单选题   A sharply divided federal appeals court on Monday exposed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to billions of dollars in legal damages when it ruled a massive lawsuit alleging gender discrimination over pay for female workers can go to trial.
    The Court said the world's largest private employer will have to face charges that it pays women less than men for the same jobs and that female employees receive fewer promotions and have to wait longer for those promotions than male counterparts.
    Wal-Mart successfully convinced the court that women who allege discrimination should file individual lawsuits. Wal-Mart employs 2.1 million workers in 8,000 stores worldwide and argued that the conventional rules of class action suits should not apply because each outlet operates as an independent business. Since it doesn't have a company-wide policy of discrimination, Wal-Mart argued that women alleging gender bias should file individual lawsuits against individual stores.
    The ruling was a 'big black eye for Wal-Mart, and it's not going to heal anytime in the near future,' said retail consultant Burt E Flickinger. Flickinger said the ruling could turn offwomen shoppers—the company's critical base—at a time it faces increased pressure from a host of competitors, ranging from Kroger to J.C. Penney.
    Wal-Mart's fourth-quarter results, announced in February, showed that total sales at its US Wal-Mart stores fell for the first time since the company went public in 1969. The company also reported its third consecutive quarter of declines in sales at stores opened at least a year. Sales at stores opened at least a year are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.
    Wal-Mart's top lawyer Jeff Gearhart said the company disagreed with the ruling and was considering its next step, which could include an appeal to the US Supreme Court.
    'We do not believe the claims alleged by the six individuals who brought this suit are representative of the experiences of our female associates,' said Gearhart, an executive vice president. 'Wal-Mart is an excellent place for women to work and fosters female leadership among our associates and in the larger business world.'
    Unions and other critics have long complained that Wal-Mart's workplace practices needed improvement, especially in the areas of diversity and career advancement. The company employs 1.4 million workers in the United States and the unions claim the company's labor practices are widely followed.
    Wal-Mart responded to the pressure last year at its annual shareholders' meeting by announcing a plan to address the issue of promoting women, creating a 'global council' comprised of 14 Wal-Mart female executives.
    'We are proud of the strides we have made to advance and support our female associates and have been recognized for our efforts to advance women through a number of awards and accolades (荣誉) ,' Gearhart said.
