It is true that CEO pay has gone up-top ones may make 300 times the pay of typical workers on average,and since the mid-1970s CEO pay for large publicly traded American corporations has,by varying es

Text 4 If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today,he would probably represent civil servant.When Hoffa’s Teamsters were in their prime in 1960,only one in ten American government workers belonged to a union;now 36%do.In 2009 the number of unionists in America’s public sector passed that of their fellow members in the private sector.In Britain,more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15%of private-sector ones are unionized.There are three reasons for the public-sector unions’thriving.First,they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences.Second,they are mostly bright and well-educated.A quarter of America’s public-sector workers have a university degree.Third,they now dominate left-of-centre politics.Some of their ties go back a long way.Britain’s Labor Party,as its name implies,has long been associated with trade unionism.Its current leader,Ed Miliband,owes his position to votes from public-sector unions.At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome.Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California points out that much of the state’s budget is patrolled by unions.The teachers’unions keep an eye on schools,the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups on health care.In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one.But the real gains come in benefits and work practices.Politicians have repeatedly“backloaded”public-sector pay deals,keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous.Reform has been vigorously opposed,perhaps most egregiously in education,where charter schools,academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles.Even though there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable,teachers’unions have fought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.As the cost to everyone else has become clearer,politicians have begun to clamp down.In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker,the hardline Republican governor.But many within the public sector suffer under the current system,too.John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Western civil services suit those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers.The only American public-sector workers who earn well above$250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States.Bankers’fat pay packets have attracted much criticism,but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America.36.It can be learned from the first paragraph that

A.Teamsters still have a large body of members.
B.Jimmy Hoffa used to work as a civil servant.
C.unions have enlarged their public-sector membership.
D.the government has improved its relationship with unionists.

Text 1 From West Virginia to Arizona,public-school teachers are in revolt.They are demanding better pay,and they deserve it-so long as their salaries are tied to their performance.It's not that U.S.teachers are underpaid;the median income for the country's l million high-school teachers,for example,is more than 50 percent higher than that of the general population.But relative to peers with similar levels of education,teachers are falling behind.In 1994,public-school teachers made only 2 percent less than college graduates in other fields;by 2015,the gap was 17 percent.Cuts in state education budgets have made the problem WOfse.In more than half of the country,aftcr adjusting for inflation,average teacher salaries have declined since the start of the century.In West Virginia,where pay has dropped by 8.9 percent since 2000,teachers went on strike in late February,forcing Iawmakers to pass a 5 percent pay increase for the next school year,Teachers'unions in Arizona,Oklahoma and Kentucky plan similar walkouts if their demands aren't met.To avoid such an outcome-which hurts students the most-both sides need to compromise.Teachers shouldn't have to work second and third jobs to make ends meet,as many say they do,even in states with low are fiercely defended by teachers'uuions.But they reduce the funds available for other priorities-like encouraging teachers to relocate to rural and low-income districts and addressing shortages of teachers in STEM subjects.Across-the-board pay increases for teachers may go some way toward improving student performance,but not far enough.Despite opposition from unions,school districts in at least 30 states have introduced performance-based bonuses for teachers.In schools where teacher pay is tied to student performance,test scores have nsen by the equivalent of three additional weeks oflearning.Districts with merit pay are better able to hire strong entry-level candidates and prevent high-performing teachers from leaving.Intemational comparisons bear out a basic,if self-evident,truth:how well students perform depends on how well they're taught.The U.S.should pay its teachers more-and give the best ones incentives to show how much they're worth.24.Performance-based pay has the following advantages except

A.better performance of students.
B.higher quality of teachers.
C.keeping excellent teachers staying.
D.improving teacher's research standard.