【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[听力原文]

Professor: Today we are going to begin studying about anti-trust laws. The need for anti-trust legislation began when America was expanding industrially during the 1880s. During this time period America was experiencing a huge influx of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe because America was in the midst of its Industrial Revolution and needed workers. No longer did the "cottage" industry represent industry in America. The factory did.
And with the factory came development in trade and commerce. The railroads expanded and factories and companies, such as steel companies, became larger and more important to American commerce. The men who owned and ran these companies were wealthy and they became even wealthier as American industrial growth continued. Sometimes these individuals were referred to as "industrial giants" or "moguls of industry" and other times they were called "robber barons" and other names which were not representing them in a positive light. The reason for this was that many people believed these wealthy individuals were getting richer at the expense of the common person. They were increasing their holdings by taking advantage of small companies by purchasing them at very low prices or causing the small companies not to be profitable so they could be bought up at very low prices. They also combined with other profitable companies to make an even larger company. And as a result, the wealthy got wealthier, and they increased their business holdings by leaps and bounds and they dominated the industry with their large company while reducing competition.
In 1890, Congress passed the first legislation in America to try to curb these undesirable business practices. The law was called the Sherman Anti-Trust Law and was directed at preventing monopolies. Now, you have to remember that having a monopoly in and of itself is not necessarily illegal. If a monopoly has been thrust upon you, as a business person, because you are the only one in a certain industry, then you may have done nothing illegal. What the Sherman Act was directed to was preventing the formation of monopolies. That means business owners could not purchase other companies similar to theirs to become "big" and run smaller companies out of business. It also meant that business owners could not use predatory practices to gain a business advantage. And, I think you all know that a "predatory practice" is one that exploits or takes advantage of another.
So, Congress was trying to curb the abuse of big business restraining trade when it passed the Sherman Act. The act provided that every contract, combined in the form of mast or otherwise, or a conspiracy in restraint of trade was illegal. Now, the language of the law stated this illegality applied to commerce within the United States as well as foreign commerce. Second, the Sherman Act provided that anyone who monopolized, or attempted to monopolize, or combined or conspired with any other person to monopolize trade or commerce in the U.S. or with foreign countries was guilty of a felony.
The law was an attempt to break up the business trust known as Standard Oil and controlled by John D. Rockefeller and his business associates because it was thought Standard Oil was increasing the costs for the consumers by artificially raising prices by restricting trade or supply of product. And what is also important is that the law provided criminal sanctions against violators.
The Attorney General"s office of the U.S. Department of Justice was the enforcer of the act and the Sherman Act remained the only anti-trust law in effect until 1914 when the Clayton Antitrust Act was enacted.

[解析] 讲座通常会在开头说明本次讲座的主题，因此应注意听讲座的开头部分。教授一开始就说：Today we are going to begin studying about anti-trust. The need for anti-trust legislation began when America was expanding industrially during the 1880s。C选项正确。

【答案解析】

	是的	不是
防止垄断	*
防止掠夺性行为	*
防止人为提高价格	*
防止经营小公司		*

[解析] 在讲座中间部分，教授提到：What the Sherman Act was directed to was preventing the formation of monopolies...to gain a business advantage. 由此可知，在谈到谢尔曼法的目的时，教授没有提到防止经营小公司。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 教授在讲座开头首先提到，是19世纪80年代美国工业的扩张使人们开始呼吁建立反托拉斯法规的；紧接着又说，由于美国当时正值工业革命，需要大量工人。由此可知，教授提到工业革命是为了举例说明美国在19世纪80年代的变化。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 在讲座最后，教授提到：The Attorney General"s office of the U.S. Department of Justice was the enforcer of the act...由此可知，美国检察院办公室和司法部是反托拉斯法的执行者。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 在这句话之前，教授还说了另外一句话：...many people believed these wealthy individuals were getting richer at the expense of the common person. 下面则列举了富人们积聚财富的方式。

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[听力原文]
Professor: ...and the Sherman Act remained the only anti-trust law in effect until 1914 when the Clayton Antitrust Act was enacted.
What does the professor imply by saying this:
...until 1914 when the Clayton Antitrust Act was enacted.

[解析] 由于该讲座主要是讲谢尔曼法的，介绍了该法规的出现原因、制定目的及其执行者，所以讲座也应该以谢尔曼法结束，由此可排除A、B两项。D选项说法显然与事实不符，也应排除。