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The United States produced more crude oil in October than it imported for the first time since early 1995, as domestic shale oil output continued to surge and U.S.consumption of petroleum products remained relatively flat, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.The figures mark a milestone in the rebound of U.S.oil production since drillers started using a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to unlock oil previously trapped in layers of shale rock in states such as North Dakota and Texas.At the same time, gains in automobile fuel efficiency and other areas have been curbing U.S.oil consumption.The trend is expected to continue for another decade as U.S.domestic oil supplies grow and reliance on imports shrinks, easing one of the main sources of pressure on global oil markets.
For now, however, the United States remains the world's biggest oil-consuming nation and the largest importer of crude oil.Moreover, global crude oil prices remain high by historic measures.U.S.crude oil production reached 7.74 million barrels a day in October, down slightly from September because of disruptions from Tropical Storm Karen, but up 17 percent from the year before.Aside from September, U.S, production in October was the highest level of any month since May 1989.Net crude oil imports in October fell to 7.57 million barrels a day, down from 7.92 million barrels in September and down 8 percent from the year before.
The White House sought to take credit for the figures.It issued a statement calling them “a result of both increased production and administration policies like increased fuel economy standards that cut oil consumption, cut carbon pollution, and cut consumer bills.”
Economists welcomed the figures.“It highlights the reversal of fortune in our energy sector, that we are increasingly energy independent and prospects are good that we'll be more energy independent going forward,” said Mark M.Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics.“It's one of the reasons to be optimistic about our growth prospects.” Zandi added that rising domestic oil production “means a smaller trade and current account deficit, which is a big plus for the economy.We'll be less sensitive to increases in global oil prices.” According to figures compiled by Zandi, the oil import bill as a percentage of the gross domestic product in the third quarter of this year was lower than any quarter since 1986.The firm estimates that shale oil output will result in an $ 80 billion reduction in imports this year.
Frank Verrastro, senior vice president and energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the milestone was important, although he warned that higher costs, geological variations and constrained exploration budgets at many independent drillers could make it a “challenge” to meet expectations for future crude oil output growth.
The turnaround in U.S.oil fortunes has been rapid.Five years ago, U.S.oil production hit a 62-year low.Since then, domestic production has increased by more than 50 percent.Prices remain high.This is the third consecutive year in which the price has hovered above $ 105 a barrel for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.The U.S.benchmark for crude oil, West Texas Intermediate, has tumbled to about $ 95 a barrel, down from $ 110 a barrel in September, but that is still high by historic standards.Some oil analysts note that prices would be even higher without the increase in U.S.production, which has helped offset oil disruptions in Libya, Iraq and Nigeria and sanctions on Iran.
1
Which of the following factors leads to U.S.oil production milestone?
A.
Improvement on automobile fuel efficiency.
B.
Federal policies on oil consumption.
C.
New technology of extracting oil.
D.
Gains on energy independence.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。文章第一段首句即点明美国十月份的石油产量很高,接下来第二句提到了通过使用水平钻井和水力压裂相结合的方法来开采先前埋藏在北达科他州和德克萨斯州等州地下页岩层中的石油。由此可知,新的采油技术是提高石油产量的主要因素,因此[C]为正确答案。文章第一段第三句提到了汽车燃油效率对石油消费起了遏制作用,但这仅对稳定石油消费起作用,而不能对产量起作用,故排除[A];第三段提到白宫的行政政策,并说明这里的行政政策指的是提高燃油经济标准的政策,同样,提高燃油经济标准与提高石油产量之间并没有直接的关系,故排除[B];第四段第二句提到了能源的独立性,但这是石油产量提高的后果,而不是原因,故排除[D]。
2
It can be learned from the statistics in the 2nd paragraph that
A.
oil production is greatly affected by natural factors.
B.
U.S.produced more oil and imported less in October than it did in September.
C.
the consumption of oil in the U.S.forms a great pressure on global oil market.
D.
U.S.has a high level of oil production and less import of it.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。文中第二段的数据分为两个方面,一方面表明了美国石油产量的上升,另一方面表明了美国石油进口量的下降,因此[D]为正确答案。虽然第二段第三句提到由于受热带风暴的影响,十月份美国石油产量有所下降,但后面的数字说明了美国的石油产量依然很高,由此可知,本段的数字并不是为了说明石油生产受自然因素影响,故排除[A];由第二段第三句中的“down slightly from September”可知,十月份的石油产量其实不如九月份高,因此排除[B];第一段结尾提到美国的石油消耗是国际石油市场的主要压力来源之一,但第二段的数字并没有提到对国际石油市场的压力,故排除[C]。
3
Which of the following statements contains a metaphor?
A.
A.U.S.consumption of petroleum products remained relatively flat...
B.
B.to unlock oil previously trapped in layers of shale rock in states...
C.
C.The White House sought to take credit for the figures.
D.
D.The turnaround in U.S.oil fortunes has been rapid.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
修辞题。四个选项中,仅有[B]中的“unlock”和“trap”两个词使用了暗喻的修辞手法,将石油比喻成“被锁在”地下的物品,需要“解锁”,因此[B]为正确答案。[A]、[C]和[D]中的单词使用都是其本义,故均排除。
4
What is the role of the 4th and 5th paragraphs in the development of the topic?
A.
To further illustrate the trend of oil production in the U.S.
B.
To provide supportive evidence for the trend of oil production.
C.
To explain how the present condition come into being.
D.
To give professional viewpoint on the present condition.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
篇章题。根据题干提示定位到第四、五段。文章第四段开头即说明本段所给出的是经济学家对美国石油产量与消耗状况的态度,第五段提到的弗兰克也是一位专家,该段主要讲述了他对这一情况的看法。因此,第四、五两段是针对美国石油行业的现状所给出的专家意见,故[D]为正确答案。[A]“进一步说明美国石油生产的趋势”、[B] “为石油生产趋势提供有利的证据”和[C]“解释为什么美国会出现目前的状况”均可排除。
5
What is the main idea of the passage?
A.
The White House improves U.S.oil production.
B.
U.S.oil production changes global oil prices.
C.
U.S.oil production reaches milestone.
D.
The rapid change in U.S.shale oil production.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
主旨题。文章第一段第一句点明美国的原油产量超过其进口量,这种情况自1995年以来还是首次出现,接着第二句说这是美国石油产量反弹的里程碑;第二段是以数字说明美国目前的石油生产情况;第三段中虽然提到白宫试图将功劳揽在自己身上,但也从一个侧面阐明了这一现象出现的原因;第四段和第五段是经济学家们对这一现象的态度,其中第五段借弗兰克的口,再次提到了里程碑这一说法;最后一段依然是在分析美国的油价。由此可见,整篇文章都是围绕美国石油生产的里程碑展开,故[C]为正确答案。白宫认为自己是美国石油可喜现状的功臣,这只是文章的部分内容,不能概括本文主旨,故排除[A];文章第二段第二句和第六段第四句分别提到了国际石油价格居高不下,但并没有说明美国的石油生产会使国际石油价格发生变化,故排除[B];虽然文章第一段就提到美国页岩油的产量大幅上涨,但从第二段开始,文章更多的是在讨论美国整体的石油生产,而不是集中讨论页岩油的变化,故排除[D]。
The U.S.economy has been dragging along lately, but here's a small shot in the arm.Gasoline prices have fallen to their lowest level in 33 months.The average price of gasoline nationwide has dropped from $ 3.74 per gallon in February to $ 3.19 today.In states like Missouri and Texas, gasoline has sunk below $ 3 per gallon at the pump, a price not seen in years.Economists tend to think a fall in gasoline prices can help stimulate the economy by giving people more money to spend on other goods.Think of it like a tax cut.Earlier this month, the forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers estimated that falling gas prices could add 0.3 percentage points to third-quarter GDP growth.
But why is this happening? The reasons for the recent fall in gasoline prices are varied, but here are some of the big ones.
Gasoline prices typically rise in the summer and go down in the winter.That's because people take more vacations when the weather's nice, and refiners have to put out a pricier “summer blend” of gasoline that's mixed with butane and other ingredients to prevent evaporation in the heat.Once the summer's over, gas prices typically fall again.So that's worth mentioning.But this isn't the only factor here.
The supply of gasoline is up—for odd reasons.U.S.stockpiles of gasoline were at 210 million barrels in the first week of November, up about 4 percent from the same period last year.Normally, refineries cut back when stockpiles are high.But there are other forces at play here.Many Gulf Coast refiners are taking advantage of the boom in shale-oil drilling in the Midwest and producing ever more diesel for export to Europe and Asia.That's a lucrative business.And that refining process also produces more gasoline for domestic consumption.So, as The Wall Street Journal reports, refiners can still make a profit from exporting diesel abroad even if they're creating a glut of gasoline here at home.—Fewer refinery disruptions.It's been a fairly quiet hurricane season in the Atlantic this year—with not a single hurricane making landfall.That means U.S.refineries have seen relatively few disruptions of late, apart from Tropical Storm Karen in October and scheduled shutdowns for maintenance.Oil prices have declined moderately.The price of oil typically makes up about 70 percent of the cost of gasoline.And a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude cost just $ 93.60 on Tuesday, down from around $ 110 in September.Oft-cited factors for the drop include growing U.S.crude supplies and an easing of tensions between the United States and Iran.This also isn't the whole story, but it's a factor.
Gasoline demand has been fairly restrained.In recent years, Americans have been buying more efficient cars and light trucks, in part due to new fuel-economy standards by the Obama administration.That's helped keep a lid on prices.But this trend may not last for long if driving demand picks back up.
A bet on weakened ethanol rules.Earlier this year, many refineries were buying up renewable credits, known as “RINs,” in anticipation that the Environmental Protection Agency would tighten its rule on how much ethanol needs to be mixed in with gasoline in 2014.The price of RINs soared, which, in turn, may have driven up gasoline prices.The opposite is happening now as many observers think the EPA could weaken its ethanol targets for 2014 (a leaked draft suggested as much).Partly as a result, the price of RINs has fallen sharply since July—and with it, some analysts think, the price of gasoline.
The big question is whether prices will keep dropping—or whether they'll eventually rebound sharply the way they did in 2011 and 2012 after temporary lulls.The winter drop in gasoline demand is obviously seasonal and temporary.And there's always the possibility that geopolitical unrest could send oil prices soaring.For now, however, the U.S.Energy Information Administration is predicting that U.S.gasoline prices will stay restrained in the year ahead—falling from an average of $3.50 per gallon in 2013 to $ 3.39 per gallon in 2014.That's still much higher than they were a decade ago.But it would count as a small bit of relief for the broader economy.
6
In which way do lower gasoline prices affect U.S.economy?
A.
It will lead to a little decrease of GDP growth in the third quarter.
B.
It will reduce the cost of transportation of products.
C.
It will raise the sale of gasoline and cars.
D.
It will promote the economy as a whole.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。文章第一段开头即点明了汽油价格下降是美国经济的强心剂,接下来该段第五句提到,专家认为,由于汽油价格的下降,人们可以把钱省下来去购买其他商品,从而促进经济的发展,并且在该段最后一句提到,由于汽油价格的变动,美国的GDP在第三季度会有小幅度的上升,也就是说,汽油价格下降会从整体上促进美国经济的发展,因此[D]为正确答案。第一段末句说下降的汽油价格可能会为第三季度的GDP增长增加0.3个百分点,[A]与原文意思相反,故排除;文章中没有提到汽油价格下降会使产品的运输成本减少,故排除[B];文章也没有提到汽油的价格下降会增加汽油的销量或是汽车的销量,故排除[C]。
7
Which of the following is NOT a cause of the fall of gasoline price?
A.
Less people take vacations in winter.
B.
The cost for producing gasoline is lowered.
C.
The stock of gasoline is a little higher.
D.
There are few natural disruptions.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。第四段开头即点明了汽油库存量升高的事实,该段第三句指出,通常来说,库存量多时,炼油量就会降低,但紧接着说,今年美国的炼油厂并没有因为库存量多而降低炼油量,因此,库存量多不是汽油价格下降的原因,故[C]为正确答案。第三段第一句说汽油价格通常是夏天高,冬天低,因为夏天度假的人多,换句话说,市场需求量高,价格自然上涨,而当冬天需求量低时,价格就会回落,因此[A]是汽油价格下降的原因之一,故排除;第三段第二句提到,在夏天为了避免汽油的挥发,需要加入一些特殊原料,从而造成成本的增加,而冬天不再需要支出这部分的成本,因此[B]也是汽油价格下降的原因之一,故排除;第四段第九、十句提到了今年汽油生产的干扰因素不多,尤其是受飓风的影响很小,因此,自然干扰小也是汽油价格下降的原因之一,故排除[D]。
8
What does the word “glut" in Paragraph Four mean?
A.
Excess.
B.
Portion.
C.
Range.
D.
Type.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
语义题。第四段开头就提到,汽油供应量有所上升,接着第八句提到,按照《华尔街日报》的说法,即使在国内销售了大量汽油,炼油厂还可以通过出口柴油赚取大量利润,由此猜测,excess“大量,过量”与句中的glut意思最为接近,所以[A]为正确答案。[B]“部分”、[C]“系列”和[D]“类型”与 glut的意思不符,故均排除。
9
Which of the following words is used metaphorically, not literally?
A.
Vacations (Paragraph Three).
B.
Boom (Paragraph Four).
C.
Lid (Paragraph Five).
D.
Opposite (Paragraph Six).
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
修辞题。第五段第三句说“That's helped keep a lid on prices”(价格本身是不会有盖子的),此处将价格看作某种实质性的物品,而“盖子”则是暗喻的说法,指给价格加了一个上限,故lid一词采用了暗喻的修辞手法,故选[C]。第三段中的“vacations”,第四段中的“boom”以及第六段中的“opposite”都用的是各自的本义,没有任何比喻义,故排除[A]、[B]和[D]。
10
It can be learned from Paragraph Six that
A.
the mixture of ethanol into gasoline damages the environment.
B.
the ethanol rules have an indirect impact on the price of the gasoline.
C.
the administration policies on gasoline are out of refineries' expectation.
D.
the Environment Protection Agency should improve its security measures.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
推断题。第六段中说,出于有关乙醇制度将收紧的预计,许多炼油厂都购买了大量可再生能源认证码,这从某种意义上推动了汽油价格的上涨,而事实恰好相反,关于乙醇制度的弱化,则最终导致了汽油价格的下降,由此可知,关于乙醇的制度对汽油价格产生了间接的影响,故[B]为正确答案。该段第二句提到,在汽油中究竟能够加入多少乙醇是由环保局来确定的,但并没有证据显示加入乙醇对环境有害,故排除[A];该段第四句表明炼油厂对于乙醇有关政策的预期是错误的,但并不能以偏概全地说炼油厂对行政政策的预期都是错误的,故排除[C];该段第四句提到一份被泄露的草案使观察家们相信,有关乙醇的制度将会被弱化,但并没有证据显示该草案一定是通过环保局泄露出来的,因此排除[D]。
In the 1990s, Microsoft Internet Explorer battled Netscape in the great Web browser wars.In the 2000s, Google and Yahoo locked horns over Internet search.Today, the latest high-stakes tech conflict is between Apple's iPhone and Google's Android mobile operating system for supremacy in the smart phone market.
Each of these clashes defined an era of Internet history.Apple vs.Android is no different.The struggle for Internet advantage is shifting to the mobile realm, and Android have surged to the front of the pack with diametrically opposed business models.Neither of these players will be vanquished anytime soon but the company that gains the upper-hand will be best-positioned to take advantage of the massive structural shift from desktop PCs to smart phones and tables.
Apple and Google realize how huge the stakes are in this fight.Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs revolutionized the mobile phone market with the iPhone, and he was furious when Google launched Android, because he was convinced it ripped off features from the iPhone.Google, meanwhile, has poured millions of dollars into developing Android, and billions more bolstering its intellectual property position by buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.
This “smartphone showdown” is important because Apple and Google are advancing radically different business models to the fight.This is bigger than just a commercial clash between two tech titans.It's a war between two fundamentally different visions for the future of computing, described in simplistic terms as “closed” vs.“open.” Apple's model is end-to-end control over the iPhone process, from hardware to software to the mobile applications that it must approve for sale in the App Store.Google's model has been to distribute the Android system for free to the developer community at large, and let a thousand flowers bloom.
Each company has been successful with its respective strategy: Apple makes $ 1 billion per month on iPhone sales, and the device is considered the gold standard for smart phone design.Android, meanwhile, generates vastly less revenue per unit sold, but has racked up massive market-share gains, growing to lead the global mobile OS space in just 5 years.
Speaking at an event in New York City earlier this week, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt did not mince words describing the intensity of the showdown, and what he characterized as its benefits to consumers.“The Android-Apple platform fight is the defining fight in the industry today,” Schmidt said at an event hosted by AllThingsD co-executive editors Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg.“We've not seen platform fights at this scale,” he added.“The beneficiary is you guys.Prices are dropping rapidly.That's a wonderful value proposition.”
This battle may have “wonderful ” consequences for consumers, but it hasn't been pleasant for the combatants.In addition to cutthroat competition in the marketplace, Apple has been slugging it out in courtrooms around the world over intellectual property with Google's hardware partners.Apple's global patent offensive against Samsung, HTC, and other Google partners is really a proxy fight against Android.
Top executives at both Apple and Google insist they would prefer not to engage in such expensive and drawn-out patent litigation, but at least in Apple's case, the company feels it has no choice but to defend its flagship product.Last spring, Apple CEO Tim Cook declared that he's “always hated litigation” but said that it's his job to protect Apple's inventions.For his part, Schmidt told the New York audience that, “These patent ware are death,” and described the patent arms race as “bad for innovation.It eliminates choices.”
That view was backed up in the latest installment of The New York Times iEconomy series.“The marketplace for new ideas has been corrupted by software patents used as destructive weapons,” the story's authors wrote, noting that last year, for the first time, Apple and Google spent more on patent litigation and intellectual property than on research and development, a striking fact that illustrates how incentives have deviated in the tech industry.Elsewhere in the article, a former Apple executive confirmed that in the case of the company's 2010 lawsuit against HTC, a key Android partner, “Google was the enemy, the real target.”
Could Apple and Google finally be growing weary of the patent wars? There are the faintest glimmers of hope.Google CEO Larry Page and Apple's Cook have been holding back-channel discussions “about a range of intellectual property matters, including the ongoing mobile patent disputes between the companies,” Reuters reported.It's encouraging to see these two tech titans talking, because consumers want to see these firms compete in the marketplace, not bicker in courtrooms.As the battle for smartphone supremacy rages between Apple and Google, may the best products win—not the company with the best patent lawyers.
11
It can be learned from the passage that Internet history has
A.
been filled with wars, battles and killings.
B.
witnessed important twists every few years since the 1990s.
C.
been a long one with rapid development in recent years.
