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Federal Government's Help
Federal efforts to aid minority businesses began in the 1960’s when the Small Business Administration (SBA) began making federally guaranteed loans and government-sponsored management and technical assistance available to minority business enterprises. While this program enabled many minority entrepreneurs to form new businesses, the results were disappointing, since managerial inexperience, unfavorable locations, and capital shortages led to high failure rates. Even 15 years after the program was implemented, minority business receipts were not quite two percent of the national economy’s total receipts.
Recently federal policymakers have adopted an approach intended to accelerate development of the minority business sector by moving away from directly aiding small minority enterprises and toward supporting large, growth-oriented minority firms through intermediary companies. In this approach, large corporations participate in the development of successful and stable minority businesses by making use of government-sponsored venture capital. The capital is used by a participating company to establish a Minority Enterprise Small Businesses that have potential to become future suppliers of customers of the sponsoring company.
MESBIC’s are the result of the belief that providing established firms with easier access to relevant management techniques and more job-specific experience, as well as substantial amounts of capital, gives those firms a greater opportunity to develop sound business foundations than does simply making general management experience and small amounts of capital available. Further, since potential markets for the minority businesses already exist through the sponsoring companies, the minority businesses face considerably less risk in terms of location and market fluctuation. Following early financial and operating problems, sponsoring corporations began to capitalize MESBIC’s far above the legal minimum of $500,000 in order to generate sufficient income and to sustain the quality of management needed. MESBIC’s are now emerging as increasingly important financing sources for minority enterprises.
Ironically, MESBIC staffs, which usually consist of Hispanic and Black professionals, tend to approach investments in minority firms more pragmatically than do many MESBIC directors, who are usually senior managers from sponsoring corporations. The latter often still think mainly in terms of the ‘social responsibility approach’ and thus seem to prefer deals that are riskier and less attractive than normal investment criteria would warrant. Such differences in viewpoint have produced uneasiness among many minority staff members, who feel that minority entrepreneurs and businesses should be judged by established business considerations. These staff members believe their point of view is closer to the original philosophy of MESBIC’s and they are concerned that, unless a more prudent course if followed, MESBIC directors may revert to policies likely to re-create the disappointing results of the original SBA approach.
1. Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?
[A] The use of MESBIC’s for aiding minority entrepreneurs seems to have greater potential for success than does the original SBA approach.
[B] There is a crucial difference in point of view between the staff and directors of some MESBIC’s.
[C] After initial problems with management and marketing, minority businesses have begun to expand at a steady rate.
[D] Minority entrepreneurs wishing to form new businesses now have several equally successful federal programs on which to rely.
2. According to the passage, the MESBIC approach differ s from the SBA approach in that MESBIC’s
[A] seek federal contracts to provide market for minority businesses.
[B] Encourage minority businesses to provide markets for other minority businesses.
[C] Attempt to maintain a specified rate of growth in the minority business sector.
[D] Rely on the participation of large corporations to finance minority businesses.
3. Which of the following statements about the SBA program can be inferred from the passage?
[A] The maximum term for loans made to recipient businesses was 15 years.
[B] Business loans were considered to be more useful to recipient businesses than was management and technical assistance.
[C] The anticipated failure rate for recipient businesses was significantly lower than the rate that actually resulted.
[D] Recipient businesses were encouraged to relocate to areas more favorable for business development.
4. The author refers to the ‘financial and operating problems’ encountered by MESBIC’s primarily in order to
[A] broaden the scope of the discussion to include the legal considerations of funding MESBIC’s through sponsoring companies.
[B] call attention to the fact that MESBIC’s must receive adequate funding in order to function effectively.
[C] show that sponsoring companies were willing to invest only $500,000 of government-sponsored venture capital in the original MESBIC’s.
[D] Compare SBA and MESBIC limits on minimum funding.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that the attitude of some MESBIC staff member toward the investments preferred by some MESBIC directors can be best described as
[A] disappointing.
[B] Indifferent.
[C] Shocked.
[D] Defensive.
答案詳解：
1. A 運用MESBIC來幫助少數民族企業似乎比原來SBA的方法更具成功的可能性。文章一開始就點名SBA(小型企業管理局)向少數民族企業提供聯邦保證貸款，政府資助管理和技術方面的幫助，結果令人失望。組建成的少數民族新企業由於管理上缺乏經驗、地點不佳、資金短缺而導致失敗的情況很多。其他見難句譯註1、2、3。總之在MESBIC支持下：爲它的潛在市場提供大量資金等，使它們在地點和市場流通方面風險小的多，從而帶來足夠的收入和保持所需的管理質量。這一切都說明MESBIC比SBA的成功可能性大。
IC中的領導者和職工方面在觀點上有着至關重要的分歧。C.經歷了早期管理和市場問題後，少數民族企業已開始穩步發展。D.希望組建新公司的少數民族企業家已有好幾個成功的聯邦計劃可依靠。
2. D 依靠打工四向少數民族企業投資。見第二段第二句：大公司利用政府資助的風險資本參與成功而又穩固的少數民族企業的發展。參與的大公司用這筆資金建立了“少數民族小型企業投資公司”(MESBIC)
A.尋求爲少數民族企業提供市場聯邦合同。B.鼓勵少數民族企業爲其他少數民族企業提供市場。C.試圖在少數民族部門保持特定的增長率。
3. C 預期加入SBA項目中的公司的失敗率比實際失敗率低得多。文內沒有直接點出，而是從(見第一題註釋)SBA幫助的企業失敗率很高――令人失望，從而推斷C項結論。
A.給企業貸款最高期限爲15年。B.商業貸款對企業來說遠筆管理和技術幫助重要。D.鼓勵接受貸款企業重新尋找利於企業發展的地區。
4. B 爲的是引人注意這一實際情況：MESBIC必須取得足夠的資金纔能有效地運轉。這在第三段最後一句：在經歷了早期財政和運行問題後，贊助公司給MESBIC注入的資金遠遠超過了50萬美元的法定最低限額，以獲得足夠的收入並保持所需的管理質量。MESBIC現在正成爲日益重要的`少數民族企業的資金來源。這說明沒有足夠的資金是難以有效運轉的。
A.擴大討論範圍以包括通過贊助公司投資MESBIC的合理性。C.表明贊助公司願意在原來的MESBIC只投資50萬政府資助的風險資本。D.對比SBA和MESBIC最低投資限額。
5. A 失望。文章最後一段MESBIC的職工――一般是拉美和黑人專業人員在少數民族公司的投資上比MEBSIC的領導者更切實際。這些高級經理從社會責任角度看問題，會選擇更具風險性，不太吸引人的項目。觀點分歧使許多少數民族職工感到不安，他們認爲應以公司的業務爆出來評價少數民族企業家及其企業。者充分說明MEBSIC的職工對領導所青睞的投資項目不滿意和失望。
B.漠不關心。C.震驚。D.持保留態度。
