2000年P(guān)assage 1
A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight ties larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the world's best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.
It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith.(Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea's LG Electronics in July.)Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market America's machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America's industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.
How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride." American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted," according to Richard Cavanagh, executive dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government," It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity, says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington, DC. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as" a golden age of business management in the United States."
51. The U.S.achieved its predominance after World War Ⅱbecause_____.
[A] it had made painstaking efforts towards this goal
[B] its domestic market was eight times larger than before
[C] the war had destroyed the economies of most potential competitors
[D] the unparalleled size of its workforce had given an impetus to its economy
[答案] C
[解題思路]
本題對(duì)應(yīng)信息為第一段的最后一句話"America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed"（美國(guó)的繁榮是那些經(jīng)濟(jì)遭到戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)破壞的歐亞諸國(guó)做夢(mèng)也無(wú)法達(dá)到的），可見美國(guó)取得主導(dǎo)地位在很大程度上是由于二戰(zhàn)摧毀了其潛在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的經(jīng)濟(jì)，因此C選項(xiàng)為正確答案。A選項(xiàng)中的painstaking efforts與第一段中的"effortless"意思相左，是錯(cuò)誤選項(xiàng)。B選項(xiàng)與原文不符，因?yàn)槲恼碌囊馑际敲绹?guó)的國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)比起競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手大8倍，不是比以前大8倍。D選項(xiàng)提到的勞動(dòng)力因素不是主要原因。
[題目譯文]
二戰(zhàn)后美國(guó)之所以取得了優(yōu)勢(shì)地位是因?yàn)? 。
[A] 該國(guó)為實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)而付出了艱苦的努力
[B] 其國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)是過(guò)去的八倍
[C] 戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)摧毀了大部分潛在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的經(jīng)濟(jì)
[D] 該國(guó)無(wú)可比擬的勞動(dòng)力大軍對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)起到了推動(dòng)作用
52. The loss of U.S. predominance in the world economy in the 1980s is manifested in the fact that the American_____.
[A] TV industry had withdrawn to its domestic market
[B] semiconductor industry had been taken over by foreign enterprises
[C] machine-tool industry had collapsed after suicidal actions
[D] auto industry had lost part of its domestic market
[答案] D
[解題思路]
本題的對(duì)應(yīng)信息在文章的第二段。第五句及其括號(hào)中的內(nèi)容說(shuō)"By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith.(Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea's LG Electronics in July.)"（面對(duì)國(guó)外競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，一些像消費(fèi)電子產(chǎn)業(yè)之類的大型美國(guó)工業(yè)已經(jīng)萎縮或漸漸消失。到1987年，美國(guó)只剩下Zenith一家電視生產(chǎn)商。（現(xiàn)在一家也沒(méi)有了：Zenith于當(dāng)年7月被韓國(guó)LG電器公司收購(gòu)。）），這說(shuō)明電視機(jī)產(chǎn)業(yè)即使在國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)也幾乎已經(jīng)消失了，因此A選項(xiàng)正確。B選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)于該段最后一句"For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty"（在新計(jì)算機(jī)時(shí)代有著核心作用的半導(dǎo)體正是美國(guó)人發(fā)明的，但是有一段時(shí)期這個(gè)產(chǎn)業(yè)也似乎面臨崩潰），文中認(rèn)為半導(dǎo)體工業(yè)被外國(guó)企業(yè)接管是一種可能性，并沒(méi)有選項(xiàng)表述地這么絕對(duì)，因此B選項(xiàng)也錯(cuò)誤。C選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)于該段倒數(shù)第二句話"Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market America's machine-tool industry was on the ropes"（外國(guó)制造的汽車和紡織品正大舉涌入國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)。美國(guó)的機(jī)床工業(yè)也即將消失），選項(xiàng)認(rèn)為該行業(yè)已經(jīng)崩潰，不符合題意。D選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)于該段第三句話"By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness"（到了20世紀(jì)80年代中期，面對(duì)其日益衰退的工業(yè)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力，美國(guó)人感到不知所措），因此選項(xiàng)的表述是符合原文的。
[題目譯文]
美國(guó)在20世紀(jì)80年的世界經(jīng)濟(jì)中失去了統(tǒng)治地位，這可以通過(guò)以下 事實(shí)表現(xiàn)出來(lái)。
[A] 其電視行業(yè)退回到了國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)
[B] 半導(dǎo)體工業(yè)被外國(guó)企業(yè)接管
[C] 機(jī)床業(yè)在其自殺性行為后倒閉
[D] 汽車業(yè)失去了部分國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)
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