D.
no defining events and representative figures.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
推断题。从第一段和第二段第一句可知,自上世纪90年代起至今,互联网行业发展迅速,每十年左右就有一次革命性的事件出现,并引领行业发展的新方向:例如上世纪90年代的微软和网景的浏览器之争、21世纪初的谷歌和雅虎在搜索引擎方面的争斗以及今天苹果公司的iPhone手机和谷歌的安卓操作系统之争。综上所述,[B]为正确答案,同时排除[D]。[C]虽然提及互联网行业最近这些年发展迅速,但无法据此推断出该行业的历史长短,故排除;作者将互联网巨头对网络优势的争夺比喻为“战争”,其实质是现代商业竞争,不是[A]所说的充满硝烟和杀戮的战争,故排除[A]。
12
Which of the following can NOT explain the importance of the Apple-Google combat for the smartphone market?
A.
This combat signals the struggle for Internet advantage is shifting to a new realm.
B.
Participants are introducing fundamentally different business types to the combat.
C.
Winners in the battle would seize favorable conditions in future tech landscape.
D.
Apple and Google have always been at the forefront of tech innovations.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。根据第二至四段可知,苹果和谷歌的“智能手机对决”是决定当下互联网历史的事件,原因如下:第二段前两句谈到这次对决标志着对互联网的争夺转移到了诸如智能手机和平板电脑的移动领域;第二段第四句谈到在此次竞争中占上风的公司将在今后的行业变革中占据有利位置;第四段前三句谈到苹果和谷歌在此次竞争中引入了明显不同的商业模式,体现了行业发展的两种不同愿景,或将影响整个行业的未来走向。综上所述,[A]、[B]和[C]均解释了此次苹果—谷歌的“智能手机对决”的重要性,故均排除;而[D]“苹果公司和谷歌公司在科技革新中始终走在前列”与第一段的事实不符,并且也不是此次对决的重要原因,故选[D]。
13
Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt claims all the following EXCEPT that
A.
the intensity of the Android-Apple platform fight is unprecedented.
B.
consumers would eventually* benefit from the competition.
C.
Apple and Google would resolve their competition as early as possible.
D.
wars over patent and property right may harm the tech industry.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。第六至八段中谷歌的执行董事长埃里克?施密特表明了该公司的态度。第六段中他首先直言安卓—苹果的平台斗争的激烈程度史无前例,同时指出竞争会带来移动电子产品的价格下降,消费者将是最终的受益者;第七段谈到,此次对决还扩大到了对知识产权和专利的争夺上,苹果向谷歌的合作伙伴提起了法律诉讼;第八段末尾施密特指出这些专利诉讼对创新不利,对行业发展不利。综上所述,[A]、[B]和[D]准确地表达了他的观点,故都排除;根据第八段首句可知,苹果和谷歌的高官都坚称他们宁愿不参加这样昂贵且旷日持久的专利诉讼,但无法据此推断[C]“苹果和谷歌公司将尽早结束他们之间的对抗”,故选[C]。
14
What does “incentives have deviated in the tech industry” In Paragraph Nine mean?
A.
Those who work in the tech industry feel less motivated than before.
B.
Tech titans such as Apple and Google are shifting their focus from innovation.
C.
Tech companies such as Samsung and HTC are gaining strength in the industry.
D.
The corporate culture of the tech industry has undergone subtle changes.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
语义题。根据第九段前两句可知,最新一期的《纽约时报》中的一篇文章重申了互联网巨头热衷于专利诉讼的不利影响,该文章的作者指出,去年苹果和谷歌在专利诉讼和知识产权上投人的资金首次超过了研发资金,这个惊人的事实表明在科技产业中,发展动因是如何(从研发上)偏离的。由此可知,[B]“苹果公司和谷歌公司这样的科技巨头正将重心从研发上转移”最能解释“incentives have deviated in the tech industry”的意思,故选[B],同时排除[C]。根据文章无法推断出互联网行业的从业人员没有以前有动力了,故排除[A];这里的“偏离”指的是公司策略和重心的转移,作者暗指这种偏离是错误的,不能据此推断出整个行业的企业文化也在发生微妙变化,故排除[D]。
15
The author's attitude towards the Apple-Google battle is
A.
cynical and indifferent.
B.
enthusiastic and praising.
C.
objective and concerned.
D.
critical and condemning.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
态度题。纵观全文,作者一直在客观地介绍苹果公司与谷歌公司的智能手机对决、此次对决的重要意义、两家公司高管的态度以及两巨头热衷专利诉讼的不利影响;作者在最后一段提出了自己的看法和期待,语气中肯且关切,综上所述,[C]最能概括作者的态度,同时排除[A]、[B]和[D]。
Social mobility in the U.K.could be reversed unless the government and universities make changes to encourage and pay for more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to take degrees, according to the government's independent adviser on the issue.Alan Milburn said in a report that social mobility was now “flatlining at best” after gains in the early part of the last decade.
“Given the headwinds that universities and higher education institutions are facing—tuition fees, student caps, public funding constraints—there's a real danger things will go backwards, rather than forwards,” Milburn told the Guardian.“As the economy changes, who gets into university does become a very important driver of social mobility.”
The report recommends changes across government policy and the way universities select, fund and encourage students from more disadvantaged areas, who he argues have been shown to do better at university than pupils from private schools with the same grades.Suggestions include offering all students from poorer backgrounds an interview and considering offering places to those with lower grades.Acknowledging pressure on public spending during the recession, Milburn calls on all parties to commit to government funding for higher education rising from 1.2% currently to 1.5%, the average for the OECD group of advanced economies.
The former Labour MP and cabinet member, who was the first person in his family to go to university, said social mobility created “fallers as well as risers”, echoing candid comments by the Liberal Democrat business secretary, Vince Cable, who told an audience on Wednesday that social mobility was often a “two-way street” and “a zero-sum game”.“We want everyone to move up and no one to move down,” said Cable.But in the real world not everyone can be a star.Social mobility is often embodied in the comprehensive school pupil who reaches Oxbridge, but what about the school dropout who finished up in a lowly menial job? That is also social mobility.But this is surely what meritocracy is all about—success through hard work, not through birth.”
Milburn's report says universities spend more than £400m to soften the impact of higher tuition fees on students from poorer backgrounds, but says there is little evidence that it is well spent, and calls for deep changes.It advocates that money is spent not just on reducing fees but helping to fund poorer students, and calls for a new version of the scrapped Educational Maintenance Allowance, intended to help poorer pupils remain in school to do A-levels.Universities are asked to agree to use “contextual data” when assessing applications to give pupils from worse schools a better chance, even if they have lower grades.Because some universities—especially from the Russell Group of higher ranked institutions—have objected to such a move in the past, Milburn offers them alternatives, including running new programmes to assess and prepare school-leavers, such as summer schools, and guaranteeing interviews to pupils from schools in disadvantaged areas.
Ministers are urged to scrap a cap on student numbers, which Milburn calls an artificial limit on aspiration, and to better explain the tuition fees policy, under which students start repaying their loans when their earnings rise above a certain threshold.One option would be to rename the policy a graduate tax, which it is “in all but name”, says Milburn, though he says it might be too late for that.He also calls for more funding for post-graduates, probably through upfront loans, saying the issue is “in danger of becoming a social mobility timebomb”.
The proposal to re-introduce the EMA was widely welcomed by social and education organisations, including the children's charity Barnados, which said it had evidence that children were having to choose between the cost of breakfast and their bus fare to school.The left-of-centre IPPR thinktank welcomed the report's suggestion that “we should look at applying the lessons of the pupil premium in schools to the university sector, with more funding being provided to institutions if they recruit from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
16
According to Alan Milburn's report, which of the following is the current situation of social mobility?
A.
It has been reversed.
B.
It hasn't any changes nowadays.
C.
It hasn't had any changes since the past decades.
D.
Government and universities pay for more students to take degrees.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。第一段末尾Alan Milburn在报告中提到如今的社会流动性是“flatlining at best”。解题关键在于对“flatlining”这个词的理解,“flat”指“平的”,由此可推测“flatlining”也有“平的,直线的”之义,暗示如今的社会流动性变化不大,故选[B]。第一段第一句表明社会流动性是可以变化的,但条件是政府和大学要做出相应的政策调整,[A]中没有其变化所需的条件,故排除;第一段最后一句表明社会流动性在辉煌的十年之后归于“扁平状态”,可推断社会流动性在过去的十年内取得了相当辉煌的成绩,故排除[C];[D]中政府和大学资助更多的学生读取学位是社会流动性发生变化的条件,并非社会流动性的现状,故排除[D]。
17
What does the former Labour MP mean by “social mobility created * falters as well as risers,” in Paragraph Four?
A.
Social mobility was a “two-way street” and “a zero-sum game”.
B.
All students from comprehensive school can reach the Oxford by hard working.
C.
School dropouts always work with lower payment.
D.
Social mobility was a mirror to constant efforts from different people.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。第四段的第二句和第四句引用Vince Cable的评论对前工党议员和内阁成员所说的话做了深入解释,不是每个人都能成为生活中的明星,该段最后一句总结了成功的秘诀并非来自天生而是来自不懈的努力。由此可推测[D]是对前工党议员和内阁成员的所述做出的最好诠释。由第四段第一句后半部分可知,Vince Cable回应了前工党议员和内阁成员的观点,所以Vince Cable是赞同他的观点的,故排除[A];通过该段第四句可知,综合中学的学生通过努力能考上牛津大学,但这只是社会流动性的一个例证,[B]的说法过于绝对,故排除;同样通过该段第四句可知,辍学的学生也有在卑微的工作上终了一生的,这是社会流动性的另一个例证,[C]的说法过于绝对,故排除。
18
Which of the following is INCORRECT according to Milburn's report?
A.
Universities spend more money to soften the impact of higher tuition fees on poorer students.
B.
Money has already been spent not just to reduce fees but to help fund for poorer students.
C.
Universities were asked to use superior standard when assessing applications.
D.
Some higher ranked universities do not refuse to change any more.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。根据第五段首句可知,[B]叙述的是报告所提倡的改革方向,而不是当前的事实,故为正确答案。[A]的叙述与第五段第一句相符,故排除;[C]中“superior standard”(高级的评价标准)与第五段第三句中的“contextual data”相符,故排除;第五段第四句谈到,一些排名靠前的大学过去反对这样的改革,言外之意是现在已经接受这样的改革建议了,[D]与该报告内容相符,故排除。
19
What can be inferred from Milburn's comment for “tuition fees policy” in Paragraph Six?
A.
The suggestion for Ministers obeys the aspiration of the public.
B.
Students don't have to repay the loan until they earn a certain amount of money.
C.
Tuition fees policy is better than graduate tax.
D.
Graduate tax can help post-graduates through upfront loans.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
推断题。第六段第一句后半部分提到,有人对部长们进行了呼吁,要求取消对学生人数的限制,第六段第一句后半部分提到,有人对部长们进行了呼吁,要求取消对学生人数的限制,米尔本认为其目的是为了更好地解释现行的学费政策,该政策要求,当学生们的收入达到某个临界值时他们就要开始偿还贷款。由此可以推断在收入没有达到一定数额之前学生们不必还贷款,故选[B]。而[A]是对部长所提建议的评论,不符合题意,故排除;文中没有就现行的学费政策和毕业税进行对比,很难说孰优孰劣,故排除[C];[D]中通过预付贷款的方式为研究生们投入更多的资金并非毕业税涉及的内容,而是Milburn的另外一项呼吁,不是对现行的学费政策的评论,故排除。
20
What is this passage mainly concerned?
A.
Education fund needs social mobility.
B.
Education needs new policy and reform.
C.
Children pay more premiums in schools so there are difficulties in their lives.
D.
Children were recruited from disadvantaged backgrounds so they are very poor.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
主旨题。根据第六段和第七段第一句的叙述可知,Milburn对政策改革的呼吁得到多个社会和教育组织的广泛接受。孩子们还在早餐和车费间做艰难选择的事实更加说明第六段中所提到的改革的必要性,故选[B]。[A]中教育需要更多的社会流动性属逻辑错误,根据文意应为社会流动性的实现需要更多的教育改革,故排除;[C]和[D]均不能概括全文的主旨,故排除。
The grader pay gap for full-time workers has fallen below 10% for the first time in 15 years since comparable records began.The difference between men's and women's median hourly full-time pay fell from 10.5% is 2011 to 9.6% in 2012, according to the annual survey of hours and earnings from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Women's average hourly earnings grew by 2% to £12 over the 12 months to April, while men's earnings grew by 1.1% to £13.27, prompting one employment expert to claim “women are steadily chipping away at the glass ceiling.”
The figures show women now earn an average gross full-time salary of £23,100-£5,600 less than their male counterparts and £200 less than the gap of £5,800 seen in 2011.But at the current rate of change women's full-time pay will not equal men's until 2040.
Economists said the narrowing gap can in part be explained by men's full-time earnings rising slower than women's.Others suggested a variety of reasons including a cultural shift, more progressive attitudes displayed by bosses, and higher aspirations among women.While women are better paid than men when it comes to part-time work, the ONS said the fact more women work part-time jobs, which tend to have lower rates of pay, means the overall pay gap remains high at 19.1% compared to 20.2% in 2011.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the lack of high quality part-time work is illustrated by the five highest paid occupations—aircraft pilots; chief executives and directors of advertising and PR; marketing and sales; and telecommunication firms—being dominated by men and having “a negligible number” of part-time positions.In contrast, four of the five worst paid occupations—waiters and waitresses, bar staff, catering assistants and launderers—are dominated by women and have more part-time jobs than full-time ones.
Frances O'Grady, general secretary designate at the TUC, said: “No healthy modern economy should have an enduring gender pay gap and growing in-work poverty.Unfortunately, common sense solutions such as senior level job shares and flexible working are rarely available in the private sector, and are now under attack in the public sector.Unless we change the way we work we will never eliminate the pay gap or tackle poverty.
Wages for full-time employees in the U.K.increased by just half the rate of inflation, the study showed, with the median salary rising by 1.4% to £26,500 in 2012 against inflation of 3%—meaning households are experiencing pay cuts in real terms.
Xenios Thrasyvoulou, founder of the online freelance marketplace PeoplePerHour, said: “Women are steadily chipping away at the glass ceiling.They may be starting to win the battle of the sexes, but the workforce as a whole is losing the battle with inflation.”
The gap between the highest and lowest paid employees also narrowed, with the hourly earnings (excluding overtime) of full timers in the top 1% of earners falling by 0.2%, compared to a rise of 2.3% for those in the bottom 1%.
The number of people earning below the national minimum wage fell during the past 12 months, the ONS said, from 299,000 in 2011 to 287,000 this year.But the ONS admitted the figures were not exact due to the impossibility of identifying people such as apprentices and trainees exempt from the minimum wage rate or only entitled to lower rates.
Public sector workers earned more than those in the private sector across almost all measures used by the ONS.The median gross weekly pay of full-time employees in the public sector was £565 in 2012, up 1.6% from £556 in 2011, compared to £479 in the private sector, up 1.5% from £472 in 2011.
But the ONS pointed out that many low-paid occupations such as hairdressers, bar and restaurant staff and junior sales roles do not exist in the public sector.
21
What does the author mean by “women are steadily chipping away at the glass ceiling” in Paragraph One?
A.
Nowadays full-time women are earning much more money than full-time men.
B.
Full-time women are making hard efforts on jobs like walking at the glass ceiling.
C.
Women are in dangerous condition for their earnings are increasing too faster.
D.
The gender pay gap is narrowing down for women's earnings are increasing gradually.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
语义题。第—段第—句指出,从有可比较的记录算起,15年来英国男女全职员工的工资差异第一次回落到10%以内。该段第三句指出,女性的工资在上涨后达到每小时12英镑,而男性的时薪在上涨后达到每小时13.27英镑。工资差异因女性员工的工资快速上涨而缩小,由此可推测[D]符合文意,故为正确答案。通过该段第三句可知,虽然女性员工工资上涨的比率比男性高,但具体的时薪仍比男性低,[A]不符合文意,故排除;该段第三句中“glass ceiling”(玻璃天花板)引申为“职场中的障碍”,[B]的诠释有误,故排除;由该段第二、三句可知,女性的时薪上涨较快但不能由此推测出女性陷入危险境地,故排除[C]。
22
Which of the following statements is INCORRECT about gender pay gap?
A.
The current gender pay gap should be £5,600.
B.
The main reason for narrowing gender pay gap is uncertain.
C.
Women are better paid especially in part-time job.
D.
More women having part-time jobs caused the narrowing gender gap.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。根据第三段最后一句可知,虽然兼职工作多由女性承担,男女工资差距仍保持在19.7%的高位,导致该现状的真正原因是她们的工资标准相对较低,[D]与文意不符,故为正确答案。通过第二段第一句可知,男女员工薪资差距已在2011年5800英镑的基础上下降了200英镑。因此现在的薪资差距应为5600英镑,[A]符合文意,故排除;第三段第一句和第二句列出了导致男女薪资差距缩小的几个原因,但其主要原因并未确定,[B]符合文意,故排除;通过第三段第三句可知, 女性做兼职工作的报酬比男性高,[C]符合文意,故排除。
23
According to Frances O'Grady, what's the status of modern economy?
A.
It will change to the healthy economy condition in the future.
B.
It hasn't any effective way to solve the disadvantages of modem economy.
C.
The gender pay gap and poor families are the results of the unhealthy economy.
D.
The problems will not be solved unless we change the current economy.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。第五段第一、二句指出,一个健康的现代经济不应该出现持久的性别收入差距以及不断扩大的在职贫困局面,而常规的解决方案在私营部门和公共部门间都很难开展。由此可知,当下几乎没有有效的措施来解决现代经济运转中出现的问题,[B]符合文意,故为正确答案。该段第一句指出,健康的现代经济状况不应该出现持久的性别收入差距和不断扩大的在职贫困局面,不是导致贫困家庭,[C]的表达不准确,故排除;该段第三句指出,要消除薪酬差距和解决贫困问题就要改变我们的工作方式。由此可知,改变工作方式才是解决问题的关键,[D]不符合文意,故排除;[A]属主观推断,故排除。
24
What does the description of the U.K.current inflation imply?
A.
Inflation is the main reason for the gender pay gap and in-work poverty.
B.
Inflation rate is lower than pay increasing rate.
C.
Households are experiencing pay cuts for salary rising is slow.
D.
Compared with inflation, the pay gap is not a serious problem.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。通过第六段可知,相对高达3%的通货膨胀率,1.4%的加薪比率实属杯水车薪。由此可推测与高通货膨胀率的问题相比,男女工资差异显得微不足道,[D]符合文意,故为正确答案。 通过第五段第一句可知,不健康的经济状况会导致男女的工资差异和在职贫困,通货膨胀是不健康经济状况的一个方面,[A]过于片面,故排除;通过第六段可知,通货膨胀率的增长要比工资的增长速度快,[B]与文意不符,故排除;同样由该段可知,家庭正遭受着实质上的减薪是由通货膨胀造成的,而不是因为工资上涨太慢,[C]与文意不符,故排除。 5
25
The ONS claimed all of the following EXCEPT that
A.
the pay gap between the highest and the lowest has narrowed down.
