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 estimates, gone up by about 500%. The typical CEO of a top American corporation now makes about $18.9 million a year.

    The best model for understanding the growth of CEO pay is that of limited CEO talent in a world where business opportunities for the top firms are growing rapidly. The efforts of America’s highest-earning 1% have been one of the more dynamic elements of the global economy. It’s not popular to say, but one reason their pay has gone up so much is that CEOs really have upped their game relative to many other workers in the U.S. economy.

    Today’s CEO, at least for major American firms, must have many more skills than simply being able to “run the company”. CEOs must have a good sense of financial markets and maybe even how the company should trade in them. They also need better public relations skills than their predecessors, as the costs of even a minor slipup can be significant. Then there’s the fact that large American companies are much more globalized than ever before, with supply chains spread across a larger number of countries. To lead in that system requires knowledge that is fairly mind-boggling. Plus, virtually all major American companies are becoming tech companies, often with their own research and development. And beyond this, major CEOs still have to do all the day-to-day work they have always done.

    The common idea that high CEO pay is mainly about ripping people off doesn’t explain history very well. By most measures, corporate governance has become a lot tighter and more rigorous since the 1970s. Yet it is principally during this period of stronger governance that CEO pay has been high and rising. That suggests it is in the broader corporate interest to recruit top candidates for increasingly tough jobs.

    Furthermore, the highest CEO salaries are paid to outside candidates, not to the cozy insider picks, another sign that high CEO pay is not some kind of depredation at the expense of the rest of the company. And the stock market reacts positively when companies tie CEO pay to, say, stock prices, a sign that those practices build up corporate value not just for the CEO.

答案精析：本题为细节题。根据题干中的High CEO pay可定位至原文第五段首句。该句提到，最高的CEO薪酬是付给外部候选人的，而不是内部提拔的人选，这也表明付给CEO高薪并不是以牺牲公司其他成员为代价的某种掠夺行为。随后该段最后一句接着指出，当公司将CEO薪酬与股价挂钩时，股票市场会作出积极反应，这表明这些做法不仅会为CEO创造价值，还会提升企业价值。整段内容都在分析CEO的高额薪酬是合理的，其中一个原因就是这有助于提升企业价值。D项中的corporate value为原词复现，increase对应原文中的build up，故正确答案为D。

错项排除：A项中的status of CEOs在原文中没有依据，故排除。B项利用第五段首句中的insider picks进行干扰，但原文说的是CEO的高额薪酬没有提供给内部提拔的人选，所以也并不存在激励内部候选人的情况，故B项与原文意思不符，应排除。C项中的efficiency of CEOs在原文中并无依据，故排除。

长难句分析：Furthermore, the highest CEO salaries are paid to outside candidates, not to the cozy insider picks, another sign that high CEO pay is not some kind of depredation at the expense of the rest of the company.

本句的句子主干为…the highest CEO salaries are paid to…, not to…，是被动语态。another sign为前面句子的同位语，后面的that引导同位语从句修饰sign，对sign进行解释说明。同位语从句为主系表结构，后面的at the expense of the rest of the company作从句的条件状语。

句意为：除此之外， CEO最高的薪酬是付给外部候选人的，而不是付给内部提拔的人选。这也表明，给CEO支付高薪并不是以牺牲公司其他成员为代价的某种掠夺行为。