单选题 {{B}}Passage Two{{/B}}

As Ford Motor's board of directors gathered rd hold its quarterly meeting Thursday, speculation was growing that the world's No. 2 automaker was prepared to acquire the automotive operations of Sweden's Volvo. Merger (合并) speculation that has been widespread throughout the industry for months has focused on a possible Volvo-Ford linkup since a report last week that Volvo had hired a Wall Street investment bank m explore a possible sale.
Ford's board meeting was to be held in Dearborn, the Detroit suburb where Ford is headquartered. Chief spokesman Vaughn Koshkarian declined to comment on the agen0a or the Volvo rumors. President Jac Nasser, speaking at an industry conference Tuesday night, also declined to say where Ford was negotiating with Volvo. But Nasser again said Ford was open to using its more than $20billion cash reserve to expand the company's global reach.
Last year's acquisition of Chrysler by Daimler-Benz led to a panic of talks among automakers looking to strengthen their position in an industry beset (困扰) with too much production capacity worldwide. The conventional wisdom is that smaller automakers will be ill-equipped to compete in the 21st century as the industry becomes dominated by several international automakers.
Volvo, one of the world's smaller automakers, produces less than 500,000 vehicles annually. Last year it sold 100,227 cars in the United States, one of its largest markets. Ford reportedly has been courting Nissan Motor which is in debt as well, and turned down an offer last month for a 20% share in the Japanese automaker. Ford also lost in bidding late last year for financially troubled Kia Motors of Korea.
Analysts (分析家) say Ford and Volvo arc a better fit. "The Volvo thing is more practical than anything else," said analyst David Healy of Burnham Securities. "Ford, which is becoming good at cost-effectively developing a variety of very different cars with the same basic chassis (底盘) and major parts, could help Volvo expand its product line," Girsky said. "If you could bring a premium price," he said, "Ford has similarly expanded Jaguar's vehicle line since it bought the British Luxury automaker in 1989."
Girsky, however, does not expect Ford to overbid for Volvo. "They had every opportunity in the world to buy Kia Motors and they walked away from it because the price got too high," he said. "I don't think Ford needs Volvo; it would be nice to have Volvo, but only at the right price."

单选题 The widespread concern over the possible merger is caused by ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[定位] 由题干中的The widespread concern over the possible merger定位到首段末句Merger speculation that has been widespread throughout the industry for months has focused on a possible Volvo-Ford linkup... [精析] 细节辨认题[考频：33]。该句说“自从上周的一个报道说沃尔沃雇佣华尔街投资银行寻找可能的出售机会时起，业内便开始广为流传沃尔沃可能和福特联姻”。由此推知，对可能并购的广泛关注是由关于沃尔沃寻求卖出机会的报道造成的。故B)“关于沃尔沃寻求卖出机会的报道”正确。 [避错] 该会议与对可能合并的广泛关注并没有直接的联系，不能构成原因，故排除A)；C)“福特和沃尔沃之间不友好的关系”在原文并没有提及，排除，原文虽提及华尔街投资银行，但未提及其股市的变化，而是沃尔沃在向其寻求出售帮助，故也排除D)。

单选题 From the second paragraph, we can know that ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[定位] 由题干中的the second paragraph定位到原文第二段。 [精析] 综合推断题[考频：28]。原文第二段末尾由but引导的句子说“Nasser再次说明福特公司已经准备好用超过200亿美金的储备资金去扩充全球市场”。由此可以推知“福特已经做好了可能并购的经济准备”，故D)为正确答案。 [避错] A)“福特无意并购瑞典的沃尔沃”与原文不符，故排除；由原文“公司主要发言人Vaughn拒绝对会议日程和有关沃尔沃的谣言发表评论。周二晚上在业内的一次会议上，福特总裁Jac Nasser在讲话中也拒绝透露他们和沃尔沃的谈判地点。”可推知，福特的准备活动并不活跃，排除B)；原文并没有提及二者关于细节的谈判，排除C)。

单选题 Which of the following is TRUE about Ford?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[定位] 由题干中的about Ford和选项里的—些关键词定位到原文第四段第三句Ford reportedly has been courting debt-laden Nissan Motor as well... [精析] 事实细节题[考频：51]。原文第四段尾句说“去年福特也没有在经济陷入困境的韩国Kia汽车公司的竞标中胜出”，说明它在经济困难的韩国Kia公司的并购中失败。故D)与文意相符，为正确答案。 [避错] 原文第三段开头说“戴米勒奔驰公司收购了克莱斯勒”，而非福特收购，故排除A)；第五段末句说“福特用相似的方式在1989年扩充了英国豪华汽车美洲虎的生产线”，证明不是在计划，排除B)；第四段中间说“福特一直在向负债累累的尼桑汽车公司表示好感，但是上个月拒绝了该日本公司20%股权转让的提议”，证明没有收购尼桑，故排除C)。

单选题 What is the analyst's suggestion to Ford about the possible merger?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[定位] 由题干中的the analyst's suggestion定位到原文第五段首句Analysts say Ford and Volvo are a better fit. [精析] 综合理解题[考频：18]。原文第五段中间分析家Girsky说“如果福特能够在沃尔沃品牌下生产小型汽车或者用沃尔沃品牌生产运动型车的话．福特就能够获得价格优势了”。后面又说“1989年福特在收购了英国豪华汽车制造厂以后就是以类似的方式扩充了美洲虎汽车生产线的”。由此可知，这个建议就是让福特按照它开发美洲虎生产线的方法开发新并购的生产线。C)含义与之相符，故为正确答案。 [避错] A)“出高价以避免类似过去的失败”在原文投有涉及；B)“并购尽可能多的汽车厂商以扩张生产”并没有在原文中提及；原文虽提及价格优势，但是并非“通过有效降低成本来实现更低的价格，”排除D)。

单选题 What does Girsky think about Ford's possible merger with Volvo?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[定位] 由题干中的Girsky think about Ford's possible merger定位到原文末段首句Girsky，however，does not expect Ford to overbid for Volvo． [精析] 语义理解题[考频：37]。该句中Girsky说他“不希望福特对沃尔沃报价太高。福特很有机会收购Kia汽车公司的，但是他们没有收购，因为价格太高。我不认为福特需要沃尔沃。有了沃尔沃会不错，但是价格必须合适”。由此推知，他认为福特对沃尔沃的收购必须在合适的价格上才可行。故A)与文意相符，为正确答案。 [避错] 原文只是提及因为价高而未收购Kia，并未提及对沃尔沃的收购因为价高而不可能，排除B)；C)“不管多贵都是必要的”与原文“不希望福特对沃尔沃报价太高”不符；排除；D)“不论任何价格都不明智”太绝对化，原文并未完全否定对沃尔沃的购买，故排除。