B.
at least two kinds of people were hard to classify.
C.
wages of the public sector workers increased faster than those of the private sector ones.
D.
waiters do not belong to the public sector workers according to the ONS.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
[A]细节题。通过第八段可知,最高和最低员工的薪金差距在缩小,但并未指出数据来自国家统计局,[A]与文意不符,故为正确答案。根据第九段第二句可知,学徒以及被免除最低工资率或仅有权享有更低工资率的学员,他们的身份很难确定,[B]符合文意,故排除;第十段第二句指出,公共部门的全职员工的平均周薪总值上升了1.6%,而私营部门的员工周薪只上升了1.5%,由此可判断[C]符合文意,故排除;第十一段指出,公共部门不提供理发师、酒吧和餐厅服务员及初级销售员的职位,[D]符合文意,故排除。
The Japanese say they suffer from an economic disease called “structural pessimism”.Overseas too, there is a tendency to see Japan as a harbinger of all that is doomed in the economies of the euro zone and America—even though figures released on November 14th show its economy grew by an annualised 6% in the third quarter, rebounding quickly from the March tsunami and nuclear disaster.
Look dispassionately at Japan's economic performance over the past ten years, though, and “the second lost decade”, if not the first, is a misnomer.Much of what tarnishes Japan's image is the result of demography—more than half its population is over 45—as well as its poor policy in dealing with it.Even so, most Japanese have grown richer over the decade.
In aggregate, Japan's economy grew at half the pace of America's between 2001 and 2010.Yet if judged by growth in GDP per person over the same period, then Japan has outperformed America and the euro zone.In part this is because its population has shrunk whereas America's population has increased.
Though growth in labour productivity fell slightly short of America's from 2000 to 2008, total factor productivity, a measure of how a country uses capital and labour, grew faster, according to the Tokyo-based Asian Productivity Organisation.Japan's unemployment rate is higher than in 2000, yet it remains about half the level of America and Europe.
Besides supposed stagnation, the two other curses of the Japanese economy are debt and deflation.Yet these also partly reflect demography and can be overstated.People often think of Japan as an indebted country.In fact, it is the world's biggest creditor nation, boasting ¥253 trillion ($3.3 trillion) in net foreign assets.
To be sure, its government is a large debtor; its net debt as a share of GDP is one of the highest in the OECD.However, the public debt has been accrued not primarily through wasteful spending or “bridges to nowhere , but because of ageing, says the IMF.Social-security expenditure doubled as a share of GDP between 1990 and 2010 to pay rising pensions and health-care costs.Over the same period tax revenues have shrunk.
Falling tax revenues are a problem.The flip side, though, is that Japan has the lowest tax take of any country in the OECD, at just 17% of GDP.That gives it plenty of room to manocuvre.Takatoshi Ito, an economist at the University of Tokyo, says increasing the consumption tax by 20 percentage points from its current 5%—putting it at the level of a high-tax European country—would raise ¥50 trillion and immediately wipe out Japan's fiscal deficit.
That sounds draconian.But here again, demography plays a role.Officials say the elderly resist higher taxes or benefit cuts, and the young, who are in a minority, do not have the political power to push for what is in their long-term interest.David Weinstein, professor of Japanese economy at Columbia University in New York, says the elderly would rather give money to their children than pay it in taxes.Ultimately that may mean that benefits may shrink in the future.“If you want benefits to grow in line with income, as they are now, you need a massive increase in taxes of about 10% of GDP,” he says.
Demography helps explain Japan's stubborn deflation, too, he says.After all, falling prices give savers—most of whom are elderly—positive real yields even when nominal interest rates are close to zero.Up until now, holding government bonds has been a good bet.Domestic savers remain willing to roll them over, which enables the government to fund its deficits.Yet this comes at a cost to the rest of the economy.
In short, Japan's economy works better for those middle-aged and older than it does for the young.But it is not yet in crisis, and economists say there is plenty it could do to raise its potential growth rate, as well as to lower its debt burden.
26
The demography of Japan helps explain the following outcomes EXCEPT
A.
growth of GDP per person higher than America's.
B.
growth of labour productivity slower than America's.
C.
growing public debt.
D.
falling tax revenue.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。根据第三段第二、三句可知,日本总人口的减少导致在GDP增长缓慢的情况下人均GDP增长更快,因为人口基数减少了,故排除[A];根据第六段最后三句可知,由于中老年人数已占人口大多数,为了支付巨额的福利开支,政府财政赤字居高不下,故排除[C];根据第八段第四、五句可知,广大老年人抵制增税,使税收收入减少,都是人口结构问题导致的,故排除[D]。文中并未提及日本劳动生产力的增速落后于美国与其人口结构问题有何直接关系,故[B]符合题意。
27
The 8th paragraph suggests that young Japanese may support
A.
higher tax rates.
B.
higher health-care budget.
C.
receiving more money from their parents.
D.
higher salaries.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
推断题。上文第七段已指出,日本政府的高额赤字是一个严重的问题,但增加税收仍有潜力可挖。第八段承接上文并引述魏因斯坦的观点,指出低税率和高福利是彼此矛盾的,但广大老年人反对加税和削减福利,年轻人则缺乏推行符合其长远利益的政策的权力,暗示年轻人在这个问题上的立场和老年人是相反的,即支持增加税收,故[A]正确。继续提高福利会加剧财政赤字问题,故排除[B];让老年人把更多的钱留给子女或者提高工资,也不利于缓和财政赤字和通货紧缩问题,不是“符合自身长远利益的政策”,故排除[C]和[D]。
28
According to the passage, the Japanese government could do a better job in
A.
encouraging higher birth rate.
B.
taking care of the elderly.
C.
giving young people more power.
D.
funding its deficit.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。根据最后一段可知,日本还可以采取很多措施来提升其潜在的经济增长率并减轻债务负担,而减轻债务负担即意味着开源节流,减少财政赤字。本文第七段和第八段都强调了日本政府提升税率还有很大空间,只是主要障碍是老年人的反对,故[D]正确。尽管日本经济面临的多方面问题的背后都是人口结构问题,文中并未将鼓励生育和提升年轻人的权力作为日本应采取的措施,故排除[A]和[C];提高老年人的福利非但不是日本政府应当改进的主要方向,反而可能会进一步增加财政赤字,故排除[B]。
29
The tone of the author about Japan's economy is
A.
cautiously optimistic.
B.
quite undecided.
C.
rigorously neutral.
D.
slightly pessimistic.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
态度题。尽管本文剖析了日本经济存在的结构性问题,但也多处表示日本的经济状况并不如外界想象的那么糟糕,例如作者在第二段指出将日本的过去十年说成“第二个失落的十年”有失偏颇;第三段和第四段指出日本的人均GDP高于欧美,总体生产力增速较快;第五段首句用“supposed stagnation”暗示日本的经济停滞问题在一定程度上是人们的想当然;最后一段还指出日本经济尚未陷入危机,仍有好转的空间。因而作者对日本经济形势的态度是谨慎乐观的,既指出其问题,又反对夸大问题的严重性,并阐明其改善的可能性,故[A]正确,相应地可排除[D]。尽管作者的分析较为客观,但观点明确,有明显的评价和判断,既不是举棋不定,也不是严格中立,故排除[B]和[C]。
Distant indeed seem the days when the two great rivals of commercial aviation, Boeing and Airbus, would use big air shows to trumpet hundreds of new orders.This year's Paris Air Show was a much more sombre affair, even if the Boeing-Airbus feud still took centre stage.
There were one or two bright spots.Airbus was able to boast of a firm order for ten of its wide-body A350s from AirAsia X.John Leahy, its top salesman, expects deliveries in 2009 to match the record 483 in 2008.Boeing, which was hit by a prolonged strike last year, will probably deliver more aircraft this year than last.Both firms built up huge backlogs in the fat years: each has orders for about 3,500 planes.
But many of those may soon evaporate.Giovanni Bisignani, the boss of IATA, the trade body that speaks for most airlines, gave warning earlier this month that his members might defer as many as 30% of aircraft deliveries next year.He also almost doubled his forecast for the industry's cumulative losses in 2009, to $9 billion.
Both Mr Leahy and Jim McNerney, the chief executive of Boeing, think that Mr Bisignani is overdoing the gloom.But they concede that potential customers may find purchases hard to finance.Another issue is the cost of fuel.Mr McNerney thinks the recent increase in the oil price should encourage carriers to replace elderly gas guzzlers with efficient new planes.But if the price “spikes over $100” all bets are off.
The two aviation giants agree on one other thing: the industry will not get a successor to its ubiquitous short-haul workhorses, the 737 and the A320, for more than a decade.That is partly because the 15-20% efficiency gain that airlines say they want from the next generation is, says Mr McNerney, “a bar that keeps moving north” thanks to the continuous improvements of 1-2% a year that the manufacturers are making to existing planes.
Moreover, both Boeing and Airbus are conserving cash for a long and bitter scrap to dominate the market for long-haul aircraft with up to 350 seats.Boeing's troubled 787 Dreamliner will at last take to the air this month, two years late.The production problems that stemmed from both the revolutionary use of composites and an extended global supply chain appear to have been overcome.To speed up deliveries of the 787, for which Boeing has received more than 860 orders, Mr McNerney is planning a second assembly line.
The delays to the 787 have been a godsend for Airbus.Its rival, the slightly bigger A350, is on track to fly in early 2012 after a painful gestation.With nearly 500 orders, Airbus claims that the A350 is selling even faster than the record-breaking 787 did at the same stage in its development.The biggest concern for Boeing however, is not that the A350 will take sales from the 787, but that its largest variant, the A350-1000, will be a strong rival to its successful 777.Mr McNerney says that Boeing can afford to wait and see how great a threat the biggest A350 is.But according to Airbus executives, Boeing will be faced with the dilemma of merely upgrading the 777 or taking the bigger and more costly step of building a replacement.
The A350 and the 787 are at the heart of the long-running and acrimonious dispute between Boeing and Airbus at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over state subsidies for large commercial aircraft.This week European governments declared that they were ready to contribute 3.5 billion ($4.9 billion) of reimbursable launch aid to the 11 billion cost of developing the A350.The announcement had Boeing executives scurrying to their BlackBerrys to condemn what they saw as a “provocative” move given that the WTO is expected to issue a ruling on Boeing's complaint within weeks (a ruling on a counter-complaint by Airbus is due later in the year).
Louis Gallois, the chief executive of EADS, the parent company of Airbus, denied there was anything odd about the timing: “We do not plead guilty,” he said.“Our support is much more transparent than Boeing's.We have fully repaid with interest the support we received for the A320 and A330 and we are already paying back on the A380 (super-jumbo).” Tom Enders, the chief executive of Airbus, added that the aid was aimed only at “levelling the playing field” and that the European Union had described the 787 as the most subsidised commercial aircraft in history.
30
It can be inferred from Paragraph One that Boeing and Airbus
A.
have not suffered from a reduction of new orders until this year.
B.
did not compete with each other intensely in the past.
C.
used to advertise their success in business at air shows.
D.
would have to resolve their rivalry as early as possible.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
推断题。第一段第一句指出波音和空客似乎已很久没有利用大型航空展宣传其贏得的多达数百架飞机的订单,言外之意是它们过去曾经做过这样的宣传,故选[C]。同时还可推断,这两家公司不是今年才遭受新订单减少的影响,这种状况似乎已经持续较长一段时间了,故可排除[A];根据该段第一句得知, 波音和空客之间过去就展开了激烈的竞争,该段第二句中的“still”也印证了二者的竞争对手关系由来已久,故排除[B];本段并未提及波音和空客在面对困境时应尽早解决彼此间的争斗,故排除[D]。
31
According to the passage, Airbus and Boeing shared the following challenges EXCEPT
A.
financial trouble of potential customers.
B.
labour dispute with their employees.
C.
risk of oil price higher than $ 100.
D.
difficulties in developing new aircraft.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。根据第三段首句和第四段第二句可知,全球航空业陷入融资困境,可能取消或推迟订购新飞机;第四段末句指出如果油价每桶超过100美元,将导致航空公司没有资金更换旧飞机;第六段第三句表明波音在开发787的过程中遇到了复合材料的应用和供应链方面的困难,第七段第二句中的“after a painful gestation”暗示空客A350的开发也经历过困难,可见,[A]、[C]和[D]都是波音和空客共同面临的挑战。文章只是在第二段中提及波音遭受了长期罢工的打击,并未提到空客也遇到类似的劳资纠纷问题,故[B]为正确答案。
32
Boeing executives found the announcement of Airbus “provocative” because
A.
Airbus received higher subsidies than Boeing.
B.
Airbus received new subsidies while the old dispute remained unsolved.
C.
Airbus didn't have to repay the newly announced subsidies.
D.
WTO ruling is expected to be in Airbus's favour.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
推断题。第八段首句提到波音就国家补贴问题与空客的争端由来已久,双方已诉诸WT0,而在WT0即将对波音的申诉做出裁决时,欧洲政府又宣布对A350飞机给予新的补贴,可谓变本加厉,因而波音对此尤其不满,故[B]为正确答案。文中未提及波音获得的补贴数额,故排除[A];第八段和第九段第二句表明空客必须偿还所获补贴,而且它正在偿还以往获得的补贴,故排除[C];第八段首句表明波音和空客都在WTO起诉了对方,但并未表示WTO的裁决将对哪一方有利,故排除[D]。
33
Which of the aircraft types mentioned in this passage will be the last to begin delivery?
A.
Boeing 787.
B.
Boeing 777.
C.
A380.
D.
A 350.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。文中第六段末句提到波音787已经首飞,且已获得860架的订单,而第七段第二、三句表明空客A350计划于2012年试飞,已获得500架的订单,可见,A350的开发进程落后于波音787;第七段第四句还提到波音777是“成功的”,即已经投入商用的成熟机型;第八段第二句表明A350刚刚获得欧盟政府资助,而第九段第三句表明A380所获资助已经开始偿付,可知A380的开发也早于A350。可见,A350是文中提到的各机型中开发最晚的,将比其他机型更晚交付使用,因此选[D]。
34
What does “levelling the playing field” in the last paragraph mean?
A.
Making the ground smooth.
B.
Making the competition fair.
C.
Supporting the development of new aircraft.
D.
Reimbursing previous subsidies.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
语义题。根据最后一段引述的空客方面人士的表态,空客认为波音787也得到了国家补贴,暗示空客为避免在竞争中落后,也必须获得相应的补贴,因而可推断“levelling the playing field”的正确含义为[B]“让竞争变得公平”。
Detroit seems to be where Wall Street meets Main Street.Tight credit is reckoned to have cost the American carmakers 40,000 sales in August, worth about $ 1 billion in revenue.The impact has been felt most by America's Big Three—General Motors, Ford and Chrysler—which have suffered this year as consumers shunned gas-guzzlers in favour of the smaller cars mostly made by Japanese firms in American factories.Overall light-vehicle sales hit a 15-year low in September, with a fall of 27% compared with a year earlier.The problem is finance.We have plenty of customers—what we don't have is financing available to meet their needs,” Mike Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation, a leading car-dealer chain, told CNBC this week.He reckons that tighter credit and limits on finance for leases have cost his firm a fifth of its sales this year.
The Big Three have been hit by petrol prices pushing towards $4 a gallon, by more demanding federal fuel- economy rules and by the credit crunch wrecking consumer finance.But the federal government came to their aid this week when George Bush signed an energy bill that includes $25 billion in loan guarantees to ease their pain.Supposedly this is to allow the Big Three to retool their factories to produce more economical vehicles.David Cole, director of the Centre for Automotive Research9 an industry body, estimates that such retooling could cost at least $ 100 billion.But money is money, so the infusion of cheap credit will help the carmakers pay their bills next year.“Given the market position of the Big Three, things will get sticky by mid-2009, because they have to keep spending on new programmes,” says Joe Philippi of Auto Trends, a consultancy.
The rules are still being worked out, but the deal means that car companies—blessed with the government guarantee—should get loans with an interest rate of around 5% rather than the 15% they would face on the open market in today's conditions.The stipulation that the loans are only for firms with factories at least 20 years old rules out nearly all the “transplant” factories that foreign carmakers built in America to get around tariff barriers.And even if some Japanese carmakers do qualify for loans, they are not expected to ask for them.
So a sum that seemed preposterous only a few months ago has won overwhelming approval from politicians.Compared with the demand for $700 billion to underpin the financial system, who can complain about a mere $25 billion for carmakers? And using government money to keep honest, hardworking car-industry workers in their jobs is easier for politicians to justify than handouts for greedy Wall Street bankers.The sales-pitch is even more compelling in an election year.
Once industrial subsidies like this begin to flow, it is difficult to stop them.A recent study by the Cato Institute, a right-wing think-tank, found that the federal government spent some $92 billion subsidising business in 2006 alone.Only $21 billion of that went to farmers: much of the rest went to firms such as Boeing, IBM and GE in the form of export-credit support and various research subsidies.
The Big Three are already complaining that it will take too long to dish out the money, and they want the process speeded up.They also want a further $25 billion, possibly attached to the second version of the Wall Street rescue bill.The logic of bailing out Wall Street is that finance underpins everything.Detroit cannot begin to make that claim.But, given its successful lobbying, can it be long before ailing airlines and failing retailers join the queue?
35
U.S.carmakers, especially the Big Three, are in deep trouble because of the following factors EXCEPT
A.
increasingly high petrol prices.
B.
impact of imported cars from other countries like Japan.
C.
tighter credit which impairs customers' finance capability.
D.
consumers' preference to more fuel-efficient vehicles.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节題。第—段的第三句和第五句以及第二段的首句阐明了汽车制造商受到打击的多种因素,包括用户转向青睐小型汽车、融资困难、高油价等,因此排除[A]、[C]、[D]。但三巨头流失的客户转向了日本公司在美国的工厂,且第三段第二句提到美国为了保护本国汽车产业设置了关税壁垒,使得外国汽车制造商不得不在美国设厂,因而直接从日本等国进口的汽车并非重大威胁,故选[B]。
36
The passage suggests that in fact can receive the guaranteed loans.
A.
all carmakers in need of retooling
B.
old U.S.carmakers and dealers caught in trouble
C.
factories of foreign carmakers in the U.S.
