单选题
On the ground floor of the Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, there is an electronic game which tests a visitor's skill at setting interest rates. You have to decide how to respond to events such as rising inflation or a stockmarket crash. If you get all the answers right, the machine declares you the next Fed chairman. In real life, because of huge uncertainties about data and how the economy works, there is no obviously right answer to the question of when to change interest rates. Nor is there any easy test of who will make the best Fed chairman. So who would The Economist select for the job? Alan Greenspan will retire as Fed chairman on January 31st, after a mere 181/2 years in the job. So George Bush needs to nominate a successor soon. Mr. Bush has a penchant for picking his pals to fill top jobs: last week he nominated his personal lawyer Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. But his personal bank manager really would not cut the mustard as Fed chairman. This is the most important economic-policy job in America—indeed in the whole world. The Fed chairman sets interest rates with the aim of controlling inflation, which in turn helps determine the value of the dollar, the world's main reserve currency. It is hardly surprising that financial markets worldwide can rise or fall on his every word. Financial markets are typically more volatile during the first year after the handover to a new chairman than during the rest of his tenure. In October 1987,barely two months after Mr. Greenspan took office, the stock market crashed. Current conditions for a handover are hardly ideal. America's economy has never looked so unbalanced, with a negative household savings rate, a housing bubble, a hefty budget deficit, a record current-account deficit and rising inflation. Figures due on October 14th are expected to show that the 12-monthrate of inflation has risen above 4% —its highest since 1991.
单选题
Which of the following questions does the text discuss? A. What is the content of the electronic game? B. Who could fill Alan Greenspan's shoes? C. How to respond to events such as rising inflation? D. Who could change interest rates?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是一道中心主旨题，测试考生识别和理解全文中心主旨的能力。通过阅读全文，尤其是从第一段尾句“…who would The Economist select for the job?”(《经济学家》会选择谁来干这项工作呢?)我们可以判断本文讨论“谁将接替即将离任的美联储主席格林斯潘”。可见，本题的正确选项是B“who could fill A Jan Greenspan's shoes?”(谁将接替格林斯潘?)
单选题
The phrase "cut the mustard" in the second paragraph most probably means______. A. "be qualified" B. "lower interest rate" C. "be acquisitive" D. "spend spree/
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是一道词汇题，测试考生识别和理解固定表达短语的能力。“cut the mustard”这一固定短语具有两种含义：“符合要求”和“获得成功”。在本文中的含义是“符合要求”，故本题的正确选项是A“be qualified”(合格的，胜任的)。
单选题
Which of the following words best defines the relationship between the value of dollar and setting of interest rates? A. Counteractive. B. Naive. C. Interactive. D. Novel.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是一道细节题，测试考生全面理解原文句子，尤其是句中逻辑关系的能力。本题的答案信息来源在第二段倒数第二句，其大意是“美联储主席为了控制通货膨胀的目的而确定利率，控制通货膨胀反过来又有助于确定美元的价值”。可见，美元价值和确定利率之间的关系(the relationship between the value of dollar and setting of interest rates)是“相互作用的”(interactive)，故选项C是本题的正确答案。
单选题
Which of the following, according to the text, is a common phenomenon? A. Financial markets and stock markets crash due to the handover. B. Comment by the Fed chairman are invalid in the world financial markets. C. Inflation rises above 4% —record high level. D. Remarks by the Fed chairman can sway the world financial markets.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是一道细节题，测试考生识别理解原文具体信息的能力。本题的答案信息来源在第二段的尾句，该句的含义是：“美联储主席的言辞能够使全球金融市场发生起伏波动，这不是出人意料的事”。由此可见本题的正确选项应该是D“Remarks by the Fed chairman can sway the world financial markets.”(美联储主席的言辞可以影响世界金融市场。)
单选题
The author mentions "a housing bubble" in the last paragraph so as to______. A. clarify the fact that Alan Greenspan will retire as Fed chairman B. exemplify the rumor that Mr. Bush has a penchant for picking his pals to fill top jobs C. illustrate the notion that the present situations for a handover are hardly ideal D. refute the theory that American economy has never looked so unbalanced
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 这是一道细节题，测试考生识别理解上下句之间关系的能力。本题的答案信息来源在尾段的第三、四句。尾段的第四句实际上是对第三句所做出的陈述的进一步解释和说明。尾段第三句说：“目前并非美联储主席权力移交的理想时机”。第四句利用具体的事实对第三句的陈述进行了针对性的解释。可见，本题的正确选项是C“illustrate the notion that the present situations for a handover are hardly ideal”(举例说明目前的局势就美联储主席权力移交而言并非理想)。