The Africans' interest is to guard preferential export rules enshrined in the temporary African Growth and Opportunity Act, passed by Congress in 2000. Tariff-free exports of some 6,000 goods from Africa to the United States are boosting trade and investment in southern Africa. Lesotho's fast-growing textile industry depends almost entirely on Chinese investment in factories to make clothes for sale in the United States. The region also wants more access to America's markets for fruit, beef and other agricultural goods. American interest lies mainly in South Africa, by far the largest economy in the region. Services account for 60% of its GDP, and it increasingly dominates the rest of Africa in banking, information technology, telecom, retail and other areas. Just as British banks, such as Barclays, have moved their African headquarters to South Africa over the past year, American investors see the country as a platform to the rest of the continent. Agreeing investment rules and resolving differences on intellectual property rights are the most urgent issues. American drug firms want to be part of the fast expansion in South Africa of production of anti-retroviral drugs, used against AIDS. By 2007 South Africa alone expects 1.2 m patients to take the drugs daily. The country might be the world's biggest exporter of anti-AIDS drugs within a few years. Striking a bilateral deal now should make American investments easier. But Mr. Zoellick's greater concern is for multilateral trade talks that stalled in Cancun, Mexico, in September. Alec Erwin, his South African counterpart, helped to organize the G20 group of poor and middle-income countries that opposed joint American-EU proposals there; he is widely tipped to take over as head of the World Trade Organization late next year, and would be a useful ally. So Mr. Zoellick is trying to charm his African partner by agreeing to drop support for most of a group of issues (known as "Singapore issues") that jammed up the talks at Cancun, and were opposed by poor countries; he says he also favors abolishing export subsidies in America—though only if Japan and the EU agree to do the same. That would please African exporters who say such subsidies destroy markets for their goods. Mr. Zoellick's efforts to make more friends may be paying off. Even though America has treated Africa very shabbily on trade in the past, Mr. Erwin hints it is easier doing business with America than with Europe or Japan. A small sign, but perhaps a telling one.
单选题
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that ______. A. 6,000 goods from Africa are tariff-free to American countries B. preferential export rules are interesting to southern Africans C. most clothes found in the US are actually made by Chinese D. Lesotho is willing to export more agricultural goods to the US
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】这是一道推论题。题干中的信号词为the first paragraph，也就是文章的第一段。文章第一段指出：从非洲出口到美国的大约6000种免税商品促进了在南部非洲的贸易发展和投资增长；莱索托地区快速增长的纺织业几乎完全依赖中国人对工厂的投资；该地区也希望获得更多的准入，使其水果、牛肉和其他农产品进入美国市场。由此可知，D“莱索托愿意出口更多的农产品到美国”，与文章的意思符合。A是文中明确说明的，所以不对；文中没有提到B；C与第一段第三句话的意思不符合。
单选题
British banks move their headquarters to South Africa because ______. A. South Africa is a safer country compared with others in Africa B. South Africa is gradually becoming a financial center in Africa C. South Africa offers preferential banking terms to foreign banks D. South Africa is a platform in Africa for the American investors
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词为move their headquarters to South Africa,出自于文章第二段第三句话中。文章第二段指出：南非是到目前为止该地区最大的经济实体，而且南非也在逐渐主宰非洲其他地区的银行、信息技术、电信业务、零售以及其他领域的业务。这说明，原因是南非正在成为非洲的经济中心。B说“南非正在逐渐成为非洲的财政中心”，这与文章的意思符合。文中没有提到A和C；D明显不是英国人搬迁银行总部的原因。
单选题
American drug makers want to get a share in the anti-AIDS drug production in South Africa in that ______. A. the US domestic anti-AIDS drug market is shrinking quickly B. American drug makers have a lot of extra capital to invest C. the bilateral deal has made US investments much easier now D. South Africa has a huge global market potential in these drugs
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词为a share in the anti-AIDS drug production，出自于文章第三段第二句话中。文章第三段指出：美国的药品公司想在南非迅速扩大的抗病毒药品生产中占有一席之地，该药品是用来抵抗艾滋病的；到2007年时，仅南非就可望有120万病人每天服用该药；几年之内，南非可能成为世界上最大的抗艾滋病药品出口国。这说明，原因是南非的市场潜力很大。D说“南非在这些药品方面具有巨大的全球市场潜力”，这与文章的意思符合。文中没有提到A和B；C明显与文章的意思不符。
单选题
Mr. Zoellick is trying to establish a good relationship with Mr. Erwin because ______. A. Mr. Erwin is organizing a group of poor and middle-income countries to oppose America B. Mr. Erwin is a very talented and tactful diplomat in the world political circle C. Mr. Erwin's possible position in the coming future will be helpful to American interests D. Mr. Erwin's relationship with Japanese and European leaders is useful to the U.S.
单选题
We can conclude from the passage that ______. A. the multilateral trade talks in Cancun might be productive B. Mr. Zoellick is very good at making friends with leaders C. Japan and EU will abolish the export subsidies as the US D. South Africa's exports to America are bound to decrease