UK Companies Need More Effective Boards Of Directors — IELTS Reading Answers

Paragraph A

“Governments, regulators, central banks and auditors have all been in the frame”

Paragraph A ranges over governments, regulators, central banks and auditors, the many parties now blamed, so heading iv, covering the breadth of those held responsible, fits.

Paragraph B

“The knock-on effect of this scrutiny has been to make the governance of companies in general an issue of intense public debate and has significantly increased the pressures on, and the responsibilities of, directors”

Paragraph B traces the knock-on effect of scrutiny: governance becomes a matter of intense public debate and directors face greater pressure and responsibility. Heading ii captures that impact.

Paragraph C

“board business is devolved to committees in order to cope with the workload, which may be more efficient but can mean that the board as a whole is less involved in fully addressing some of the most important issues”

Paragraph C admits devolving work to committees may be more efficient but leaves the board as a whole less involved in key issues, which is the drawback heading vi identifies.

Paragraph D

“A radical solution, which may work for some very large companies whose businesses are extensive and complex, is the professional board, whose members would work up to three or four days a week, supported by their own dedicated staff and advisers”

Paragraph D floats a professional board whose members work three or four days a week with dedicated staff and advisers, the full-time-board proposal that heading viii describes.

Paragraph E

“One of the main criticisms of boards and their directors is that they do not focus sufficiently on longer-term matters of strategy, sustainability and governance, but instead concentrate too much on short-term financial metrics”

Paragraph E reports the main criticism: directors neglect long-term strategy and concentrate on short-term financial metrics, which is the short-termism heading vii names.

Paragraph F

“Compensation for chief executives has become a combat zone where pitched battles between investors, management and board members are fought”

Paragraph F calls executive compensation a combat zone of pitched battles between investors, management and board members, the pay-conflict idea in heading i.

Paragraph G

“Boards of companies in all sectors will need to widen their perspective to encompass these issues and this may involve a realignment of corporate goals”

Paragraph G argues boards must widen their perspective and accept a realignment of corporate goals, which is the call for a broader outlook in heading iii.

Close scrutiny of the behaviour of boards has increased since the economic downturn.

“Following the 2008 financial meltdown, which resulted in a deeper and more prolonged period of economic downturn than anyone expected, the search for explanations in the many post-mortems of the crisis has meant blame has been spread far and wide”

The 2008 meltdown produced post-mortems in which blame was spread far and wide, confirming that scrutiny of board behaviour grew after the downturn rather than easing.

Banks have been mismanaged to a greater extent than other businesses.

“The role of bank directors and management and their widely publicised failures have been extensively picked over and examined in reports, inquiries and commentaries”

Bank directors' widely publicised failures were extensively picked over, but the passage never compares the extent of bank mismanagement with that of other businesses, so no comparison is given.

Board meetings normally continue for as long as necessary to debate matters in full.

“Agendas can become overloaded and this can mean the time for constructive debate must necessarily be restricted in favour of getting through the business”

Overloaded agendas mean the time for constructive debate must necessarily be restricted to get through the business, so meetings are cut short rather than extended to debate fully.

Using a committee structure would ensure that board members are fully informed about significant issues.

“the board as a whole is less involved in fully addressing some of the most important issues”

Committees may be efficient, but the board as a whole becomes less involved in fully addressing important issues, the opposite of members being fully informed.

“executives had access to information that part-time non-executive directors lacked, leaving the latter unable to comprehend or anticipate the 2008 crash”

The gap needs the noun that executives had access to: they held information that part-time non-executive directors lacked, leaving the latter unable to anticipate the crash.

“but instead concentrate too much on short-term financial metrics”

The gap is an adjective before metrics; the passage's phrase short-term financial metrics supplies financial, the kind of measure boards concentrate on too much.

“shareholders use their muscle in the area of pay to pressure boards to remove underperforming chief executives”

The gap needs a plural noun subject who use their muscle in the area of pay; the passage names shareholders as those pressing boards to remove underperforming chief executives.