忍的；B. Superior优越的；C. Honorable有荣誉感的；D. Fake假的。根据：Brutus was not an honorable man,” he said. “He was a traitor (叛徒). And he murdered someone in cold blood.” The agreement was that Brutus had acted with cruelty when other options were available to him. 故选择A选项。

2.According to the passage, the Adelmans set up “Movers and Shakespeare” to ________.

A help executives to understand Shakespeare’s plays better

B give advice on leadership by analyzing Shakespeare’s plays

C provide case studies of Shakespeare’s plays in literature workshops

D guide government agencies to follow the characters in Shakespeare’s plays.

解析：选B。B. 细节理解题。A. 帮助管理人员更好地理解莎士比亚的戏剧；B. 通过分析莎士比亚的戏剧，给领导以建议；C. 提供莎士比亚戏剧创作中的个案研究；D. 引导政府机构跟随莎士比亚的戏剧人物。根据：第二段的一些用词“well-known advisers to the White House 著名的白宫顾问”,”management training business 管理训练商业”，可以知道答案是与leadership 管理有关。其中leadership（领导）和management 是同义词。故选择B选项。

3.Why do the Adelmans conduct a workshop on Henry V?

A To highlight the importance of catching opportunities.

B To encourage masterful leaders to plan strategies to win.

C To illustrate the harm of prejudices in management.

D To warn executives against power misuse.

解析：选A。A. 细节理解题。A.突出捕捉机会的重要性；B. 鼓励高超的领导谋划取胜的策略；C. 说明管理中偏见的危害；D. 警告高管滥用权力。根据“Instead, they emphasize the story of the youth who seizes opportunity and becomes a masterful leader. 相反，他们强调年轻人的故事。这些年轻人能够抓住机会以及成为有能力的领导” 可以知道答案是强调抓住机会的重要性。其中highlight强调和emphasize 是同义词，seizes opportunity和catch opportunities 是同义词。故选择A选项。

4. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A the Adelmans’ programme proves biased as the roles of characters are maximized.

B executives feel bored with too many specific elements of Shakespeare’s plays.

C the Adelmans will make more profits if they are professional scholars.

D Shakespeare has played an important role in the management field.

解析：选D。D. 推理判断题。根据：第一段第一句One of the executives gathered at the Aspen Institute for a day-long leadership workshop using the works of Shakespeare was discussing the role of Brutus in the death of Julius Caesar.和最后一句“You have to endeavor,” the executives said, “our policy is to obey the chain of command.”以及全文内容，故选择D选项。

5.The best title for the passage is _____.

A Shakespeare’s plays: Executives reconsider corporate culture

B Shakespeare’s plays: An essential key to business success

C Shakespeare’s plays: a lesson for business motivation

D Shakespeare’s plays: Dramatic training brings dramatic results

解析：选D。D. 文章标题题。A.莎士比亚戏剧：管理层重新认识企业文化；B.莎士比亚戏剧：成功商业的关键；C.莎士比亚戏剧：商业动机的一节课；D.莎士比亚戏剧：戏剧的训练带来喜剧的结果。通读全文不难发现只有D符合题意，故选择D选项。