2017考研英語閱讀理解試題及解析(9)

    The world is goingthrough the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. Theprocess sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe and reaches the emergingcountries with unsurpassed might. Many in these countries are looking at thisprocess and worrying: “Won't the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollableanti-competitive force?"
    There's no question that the big are getting bigger and morepowerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% ofinternational trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growingrapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment ofproduction in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. InArgentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationalswent from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largestfirms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smallereconomic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of theworld economy。
    I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&Awave are the same that underlie the globalization process: fallingtransportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers andenlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers'demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. Asproductivity grows, the world's wealth increases。
    Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave arescanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms todaycould re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly acentury ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergersof telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices forconsumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary,the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration isincreasing—witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan—but it doesnot appear that consumers are being hurt。
    Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. Afew weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the bankingindustry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of lastresort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won't multinationalsshift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict aboutinfringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself therole of“defending competition" on issues that affect many othernations, as in the U.S. vs. Microsoft case?
    33. What is the typical trend of businesses today?
    [A]To take in more foreign funds
    [B]To invest more abroad
    [C]To combine and become bigger
    [D]To trade with more countries
    34. According to the author, one of the driving forces behindM&A wave is _________。
    [A]the greater customer demands
    [B]a surplus supply for the market
    [C]a growing productivity
    [D]the increase of the world's wealth
    35. From paragraph 4 we can infer that _________。
    [A]the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers
    [B]WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs
    [C]the costs of the globalization process are enormous
    [D]the Standard Oil trust might have threatened competition
    36. Toward the new business wave, the writer's attitude can be saidto be _________。
    [A]optimistic
    [B]objective
    [C]pessimistic
    [D]biased
    解析
    33. What is the typical trend of businesses today? 今天的商業(yè)典型的發(fā)展趨勢是什么?
    [A]To take in more foreign funds 吸收更多外資
    [B]To invest more abroad 進行更多對外投資
    [C]To combine and become bigger 合并做強
    [D]To trade with more countries 與更多國家貿(mào)易
    【答案】 C
    【考點】 事實細節(jié)題。
    【分析】 文章第一段中說“世界正在經(jīng)歷一場前所未有的大的的并購浪潮。這個浪潮從異?；钴S的美國開始，橫掃歐洲，并以不可比擬的威力影響到正在崛起的國家”，因此可以判斷正確答案是[C]。
    34. According to the author, one of the driving forces behindM&A wave is _______。
    根據(jù)本文作者，在合并浪潮背后的一個驅(qū)動力是______。
    [A]the greater customer demands 更大的消費需求
    [B]a surplus supply for the market 對市場的剩余供給
    [C]a growing productivity 日益增長的生產(chǎn)率
    [D]the increase of the world’s wealth 世界財富的增長
    【答案】 A
    【考點】 事實細節(jié)題。
    【分析】 根據(jù)“合并浪潮的推動力”可以定位到第三段。在作者看來，“日趨下降的運輸與通訊費用，較低的貿(mào)易與投資壁壘，以及市場的擴大和為滿足市場需求而進行的擴大生產(chǎn)，是推動這股巨大的并購浪潮的主要的力量，也是推動全球化進程的力量”。將四個選項對比這三個因素，只有[A]包括了根據(jù)顧客的需要擴大市場這個因素。
    35. From paragraph 4 we can infer that _____。
    從第四段中我們可以推斷出_____。
    [A] the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers
    日益增長的集中肯定會損害消費者的利益
    [B] WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs
    世通就是一個合并利與弊的好例子
    [C] the costs of the globalization process are enormous
    全球化進程的成本很高
    [D] the Standard Oil trust might have threatened competition
    標準石油托拉斯或許已經(jīng)威脅到競爭
    【答案】 D
    【考點】 推斷題。
    【分析】 [A]“日益增長的集中肯定會損害消費者的利益”與原文第四段第一句不符合，因為作者說“這股合并浪潮是帶來益處還是弊端的實例還很少”，因此很難說肯定會帶來損害。[B]提到“世通”，說是一個帶來利益和降低成本的好例子。這句說是“價格沒有隨著合并而提高”，并沒有提到價格降低問題，因此，合并雖然沒有傷害消費者，也沒有給他們帶來利益。[C]本段沒有涉及。[D]可以從文中“很難想像當今的幾個石油公司的合并能夠再次造成像100年前美國標準石油托拉斯對競爭形成的威脅”，這說明當年這個石油公司肯定曾經(jīng)對競爭造成巨大威脅。
    36. Toward the new business wave, the writer’s attitudecan be said to be _____。
    作者看待新的商業(yè)浪潮的態(tài)度可以說是_______。
    [A]optimistic 樂觀的
    [B]objective 客觀的
    [C]pessimistic 悲觀的
    [D]biased 歧視的
    【答案】 B
    【考點】 作者態(tài)度題。
    【分析】 本題考查考生是否了解作者的態(tài)度。文中作者提到了“合并”的益處，但是同時也在第四段中提到“我們必須警惕這樣的合并浪潮”。作者是從兩個方面來談論這個問題的，因此我們可以判斷作者的態(tài)度應該是客觀的。