单选题 Passage 6 Globalization is a phenomenon and a revolution. It is sweeping the world with increasing speed and changing the global landscape into something new and different. Yet, like all such trends, its meaning, development, and 'impact puzzle many. We talk about globalization and experience its effects, but few of us really understand the forces that are at work in the global political economy. When people use their cell phones, log onto the Internet, view events from around the world on live television, and experience varying cultures in their own backyards, they begin to believe that this process of globalization is a good thing that will bring a variety of new and sophisticated changes to people's lives. Many aspects of this technological revolution bring fun, ease, and sophistication to people' s daily lives. Yet the anti-World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle, Washington in 1999 and Washington, D.C. in 2000 are graphic illustrations of the fact that not everyone believes that globalization is a good thing. Many Americans who have felt left out of the global economic boom, as well as Latin Americans, Africans, and Asians who feel that their job skills and abilities are being exploited by multinational corporations (MNCs) in a global division of labor, believe that this system does not meet their needs. Local cultures that believe that Wal-Mart and McDonald' s bring cultural change and harm rather than inexpensive products and convenience criticize the process. In this way, globalization, like all revolutionary forces, polarizes people, alters the fabric of their lives, and creates rifts within and between people. Many in the West, along with the prominent and elite among MNCs, educators, and policymakers, seem to have embraced globalization. They argue that it helps to streamline economic systems, disciplines labor and management, brings forth new technologies and ideas, and fuels economic growth. They point to the relative prosperity of many Western countries and argue that this is proof of globalization' s positive effects. They see little of the problems the critics identify. In fact, those who recognize some structural problems in the system argue that despite these issues, globalization is like across the developing world, view globalization as an economic and cultural wave that tears at the fabric of centuries-old societies. They see jobs emerging disappearing in a matter of months, people moving across the landscape in record numbers, elites amassing, huge fortunes while local cultures and traditions are swept away, and local youth being seduced by promises of American material wealth and distanced from their own cultural roots, These critics look past the allure of globalization and focus on the disquieting impact of rapid and system-wide change. The irony of such a far-ranging and rapid historical process Such as globalization is that both proponents and critics may be fight. The realities of globalization are both intriguing and alarming. As technology and the global infrastructure expand, ideas, methods, and services are developed and disseminated to greater and greater numbers of people. As a result, societies and values are altered, some for the better and others for the worse.
单选题 The author complains that ______
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】文章第一段最后一句话:But few of us really understand the forces that are at work in the global political economy,可见,作者抱怨的是很少有人知道全球政治经济运作的推动力量到底是什么。
单选题 The anti-world protests indicate that ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】文章第二段提到:反世界贸易组织主张that not everyone believes that globalization is a good thing.所以,本题应选 C。
单选题 Like all revolutionary forces, the process of globalization ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章第二段最后一句:globalization,liked all revolutionary forces,polarizes people,alters the fabric of their lives,and creates rifts within and between people.选项中,只有 B 选项“造成人们之间的不和”与之相符合。
单选题 Proponents of globalization sing its praises on the basis of ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】文章倒数第二段提到:They point to the relative prosperity of many Western countries and argue that this is proof of globalization’s positive effects.可见,西方国家的繁荣是全球化的积极方面的证明,也就是说,支持者们以此为基础来赞扬全球化。而 A、B 两项只是指出全球化的一些优点的一个方面,不足以作为支持全球化的基础。
单选题 To critics, the worst thing that globalization has brought to us is ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文中最后一段提到:These critics look past the allure of globalization and focus on the disquieting impact of rapid and system-wide change.此句子中的 focus on 一词表明批评家们认为全球化最坏的影响就是社会系统的迅速改变。其他选项虽然也是批评家所指出的方面,但是还没有达到 worst 的程度。