2001年Passage 4

The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in these countries are looking at this process and worrying: Won't the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollable anti-competitive force?

There's no question that the big are getting bigger and more powerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% of international trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growing rapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment of production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. In Argentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationals went from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largest firms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smaller economic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of the world economy.

I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&A wave are the same that underlie the globalization process: falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers' demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. As productivity grows, the world's wealth increases.

Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave are scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms today could re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly a century ago in the US, when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergers of telecom companies, such as World Com, hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary, the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration is increasing-witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan-but it does not appear that consumers are being hurt.

Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. A few weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the banking industry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of last resort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won't multinationals shift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict about infringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself the role of defending competition on issues that affect many other nations, as in the US vs. Microsoft case?

63. 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.

[答案] C

[解題思路]

本題的對應信息為開篇第一句，即"The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed"（世界正在經歷一場前所未有的巨大的并購浪潮），選項中只有C符合mergers and acquisition的意思，因此正確答案為B。其他三個選項均不是本文討論的主要話題。

[題目譯文]

當今商業界的典型趨勢是什么？
[A] 吸收更多外資
[B] 更多投資國外
[C] 合并以擴大規模
[D] 與更多國家進行貿易往來

64. According to the author, one of the driving forces behind M&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

[答案] A

[解題思路]

本題的對應信息在文章第三段的第一句話"I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&A wave are the same that underlie the globalization process: falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers' demands"（我認為，推動這股巨大的并購浪潮的最主要力量，也是推動全球化進程的力量，包括日趨下降的運輸與通訊費用，減少的貿易與投資壁壘，以及市場的擴大和為滿足市場需求而進行的生產擴大。所有這些對消費者來說都有益而無害的），這個長句的最后指出了并購的主要目的在于"meeting customers' demands"，說明不斷增長的需求是主要動力，因此A為正確答案。而B、C、D選項在原文中都沒有具體提及。

[題目譯文]

根據本文作者，并購浪潮的主要動力是            。
[A] 消費者需求的擴大
[B] 市場供應的過剩
[C] 持續增長的生產力
[D] 世界財富的增長

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