D.
major carmakers like the Big Three
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。根据第五段末句可知?,除了金融行业,能拿到政府巨额补貼的往往是一些大公司,因此[D]为正确答案。根据第三段第二句可知,法案以工厂至少具有20年历史为限,因此并非所有陷入危机的美国汽车生产商都有资格申请政府贷款,而且也不面向汽车经销商,故排除[A]和[B];根据第三段末句可知,上述限制条件看似对美资和外资企业一视同仁,实则几乎将所有的外资汽车工厂排除在外,当然历史较短的美国汽车企业也不具备资格,而一些日本汽车工厂即使符合条件,恐怕也拿不到优惠贷款,故排除[C]。
37
Politicians approve the loan guarantee for carmakers because of the following reasons EXCEPT that
A.
the money needed just become available.
B.
the bankers receive a much larger sum.
C.
they hope to win more votes by doing so.
D.
the car industry needs help.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
细节题。根据第四段第二句可知,政府提供给金融行业高达7000亿美元的援助,给汽车行业区区250亿美元又为何不可?而且根据前两段的介绍,汽车行业的确遭遇困境,急需资金。又根据第四段最后两句可知,政客们对该法案投赞成票,可以表明自己支持汽车行业和帮助汽车工人渡过难关,从而有助于自己贏得更多的选票。因此[B]、[C]、[D]都是促成资助汽车产业的贷款担保法案通过的因素,并不是因为政府一下子有了钱,故选[A]。
38
The author's attitude towards the industrial subsidy policy of the government is
A.
completely neutral.
B.
slightly critical.
C.
generally approving.
D.
quite ambiguous.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
态度题。作者尽管认为汽车行业遭遇危机,需要援助,但对产业补贴政策的弊端是持批评态度的,故选[B]。具体依据是:第三段第二句指出,政府在法案中对申请贷款担保的条件做了巧妙的限制,只有老牌的美国汽车公司才能获得优惠待遇;根据第四段最后两句可知,政客们在批准巨额贷款担保时,政治因素(为援助金融系统的7000亿美元自圆其说、贏得选票等)是主要的,真正帮助汽车行业摆脱困境的动机反而只是陪衬;第五段首句则进一步表示了作者的担忧:政府补贴往往流向大公司,此情形可能一发不可收拾。[A]“完全中立”、[C]“总体赞成”、[D]“十分模棱两可”均不符合作者的态度,故排除。
39
The 5th paragraph in the passage
A.
sums up the main idea of the passage.
B.
starts to make an additional point.
C.
elaborates on the last part of the 4th paragraph.
D.
shifts to an entirely new point.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
篇章题。文章前半部分介绍的是美国汽车产业(特别是三大巨头)身陷经济困境,而联邦政府则慷慨解囊,提供巨额贷款担保;从第五段开始则从政府援助汽车产业的措施说起,触及政府产业补贴政策的弊端:大公司通过游说获得巨额补贴,而且得寸进尺,并且预言除金融、汽车之外的其他行业可能也将要求政府的援助,导致产业补贴一发不可收拾。因此第五段转向另一个话题,不再局限于汽车行业,因此选[B],同时排除[C]。同时第五段又是在上文基础上的进一步深化,并非转入完全无关的话题,故排除[D];总体来看,全文以叙述为主,第五段只是起承上启下的作用,谈不上总结全文主旨,因此排除[A]。
40
What does “that claim” in the last paragraph refer to?
A.
The car industry is good at lobbying as the financial industry.
B.
The car industry should receive the subsidies sooner.
C.
The car industry is as important as the financial industry.
D.
The car industry needs even more subsides.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
语义题。首先,最后一段倒数第二句中的“Detroit”即指代美国的汽车产业。第五段末句已提到,大公司善于通过游说将政府的巨额补贴纳人自己的腰包。金融界要求政府资助的一个有力的理由便是:“金融支撑一切”(finance underpins everything)。显然,尽管汽车产业对维持就业和经济增长也十分重要,但却无法声称自己具有和金融业等同的重要性,能起到国民经济命脉的作用,故[C]为正确答案。
One of the principal of Walzer's critique of liberal capitalism is that it is insufficiently egalitarian.Walzer's case against the economic inequality generated by capitalism and in favor of “a radical redistribution of wealth” in presented in a widely cited essay entitled In Defense of Equality.
The most striking feature of Walzer's critiques is that, far from rejecting the principle of reward according to merit, Walzer insists on its validity.People who excel should receive the superior benefits appropriate to their excellence.But people exhibit a great variety of qualities—“intelligence, physical strength, agility and grace, artistic creativity, mechanical skill, Ieadership, endurance, memory, psychological insight, the capacity for hard work—even moral strength, sensitivity, the ability to express compassion.” Each deserves its proper recompense and hence a proper distribution of material goods should reflect human differences as measured on all these different scales.Yet, under capitalism, the ability to make money (“the green thumb of bourgeois society”) enables its possessor to acquire almost “every other sort of social goods" such as the respect and esteem of others.
The centerpiece of Walzer's argument is the invocation of a quotation from Pascal's Pensees, which concludes: “Tyranny is the wish to obtain by one means what can only be had by another.”
Pascal believes that we owe different duties to different qualities.So we might say that infatuation is the proper response to charm, and awe the proper response to strength.In this light, Walzer characterizes capitalism as the tyranny of money (or of the ability to make it) and Walzer advocates as the means of eliminating this tyranny and of restoring genuine equality “the abolition of the power of money outside its sphere”.What Walzer envisions is a society in which wealth is no longer convertible into social goods with which it has no intrinsic connection.
Walzer's argument is a puzzling one.After all, why should those qualities unrelated to the production of material goods be rewarded with material goods? Is it not tyrannical, in Pascal's sense, to insist that those who excel in “sensitivity” or “the ability to express compassion” merit equal wealth with those who excel in qualities (such as “ the capacity for hard work”) essential in producing wealth? Yes.Walzer's argument, however deficient, does point to one of the most serious weaknesses of capitalism—namely, that it brings to predominant positions in a society people who, no matter how legitimately they have earned their material rewards, often lack those other qualities that evoke affection or admiration.Some even argue plausibly that this weakness may be irremediable: in any society that, like a capitalist society, seeks to become ever wealthier in material terms disproportionate rewards are bound to flow to the people who are instrumental in producing the increase in its wealth.
41
The author implies that Walzer's interpretation of the principle of reward according to merit is__________
A.
insistence on maximizing everyone's rewards.
B.
emphasis on equality and validity.
C.
a broad conception of what constitutes merit.
D.
a broad conception of what constitutes a reward.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。首段提到了沃尔泽对自由资本主义的批判。第二段首句指出沃尔泽的批判中最引人注目的一个特征是,沃尔泽非但不摒弃“按劳论酬”的原则,反而竭力坚持其有效性。该段倒数第二句提到,每一品质都应该当之无愧地得到它恰如其分的报酬。一种恰当的物质财富的分配应当反映不同的衡量尺度下人与人之间的差异。可见沃尔泽认为按劳论酬中,财富分配的涵盖范围应该更大才对,故[D]为答案。沃尔泽批判的是财富分配与付出不对等,其焦点在“reward”,不是“merit”,故排除[C];文章没有提及“财富分配最大化”,也没有强调“平等和有效性”,故排除[A]和[B]。
42
“We owe different duties to different qualities” suggests_____ is the duty paired with the quality of integrity.
A.
dignity
B.
trust
C.
affection
D.
obedience
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
推断题。第三段第二句指出,帕斯卡尔相信,我们对不同的品质担有不同的义务。接下来做出具体解释:因此我们可以说痴情是对魅力的一种恰当反应,而敬畏则是对力量的一种恰当反应。这里痴情对应魅力,敬畏对应力量,按此推理,对应诚实的就应该是信任,故[B]为答案。诚实与自尊、喜爱和服从都不能构成对应关系,故排除其他三项。
43
The argumentation in the passage attaches importance to the question of what should be the proper relation between_________
A.
“sensitivity” and “the ability to express compassion”.
B.
“liberal capitalism” and “bourgeois society”.
C.
“social goods" and “material goods”.
D.
“reward” and “recompense”.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
推断题。第二段提到了“按劳取酬”的原则以及人类不同的品质。第三段最后指出,沃尔泽所憧憬的是这样一个社会:在这个社会中,物质财富将不再能转化成为与之绝无内在联系的社会财富。第四段继续论述:沃尔泽的论点是令人困惑的。说到底,为什么那些与物质财富的创造毫无联系的品质非得以物质财富来作为报酬呢?可见,全文都在探讨“物质财富”与“社会财富”之间的关系,故[C]为答案。“敏感”和“善于表达怜悯之心”是论述物质财富和社会财富的关系时提到的内容,非论点,故排除[A];自由资本主义和资产阶级社会在文中并没有作为论点出现,故排除[B];“reward”和“recompense”意思相近,无法构成对比关系,故排除[D]。
44
The author implies that sensitivity is not a quality that_________
A.
is essential in producing wealth.
B.
can be sensibly measured on a scale.
C.
characterizes tyrannical people.
D.
is owed a duty in Pascal's sense.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
推断题。末段第三句指出,如果按帕斯卡尔的意思坚持认为那些擅长于“敏感”和“善于表达怜悯之心”的人应获取与那些更具有在物质财富创造过程中所不可或缺的品质(诸如“勤奋工作的能力”)的人同等的物质财富,难道这不是专制暴政吗?是的。可见,作者认为敏感不是创造物质财富不可或缺的品质,故[A]为答案。帕斯卡尔认为敏感的人应该获取同样的财富,这与作者的观点不符,故排除[D];文章没有提到或暗示敏感度是可以衡量的,或是残暴者的特征,故排除[B]和[C]。
45
The author mentions all of the following as issues addressed by Walzer EXCEPT________
A.
proper reward for individual excellence.
B.
proper interpretation of “economic equality”.
C.
proper level of a society's wealth grounds.
D.
proper exchange of money for social goods.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。第二段第二句指出,出类拔萃的人理应获取与他们卓越成就相称的利益。故[A]是沃尔泽论述的问题;开篇第二句指出,沃尔泽反对资本主义体制所导致的经济不平等并赞成一种根本性的财富重新分配,这一论点被表述于一篇广为引用的标题为《捍卫平等》的论文中。可见,沃尔泽认为应该正确解读经济上的平等,[B]也是沃尔泽论述的问题;第三段末句提到,沃尔泽所憧憬的是这样一个社会:在这个社会中物质财富将不再能转化成为与之绝无内在联系的社会财富,[D]是沃尔泽探讨的问题;只有[C]“社会物质财富基础的适当层面”在文中没有涉及,故为答案。
From the Chrysler Corporation to the Central Intelligence Agency, cultural diversity programs are flourishing in American organizations today.Firms can no longer safely assume that every employee walking in the door has similar beliefs or expectations.Whereas North American white males may believe in challenging authority, Asians tend to respect and defer to it.In Hispanic cultures, people often bring music, food, and family members to work, a custom that U.S.businesses have traditionally not allowed.A job applicant who won't make eye contact during an interview may be rejected for being unapproachable, when according to her culture, she was just being polite.
As a larger number of women, minorities, and immigrants enter the U.S.work force, the workplace is growing more diverse.It is estimated that by 2008 women will make up about 48 percent of the U.S.work force, and African Americans and Hispanics will each account for about 11 percent; by the year 2050, minorities will make up over 50 percent of the American population.
Cultural diversity refers to the differences among people in a work force due to race, ethnicity, and gender.Increasing cultural diversity is forcing managers to learn to supervise and motivate people with a broader range of values systems.According to a recent survey by the American Management Association, half of all U.S.employers have established some kind of formal initiative to promote and manage cultural diversity.Although demographics isn't the only reason for the growth of these programs, it is a compelling one.An increasing number of organizations have come to believe that diversity, like quality and customer service, is a competitive edge.A more diverse work force provides a wider range of ideas and perspectives and fosters creativity and innovation.Avenues for encouraging diversity include recruiting at historically black colleges and universities, training and development, mentoring, and revamped promotion review policies.To get out the message about their commitment to diversity, many organizations establish diversity councils made up of employees, managers and executives.
Although many Fortune 500 companies are making diversity part of their strategic planning process, some programs stand out from the crowd.
At Texas Instruments, strategies for enhancing diversity include an aggressive recruiting plan, diversity training, mentoring, and an incentive compensation program that rewards managers for fostering diversity.Each business unit has a diversity manager who implements these strategies and works closely with the company's Diversity Network.The network provides a forum of employees to share ideas, solicit support, and build coalitions.
Convinced that strengthening diversity is a business imperative, Du Pont has established several programs to achieve that goal.In addition to training workshops and mentoring, Du Pont has established over 100 multicultural networks through which employees share work and life experiences and strive to help women and minorities reach higher levels of leadership and responsibility within the organization.Over half of Du Pont's new hires for professional and managerial positions are minorities and women.
Disney World's director of diversity wants theme park guests to see themselves reflected in the diversity of Disney's employees.Working to attract diverse employees, Disney hopes to convince them that the organization understands, respects, and values who they are.By holding a variety of diversity celebrations every year—including Dr.Martin Luther King's Birthday, Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Disability Awareness Month, and Native American Heritage Month—Disney opens the door to this kind of understanding.
What do we learn from strong, successful diversity program such as these, as well as similar programs at Microsoft, Xerox, Procter & Gamble and Digital Equipment Corporation? First, they can go a long way toward eliminating prejudice in the workplace and removing barriers to advancement.Second, to be more than just the latest corporate buzzword, diversity programs require commitment from the top and a culture that supports an inclusive environment.
46
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as cultural diversity in the passage?
A.
Asian people tend to show submissiveness to their seniors.
B.
Spanish-speaking people enjoy gathering with their family members.
C.
African people try to avoid eye contact to show their respect.
D.
Americans might be innovators defying the experts in some fields.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。首段第三句说提到,北美的白人男性也许会将挑战当权者作为自己的信仰,而亚洲人一般会对当权者十分尊重,而且言听计从。[A]和[D]符合文意,故排除;第四句提到,拉美文化背景的人们常常是听着音乐,连吃带喝,拖家带口来上班,虽然美国公司从来没有容许过这样的习惯,[B]符合文意,故排除;第五句提到,在面试中没有目光交流的应聘者会因为不善于沟通而被刷下来,然而也许按照她的文化习俗,这些举动只是礼貌的表现,但没有明确指出非洲人这样做,故[C]为正确答案。
47
For a company to be successful in business, it should do all of the following EXCEPT to_________
A.
set up a division to supervise its employees.
B.
provide its clients with good services.
C.
guarantee the products it has produced.
D.
take in employees with different cultural background.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
细节题。第三段第五句提到,越来越多的企业与机构已经意识到,同产品质量与客户服务一样,员工的多元化也可以成为竞争优势。这说明过硬的产品质量、优质的客户服务、多元化的员工都会让一个企业具有竞争优势,取得成功,只有[A]没有提及,故为答案。
48
The mention of Du Pont's diversity programs in the sixth paragraph is to highlight__________
A.
aggressive recruiting plans.
B.
perfect training systems.
C.
famous international companies.
D.
outstanding cultural diversity programs.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。第四段指出,虽然有许多财富500强企业在尝试把多元文化管理作为其战略部署的一部分,但一些公司的计划还是脱颖而出。接下来,作者分别以德州仪器、杜邦公司、迪斯尼公司为例介绍这些公司成功的多元化管理经验,故[D]为答案。大胆的招贤行动是第五段提到的德州仪器实施多元化管理的部分内容,与杜邦公司无关,故排除[A];、;完美的培训系统及著名的国际公司都不是作者提及该公司多元化管理的目的,故排除[B]和[C]。
49
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that diversity programs____________
A.
have been put into practice by dozens of big corporations.
B.
may provide the minorities with more chances.
C.
make no demand of managers.
D.
have an effect on employees' motivation.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
推断题。末段提到了多元文化的好处,首先是这些计划非常有助于消除工作中的歧视以及进步障碍。可见实行了多元文化,少数民族员工会得到平等对待,有更多的机会,故[B]为答案。末段没有指出实施多元文化的公司数量,不能推断出有许多公司已经投入实施,排除[A];该段末句提到:“其次,多元文化计划并不仅仅是一种时髦的说法,它需要企业的决策者做出承诺,还需要有一个兼容并包的工作文化氛围显然多元文化需要公司经理们的努力,排除[C];从末段中无法推出[D],故排除。
Not even the combined powers of Spiderman, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America and the X-Men could keep The Mouse at bay.On August 31st Walt Disney announced it was buying Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, just days after the comic-book publisher had celebrated 70 glorious years of independence, during which it had created many of the most famous cartoon characters not invented by Disney itself.
In fact, Marvel did not put up much of a fight, accepting what most analysts think was a generous price.Disney will get access both to Marvel's creative minds and—potentially far more valuable in an age when familiar stories rule the box office—an archive containing around 5,000 established characters, only a fraction of which have yet made the move from paper to the silver screen.
Marrying Marvel's characters with Disney's talent for making money from successful franchises is a good idea.In recent years Disney has proved the undisputed master at exploiting the same basic content through multiple channels, including films, websites, video games, merchandising, live shows and theme parks.
The edgier, darker Marvel characters should fill a hole in Disney's much cuddlier portfolio.This currently covers most people from newborn babies, through the addictive “Baby Einstein” DVDs, to adults, through its Touchstone label.Disney's own cartoons, and the newer ones created by Pixar, an animation studio it bought in 2006 for $7 billion, appeal to children.Hannah Montana, a hit television show, caters to pre-teen girls.The Marvel characters should be just the thing for boys of the same age, whom Disney has found especially hard to attract of late.
However, many of Marvel's best-known characters already have contractual obligations to various rival media conglomerates that will not be easily or quickly undone.Sony has an indefinite hold on Spider-Man; News Corporation exerts similar control over the X-Men.Universal owns distribution rights to the Hulk and long-term theme-park rights in Florida to several characters.This is a pity, because Disney's theme parks are a part of its business where teenage boys would particularly welcome the contrast that Marvel's superheroes would provide to the Magic Kingdom's oppressive wholesomeness.
Another risk is one that often presents itself in mergers, especially those involving creative types: a clash of cultures.Happily for Marvel, Disney is no longer the corporate control-freak it was under its former boss, Michael Eisner.His successor, Bob Iger, has turned out to be a relatively hands-off boss, with the Pixar acquisition a model of the sort of treatment Marvel can expect.Indeed, John Lasseter, the chief creative force behind Pixar, reportedly played an important role in reassuring Marvel's talent that their culture would be safe in Disney's hands.
Also fully behind the deal is Stan “the Man” Lee, a living legend of the cartoon world who helped create many of Marvel's best-known characters during the 1960s.Mr Lee, who recently launched his first digital comic as part of a partnership between his new firm and Disney, has predicted that the Disney-Marvel merger will prove “a terrific deal which will be extremely beneficial to both companies.The synergy between them is perfect.” Ironically, in the 1960s, Mr Lee tried, without success, to convince his bosses to turn Marvel into a multimedia company like Disney.Now, albeit in a roundabout way, one of his outlandish fantasies is about to become a reality.
