标题: 英语真题 [打印本页] 作者: xizhang01 时间: 2009-10-24 20:59 标题: 英语真题 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 times 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.”
11. 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
12. 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
13. What can be inferred from the passage?
[A]It is human nature to shift between self-doubt and blind pride.
[B]Intense competition may contribute to economic progress.
[C]The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation.
[D]A long history of success may pave the way for further development.
14. The author seems to believe the revival of the U.S. economy in the 1990s can be attributed to the____.
[A]turning of the business cycle
[B]restructuring of industry
[C]improved business management
[D]success in education
名师解析
11. The U.S. achieved its predominance after World War Ⅱbecause_____.
美国在二战后取得优势地位是因为_____。
[A] it had made painstaking efforts towards this goal.
它为该目标付出了艰巨的努力。
[B] its domestic market was eight times larger than before.
它的国内市场比以前大八倍。
[C] the war had destroyed the economies of most potential competitors.
战争摧毁了大多数潜在竞争对手的经济。
[D] the unparalleled size of its workforce had given an impetus to its economy.
12. The loss of U.S. predominance in the world economy in the 1980s is manifested in the fact that the American_____.
上个世纪80年代美国优势地位的丧失可以从美国_______事实中看出来。
[A] TV industry had withdrawn to its domestic market
电视工业已经退到国内市场
[B] semiconductor industry had been taken over by foreign enterprises
半导体产业已经被外国公司接管
[C] machine-tool industry had collapsed after suicidal actions
机床业已经自取灭亡
[D] auto industry had lost part of its domestic market
汽车工业已经丧失了部分国内市场
【答案】 D
【考点】 事实细节题。
【分析】 [A]选项错误，因为第二段中说“到1987年，美国只剩下Zenith这一家电视生产商。(现在这一家也没有了：Zenith于7月被韩国LG电器公司收购。)”说明它连国内市场也保不住了。[B]选项错误，文中第二段最后一句提到，“在一段时间内，半导体制造业似乎要成为下一个受害者”，可是事实上没有。[C]选项中谈到的机床业已经自取灭亡的说法错误，因为文中提到机床制造业“岌岌可危”(on the ropes)，但是还没有灭亡呢。[D]是合适的，因为第二段第六句提到，“进口车和纺织品横扫国内市场”。
13. What can be inferred from the passage?
从本文中可以推断出哪个选项？
[A] It is human nature to shift between self-doubt and blind pride.
在自我怀疑和盲目骄傲之间摇摆是人的本性。
[B] Intense competition may contribute to economic progress.
激烈的竞争会导致经济的发展。
[C] The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation.
经济的复苏依靠国际的合作。
[D] A long history of success may pave the way for further development.
For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
【结构分析】 本句的主句是：“it looked as though the making of semiconductors was going to be the next casualty”。有两个定语从句，分别是：“which America had invented”和“which sat at the heart of the new computer age”。