Passage 1
Poland, once a backward agricultural country, is quickly becoming an economic powerhouse in Central Europe. The Poles are strongly pro-European, and even their relationship with the Germans is no longer as tense as it was just a few years ago.Nowhere is the transformation easier to see than in Wroclaw.
The third-richest man in Poland had arrived in Wroclaw by private jet in the morning. Leszek Czarnecki is now sitting on the 12th floor of the Wroclaw Arcade, gazing out at the center of the formerly German city. Czarnecki owns the arcade, an office building and shopping center complex. It has a view of the construction site of the “Sky Tower,” which, when completed in the spring, will soar up 212 meters, making it Poland's tallest building. Czarnecki also owns this new building. He came to Wroclaw today to set up a new company, but by noon he'll already be back in the air on the way to his next destination. The 48-year-old Czarnecki has established a number of firms in recent years, which are all doing splendidly.
And the global economic crisis? It was non-existent for Czarnecki as it was for all of the country, which has benefited from its accession to the European Union and globalization more than almost any other. Twenty years ago, the deeply Catholic country was largely agricultural and considered backward and provincial, a millstone around Europe's neck. Since then, however, Poland has experienced an almost nonstop boom. Even when the rest of Europe was suffering through a recession in 2009, Poland's economy grew by 1.7 percent. Thanks to its accession to the EU in 2004, unemployment fell from more than 20 percent to about 8 percent today.
The boom has been most evident in the cities. Warsaw and Poznan, for example, have full employment. According to surveys, Poles are among Europe's most optimistic people. They have never had it as good as they do today. Warsaw is also at peace with itself politically. Prime Minister Donald Tusk runs the government with a stable majority,while nationalist extremists on the left and right are no longer represented in Poland's parliament, the Sejm. Poland is now on excellent terms with Berlin and has toned down its rhetoric toward Moscow; the country is also no longer seen as an unpredictable obstructionist in Brussels. Almost a quarter century after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the country of 38 million has become a respected regional power.
Hardly anywhere else is the Polish economic wonder as much in evidence as it is in Wroclaw. When Leszek Czarnecki was defending his doctoral thesis at the city's business school in 1987, Poland was still paying homage to the socialist planned economy. Czarnecki, an extremely talented student and avid diver, formed a company for underwater welding with a few friends. “We were 10 times cheaper than the corresponding government company, and we were also better and faster,” he says. When the Iron Curtain fell, Czarnecki sold his shares. He leased a Mercedes with the proceeds, and in doing so realized how profitable the leasing business was. He promptly entered the leasing market for cars and construction machinery. Czarnecki has become a very rich man, and he constantly dreams up new business ideas.
Foreign investment is less responsible for the Polish economic miracle than the ingenuity of the country's entrepreneurs. Their small—and mid-sized companies produce primarily for the Polish market, so that only 40 percent of the economy is dependent on exports. Consistently high domestic demand and the Poles' love of consumption prevented the country from sliding into recession during the 2009 crisis. In Wroclaw, the Poles work primarily in Polish companies. Only 40,000 of the 150,000 new jobs created in the region in the last eight years were the result of foreign investment. And yet these are not low-wage jobs. The country is no longer a place for foreign companies to outsource their work.
Which of the following is an appropriate title for this passage?
本文节选自德国《明镜》 英文版中的一篇文章:Economic Boom: Poland Is Europe's New High-Flyer.
文章第一段提到曾经是落后的农业国的波兰正迅速成长为一个中欧的经济强国。 第二段举了一个实例波兰第三富豪的蓬勃事业， 接着讲述了波兰的经济增长状况、 城市的繁荣以及外商投资等内容。 由此可知， D项“波兰——欧洲新的黑马”最适合作本文的标题。 故本题应选D项。
Which of the following is an appropriate description of Poland today?
由文章第一段中的“Poland...is quickly becoming an economic powerhouse in Central Europe.”可知， A项表述正确。 C、 D项都是波兰20年前的形象， 应排除。文中第四段提到“...the country of 38 million has become a respected regional power.(拥有3800万人口的波兰已经变成一个受人尊敬的地区性大国)”， 并不是说它已成为一个在欧洲和很受尊敬的政治大国。 因此B项不准确， 也应排除。
Poland has become a new economic powerhouse in Europe, as evident in the fact that ________.
文章第二、 三段大幅描述波兰的经济繁荣景象， 结合文章主要内容可知， 本文主要讲述波兰经济增长。 因此， 可以从波兰繁荣的经济中看出波兰已经成为欧洲新的经济强国。 故C项为正确答案。 由第一段可知， 波兰与德国的关系得到缓解是波兰崛起的结果， 并非现象， 因此A项错误。 文章第三段提到“It...benefited from its accession to the European Union”， 由此可知， 加入欧盟是波兰经济增长的原因， 并非现象。 因此B项与题意不符。 倒数第二段提到波兰人民是欧洲最乐观的群体， 这依然是经济增长的结果， 因此D项错误。
How did Poland fare in the 2009 economic crisis, according to this passage?
由原文第三段中的“Even when the rest of Europe was suffering through a recession in 2009, Poland's economy grew by 1.7 percent. Thanks to its accession to the EU in 2004, unemployment fell from more than 20 percent to about 8 percent today.”可知， 2009年经济危机期间， 波兰经济增长并未停滞不前； 失业率从超过20%降到了8%， 并不是全面就业。 故A、 D项错误。 文中并没有将波兰的失业率和其他欧盟国家的失业率进行比较， 故C项也应排除。 因此本题应选B项。
What is the key to Poland's economic miracle, according to the passage?
由原文第三段中的“which has benefited from its accession to the European Union and globalization”、 最后一段中的“for the Polish economic miracle than the ingenuity of the country's entrepreneurs.”以及“Consistently high domestic demand and the Poles' love of consumption”可知， 加入欧盟和全球化、 国内持续高涨的消费需求以及波兰企业家的创造力都是波兰经济奇迹产生的关键因素。 故本题应选D项。