50
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the expression “at bay” in Paragraph One?
A.
Being trapped.
B.
Well-known to the world.
C.
Staying active.
D.
Hidden from others.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
语义题。第一段第一句中提到的“蜘蛛侠”“绿巨人”“X战警”等都是著名的漫画人物,这些人物形象的电影版权都属于奇迹娱乐公司,并且让迪斯尼感到压力,但第二句中又说迪斯尼公司要收购奇迹娱乐公司,因此,“at bay”在这里用的就是本意“陷入困境”,最佳答案为[A]。[B]“世界闻名”、[C]“保持活跃”和[D]“躲开别人”都与词组意思不符,故排除。
51
It can be inferred from Paragraphs Two and Three that
A.
Marvel is the side that derives more benefits from the merging operation.
B.
a big offer helps to secure the merger in a short time.
C.
the merger is a combination of both sides9 advantages.
D.
Marvel has created too many characters which exceeds its promotion capability.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
推断题。第三段第一句说能将Marvel的人物创造与迪斯尼的商业推广联合起来是一件好事,由此可见,这次合并可以集双方之所长,因此[C]为正确答案。也正因为对双方都有好处,文章并没有说哪方会受益更多,因此排除[A];虽然第二段第一句说迪斯尼的出价非常大方,但并没有说因为如此,这次收购就在非常短的时间内确定下来,因此排除[B];虽然第二段第二句中说Marvel总共拥有5000多个人物形象,只有很少一部分被搬上了电影银幕,但这并不表示Marvel创造出的人物过多,以至于它根本就没有能力进行推广,因此排除[D]。
52
Which of the following could be a big problem of the merger?
A.
Disney has taken multiple channels under control.
B.
Marvel's characters attract boys more.
C.
Marvel has settled contracts of some of its characters.
D.
The present boss of Disney favors the hands-off type of management.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。第五段第一句说,然而,Marvel的一些人物形象已经不归自己支配,因为它已经与一些大的传媒集团签订了这些人物形象的使用合同,也就是说,即使双方合并,在一定时间内,迪斯尼也仍然不能使用这些人物形象,所以这是这次合并中的一个问题,故[C]为正确答案。
53
What is the role of Paragraph Five in the development of the topic?
A.
To offer supporting evidence to the preceding paragraphs.
B.
To describe an exceptional phenomenon from the previous ones.
C.
To provide a contrast to the preceding paragraphs.
D.
To lead the passage to the closing conclusion.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
篇章题。本题考查考生对文章整体内容的把握。第四段讲述的是合并给双方带来的益处,但在第五段中,提到了奇迹公司已经把一些知名形象的使用权通过合约方式转让出去了,所以这是合作中并不理想的地方,与上文构成转折对比的关系,因此[C]为正确答案。第五段并没有对第四段的内容提供证据,也没有为第四段所提到的内容提出例外的现象,因此排除[A]和[B];第五段也不是对文章做总结,故排除[D]。
54
From the last paragraph, we can learn that Stan Lee
A.
is the key of the merging.
B.
is a multi-talented man.
C.
has no influence on Marvel's business strategy.
D.
is a man who helps the merger in some way.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。最后—段提到了“Stan Lee”,他是Marvel公司很多卡通形象的创造者,第三句说他曾经希望Marvel也能像迪斯尼公司一样朝多媒体公司方向发展,第二句说他对这次合并评价很高,由此可以推断,这样一个有影响的人应该是在某些方面对这次合并起到了促进作用,所以[D]为正确答案。
Another milestone on the journey towards digital cash was passed on November 13th.That date marked the emergence from beta-testing in America of V.me, a “digital wallet” that holds multiple payment cards in a virtual repository.Instead of providing their personal details and card numbers to pay for stuff online, customers just enter a username and a password.The service is provided by Visa, a giant card-payment network whose headquarters is in the heart of Silicon Valley, close to a host of technology firms which would love to get their hands on a chunk of the global payments business.
In the short term new technology is actually boosting usage of plastic.Smartphone apps often require users to enter their card details to pay for services.Firms such as Square and PayPal have developed tiny card readers that plug into smartphones and allow small traders using their software to accept payments cheaply.Ed McLaughlin, who oversees emerging payments technologies at MasterCard, reckons such developments have added 1.2m new businesses over the past 12 months to the card firms,list of merchants.
But even if plastic cards eventually go the way of vinyl records, card networks should still prosper because they too are investing heavily in new technology and have several built-in advantages.Visa is betting its member banks can help it to narrow the gap with rivals like PayPal, for instance, which is part of eBay and has grown to 117m active users thanks in part to its use on the auction site.Over 50 financial institutions are supporting the launch of V.me, which accepts non-Visa cards in its wallet, too.MasterCard and others are also touting digital wallets, some of which can hold digital coupons and tickets as well as card details.
Before long all of these wallets are likely to end up on mobile phones, which can be used to buy things in stares and other places.This is where firms such as Square, which has developed its own elegant and easy-to-use mobile wallet, and Google have been focusing plenty of energy.Jennifer Schulz, Visa’s global head of e-commerce, predicts there will be a shake-out that leaves only a few wallet providers standing.Thanks to their trusted brands, big budgets and payments savvy, one or more card companies will be among them.
Card networks are also taking stakes in innovative firms to keep an eye on potentially disruptive technologies.Visa owns part of Square, which recently struck a deal with Starbucks to make its mobile-payment service available in 7,000 of the coffee chain’s outlets in America.Visa has also invested in Monitise, a mobile-banking specialist.American Express, for its part, has set up a $ 100m digital-commerce fund, one of whose investments is in iZettle, a Square-like firm based in Sweden.
So far few have tried to create new payments systems from scratch.Those that have toyed with the idea, such as ISIS, a consortium of telecoms companies in America, have concluded it is far too costly and painful to deal with regulators, set up anti-fraud systems and so forth.Fears about the security of new-fangled payment systems also play into the hands of established card firms.
Still, they cannot relax.Bryan Keane, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, points out that rival digital wallets could promote alternatives to credit and debit cards,including stored-value cards and direct bank-account-to-bank-account payments.Big retailers in America have clubbed together to create their own digital wallet and are likely to prompt users to choose the payment options that are cheapest for the chains, by offering them incentives like coupons.
Jack Dorsey, the boss of Square and a co-founder of Twitter, agrees that digital wallets will make the tradeoffs between various payment options clearer to consumers and reckons this will force card networks to up their game.They had a major innovation 60 years ago he says,“and there have been very, very few innovations since.” Some in the payments world might quibble with that but one thing they can all agree on is that the spread of mobile payments will bring many more customers.MasterCard's Mr.McLaughlin claims that 85% of commerce still involves cash and cheques.As mobile purchases take off,more of this activity will move online.
The biggest prize of all lies in emerging markets, where a lack of financial infrastructure is hastening the rise of phone-based payments systems such as M-Pesa,which serves Kenya and several other markets.Visa has snapped up Fundamo, which specialises in payment services for the unbanked and underbanked in emerging markets; MasterCard has set up a joint venture called Wanda with Telefonica, a Spanish telecoms firm,which aims to boost mobile payments across Latin America.The payments world is changing fast but the card firms are not about to let rivals swipe their business.
55
Which of the following is NOT a feature of “digital wallet”? (Paragraph One)
A.
It has already emerged in the developed countries by V.me.
B.
Although it is virtual9 it has the same functions with payment cards.
C.
It only requires the users to enter a username and a password.
D.
Its service is only provided by Visa, a card-payment network.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。第一段第四句指出,电子钱包业务由维萨公司提供,但该段并未表述维萨是该业务的唯一供应商。根据第三段最后一句可知,诸如万事达等其他公司也在兜售电子钱包,D.过于绝对,与文意不符,故为正确答案。根据第一段第二句可知,在电子钱包面世之前,美国已经向发达国家发 布了测试版的电子钱包——V.me,而如今的电子钱包集多种支付卡功能于一身,A.和B.符合文 意,故排除;根据第一段第三句可知,电子钱包面世后网上支付只需输入用户名和密码,不再需要提 供卡号和个人信息,C.符合文意,故排除。
56
What can be inferred from the prediction of Jennifer Schulz?
A.
The future market will be a mixture of digital wallet firms and cards companies.
B.
Mobile wallets will dominate the payments world after market shocks.
C.
Though some cards companies survive, they will be replaced at last.
D.
Mobile wallet firms finally win only because they have more convenient functions.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
推断题。根据第四段第三、四句可知,珍妮弗?舒尔茨预测,市场将迎来一次大洗牌,之后仅会 有几家电子钱包供应商胜出,一家或多家支付卡公司将在其中。由此可推测,未来市场将是电子钱包和支付卡公司并存的混合型市场,A.符合文意,故为正确答案。文中并未指出混合型市场中哪类公司占主导地位,故排除B.;根据珍妮弗?舒尔茨的预测,支付卡公司最终在市场上仍有立足之地,但并不能推测其最终是否会被替代,故排除C.;该段第一句指出,手机钱包有可能最终出现在 移动电话上,它可以用来购买商店里或其他地方的物品。这彰显了其卓越的便利功能,但并不能由此推测移动手机钱包在市场上立足的原因仅限于此,D.过于绝对,故排除。
57
Which of the following does NOT belong to the innovative firms?
A.
Square.
B.
Visa.
C.
Zettle.
D.
Monitise.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。根据第五段第一句可知,该段的主题是支付卡网络公司参股了许多技术创新型企业,该段第二、三、四句分别举例说明支付卡公司是如何参股技术创新型企业的,维萨拥有Square公司和 Monitise公司的部分股权,说明维萨属于支付卡公司,而Square和Mcmitise是技术创新型企业,故B.为正确答案,同时排除A.和D.;通过该段第四句可知,iZettle公司与Square公司性质类似,也为技术创新型企业,故排除C.。
58
What conclusion can be drawn from the description of ISIS?
A.
The benefit that the card firms got from the failure of ISIS was temporary.
B.
The expensive cost of new payments systems made ISIS go bankrupt.
C.
As a consortium, it is hard to cooperate with regulators and other aspects.
D.
The failure of ISIS speeds the replacement of all payment cards.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
推断题。根据第六段第三句可知,人们对新式支付系统安全性的担忧正中当今支付卡公司的下怀。又通过第七段第一句可知,尽管支付卡公司因此得益,但他们并不能放松。由此可推断支付卡 公司的确从伊希斯财团创建新支付系统的失败中得利,但由于数字钱包的发展势头强劲而不敢有丝 毫松懈,所以他们的得利是暂时的,A.符合文意,故为正确答案。通过第六段第二句可知,成本昂贵、难以处理与监管机构的关系以及建立反欺诈系统障碍重重是伊希斯财团失败的直接原因,不是 由伊希斯事件得出的结论,故排除B.和C.;通过第七段第二句可知,数字钱包的迅猛发展加速了各种支付卡的更新换代,这与伊希斯财团的失利无直接的因果关系,故排除D.。
59
Which of the following best explains the competition between digital wallet and payment card?
A.
Most commerce still involves cash and cheques so payment cards are hard to remove.
B.
Phone-based payments systems such as M-pesa will spread throughout the world.
C.
The joint ventures combined the innovative firms with card firms will occupy the market all over the world.
D.
Though mobile payment will cover all over the world, the card firms are not easy to give up the market.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。根据第九段最后一句可知,虽然支付界变幻莫测,但支付卡公司并不打算将自己的业务拱手相让,同时根据第九段第一、二句可知,在一些经济相对落后的新兴市场,移动支付业务已经迅速崛起,由此可推测,在未来移动业务将覆盖全球,但支付卡公司仍会力争市场份额,D.符合文意,故为正确答案。根据第八段第四、五句可知,虽然现阶段大多数商业活动仍然涉及现金和支票, 但随着移动购买业务的飙升,更多的这类商业活动将付诸网络。由此可推测未来支付卡的市场地 位将会动摇,故排除A.;根据第九段第一、二句可知,由于新兴市场缺乏金融基础设施,所以基于 手机的支付系统如“移动货币”在肯尼亚等地迅速崛起,但其并不代表世界范围内的情况都与肯尼 亚等地的新兴市场类似,故排除B.;同样根据这两句可知,合资企业的成立适应了拉丁美洲等新兴市场的需求,并不能由此推测其也适应于世界其他地区,故排除C.。
In the go-go years of the late 1990s f no economic theorist looked better than Joseph Schumpeter f the Austrian champion of capitalism who died in 1950.His distinction? A theory he called “creative destruction”.The idea was straight-forward:in with the new, out with the old.Companies had life cycles, just as people do.They were bom, they grew up.And when a better competitor came along, they died due to capital starvation.It was the way things were, and the way they should be.The markets had no sentiment.Capitalism was relentless, unforgiving.
In their book Creative Destruction( 367 pages.Doubleday.$27.50) y Richard N.Foster and Sarah Kaplan of the consulting firm McKinsey & Co.apply Schumpeter^ logic in the context of a technology-driven economy They want their corporate readers to understand the implications of one basic idea: there is an inescapable conflict between the internal needs of a corporation and the total indifference capital markets have for those
needs.Managers care desperately about the survival of their companies.Investors don’t give a hoot This was always true, the authors say, but until recently nobody really noticed because of the relatively languid pace of economic change.No more.In the 1920s, when the first Standard & Poor’s index was compiled, a listed company had a life expectancy of more than 65 years.In 1998 the annual turnover rate of S&P firms was nearly 10 percent 9 implying a corporate lifetime of only 10 years.
How does anyone manage in this environment? Foster and Kaplan argue that companies today must embrace “discontinuity”,the idea that everything they have always done is now irrelevant.Consider Intel : by its top executives’ own accounts, the company had to kill its ground-breaking memory-chip business once it became clear that Japanese companies could deliver essentially the same product at a lower price.Intel then moved into the much more lucrative microprocessor business.It was an obvious decision, but one that was hard to make.Memory chips were Intel’s core competence.They were at the heart of the company’s self-image.The transition was wrenching, said Intel chief Andrew Grove.But as a result, the company survived and prospered.
From now forgotten automobile companies like Studebaker to early technology leaders like Wang, the corporate landscape is littered with the bones of companies that couldn’t adapt to change.At bottom, say Foster and Kaplan, corporations are managed for survival.“They presume continuity in the business environment.They fail to introduce new products for fear of cannibalizing current product lines.They turn down acquisition opportunities to keep from diluting earnings.They prize rational decision making and internal control systems.They resist contrary information, and often punish managers who voice it.And all the while, capital markets are dedicated to finding and funding new competitors.Incumbents ignore this fact to their peril:if they don’t cannibalize their product lines, someone else will do it for them.Even the greatest of brand names are not immune.” As the authors ask rhetorically, would IBM even exist today had it stuck to its core business in mainframe computers? “Unless the corporation can learn to overcome the natural bias for denial,” they write, “it will, in the long term, fail, or at best underperform.”
The successful company, Foster and Kaplan conclude, is one that manages for discontinuity.It presumes change.It is comfortable with fluid and even vague decision making.It has relatively flat hierarchies.In short, it adopts the fearlessness of capital markets themselves.And it doesn’t have to be a start-up,or even a young company.Typical success stories include Coining, which shifted its business from glass to optical fiber just in time to capture a growing market, and General Electric,which dumped one fifth of its asset base in the first four years of Jack Welch’s tenure as CEO.
Not long ago, it was fashionable to liken business to warfare.Executives were reading Sun-tm, Machiavelli and Clausewitz for guidance on how to overcome the competition.But business differs from war in one vital respect.In war the advantage lies with the defense.In the New Economy, as Foster and Kaplan make clear, it belongs to the attacker.
60
The sentence “Investors don’t give a hoot” in the second paragraph probably means
A.
investors show their concern.
B.
investors are indifferent to the matter.
C.
investors are anxious to take over the companies.
D.
investors worry about their investment.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
语义题。第二段第二句指出,他们希望那些公司里的读者们理解一个基本概念:公司内部需求和资本市场对这些需求的漠视之间存在着无法避免的矛盾。接下来解释:经理们极为关注公司的 生存。“Investors don’t give a hoot.”根据前面的“inescapable conflict”可以看出两者的关注点完全不同,既然经理们关注公司生存,显然投资者们对此漠不关心,故B.为答案。
61
It can be inferred from the third paragraph that
A.
it is costly for a company to make a survival.
B.
most corporations aren’t managed for change.
C.
Intel was the first company that practiced discontinuity.
D.
Intel defeated Japanese companies in microprocessor business.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
推断题。第三段给出公司如何解决生存问题的答案,引入了一个“非连续性转变”的概念,即放弃原来一直经营的产品,转而经营没有相关性的新产品。并以Intel公司为例也明转型过程很痛苦,但结果是公司生存了下来,并且得到了兴旺发展。可见,为了企业的生存发展,公司在转型过程 中付出很多,故A.为答案。该段没有提及其他公司是怎么做的,故排除B.;由该段无法推出Intel 是第一家这样做的公司,故排除C.;文章没有提到日本公司在该领域的表现如何,故排除D.。
62
According to the author, which of the following is NOT a reason for some companies,failing?
A.
They don’t introduce new product lines.
B.
They are not ready for different opinions.
C.
They think highly of analytical thinking.
D.
They treasure personnel with great talent.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。第四段提到了一些公司倒闭的原因。该段第四句指出,由于担心拆卸现有的生产线而不引进新产品,故A.为原因之一,因此排除;第六句指出,它们重视理性的决策及内部控制体系,故C.“重视理性分析"也是原因之一,因此排除;该段第七句指出,它们拒绝接受不同的信息,经常惩罚 那些表达不同见解的经理。故B.也是一个原因,因此排除;只有D.没有提及,故为答案。
63
We can conclude from the passage that companies should ________ to surpass others.
A.
rack their brains
B.
overcome difficulties
C.
take the initiative
D.
fortify their confidence
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
推断题。文章末段首句指出,不久以前,比较时轚的说法是把商场比作战场。最后两句指出, 在战争中,优势是在防御的一方。而在新经济中,优势是在进攻的一方。结合前面提到的“公司要及时进行突变,开发新的市场,这样才能在竞争中立于不败之地”可知,公司应该采取主动,这样才能超过竞争对手,故C.为答案。
64
The writer’s attitude towards Foster and Kaplan is
A.
reserved.
B.
ambiguous.
C.
favorable.
