单选题 The American model has seldom looked so tarnished. America's unemployment rate is 10%. Soup kitchens are doing a flourishing business in New York and other great cities. Companies that were once a byword for swashbuckling entrepreneurialism have bitten the dust.
But in one respect at least America remains a beacon for the rest of the world: its treatment of corporate bankruptcy. This may sound ludicrous. America's excessive appetite for risk helped plunge the world into recession. And America's consumers are defaulting on their debts at astronomical rates - and expecting the rest of society to pick tip the bills for their profligacy. But countries that want to avoid unnecessary corporate carnage would nevertheless be foolish to ignore the American example.
America's enlightened attitude to corporate bankruptcy is designed to put economic resources back to productive use as quickly as possible. This means distinguishing between potentially viable companies and terminally ill ones. The potentially viable can file for "'Chapter 11", which lets them restructure under court supervision. The terminally ill can file for "Chapter 7". which focuses on liquidating their assets and distributing them among creditors. It also means putting pressure on the courts to deal with bankruptcy as quickly as possible. Chrysler and General Motors were both in the hands of "new owners" within 45 days of filing for bankruptcy. It also means treating bankrupts relatively leniently, not as sinners to be flagellated but rather as unfortunates who should be given a second chance.
America's generosity to capitalism's losers has served it remarkably well. It has not only prevented companies such as United Airlines and General Motors from going into premature liquidation, throwing thousands of people out of work. It has also helped provide America with its entrepreneurial edge. Bankruptcy is an occupational hazard for entrepreneurs: even those with plenty of business experience under their belts fail much more often than they succeed. America's leniency towards bankrupts encourages novices to start their own businesses and allows people who have failed to start again.
The good news is that a growing number of countries arc following America's lead. Britain has introduced a succession of Enterprise Acts since 2002 that are designed to make it easier for failed entrepreneurs to start new businesses. The credit crunch has speeded up the pace of reform. The World Bank's annual "Doing Business" report provides a wealth of examples of improvements. Many governments are trying to shake up their lethargic legal systems in order to speed up bankruptcy proceedings. The reforms also touch upon the more fundamental question of trying to save viable businesses from premature liquidation. Dozens of countries are trying to give companies more opportunities to reorganise before they finally reach for the revolver. France and Germany were among the first to do this. But the idea has also spread to Eastern Europe and Asia and may even be reaching the bankruptcy-averse Muslim world (last year ten Middle Eastern and North African countries signed a joint declaration on planned reforms).
Moving towards a more enlightened treatment of bankruptcy will not be easy, particularly for poor countries with inefficient legal systems and retributive attitudes to debt. The World Bank reports that the majority of reforms have taken place in rich countries= since 2004, 59% of them have improved their systems compared with 33% of poorer countries in East Asia, 22% in Latin America, 16%, in the Middle East and 13% in South Asia. And poorer countries have an enormous distance to travel. In rich countries, bankruptcy proceedings take less than two years on average. In South Asia they take an average of four-and-a-half years. In many countries — Turkey is a notorious example — legal fees can eat up almost all the value of a business.
It beats flagellation.
Attitudes to debt are also difficult to change. America threw off the old world's hostility to failed businessmen along with British rule. Back in the 1830s one of the things that most struck Alexis de Tocqueville about the country was "the strange indulgence which is shown to bankrupts", which, he said, diverged "not only from the nations of Europe, but from all the commercial nations of our time. " The generous provisions of Chapter 11 only reinforced a longstanding legal prejudice. In 1934, for example, the Supreme Court declared that bankruptcy laws ought to "give the honest but unfortunate debtor.., a new opportunity in life and a clear field for future effort unhampered by the pressure and discouragement of pre-existing debt."
True, giving a clear field to the honest but unfortunate also opens the way to all sorts of chances. America's generous treatment of corporate bankrupts has been widely abused by common spendthrifts — so much so that Congress tightened the taw in 2005 to restrict access to the system. Britain's attempt to emulate the American example has also led to an epidemic of freeloading. In 2006 only about a quarter of the people who filed for bankruptcy could remotely be described as entrepreneurs.
That is irritating, but governments should nevertheless continue to rehabilitate bankruptcy. Making it easier to close a business may not sound as inviting as announcing yet another "enterprise fund" or "innovation initiative" , but it is more vital to reviving the world's moribund economy. In the short term enlightened bankruptcy laws reduce unemployment by keeping viable companies alive. In the longer term they boost rates of entrepreneurship. The best way to get more people to start businesses is to make it easier to wind them up.

单选题 The word "profligacy" in Paragraph 2 probably means
[A] extravagance. [B] proliferation.
[C] vanity. [D] conceit.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】语义题。由题干定位至第二段。在首句提到“America remains a beacon for the rest of the world: its treatment of corporate bankruptcy”之后，作者指出“这看起来有点荒谬”，接着具体解释原因“America's excessive appetite for risk helped plunge the world into recession”。而excessive appetite的结果就是“美国消费者拖欠大量贷款”，对于这一点，他们指望着整个社会来承担后果。从excessive appetite，defaulting on their debts at astronomical rates来看，这里是谈论美国人过度消费的问题，四个选项中extravagance意为“奢侈”，与本题上下文语境吻合，故[A]为答案。
[避错]proliferation意为“增殖，扩散”，这个词与上下文语境无关；vanity意为“虚荣心”，conceit意为“自大”，这里一直谈论的是经济问题，涉及美国消费者的消费习惯问题，性格特点无关，排除[C]和[D]。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that
[A] America tended to save big companies such as General Motors.
