阅读理解 The free market economy is no doubt the primary stimulus that has led to the United States' dominance in the world economic community. By naturally rewarding those producers that excel, excellence is actively encouraged and those that inefficiently produce goods or services not valued are eliminated. Thus, the economy becomes a self-sustaining and self-maintaining machine, consistently and constantly achieving the best possible result.
The free market economy is entirely based on the principle of supply and demand. Under this concept, consumers decide for themselves which companies will stay in business, voting with their dollars by spending on those businesses they consider most worthy. By doing so, those companies that are best liked, or most in demand, are granted the privilege of supplying the goods and services that consumers pay for. In that sense, efficiency is achieved. Those companies that best perform to the expectations of consumers are left prosperous in the market, while their less efficient counterparts simply die out of the market, starved of the dollars of consumers who simply prefer not to buy their products.
With such a system in place, American businesses are literally forced to be efficient to the highest degree. As a rule, what's efficient in one place will be efficient in most other places, thus American businesses are fierce competitors no matter where they choose to sell their product, having been formed in a competitive environment that breeds optimality.
When the opposition is made up of businesses overly protected or directed by their respective governments, the tough American businesses usually make short work of them. It has been proven that the free market system more efficiently allocates capital and resources than any central planner could, and America has seized on that concept. With such an edge at a basic level, it's no wonder that the United States is on top of the financial world. The cycle is a self-perpetuating one. As more money is pumped into the system by efficient businesses, more leverage is attained, allowing America to dictate the rules of the game, to its own advantage, of course.
Other countries are beginning to adopt the competitive nature of the American economic system, producing companies that are giving their American counterparts a good run for their money. It can be arguably stated that within a few decades, the United States will have to deal with competition just as well equipped as its own. For the time being, however, the game is stacked in favor of America.
单选题 1.It is argued that the relative efficiency of American businesses______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】属信息推断题。文章最后一段第一句指出:其他国家开始借鉴美国经济体制具备的竞争性特点,建立公司与美国同行展开激烈的竞争。由此可推知,选项C正确。选项A与文章最后两句内容不符,原文说未来的几十年中,美国将遇到势均力敌的竞争对手……但现在美国是有优势的。选项B与第四段第三句内容不符,all过于绝对。选项D(solely)概括得太绝对,与原文第一句内容不符,原文说自由市场经济无疑是使美国处于世界经济优势地位的主要促进因素,但没有说它是唯一的原因。
单选题 2.Paragraph 4 asserts that______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】属主旨思想题。作者在第四段中充分肯定了美国自由竞争机制带来的优势:与其他国家的中央计划体制相比,它对企业产品竞争和资金、资源分配都很有利。因此,选项B符合此意。选项A与第四段第一句内容不符,原文中使用了usually,而选项中使用了wherever,表达的意义过于绝对:选项C无法从文中推出。选项D与最后一段第二句的意思不符,原文说:大概可以说在未来的几十年中,美国将遇到势均力敌的竞争对手。
单选题 3.The best title for this text would be______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】属主旨思想题。文章第一句就点明主题:自由市场经济无疑是使美国处于世界经济优势地位的主要促进因素。接下来的几段具体介绍了这种自由市场经济的运行机制和好处,最后一段做出总结和预测:未来美国将会遇到劲敌,但现在的形势还是有利的。由此可知,文章通篇强调的是竞争给美国带来的优势,故选项B正确。选项A的题目太大、太泛,超出了原文的范围;选项C、D都是文中细节,不能覆盖整篇文章的主题思想。
单选题 4.The author would most likely agree with the assertion that______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】属态度推断题。题目问:作者最有可能同意的论点是什么?最后一段指出:其他国家开始借鉴美国经济体制,将来美国会遇到势均力敌的竞争对手。由此可推知,美国必须对此做出调整以迎接新的竞争。因此,选项B正确。选项A中的all概括得太广,与原文内容不符;选项C与原文第一句不符,原文指出自由市场经济是美国占世界经济主导地位的主要原因,从中可推断,除此之外还存在其他因素。选项D过于绝对,原文说:自由市场体制比任何中央计划体制都能更有效地分配资金和资源,但并不代表它比任何经济体制都优越。
单选题 5.The author is most critical of______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】属态度推断题。题目问:作者最有可能批评的是什么?第四段第一、二句指出:如果遇到的竞争对手是受到各自政府过度保护或领导的企业,强大的美国企业通常都能迅速把它们解决。事实已经证明,自由市场体制比任何中央计划体制都能更有效地分配资金和资源……。由此可推断,作者对政府干预国家的经济体制持反对意见。因此,选项D正确。选项A与第一段最后一句意思不符,原文明确指出:经济变成了一台能维持自我发展和维护自我运转的机器,始终如一地取得所能达到的最好结果,从中可以看出作者对美国经济良性循环的信心。选项B、C都在原文中没有推理依据。