D.
neutral
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
态度题。作者在第二段提到了 Foster和Kaplan在Creative Destruction一书中的观点,接下来第三段介绍了这两个人“非连续性转变”的概念。之后以Intel, IBM, Coining和GE为例,说明非连续性转变用以让公两起死回生,取得成功。全文围绕Creative Destruction 一书的内容对Fatter和 Kaplan 的观点进行论述,文中并出现广如“the authors say”“Foster and Kaplan argue”“ Foster and Kaplan conclude”等其观介绍性话语,并未沙及作者个人观点,可见,作者对于Foster和Kaplan的观点持中立态度,故D.为答案。
In the competitive model—the economy of many sellers each with a small share of the total market—the restraint on the private exercise of economic power was provided by other firms on the same side of the market It was the eagerness of competitors to sell, not the complaints of buyers, that saved the latter from spoliation.It was assumed,no doubt accurately, that the nineteenth-century textile manufacturer who overcharged for his product would promptly lose his market to another manufacturer who did not.If all manufacturers found themselves in a position where they could exploit a strong demand, and mark up their prices accordingly,there would soon be an inflow of new competitors.The resulting increase in supply would bring prices and profits back to normal.
As with the seller who was tempted to use his economic power against the customer, so with the buyer who was tempted to use it against his labor or suppliers,the man who paid less than the prevailing wage would lose his labor force to those who paid the worker his full (marginal) contribution to the earnings of the firm.In all cases the incentive to socially desirable behavior was provided by the competitor.It was to the same side of the market—the restraint of sellers by other sellers and of buyers by other buyers, in other words to competition— that economists came to look for the self-regulatory mechanisms of the economy.
They also came to look to competition exclusively and in formal theory still do.The notion that there might be another regulatory mechanism in the economy had been almost completely excluded from economic thought.Thus, with the widespread disappearance of competition in its classical form and its replacement by the small group of firms if not in overt, at least in conventional or tacit,collusion, it was easy to suppose that since competition had disappeared, all effective restraint on private power had disappeared.Indeed, this conclusion was all but inevitable if no search was made for other restraints,and so complete was the preoccupation with competition that none was made.
In fact, new restraints on private power did appear to replace competition.They were nurtured by the same process of concentration which impaired or destroyed competition.But they appeared not on the same side of the market but on the opposite side,not with competitors but with customers or suppliers.It will be convenient to have a name for this counterpart of competition and I shall call it countervailing power.
To begin with a broad and somewhat too dogmatically stated proposition, private economic power is held in check by the countervailing power of those who are subject to it.The first begets the second.The long trend toward concentration of industrial enterprise in the hands of a relatively few firms has brought into existence not only strong sellers, as economists have supposed9but also strong buyers, a fact they have failed to see.The two develop together, not in precise step, hut in such manner that there can be no doubt that the one is in response to the other.
65
The word “spoliation” in the first paragraph probably means
A.
spoil.
B.
loot.
C.
restraint.
D.
agitation.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
语义题。首段首句指出,在竞争模式——许多卖方都占有市场一小部分的经济体中——市场上同一领域的其他公司能够约束某一经济力量的个体活动。购买者得到拯救,免受spoliation,但这源于竞争者出售商品的急切心理而不是购买者的抱怨。接下来又指出,毫无疑问,19世纪那些抬高 产品价格的纺织厂的市场很快被其他不哄抬价格的生产者抢走。从下文中的抬高价格可以看出,如果没有那些提供低价产品的生产者,购买者就要受到剥削(掠夺)了,故B.为答案。
66
How Is economic power applied when a manufacturer wants to hire more workers?
A.
He offers them welfare funds.
B.
He pays them according to their work.
C.
He provides free board and lodging.
D.
He gives them chances of getting promoted.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。第二段首句指出,正如卖方想用经济力量对抗顾客一样,买方也想用经济力量对抗工 人或供应商。与那些能够按照公司收益提供给工人全部(部分)劳动所得的老板相比,那些提供低于普遍薪水的老板就会失去劳动力。故B.为答案。
67
Economists didn’t search for other restraints other than competition because
A.
they solely focused on competition.
B.
they had no idea of other restraints.
C.
they had more interest in competition.
D.
other restraints were of little importance.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
细节题。第二段最后一句指出,经济学家们在市场的某一方寻找经济自我调节机制:卖方约束 卖方,买方约束买方,这就是竞争。第三段前两句指出,他们开始只注意竞争,在理论上也是如此。 那种认为经济体中可能存在另外一种调节机制的观点已经完全被排除在经济思想之外了。末句指 出,事实上,如果不去寻找其他制约机制的话,这个结论是不可避免的,它是如此完善,以至于人们 只关注竞争,而不去寻找其他的了。故A.为答案。
68
What does the author think of other economists’ prediction about the outcomes of concentration?
A.
They have made wild predictions.
B.
They failed to see the rise of merger.
C.
They foresaw the appearance of strong buyers.
D.
Their supposition was partially true.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。末段第三句指出,企业集中到很少一些公司手中的趋势不仅会造就强大的卖方,这与经济学家预想的一样,同时也会造就强大的买方,这点是经济学家们没有看到的。可见,作者认为经济学家的论断部分正确,故D.为答案,同时排除C.;文中没有提到很大胆的预测和合并问题, 故排除A.、B.。
69
The passage mainly discusses about
A.
business competition.
B.
buyers and sellers.
C.
business model.
D.
economic power.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
主旨题。开篇给出经济中竞争模式的定义,指出竞争使得市场物价和商家利润趋于正常。接下来指出这种卖方制约卖方,买方制约买方的现象让经济学家们开始寻求市场中的自我调节机制——竞争。那种认为经济体中可能存在另外一种调节机制的观点已经完全被排除在经济思想之外了。全文中出现最多的是“competition”,可见,本文主题是“business competition”,故答案为A.。卖方和买方是作者在解释“competition”中提到的市场中的两个主体,经济力量是解释竞争时用到的经济术语,非文章主旨,排除B.和D.;C.范围过大,故排除。
The average U.S.household has to pay an exorbitant amount of money for an Internet connection that the rest of the industrial world would find mediocre.According to a recent report by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, broadband Internet service in the U.S.is not just slower and more expensive than it is in tech-savvy nations such as South Korea and Japan ; the U.S.has fallen behind infrastructure-challenged countries such as Portugal and Italy as well.
The consequences are far worse than having to wait a few extra seconds for a movie to load.Because broadband connections are the railroads of the 21st century—essential infrastructure required to transmit products (these days, in the form of information) from seller to buyer—our creaky Internet makes it harder for U.S.entrepreneurs to compete in global markets.As evidence, consider that the U.S.came in dead last in another recent study that compared how quickly 40 countries and regions have been progressing toward a knowledge-based economy over the past 10 years.“ We are at risk in the global race for leadership in innovation, ” Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) chairman Julius Genachowski said recently.“Consumers in Japan and France are paying less for broadband and getting faster connections.We’ve got work to do.”
It was not always like this.A decade ago the U.S.ranked at or near the top of most studies of broadband price and performance.But that was before the FCC made a terrible mistake.In 2002 it reclassified broadband Internet service as an “information service” rather than a “telecommunications service.” In theory, this step implied that broadband was equivalent to a content provider (such as AOL or Yahoo!) and was not a means to communicate, such as a telephone line.In practice, it has stifled competition.
Phone companies have to compete for your business.Even though there may be just one telephone jack in your home, you can purchase service from any one of a number of different long-distance providers.Not so for broadband Internet.Here consumers generally have just two choices: the cable company, which sends data through the same lines used to deliver television signals, and the phone company, which uses older telephone lines and hence can only offer slower service.
The same is not true in Japan, Britain and the rest of the rich world.In such countries, the company that owns the physical infrastructure must sell access to independent providers on a wholesale market.Want high-speed Internet? You can choose from multiple companies, each of which has to compete on price and service.The only exceptions to this policy in the whole of the 32-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are the U.S., Mexico and the Slovak Republic, although the Slovaks have recently begun to open up their lines.
A separate debate—over net neutrality, the principle that Internet providers must treat all data equally regardless of their origin or content—has put the broadband crisis back in the spotlight.Earlier this year a federal appeals court struck down the FCC’s plan to enforce net neutrality, saying that because the FCC classified the Internet as an information service, it does not have any more authority to ensure that Internet providers treat all content equally than it does to ensure that CNN treats all political arguments equally.In response, the FCC announced its intention to reclassify broadband Internet as a telecommunications service.The move would give the FCC power to enforce net neutrality as well as open broadband lines up to third-party competition, enabling free markets to deliver better service for less money.
Yet, puzzlingly, the FCC wants to take only a half-step.Genachowski has said that although he regards the Internet as a telecommunications service, he does not want to bring in third-party competition.This move may have been intended to avoid criticism from policy makers, both Republican and Democrat, who have aligned themselves with large Internet providers such as AT&T and Comcast that stand to suffer when their local monopolies are broken.It is frustrating, however, to see Genachowski acknowledge that the U.S.has fallen behind so many other countries in its communications infrastructure and then rule out the most effective way to reverse the decline.We call on the FCC to take this important step and free the Internet.
70
Which of the following statements can best describe American Internet service?
A.
People have to pay more to get better Internet connections.
B.
It has always been ranked low with regard to its broadband performance.
C.
Internet used to be regarded as the tool of providing information in America.
D.
Slower speed and higher price will hinder the competitiveness of American Internet.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。第二段第一、二句指出,美国的网络服务不仅花费人们更多的时间,更糟糕的是它使美国企业家的全球市场竞争变得更加困难,即有碍其竞争力,故D.正确。第一段第二句指出,美国的网络服务既慢又贵,并不是说要多交钱才能获得更快的网速,故排除A.;第三段第一、二句提到,它 (美国的网络服务)并不是一直如此慢,十年前它在世界范围内还名列前茅,故排除B.;第三段第四句指出,美国是在2002年将宽带网络从“电信服务”归为“信息服务”,故排除C.。
71
What does the word “stifled” mean in the third paragraph?
A.
Aggravated.
B.
Lessened.
C.
Suppressed.
D.
Accelerated.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
语义题。由第三段内容可知,原本电话公司要通过竞争来获得生意,但网络服务被等同于“内容提供商”而不是“通讯工具”。第四段第四句接着指出,消费者的选择就只有两种,要么是电缆公司,要么是电话公司。可见,美国的这一做法“抑制”了竞争,而不是A.“恶化”、B.“减小”或D.“加剧”竞争,故C.正确。
72
Paragraph Three and the first two paragraphs can form a
A.
chronological relationship.
B.
parallel relationship.
C.
sharp contrast.
D.
causal relationship.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
篇章题。本文前两段对美国网络服务的现状与其可能造成的严重后果进行了说明,第三段用 “它并不总是这样”,将视线拉回过去,叙述造成美国网络速度慢和价格高昂这种现状的原因:网络服务被看作“信息服务”而非“电信服务”,从而抑制了竞争。可见,二者之间是因果关系,故D.正确。 第三段内容是发生在前两段之前,但作者并不是为了强调二者在时间上的先后,故排除A.; 二者为典型的因果关系,并不是并列或强对比关系,故排除B.、C.。
73
What conclusions can be drawn from the last two paragraphs?
A.
The current action taken by FCC will be very effective in improving American communication infrastructure.
B.
Only through the third-party participation in the competition can American Internet experience advance.
C.
The author agrees with FCC’s measures in dealing with American Internet.
D.
The policy makers stand by FCC since their intentions are of importance to America.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
推断题。最后一段第二句提到,FCC要重新将网络服务作为一种“电信服务”,但不想引人第三方竞争;然后作者在该段倒数第二句评论说,这样做是“剔除”了最有效的方法,可见,只有引人第三方竞争才能改善美国的网络服务,故B.正确。该段第一句指出,FCC的措施只采取了一半,而且是 “剔除”了最有效的途径,故排除A.;由以上分析可知,作者并不完全赞同FCC的举措,故排除C.;由该段第三句可知,美国的政策制定者和最大的网络服务提供商属于同一个联盟,他们同意该措施是因为它没有触及自己的利益,故排除D.。
74
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A.
American Broadband Internet Lags behind Other Countries,
B.
American Broadband Internet to Be Freed from Monopoly
C.
American Broadband Internet—Important Information Provider
D.
American Broadband Internet—Vital Communication Infrastructure
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
主旨题。本文从美国网络服务费用昂贵和速度过慢这一现象入手,点明其落后于其他国家的现 状及其危害;接着,作者对造成这一问题的历史原因进行描述:网络行业垄断抑制了竞争;然后与其他国家的情况进行对比,暗示了美国网络改革的必要性,即引人第三方竞争,可见,最适合本文的题目是:急需打破垄断的美闺网络服务,故B.正确。A.“美国网络服务落后于其他国家”仅仅是作者对其现 状的描述,不够全面,故排除;C.“美国网络——重要的信息提供者”与作者观点相悖,故排除;作者确 实认为“网络服务是美同電要的基本通讯设施”,但它不是本文要强调的主题,故排除D.。
European governments on Monday pledged a total of 1,873bn ( $2,546, £ 1,465 ) as part of coordinated plans to shore up their financial sectors,sparking sharp rallies across the continent’s stock markets.
In the largest such plan, closely modelled on last week’s British initiative, Germany said it would issue up to 400bn in credit guarantees for inter-bank lending and set aside a 100bn fund to inject capital in financial institutions and acquire illiquid assets.
Paris will guarantee up to 320bn in inter-bank loans and provide 40bn in new capital for banks.Christine Lagarde, French finance minister, said French banks should use the funds to raise their tier one capital ratios to 9 per cent, so that they are on “a level playing field” with British banks.
The world’s stock markets soared as details emerged of the co-ordinated European campaign on bailing out the continent’s troubled banks.
London’s FTSE 100 closed up 8.3 per cent, its second biggest one-day gain on record, after the British government announced its bail-out plan.
Other European stock markets followed suit.Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax closed up 11.4 per cent, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 11.2 per cent.
Europe’s central banks promised unlimited dollar funding in co-ordinated action with the U.S.Federal Reserve.This dramatic further expansion of Fed liquidity operations is intended to ease the intense demand for dollars in Europe.The European Central Bank,Bank of England and Swiss National Bank said they were ready to inject as much as needed into the markets for dollar funding covering periods of seven days, a month and 84 days.
Signs of relief emerged in the frozen credit markets that have been at the centre of the financial crisis, as three-month dollar Libor eased to 4.75 per cent from 4.82 per cent, its steepest drop since March and the first time it has fallen since last Monday when it was 4.29.
U.S.stocks rallied when Wall Street opened, as details began to emerge of the plan to recapitalise U.S.banks and other financial institutions.Neel Kashkari, the Treasury assistant secretary appointed by Hank Paulson, Treasury secretary, to run the U.S.government’s $700bn bail-out fund, said the scheme would be “voluntary” in his first public statements since his appointment.
“The equity purchase programme will be voluntary and designed with attractive terms to encourage participation from healthy institutions.”
Mr Kashkari said Ben Bemanke, Federal Reserve chairman, would lead the oversight board for the troubled asset relief programme.That panel, which met for the first time last week, also includes Mr Paulson and the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It was the best day for U.S.stock markets since the rebound following the great crash of 1929.The benchmark S&P 500 index surged 11.6 per cent to 1,003.32, ending an eight-session losing streak.The Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 11.1 per cent to 9,387.61 and the Nasdaq Composite Index 11.8 per cent to 1,844.25.
In the U.K., Gordon Brown, the prime minister, announced the effective nationalisation of three high street banks.Mr Brown defended his government’s “unprecedented but essential” £37bn injection that could leave it owning a 60 per cent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the world’s biggest banks, and 43 per cent of the combined Lloyds TSB and HBOS, which is set to be the country’s largest mortgage lender.
The announcement also saw the resignation of Sir Fred Goodwin, RBS,chief executive, and the announced departures of its chairman, Sir Tom McKillop, as well as the chairman and chief executives of HBOS, Lord Stevenson and Andy Hornby.
All three will have any dividends cancelled.Meanwhile, Barclays, which said it would raise £6.6bn from investors, said it too would forgo paying its final dividend.
The German government endorsed measures closely modelled on the British rescue plan unveiled last week, will initially empower the finance ministry provide as much as 500bn in loan guarantees and capital to bolster the banking system.
Dutch banks will be able to draw on 200bn of government guarantees for their loans to each other.
The plans were warmly welcomed by the International Monetary Fund.“Thanks to the decisions that have just been taken, the peak of the crisis is perhaps behind us, said Dominique Strauss*Kahn, its managing director.
The carefully choreographed European moves—down to the simultaneous press conferences held by Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, and Angela Merkel, German chancellor—mark a U-turn for the two governments after weeks of unco-ordinated action that failed to tackle their finance sectors’ spiralling liquidity and confidence crises.
75
What happened when Europe put forward its bailout plan?
A.
Stock markets all over the world rose sharply.
B.
European stock market soared tremendously.
C.
American stock markets kept calm.
D.
European stock market dropped sharply.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。第一段中的后一个分句意为“激起欧洲大陆上的主要股市纷纷大幅上扬”,因此B.正确。A.“全世界的股市均纷纷上扬”,原文并未提到;C.“美国股市保持平静”,这与第九段第一句“U.S.stocks rallied when Wall Street opened...” 意思相左,故C.错误;D.“欧洲股市急剧下跌”,与原文意思相悖。
76
What can we learn from Paragraph Eight?
A.
The problem of financial crisis lies only in the frozen credit markets.
B.
Amid financial crisis, banks prefer to lend credits at a much higher Libor.
C.
Libor is a kind of rate by which banks in London calculate credits.
D.
During a healthy economic condition9 Libor more often than not increases gradually.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
推断题。第八段主要内容为:此次金融危机的中心在于信贷市场的冻结,银行之间互不信任,都 不愿意贷歒给对方,导致银行系统丧失了流动性。Libor(伦敦同业拆放利率)是伦敦的第一流银行间 相互借贷的利率,也为世界上的大银行之间的相互借贷提供重要参考,它的涨跌可以很好地反映金融 市场状况。在经济形势不好的情况下,银行间都相互不愿意借款给对方,担心收不回来,因而Libor会以较高价位呈现;近来Libor的下降趋势预示着金融市场的好转。由此可知,C.是对Libor的正确解 释。A.错在“only”,信贷市场的冻结只是最中心的因素,而非唯一因素;B.说在金融危机面前,银行倾向于“放高利贷”,实际情况却与此相反,此时银行都不愿意贷款出去而选择自保,故排除B.;D.说在健康的经济形势下,Libor会逐渐升髙,这与我们上面的分析相左,故也排除。
77
What’s the scheme of the U.S.bailout plan?
A.
The U.S.government would try its best to rescue the crisis single-handedly.
B.
The U.S.government planned to depend on the healthy institutions to tackle the crisis.
C.
Both the government and healthy institutions are to make contributions.
D.
The U.S.government would let the situation what it is.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。第十段提到美国的方案是“equity purchase”,除了政府购买外,还鼓励健康的金融机 构参与到此中来,所以是两者都参与救市。由此可知C.正确。A.是说美国政府想靠一己之力拯救危机,故排除;B.“美国政府想依靠健康的金融机构来救援”,也不全面;D.是说美国政府就此放任不管,与原文不符。
78
Which of the following is NOT in the list of nationalized banks?
