2000年Passage 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]

本題對應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"（美國的繁榮是那些經濟遭到戰爭破壞的歐亞諸國做夢也無法達到的），可見美國取得主導地位在很大程度上是由于二戰摧毀了其潛在競爭對手的經濟，因此C選項為正確答案。A選項中的painstaking efforts與第一段中的"effortless"意思相左，是錯誤選項。B選項與原文不符，因為文章的意思是美國的國內市場比起競爭對手大8倍，不是比以前大8倍。D選項提到的勞動力因素不是主要原因。

[題目譯文]

二戰后美國之所以取得了優勢地位是因為             。
[A] 該國為實現這一目標而付出了艱苦的努力
[B] 其國內市場是過去的八倍
[C] 戰爭摧毀了大部分潛在競爭對手的經濟
[D] 該國無可比擬的勞動力大軍對經濟起到了推動作用

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]

本題的對應信息在文章的第二段。第五句及其括號中的內容說"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.)"（面對國外競爭，一些像消費電子產業之類的大型美國工業已經萎縮或漸漸消失。到1987年，美國只剩下Zenith一家電視生產商。（現在一家也沒有了：Zenith于當年7月被韓國LG電器公司收購。）），這說明電視機產業即使在國內市場也幾乎已經消失了，因此A選項正確。B選項對應于該段最后一句"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"（在新計算機時代有著核心作用的半導體正是美國人發明的，但是有一段時期這個產業也似乎面臨崩潰），文中認為半導體工業被外國企業接管是一種可能性，并沒有選項表述地這么絕對，因此B選項也錯誤。C選項對應于該段倒數第二句話"Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market America's machine-tool industry was on the ropes"（外國制造的汽車和紡織品正大舉涌入國內市場。美國的機床工業也即將消失），選項認為該行業已經崩潰，不符合題意。D選項對應于該段第三句話"By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness"（到了20世紀80年代中期，面對其日益衰退的工業競爭力，美國人感到不知所措），因此選項的表述是符合原文的。

[題目譯文]

美國在20世紀80年的世界經濟中失去了統治地位，這可以通過以下         事實表現出來。
[A] 其電視行業退回到了國內市場
[B] 半導體工業被外國企業接管
[C] 機床業在其自殺性行為后倒閉
[D] 汽車業失去了部分國內市場

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