单选题     What had happened to Wal-Mart? ______
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】因为本文通篇都在讲沃尔玛，所以题干中没有可用于定位的明确信息词。因此最好逐一查看选项。题干提问本文的主题，而选项A“法庭对沃尔玛案件的意见出现了严重分歧”只是这一主题的一个小插曲，不是最本质的事件，所以错误。选项B“沃尔玛在一起诉讼案件中失败以后遭受了重大的损失”也只是本话题的一个方面，而不是核心内容，故也不正确。虽然沃尔玛确实是全球最大的私人雇主，但是文中并没有提到它是雇用女性员工的最大私人雇主，而且选项C也没有很好地概括文章主题，因而排除C。选项D“沃尔玛被指控歧视女性员工”准确地概括了本文的主要内容，所以本题选D。 [参考译文] 周一，意见严重分歧的联邦上诉法院做出裁定，接受审判指控沃尔玛在女性员工报酬方面存在性别歧视的集体诉讼案件，这意味着沃尔玛百货有限公司可能面临亿万美元的法律赔偿。 法庭认为全球最大的私人雇主将面临如下指控，即：从事相同工作的女性，工资低于男性；女性晋升的机会要比男性少，并且与男性同事相比，晋升所需的时间更长。 沃尔玛成功地说服了法庭，称指控沃尔玛性别歧视的女性应单独提起诉讼。沃尔玛在全球8000家连锁店里共雇用了210万名员工，它认为集体诉讼案的惯用规则不适用这个案件，因为每个分店都是独立经营的。因为沃尔玛没有制定过全公司范围的性别歧视政策，所以它认为那些控告沃尔玛性别歧视的女性应该分别针对各个分店提起单独诉讼。 零售顾问伯特·P.弗利金杰称这一判决“对于沃尔玛来说是一个耻辱，而且在短时间内情况丝毫不会好转”。弗利金杰说，这一裁定会赶跑女性顾客——公司急需留住的顾客群，而此时沃尔玛还面临着越来越大的竞争压力，其竞争对手包括从克罗格到潘尼等一系列零售公司。 沃尔玛于二月份公布的第四季度财务报告显示，美国沃尔玛超市的销售额自1969年上市以来首次出现了下滑。另外，公司还报告其营业一年以上商店的销量连续三个季度下滑。营业一年以上商店的销量被认为是评价零售商运营是否稳定的一个重要指标。 沃尔玛的首席律师杰夫·吉尔哈特称公司不服从这一判决，并且正在考虑下一步采取什么措施，其中也许包括向美国最高法院提起上诉。 执行副总裁吉尔哈特称：“我们不相信这起由六个人提出的诉讼索赔能够代表我们所有女性员工的经历。沃尔玛是一个非常适合女性工作的地方，它不仅为本公司也为更大的商界培养女性领导人。” 工会和其他批评家长期以来一直抱怨沃尔玛的工作规范需要改进，尤其是在多样化和职业提升领域更是如此。该公司在美国雇用了140万名员工，而工会称该公司的劳动规范适用范围极广。 作为对外界压力的回应，沃尔玛在去年的年度股东大会上宣布了一个计划，旨在解决女性员工的晋升问题，创建了一个由14名沃尔玛女性高管组成的“全球理事会”。 吉尔哈特说：“我们为自己做出的用来提升和支持女性员工的努力感到自豪，并且我们通过表彰和荣誉来提升女性的这些努力得到了人们的认同。”
单选题     What does Wal-Mart suggest women alleging gender bias to do properly? ______
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】根据题干中的信息词women alleging gender bias，可以把答题线索定位到第三段的最后一句。第三段的最后一句表示：“它认为那些控告沃尔玛性别歧视的女性应该分别针对各个分店提起单独诉讼。”这与选项A的内容相吻合，所以本题选A。文中并没有提到证据(evidence)不足，所以选项B错误。文中也并没有提及合同(contracts)，选项C也不正确。选项D提到的“女性员工开始经营自己事业的做法”文中并未提及。
单选题     What does the author mean by the phrase 'a big black eye' (Line 1, Para. 4)? ______
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】根据题干信息将答题线索定位至第四段的第一句。文章提到：“这一判决‘对于沃尔玛来说是一个耻辱，而且在短时间内情况丝毫不会好转’。”从heal一词也可以看出，这次诉讼给沃尔玛带来了损害，所以可推断出a big black eye传达的是消极的意义。选项A“成功的象征”和选项D“一只大而漂亮的眼睛”单从感情色彩上判断就是错误的。选项B意为“来自对手的压力”，虽然在文中提到了来自竞争对手的压力，但是对于沃尔玛来说，它是与a big black eye并列的两大影响，不能混为一谈。选项C“沃尔玛的一个耻辱”与文章意思符合，所以本题选C。
单选题     What does Jeff Gearhart look at the lawsuit against Wal-Mart? ______
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】根据题干中的信息词Jeff Gearhart，可以把答题线索定位到文章的第六段。文中提到：“杰夫·吉尔哈特称公司不服从这一判决，并且正在考虑下一步采取什么措施，其中也许包括向美国最高法院提起上诉。”说明他对于这次诉讼结果持否定态度。选项A、C、D都是从正面来描述这次诉讼的，与Jeff Gearhart的否定态度完全相反，可迅速排除。选项B“它不公平且不合理”与沃尔玛打算继续上诉的态度是一致的，所以本题选B。
单选题     How do unions and other critics view Wal-Mart's workplace practices? ______
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】根据题干中的信息词unions and other critics，可以把答题线索定位到第八段。选项A的内容文中并未提及。第八段讲到工会和批评家一直在抱怨“沃尔玛的工作规范需要改进，尤其是在多样化和职业提升领域更是如此”，但是并没有提及它在“职业提升”方面有所改进，所以选项B错误。选项C“其工作规范还有很多可以改进的地方”与工会和批评家对沃尔玛的指责相吻合，所以本题选C。选项D的内容是关于业绩的，与沃尔玛的工作规范无关。