A.
RBS.
B.
Lloyds TS
C.
HBOS.
D.
Barclays.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。根据倒数第七段介绍英国救援措施的内容可以得知:A.、B.、C.中的三家银行被布朗宣布注人大量资金收购其股份,最髙达到了 60%,另两家也达到了控股的程度,实际上是政府将这三家银行国有化了,只有D.中的巴克莱银行没有被注入如此庞大的资金,因而也未被国有化,故为本题答案。
79
What has NOT happened to the U.K.’s three high street banks?
A.
They have been injected large amount of funds and actually nationalized.
B.
Two of their chairmen have all undergone departures from their positions.
C.
The chief executives will not get any bonus at the end of this year.
D.
The chairmen will leave their companies a lot of dividends.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。A.的说法是正确的,这三家都被政府注资而成为实际上的国有银行,故排除;B.是原文提到的,随着这三家银行因经营不善而收归国有,其中两家的老总们纷纷下台,故排除;C.是对倒数第五段第一句的同义转述,在被政府注资以后,这一年年末分红办法将统统取消,因而髙 管们也将不会得到工资以外的大笔奖金收人,故排除;唯有D.是文中没有提到的,故为答案。
Not since Harry Truman seized America’s steel mills in 1952 rather than allow a strike to imperil the conduct of the Korean War has Washington toyed with nationalization, or its functional equivalent,on this kind of scale.Mr.Obama may be thinking what Mr.Truman told his staff: “The President has the power to keep the country from going to hell.” (The Supreme Court thought differently and forced Mr.Truman to relinquish control.)
The fact that there is so little protest in the air now—certainly less than Mr.Truman heard—reflects the desperation of the moment.But it is a strategy fraught with risks.
The first, of course, is the one the president-elect himself highlighted.Government’s record as a corporate manager is miserable, which is why the world has been on a three-decade-long privatization kick, turning national railroads, national airlines and national defense industries into private companies.
The second risk is that if the effort fails, and the American car companies collapse or are auctioned off in pieces to foreign competitors, taxpayers may lose the billions about to be spent.
And the third risk—one barely discussed 80 far—is that in trying to save the nation’s carmakers, the United States is violating at least the spirit of what it has preached around the world for two decades.The United States has demanded that nations treat American companies on their soil the same way they treat their homegrown industries, a concept called national treatment.
Yet so far there is no talk of offering aid to Toyota, Honda, BMW or the other foreign automakers that have built factories on American soil, employed American workers and managed to make a profit doing so.
“If Japan was doing this, we’d be threatening billions of dollars in retaliation,” said Jeffrey Garten, a professor at the Yale School of Management, who as under secretary of commerce in the 1990s was one of many government officials who tried in vain to get Detroit prepared for a world of international competition.“In fact, when they did something a lot more subtle, we threatened exactly that, referring to calls for import restrictions.
It is hard to measure just what kind of chances Mr.Obama may be taking with this plan,in part because so many parts of it are still in motion.
In the short term.Democrats are floating the idea of linking $ 15 billion in immediate loans to the designation of a “ car czar ” who, in doling out the money, could require or veto big transactions or investments—essentially a one-man board of directors.The White House indicates that President Bush, who has spent his entire presidency proclaiming that the government’s role is to create an environment that spurs free enterprise and minimizes government regulation, would very likely sign the rescue plan.
The first $15 billion and the car czar who oversees it, however, are only the beginning.“After that, we’re in uncharted water,” said Malcolm S.Salter, a professor emeritus at Harvard Business School who has studied the auto industry for two decades and, until a few years ago, was an adviser to General Motors and Ford.“Think about this: Who in the federal government would have the tremendous insight needed to fix this industry?”
Depending on how the longer-term revamping of the industry proceeds, Washington could become a major shareholder in the Big Three, it could provide loans,or, in one course that Mr.Obama seemed to hint at on Sunday, it could organize what amounts to a “structured bankruptcy.” In that case, the government would convene the creditors9 the unions, the shareholders and the company’s management,and apportion a share the hit to each of them.If that “consensus building” sounds a lot like the role of the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry in the 1970s and the 1980s, well, it is.
To promote the Japanese car industry on the way up, the trade ministry nudged companies toward consolidation y and even tried to mandate which parts of the market each could go into.(Soichiro Honda, the founder of the company, rebelled when bureaucrats told him he was supposed to limit himself to making motorcycles.) By the 1980s, Congress was denouncing this as M industrial policy,” and arguing that it put American makers at a competitive disadvantage—and polluted free enterprise.
Now, it is Congress doing exactly that, but this time as emergency surgery.Other nations will doubtless complain, or begin doing the same for their own companies.“ We,re at this moment in history, in which the Chinese are touting that their system is better than ours” with their mix of capitalism and state control, said Mr.Garten, who has long experience in Asia.“And our response, it looks like, is to begin replicating what they’ve been doing.”
80
The relationship between the first paragraph and the second one is that
A.
each presents one side of the picture.
B.
the first exposes an event, the second comments.
C.
the second is the logical result of the first.
D.
the first generalizes, the second gives examples.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
篇章题,第一段提出奥巴马为应付金融危机带来的冲击,推出大规模国有化举措,第二段对这一事件做了一个简洁的点评,然后在接下来的几个段落可展开论述做出这一点评的理由。故B.正确,A.是说两个段落逛平行的,分别指出一个亊物的两面,不符合文章结构,故排除;C.是说第二段是第一段的逻辑结果,由分析可知,第二段是对第一段做点评,故排除;D.是说第—段综述,第二段举例,这间样与文章结构不符合,故也排除。
81
Which of the following is NOT the risk of nationalization this time?
A.
Government, more often than not, is inadequate in running business.
B.
Taxpayers’ money would be lost if the nationalization of the car companies fails.
C.
When saving the nation’s car companies,America is reducing their competitiveness.
D.
America is eating its word that each country should treat all companies within its territory equally.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。照文提到的三个危险因素:第一是第三段第二句提到的“政府充当企业管理者角色的时候记录慘淡”;第二是第四段提到的“万一网有化后仍不能扭转颓势而最终使得汽车巨头被国外竞争奔买下,那么纳税人将损失数以十亿计的钱”;第三是第五段最后一句提到的“美国仅仅拯救境内的美阔汽车业的做法显然违背了它一直在世界上倡导的‘公平原则’——即公平对待本土企业和境内的国外企业”,这三个因素分别对应A.、B.、D.三个选项,只有C.是文中没有提到的,故选C.。
82
The phrase “car czar” in Paragraph Nine means
A.
one of the current biggest carmakers in America.
B.
a combination of the biggest car companies in America.
C.
a brand new car company set up with the $15 billion.
D.
a new organization with the $15 billion.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
语义题。第九段第一句提到,民主党人正酝酿着成立一个“汽车沙皇”,它可以借钱给各个陷入困境的汽车公司,但同时也拥有控制被援助公司的生产和销售的权力。第十段最后一句中 Malcolm S.Salter教授的话可以帮助我们判断这里的“car czar”所指到底是谁,他说:“想一想,联邦 政府当中有谁能有如此敏锐的洞察力,可以修复目前处于困境中的汽车业?”从这里我们可以推断, 这个“汽车沙皇”是由政府中的人来出面充当,所以它不是现有汽车公司的任何一家或它们的联合体,也不可能成立一个新的汽车公司来担当这一重任,故可以排除A.、B.、C.,故D.为正确答案。
83
Why does the author mention Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry?
A.
To make a comparison between the practices of nationalization in America and Japan.
B.
To show that America is violating the spirit it has preached for long.
C.
To show that Japanese enjoys an industrial development because of its nationalization.
D.
To criticize America for its inadequacy in innovation.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。作者在倒数第二、三段提到,日本国际贸易与工业部在20世纪七、八十年代为了推进,日本汽车业向前发展,敦促各汽车公司联合,并规定每个汽车公司该进人哪部分市场,结果使日本 的汽车业得到了飞速发展,使得美国在日本的汽车业处于不利地位,当时美国就批评这一政策行为违反了自由竞争的通则。而现在美国重复当年日本的做法,却不自我检讨。这实际上还是在进一步解说第三个危险因素——即美国只救援自己本土的汽车公司,违反了它自己一直以来所倡导的公平竞争原则。所以正确答案是B.。
84
What’s the author’s altitude toward the nationalization this time?
A.
Supportive.
B.
Opposed.
C.
Worried.
D.
Uncaring.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
态度题。作者提出美国政府对汽车业的救援措施存在的三大危险因素,心存担忧,所以正确答案为C.,作者是心存疑虑,质疑政府的救援措施。但由于这些措施还在进行当中,并没有看到效果,所以一切还是未知数,作者并没有表达强烈的反对态度,所以A.“支持”和B.“反对”都可排 除;D.“不关心”也不是作者体现的态度,可排除。
In the news conference, the President-elect laid out his short-term economic agenda: a stimulus package to prod the economy that he hopes will pass before he even takes office; extended unemployment benefits and other relief measures for people who are struggling; and an effort to stem the rising tide of foreclosures,probably led by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which has been pressing the Bush administration for weeks to sign off on a plan it devised ages ago.
Mr.Obama made it plain that he would not let the American auto industry die.He wants to provide economic assistance to state and local governments that have been hurt by the financial crisis.And he promised a review of the bailout program “to ensure that the government’s efforts are achieving their central goal of stabilizing financial markets while protecting taxpayers, helping homeowners and not unduly rewarding the management of financial firms that are receiving government assistance.” (Take that, Wall Street!)
No specifics, not on Friday, anyway.Mr.Obama is surely being inundated with ideas about how to best achieve his goals from his prominent economic advisers, which he will have to sort out in his own mind.No Treasury secretary announcement either.He made it clear that he was not going to be stampeded into making a choice before he’s ready.
All very reasonable—understandable, even.But I couldn’t help feeling just a little let down that he didn’t have anything more specific to offer, or anything more inspirational.Throughout the news conference, Mr.Obama projected a kind of crisp competence—an executive figuring out a practical plan of attack—rather than presenting himself as he had so often during the campaign, as an inspirational leader.And in my momentary letdown, I realized that I had been hoping to see, even this early, something that many other Americans are also wishing for.I was hoping to see the new F.D.R.Maybe we will yet.We sure could use him right about now.
Is the country today in as much trouble as it was in the winter of 1933,when Franklin Roosevelt was sworn in as President? Of course not.Back then, unemployment stood at a staggering 26 percent.On Friday, by contrast, the government reported that the October unemployment rate was 6.5 percent—terrible by our standards but benign by the standards of the Depression.From its peak last year, the stock market has declined 35 percent.In 1933 the Dow Jones average was down 75 percent from its 1929 peak.There were many more bank failures, far more devastating foreclosures, especially among fanners, and much greater hardships during the Great Depression than there are now.Really, ifs not even close.
Still there are many important similarities as well.One is the response to the crisis by the outgoing presidents, Herbert Hoover and George W.Bush.Hoovers primary method of combating the crisis was to make large government loans to the banks, the railroads, the insurance companies and other industrial giants.When that didn’t do the trick, he was lost.As people began standing in line to pull their savings out of banks—creating devastating bank runs—government officials pleaded with Hoover to declare a bank holiday.But be couldn’t pull the trigger.
Hoover established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which made loans to tax-starved state governments.But as the historian Michael E.Parrish points out in his classic work, “Anxious Decades,” “state governments had to take a virtual pauper’s oath” to get any money.Hoover would only approve public works projects that would pay for themselves—which severely limited the kinds of projects that could get government financing.And for ideological reasons, he opposed direct federal aid to the unemployed.Mr.Parrish describes the Hoover administration response to the crisis as “pathetically inadequate.”
Sound familiar? The Bush administration has also attacked the crisis almost entirely by focusing on the banking system.It has made huge loans and taken equity stakes—but for reasons largely based on ideology, it has refused to demand anything in return.And the Bush administration has been every bit as reluctant to help individual homeowners as the Hoover administration ever was.Its unwillingness to help ordinary citizens is appalling—not just because it is so callous but because the crisis won’t end until housing prices stabilize and foreclosures decline.
In his news conference, President-elect Obama seemed to waffle when asked whether he would work with the current administration to help solve the crisis.As it turns out, Roosevelt waffled, too.In the end, he kept his distance, even as the banking crisis grew worse.That decision made him temporarily unpopular, but his logic was sound—he didn’t want to do anything that would tie him to the policies of a discredited administration.It is quite possible that Mr.Obama will make a similar political calculation.
85
Which of the following is NOT included in Obama’s short-term economic agenda?
A.
A stimulus package to drive the economy.
B.
To supply more job opportunities.
C.
A wider range of relief actions.
D.
An effort to cut down the number of houses taken over by the banks.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。第一段提到奥巴马经济振兴日程包括:“a stimulus package to prod the economy”“extended unemployment benefits and other relief measures”“an effort to stem the rising tide of foreclosures”。 A.为第一项措施的同义转述,C.是对第二项措施的概括总结,即“扩大被救济者的范围”,D.关键在于对原文第三项措施中的“foreclosure”一词的理解,其意为“银行对还不起债的人进行的抵押品收回行为”,此次金融危机中人们所抵押的物品正是零首付的按揭房产,所以D.是对 第三项措施的具体解释。原文没有提到B.项相关内容,故为答案。
86
Compared to the Great Depression, the crisis this time displays the following characteristics EXCEPT
A.
much lower laid-off percentage.
B.
smaller drop of the stock market.
C.
less bankruptcy.
D.
fewer benefits to the jobless.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。根据第五段可知,作者将本次金融危机与1933年的大萧条做了对比,指出:(1)本次危 机中的失业率远不及上次危机高;(2)股市的跌幅虽然巨大,但仍不及上次危机;(3)破产的银行比上次危机要少;(4)房产被银行收回(尤其是农民)的情况也远没有上次危机严重。A.、B.、C.分别对应(1)、(2)、(3)所述情况,而D.说此次危机中对失业者的救济更少,这是原文没有提到的, 不能做明确的判断,故选D.。
87
What does the word “run” mean in Paragraph Six?
A.
Business operation.
B.
One type of bankruptcy.
C.
Excessive draw of money from a bank.
D.
Too many securities changed into cash.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
语义题。“run”在本文中的意思为C.,即“挤兑”。可以根据所在句第一个破折号的前半句来推测,“people began standing in line to pull their savings out of.banks”,即“人们在银行前排起长队纷纷将存款取出来”,符合题意的只有C.。
88
Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude toward Mr.Obama?
A.
Mr.Obama will be the next Roosevelt.
B.
Mr.Obama is no better than Bush.
C.
The author holds high expectation from Mr.Obama.
D.
The author is disappointed by Mr.Obama.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
态度题。从第四段倒数第二句“I was hoping to see the new F.D.R.Maybe we will yet.”可以看出,作者对于奥巴马能否与罗斯福相媲美并未表达明确的态度,因此A.不对;从倒数第二段的叙述可以看出作者对布什政府持批评态度。布什采取了与当年胡佛总统类似的应对危机的策略,结果不 见一点效果,而作者对奥巴马还抱有很大希望,故B.错误;作者与其他美国民众一样,都企盼着了一个新时期的“罗斯福”的出现,因而对新当选的奥巴马总统抱有很髙的期望,所以C.正确。文中虽 出现了“let down”的字眼,但并不表示作者对奥巴马完全失望,而只是作者用罗斯福的标准去衡量奥 巴马时有过一丝失望,故D.错误。
89
What does Michael E.Parrish mean by “take a virtual pauper’s oath" in Paragraph Seven?
A.
To ask for money from the federal government like a beggar.
B.
To make promises to the federal government as a loser.
C.
To make promises to the federal government as a governor.
D.
To ask for money from the federal government as a farmer.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
推断题。第七段第二句Michael E.Parrish的一句话描述了经济大萧条时州政府的艰难处境:严重缺乏税收来源(tax-starved),第三句又提到当时的胡佛总统只批准少部分工程项目投产,这严重限制了一些可以扩大州政府税收来源的项目。结果导致州政府在向联邦政府要钱的时候不得不像个 “pauper”一样,那么显然“pauper”的含义所表征的身份非常窘迫。C.“governor”是指领导一个组织的人,与题意相左;D.“farmer”是“农民”,这—身份在美国并不是窘迫的代言,也不符合题意;B.“loser”意为“失败者”,这也并非洲政府的角色,它们只是受到限制而不能在税收上取得突破,也就谈不上失败;A.正是“take a virtual pauper’s oath”所要阐明的意思,即“近乎乞丐一样”开口向联邦政 府要钱渡过难关,故答案为A.。
90
Which of the following statements contains a metaphor?
A.
There were many more bank failures, far more devastating foreclosures...
B.
...state governments had to take a virtual pauper’s oath."
C.
...an effort to stem the rising tide of foreclosures...
D.
...The Bush administration has also attacked the crisis almost entirely by focusing on the banking system...
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
修辞题。A.“当时有更多的银行破产、房产被收回的形势更严重”,这里有—个比较,而不是隐喻,故排除;B.“州政府不得不像个乞丐—样发誓”,隐喻是两个事物之间的比拟,而不是人,故排除;D.“布什政府在对付危机的时候也是把焦点放在银行体系”,这里的“attack”一词将crisis賦予了人的性质,所用的修辞格是personification(拟人),而不是隐喻,故排除;C.“试图遏制房产遭收回的狂潮”,这里的“tide”一词用来隐喻“房产遭收回”这一形势,所以正确答案为C.。
On Wednesday, the Treasury Department released more details of its plan to stress-test the nation’s 19 largest banks to see just how short of capital they would be if the recession worsened.
Conceptually, the test makes sense.Since many of the banks have been deemed too big to foil, it “ important for the government to know in advance how much capital they may need in order to absorb losses and sustain lending.Under the rules of the test, a bank that could not cover a projected shortfall by raising m0ney from private investors would have to accept it from the government.In exchange, the government would take a potentially large ownership stake.
In practice, however, the test could be yet one more step toward what is turning out to be a seemingly endless string of bailouts that do not stop the bleeding, stabilize the banks—or adequately protect taxpayers.
For starters, the test’s worst-case assumptions may not be dire enough.They assume that the economy will contract this year by 3.3 percent and remain flat in 2010, that unemployment will hit 8.9 percent this year and 10.3 percent next year, and that house prices will fall an additional 22 percent this year.That would all be very bad.But given that the economy contracted by 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and that virtually all other economic indicators are flashing red, it is hardly the worst that the government should plan for.
Even if the assumptions prove correct, there is no guarantee that the testing will be rigorous.The tests will be supervised by the government but carried out by the banks.Since a capital infusion by the government would be costly to a bank and pose risks to its existing shareholders, the banks will have an incentive to arrive at the lowest possible capital shortfall.
The result could be a situation much like the present one with Citigroup, in which one bailout follows another, with mounting costs and risks for taxpayers and with investors, borrowers and consumers left to wonder when the banking system will be reliably functional again.
