Should a leader strive to be loved or feared? This question, famously posed by Machiavelli, lies at the heart of Joseph Nye’s ne

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问题     Should a leader strive to be loved or feared? This question, famously posed by Machiavelli, lies at the heart of Joseph Nye’s new book. Mr. Nye, a former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and one-time chairman of America’s National Intelligence Council, is best known for promoting the idea of "soft power", based on persuasion and influence, as a counterpoint to "hard power", based on coercion and force.
    Having analyzed the use of soft and hard power in politics and diplomacy in his previous books, Mr. Nye has now turned his attention to the relationship between power and leadership, in both the political and business spheres. Machiavelli, he notes, concluded that "one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved." In short, hard power is preferable to soft power. But modern leadership theorists have come to the opposite conclusion.
    The context of leadership is changing, they observe, and the historical emphasis on hard power is becoming outdated. In modern companies and democracies, power is increasingly diffused and traditional hierarchies are being undermined, making soft power ever more important. But that does not mean coercion should now take a back seat to persuasion, Mr. Nye argues. Instead, he advocates a synthesis of these two views. The conclusion of The Powers to Lead, his survey of the theory of leadership, is that a combination of hard and soft power, which he calls "smart power", is the best approach.
    The dominant theoretical model of leadership at the moment is, apparently, the "transformational leadership pattern". Anyone allergic to management term will already be running for the exit, but Mr. Nye has performed a valuable service in rounding up and summarizing the various academic studies and theories of leadership into a single, slim volume. He examines different approaches to leadership, the morality of leadership and how the wider context can determine the effectiveness of a particular leader. There are plenty of anecdotes and examples, both historical and contemporary, political and corporate.
    Also, leadership is a slippery subject, and as he depicts various theories, even Mr. Nye never quite nails the jelly to the wall. He is at his most interesting when discussing the moral aspects of leadership— in particular, the question of whether it is sometimes necessary for good leaders to lie—and he provides a helpful 12-point summary of his conclusions. A recurring theme is that as circumstances change, different sorts of leaders are required; a leader who thrives in one environment may struggle in another, and vice versa. Ultimately that is just a fancy way of saying that leadership offers no easy answers.
From the first two paragraphs we may learn that Mr. Machiavelli’s idea of hard power is________.

选项 A、well accepted by Joseph Nye
B、very influential till nowadays
C、based on sound theories
D、contrary to that of modern leadership theorists

答案D

解析 本题关键词是:Mr. Machiavelli和hard power,问题是:马基雅维利先生的硬实力概念是怎样的?答案可以定位到第一、二段。根据第二段第三、四句,马基雅维利认为,硬实力比软实力更可取(hard power is preferable to soft power),但研究领导力的现代理论家却得出了相反的结论(come to the opposite conclusion)。选项D的contrary和原文opposite是同义替换,为正确选项。从第一段可知,马基雅维利和约瑟夫.奈关注的问题相同。但是两者观点不一致,因为第一段第三句指出奈先生因倡导“软实力”概念而闻名(best known for promoting the idea of “soft power”),因此选项A正反混淆。选项B来自第一段第二句,这个著名的(famously posed)问题是马基雅维利提出的,但无法说明马基雅维利的硬实力概念至今具有很大的影响力,因此选项B主观推导。前两段没有提及马基雅维利硬实力的理论基础是否坚实,所以选项C无中生有。第一段:奈先生的新作提倡以说服和影响为基础的软实力,而不是硬实力。第二段:研究领导力的现代理论家认为软实力比硬实力更可取。
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