[B] Chrysler and General Motors were considered potentially viable.
[C] America's attitude to corporate bankruptcy was denounced.
[D] many terminally ill companies may have a chance to rise again.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。根据试题顺序及选项中的Chrysler，General Motors定位至第三段。第三段第二句对美国的破产政策进行了简要概括“This means distinguishing between potentially viable companies and terminally ill ones.”，之后具体解释针对两种不同公司的处理办法：前者申请破产保护，进行重组；后者申请破产清算，变现还债。第六句指出“Chrysler and General Motors were both in the hands of 'new owners' within 45 days of filing for bankruptcy.”，从in the hands of new owners可以判断，这两个公司属于重组范畴，故[B]为答案。
[避错] 第二句明确指出破产政策的依据是“distinguishing between potentially viable companies and terminally ill ones”，与公司规模大小无关，排除[A]；首句中的enlightened“开明的，有见识的”表明作者对美国的破产政策赞赏有加，这里没有提到其他人对这一政策的批评，排除[C]；第四句指出被认为无可救药的公司的破产政策：根据“第7章”申请破产清算，清理变现公司资产，归还债权人。可见，这些公司真正倒闭解体了，[D]与文意不符，排除。
单选题 All the following are advantages of America's leniency to corporate bankruptcy EXCEPT
[A] encouraging business start-ups. [B] maintaining employment security.
[C] pushing forward enterprises. [D] making a success of failure.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。由题干中的America's leniency定位至第四段。该段首句为主题句，指出美国对待破产态度宽容有好处。之后具体说明几点好处。第三句提到好处之一是“还能让美国保有企业家精神”，[C]是对这部分内容的曲解，文中不是指“推动企、世发展”之意，故为答案。
[避错] 末句表明“America's leniency towards bankrupts encourages novices to start their own businesses”，[A]符合文意；该句后半句“allows people who have failed to start again”说明[D]符合文意；而[B]与第二句的“prevented companies such as United Airlines and General Motors from going into premature liquidation, throwing thousands of people out of work”意思一致。
单选题 Which of the following statements might the author agree on?
[A] Wealthy countries should set an example for poor countries.
[B] Some countries should shift their attitudes towards debt.
[C] European countries should take the lead in saving businesses.
[D] Asian countries should reform their economic systems.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。按照题目顺序从第五段开始继续浏览。陔段首句提出个人看法“The good news is that a growing number of countries are following America's lead.”，之后具体说叫其他国家如何参照美国企业破产模式进行本国政策改革。第六段首句指出“Moving towards a more enlightened treatment of bankruptcy will not be easy, particularly for poor countries with inefficient legal systems and retributive attitudes to debt”，这说明作者认为影响贫穷国家的企业破产改革的两个因素：法律体系和对待债务的态度。由于作者极力赞扬美国的企业破产政策，可以推断，如果贫穷国家改变对待债务的态度，作者会认为是一件好事，故[B]为答案。
[避错] 第五段在提出主题句“The good news is that a growing number of countries are following America's lead.”之后，提到了很多国家改革本国企业破产程序的例子，其中提到法国、德国，但这些只是支持主题句的细节，并没有表达富裕国家要为贫穷国家树立榜样之意，排除[A]；同理，也没有提及欧洲国家要带头保护企业，排除[C]；第六段提到影响贫穷国家企业破产程序改革的问题之一是政治体系问题，没有涉及经济体系，排除[D]。
单选题 What is the main point of the passage?
[A] America's attitude towards corporate bankruptcy remains ambiguous.
[B] Bankrupt companies may have a chance to rise again in America.
[C] Many countries are trying to reform their model for bankrupt firms,
[D] America's enlightened treatment of bankrupt firms remains a model.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】主旨题。本文开篇由美国陷入困境的经济现状引出一个值得其他国家学习借鉴的环节：处理破产公司的方式。第二段末句“But countries that wallt to avoid unnecessary corporate carnage would nevertheless be foolish to ignore the American example.”引出对美国对待破产公司明智态度的说明。接下来作者谈论美国对待破产公司的宽容态度给本国经济带来的好处，最后两段围绕“The good news is that a growing number of countries are following America's lead.”展开说明。可见，作者是围绕美国对待破产公司的明智态度及其他国家以美国模式为版本改革本国企业破产程膊为主旨展开的说明．故[D]为答案。
[避错] 作者从第二段开始就对美国公司的破产模式进行赞扬，出现了beacon，enlightened等词，第三段对该破产模式进行了简要说明，可见美国对待公司破产态度明确，措施清楚，排除[A]；第三段末句指出“It also means treating bankrupts relatively leniently, not as sinners to be flagellated but rather as unfortunates who should be given a second chance.”，这是文章支持性细节，非主旨，排除[B]；倒数笫二段举例说明了许多国家在进行企业破产模式改革，[C]是文章部分主旨，非全部。