Worse still, even if the tests accurately gauge the banks’ conditions and the government provides adequate capital, taxpayers could still lose big.The government will increase a troubled bank’s capital by purchasing preferred stock that pays a 9 percent dividend.If a bank can’t pay the dividend, it can convert the preferred shares into common stock.
The problem is that a bank is likely to convert the shares only if its condition continues to deteriorate which would stick the taxpayer with stock falling in value.If the bank’s prospects for recovery are good and it pays back the government within two years, all of the stock’s future gains go to existing common shareholder The system would be preserved, but by enriching private investors at taxpayers,expense.That raw deal is improved somewhat if repayment occurs after two years.Unfortunately, chances that a bank would return to health after years on government life support do not seem especially good.
The administration has never adequately explained why rescuing the weakest banks should involve rescuing their shareholders, and by extension, their executives and managers, whose wealth is likely to be concentrated in the stock of the bank.Instead, they have staked out a seemingly arbitrary position, insisting the government should not assume control of perilously weak big banks, even if only to restructure their finances.
Before the stress test results are in and acted upon, taxpayers deserve an explanation.
91
We can learn from the first two paragraphs that
A.
the test has been carried out to check the financial conditions of 19 largest banks.
B.
large banks are not in short of capital for the time being.
C.
the government intends to make profits from this plan.
D.
the test plan is meant to make preparations for potential danger of further recession.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
细节题。从第一段和第二段来看,这个计划意欲检测大银行在经济进一步衰退的情况下是否 会出现资金短缺。若是银行无法从私人投资者那里筹得资金,政府将注资这个计划,其最终的目的还是为了应对潜在的经济持续衰退,刚刚提出细节,并未实施,故A.错误;这两段并未提到银行现在的资金状况,因此排除B.;政府的目的不在贏利,故C.错误;因此答案为D.。
92
Which one is closest to the meaning of “bailouts” in the third paragraph?
A.
Big mistakes.
B.
Financial assistances.
C.
Governmental supervisions.
D.
First aids.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
语义题“bailout”意为“(对危机行业或经济的)财政援助”。可以由该句中“bailouts”一词之 后的定语从句推测,“that do not stop bleeding...”说明“bailouts”的作用是要阻止金融体系不断的资金流失,所以是指在金钱这方面给予支持或援助,只有B.符合这个意思,故为答案。
93
According to the passage, which of the following is INCORRECT?
A.
The stress-test plan is over-optimistic about the prospect of American economy.
B.
The stress-tests are likely to reveal the real conditions since they will be carried out under the supervision of the government.
C.
Taxpayers could still lose even if the government saves the banks from falling by providing the capital they need.
D.
The government will take the large ownership stake from the bank in return for the capital it gives to the bank.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
推断题。第四段提到压力测试计划低估了美国经济的严重程度,A.正确,故排除;由第七段 第-句可知C.正确,故排除;第二段提到政府提供资金,作为交换,银行要给政府股份,所以D.正确,故排除。第五段提到虽然有政府监督,但是银行为了自己的利益,可能会在测试中作假,所以B.不正确,故为答案。
94
The stress-test plan will benefit the following parts EXCEPT
A.
American economy.
B.
high-rank officials of the bank.
C.
the shareholders of the banks.
D.
taxpayers.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
推断题。该项计划目的是拯救美国经济,由倒数第二段可知,银行得保,股东、银行管理层的利 益也能得保,政府救市用的是纳税人的钱,因此纳税人的利益受到了损失,因此只有D.“纳税人” 不受益。
95
What’s the author’s attitude towards the stress-test plan?
A.
Approving.
B.
Sarcastic.
C.
Indifferent.
D.
Doubtful.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
态度题。作者先是客观陈述了计划的内容,然后指出了计划的几点不足,担心其实施的实际效果。作者对这个计划是持怀疑态度的,但是在行文的过程中只是理性地分析问题,并没有攻击或嘲讽,故D.为正确答案。
In the old days, historians—at least some of them—were patriotic and moralistic.No longer.We live in what Andrew Ferguson, in his brilliant new book, Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe’s America9 calls “a wised-up era.” Now, Ferguson explains, “skepticism about the country, its heroes and its history” is “a mark of worldliness and sophistication.” Ferguson is himself a worldly and sophisticated observer of contemporary America.But his guided tour of the often amusing, sometimes bizarre ways we remember Lincoln today leads us gently from being wised-up toward wisdom.
Lincoln expected that America would become a nation doubtful about its heroes and its history.In his astonishing address to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, III., on Jan.27, 1838, on “the perpetuation of our political institutions”, the 28-year-old Lincoln foresaw the inevitable rise in a modem democracy like ours of skepticism and worldliness.Indeed, he worried about the fate of free institutions in a maturing nation no longer shaped by a youthful, instinctive and mostly healthy patriotism.
Such a patriotism is natural in the early years after a revolutionary struggle for independence.To the generation that experienced the Revolution and the children of that generation, Lincoln explained, the events of the Revolution remained “ living history,” and those Americans retained an emotional attachment to the political institutions that had been created.But the living memories of the Revolution and the founding could no longer be counted on.Those memories “were a fortress of strength; but what invading foemen could never do, the silent artillery of time has done ; the leveling of its walls.” So, Lincoln concluded,the once mighty “ pillars of the temple of liberty” that supported our political institutions were gone.
Lincoln implored his fellow citizens in 1838 to replace those old pillars with new ones constructed by reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason.” He knew that such a recommendation—such a hope—was problematic.In politics, cold, calculating reason has its limits.In the event, it was Lincoln’s foreboding of trouble, not his hope for renewal, that turned out to be correct.The nation held together for only one more generation.Twenty-three years after Lincoln’s speech, the South seceded, and civil war came.
Lincoln managed, of course, in a supreme act of leadership, to win that war, preserve the union and end slavery.He was also able to interpret that war as producing a “new birth of freedom ” explaining its extraordinary sacrifices in a way that provided a renewed basis for attachment to a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Perhaps the compromises made by the founding generation with the institution of slavery would have proved fatal in any case.Still, the fact is that the U.S.was unable to perpetuate its political institutions peacefully after those who had lived through the Revolution died and even secondhand memories of America’s founding faded.
Now we find ourselves in a situation oddly similar to the one Lincoln faced in 338.Lincoln delivered his Lyceum Address 62 years after the Declaration of Independence.We are now the same time span from the end of World War II.Our victory in that war—followed by our willingness to quickly assume another set of burdens in the defense of freedom against another great tyranny—marked the beginning of the U.S.‘s role as leader of the free world.Through all the ups and downs of the cold war and through the 1990s and this decade, the memories of World War II have sustained the U.S., as it did its duty in helping resist tyranny and expand the frontiers of freedom in the world.
The generation of World War II is mostly gone.The generation that directly heard tell of World War II from its parents is moving on.We have exhausted, so to speak, the moral capital of that war.Now we face challenges almost as daunting as those confronting the nation when Lincoln spoke.The perpetuation of freedom in the world is no more certain today than was the perpetuation of our free institutions then.Of course, we have the example of Lincoln to guide us.And Ferguson’s wry and sardonic account of the ways we remember him is heartening and even inspiring, almost despite itself or despite ourselves.But the failures of leadership of the 1840s and 1850s should also chasten us.Nations don’t always rise to the occasion.And the next generation can pay a great price when the preceding one shirks its responsibilities.
96
Which of the following is CORRECT about Lincoln according to the passage?
A.
Lincoln worried that the free institutions would no longer exist with the advance of modem democracy.
B.
Lincoln deemed that time would damage the pillars of American institutions.
C.
Lincoln failed in providing people with an attachment to the nation.
D.
Lincoln expected that the old political institutions be maintained forever.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。第二段第一句指出,林肯当时便预料到,美国会变为这样一个国家——怀疑自己的民 族、英雄和历史,最后一句又提到,林肯还担心美国自由政权的命运,因为将来塑造它的不再是一种充满活力的、天生的和健康的爱国主义,可见,林肯认为时间会动摇美国的政权,故B.正确。第二 段第二句指出,林肯预测到了现代民主会不可避免地出现,但是会充满怀疑和世俗,并不是现代民主会不复存在,故排除A.;第三段第二句提到,林肯认为短期内革命事件会保鲜,让民众对政府保 持情感上的依赖,从其后的美国内战可知,他成功地保留了那份依赖,故排除C.;文章第二、三段提到林肯认为旧的政权会被新的政权所代替,第四段首句也提到林肯恳求美国民众用新政权来代替旧政权,可见,他并不指望旧政权可以永存,故排除D..
97
We can learn from the passage that
A.
the disappearance of patriotism long after the revolution is natural.
B.
the power of memories is strong enough for the time to devastate.
C.
national institutions can be maintained long in a peaceful way.
D.
the perpetuation of freedom is much harder than that of political institutions.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
推断题。第三段作者借林肯的口指出,爱国主义会随着时间的推移而被人淡忘。故A.为正确答案。第三段末尾处,作者用比喻的手法指出,人们的记忆像一座堡垒,虽然在敌人面前坚不可摧,但却会被时间攻破,故排除B.;第五段最后一句提到,美国无法在和平中实现政权的永存,故排除C.;最后一段第五句指出,世界自由的永存和自由政权的永存一样具有不确定性,可见,二者不分上下,故排除D.。
98
Which of the following statements conforms to the author’s impression of Ferguson’s book?
A.
The way he described Lincoln in the book was worldly and sophisticated.
B.
His book filled us with encouragement and inspiration though shallow in the content.
C.
The book gave us a comprehensive depiction of Lincoln.
D.
He tended to describe things in a humorous and sarcastic way.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
态度题。第一段最后一句指出,Ferguson以一种极为幽默和怪诞的方式展示了林肯,最后一段倒数第四句作者指出,Ferguson给我们留下的印象是他讽刺的语气,故D.正确。第一段倒数第二句提到,Ferguson本人对当代美国的观察堪称老手,并不是说他对林肯的描述是这样,故排除A.;最后一段倒数第四句提到,Ferguson的书常常是鼓舞性和启迪性的,但并未提到其内容浅显,故排除B.;第一段最后一句提到书中对林肯的描述是幽默而怪异的,但并未说其对林肯有全面的描述,故排除C.。
99
Which of the following words is used literally, NOT metaphorically?
A.
Wised-up (Paragraph One).
B.
Pillars ( Paragraph Four).
C.
Faded ( Paragraph Five).
D.
Capital (Paragraph Seven).
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
修辞题。第五段最后一句指出,当经历过革命的人去世,甚至连那些仅听说过该件事的人对此的记忆也淡去时,美国无法和平地使自己的政权永存,这里用的是“fade”的原意“淡去”,故C.正确。“wised-up”多用来形容人,表示“淸楚,明白”,这里是其隐喻用法,故排除A.;“pillar”原意是 “柱子”,这里隐喻为“美国的政权”,故排除B.;“capital”原意为“资本",这里隐喻为“记忆",故排除D.。
100
Description of Lincoln can form a _______with the theme of this passage.
A.
contrast
B.
analogy
C.
comparison
D.
causation
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
篇章题。本文主要探讨了有关美国历史学家爱国主义和道德感丧失这一现象,但作者并没有直接对该现象进行分析,而是以林肯总统的事例分析了当时爱国主义和道德感得以保留的原因,从而说明当代历史学家爱国主义和道德感的消失是历史使然,需要改革才能改变现状,可见,林肯总统的事例与文章主题是一种“类比”关系,故B.为正确答案。
When the creators of a new sitcom called The Loop pitched their show to executives at the Fox television network, the broadcast moneymen liked the idea of a sitcom about young guys living in Chicago.But what they loved was the fact that products on the set wouldn’t be an afterthought brought in by a prop master.Instead, viewers would see the same products every week, cleverly woven into the plot throughout the season, and characters would discuss the brands —a bit like a 13-week ad campaign.Sure enough, the network picked up the show.Co-creator Will Cluck says he wanted to capture the way guys really talk, discussing cool gadgets and brands in everyday life.
Gluck’s product-infused formula is rapidly becoming a model for network TV s survival.Thanks in part to technologies like TiVo—which growing numbers of folks are using to blitz ast commercials and watch TV on their own schedule—the ad-driven prime time business model that has existed for decades is under assault as never before.In New York City last week, broadcast execs showcased their best hopes for luring viewers back this fall, unveiling dozens of new dramas, sitcoms and reality shows.If history is any guide, most of them will flop,with shows aimed at young guys facing tough competition from video games,and cable channels eroding ever more of the networks,share.As advertisers increasingly chase audience through nontraditional outlets as well, the major networks may be in for a lousy year.
While the gloomy financial picture may have something to do with a lack of must-see TV, it’s hard to overestimate the challenges posed by ad skipping.At least 6.4 million households now have digital video recorders (DVRS) like TiVo.Cable and satellite providers are pushing the technology hard~40% of households are expected to have DVRS by 2009—while the cable guys are also pitching video on demand (VOD), another technology consumers use to watch content on their own schedule.
No wonder some advertisers are turning off the tube.American express has slashed the TV share of its ad budget from 80% a decade ago to less than 35%, replacing commercials, in part, with online mini-films.Pepsi recently relaunched Pepsi One without any TV advertising, which execs at the firm say wouldn’t have been the case five years ago.
All the more reason advertisers want to TiVo-proof their message.Since 1999 y television product-placement deals have surged in value from $709 million to $1.9 billion, according to the research firm PQ Media.Already, marketers have burrowed into reality shows like Survivor and The Apprentice.This season also brought us a Desperate Housewife fawning over a Buick.Bernie Mac popping Rolaids, a character in According to Jim declares she only wants “the shrimp at Red Lobster” and an episode of Arrested Development set in a Burger King.“We needed as much support for the show as we could get, says Steven Melnick, a senior marketing executive at 20th Century Fox Television, which produces Arrested Development, defending Burger King’s starring role.( Typically,media buyers negotiate product placement as part of a package deal with regular ads.)
If muscling in on the development of scripted shows sounds scary, get ready for the next wave.While the networks were presenting their fall lineups last week,media buyers for Sears, for instance, were working up product -integration deals as part of their traditional ad buys.Already a big presence in ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,Sears was eyeing new sitcoms like the WB,s Supernatural, and the company isn’t interested in providing an appliance as a background prop.“That’s not enough to make people shop at Sears,” says Perianne Grignon, vice president of media services for Sears.“It’s easy to use merchandise as a prop, but we have higher standards.”
But how much product integration will audiences tolerate before turning off, realizing they’re essentially watching an advertorial? No one can say for sure, though ratings for one of the heaviest product-placement vehicles, The Apprentice, fell 20% this season.Mazza claims that as long as products appear “organically” in TV shows, audiences won’t mind.Under pressure from advertisers and facing rising costs for scripted shows, network execs say they have scant choice but to develop new revenue streams.
No one is predicting the demise of network television, which brought in an estimated $ 16.5 billion in advertising last season.As ABC demonstrated, it takes only a few hits like Desperate Housewives to orchestrate a rebound.But network execs are already dreaming up ways to resell content on platforms like video on demand, cell phones and the Internet.“You gotta figure out a way to make money,” says Alan Wurtzel, president of media development for NBC Universal.“We know the consumer is changing and expectations are changing.Question is 9will the networks change fast enough too?
101
The reason why the new sitcom The Loop arouses executives' interest is
A.
it tells stories of young guys living in Chicago.
B.
certain products show up in the sitcom repeatedly.
C.
it launches a 13-week ad campaign.
D.
it advertises for certain products at the end of each play.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
B
系统解析:
细节题。首段前三句指出,当制片人把新情景喜剧《环》(The Loop)展示给福克斯电视网的管 理人员时,这些靠电视挣钱的人很喜欢这个关于芝加哥年轻人的剧目。但是他们更喜爱的是该剧场景中的产品,这些产品不是由道具大师后期添加上的。观众每星期都会在剧中看到同样的产品,这些产品被巧妙地编织到剧情中,贯穿于整个演播季,剧中人物会讨论这些品牌——这有些像长达 13个星期的广告活动。故B.为答案。
102
According to the passage, all of the following may lead to ad skipping EXCEPT
A.
cable channels.
B.
new technologies.
C.
new sitcoms.
D.
video games.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
C
系统解析:
细节题。第二段前两句指出,Gluck的产品注人方法很快就成为电视网的生存模式。黄金时 段充斥着广告的模式已经存在了几十年,现在受到了前所未有的抨击部分原因是由于产生了 TiVo 一类的科技,越来越多的观众使用这些科技来快速跳过广告按照自己的计划看电视。由此可知,新科技的出现是让人们姚过广告的原因,故排除B.;;该段倒数第二句提到因为针对年轻人的节目面临着电视游戏的严竣挑战,有线电视频道也抢走了电视网络更多的份额。可见,电视游戏和有线 电视也抢走了部分观众,故A.和D.也是其原因,因此排除;文中没有提到新的情景喜剧与不再看 广备有关系,故C.为答案。
103
The author’s attitude towards the future of network television is
A.
positive.
B.
negative.
C.
neutral.
D.
doubtful.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
D
系统解析:
态度题。末段指出,没有人会预言网络电视将会消亡,因为上个季度的广告估计收人为165亿 美元。正像美国广播公司所展示的那样,只要有几部像《绝望的主妇》那样的流行剧,收视率就可以反弹了。但是网络电视的官员们已经梦想着找到途径,在诸如视频点播、手机和因特网等平台上重 新销售内容。美国全国广播环球公司媒体发展部的总裁Alan Wurtzel说你总得找到一个挣钱的方法。我们知道消费者在改变,他们的期望也在改变。”问题是,网络电视改变的步伐足够快吗?显然作者对电视网络的前景持怀疑态度,故D.为答案。
104
The passage aims to
A.
introduce the product-infused ad model.
B.
explain differences between the old model and the new one.
C.
question the ad-driven prime-time business.
D.
discuss the possibility of ad skipping.
本题答案:
A
B
C
D
参考答案:
A
系统解析:
主旨题。开篇介绍了一部新的情景喜剧《环》,其中最吸引福克斯电视网管理人员的是观众每 星期都会在剧中看到同样的产品,这些产品被巧妙地编织到剧情中,贯穿于整个演播季,剧中人物 会讨论这些品牌,这就是新的广告模式——产品注人式广告。然后具体介绍了一些网络电视的产品注人式广告方法。最后得出结论:没有人会预言网络电视将会消亡。但我们知道消费者在改变, 他们的期望也在改变。问题是,网络电视改变的步伐足够快吗?可见,全文的主旨是介绍这种新的广告植入的方法,故A.为答案。黄金时段插播广吿的问题是部分内容,因此排除C.;文章重点在介绍新方法,而不是区别新旧方法的不同,因此排除B.;文章没有探讨跳过广告的可能性,因此排除D.。
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