单选题
Walt Disney could have built his biggest theme park anywhere. He chose Florida. The weather is balmy, and when it gets too hot there are lots of pools to cool off in, says. Meg Crofton, Walt Disney World's CEO'. Florida also offers plenty of space to expand. Disney World, which was first carved out of wild woodland in 1971, has swollen to four parks covering 40 square miles ( 104 sq km) and employing 60 000 "cast members". Contrary to the stereotype of rapid flow in the service sector, the average full-time employee sticks around for nine years. Florida's business climate is sunny, too. The Milken Institute, a think-tank in California, compiles an index of "best-performing cities" in America, a composite measure of such things as job creation, wage growth and whether businesses are thriving. In the most recent index, six of the top ten metropolitan areas are in Florida. ( Orlando-Kissimmee is sixth. ) And 18 of the top 30 are in the South. For a long time the South's weather got in the way of its development. Richard Pillsbury, a geography professor at Georgia State University, describes traditional life in the lowland South, a region stretching from northern Virginia down to the Gulf coast of Texas: "Smallish barren farms almost lost in the white heat of a hot and humid summer sun as the owners and their help fought swarms of mosquitoes to plant, cultivate and harvest the meagre cotton crop for market." Then air-conditioning came. As it spread after the World War Ⅱ, the South became suddenly more comfortable to live and work in. From the 1940s until the 1980s the region boomed. In his book Old South, New South, Gavin Wright lists four reasons why Federal defence spending stimulated growth. Sunshine attracted skilled professionals. The South, having developed so little in the past, was a "clean slate", without strong labour unions, entrenched bureaucracies, restrictive laws or outdated machinery. Lastly, given how much catching up the South had to do, the potential returns were higher than in the north. Southerners have prospered in part by playing to their traditional strengths. The fame of southern hospitality has bolstered the region's hotel chains, such as Holiday Inn. That of southern cuisine helps local restaurants, such as Waffle House, Cracker Barrel and KFC. Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has kept costs low by refusing to recognize unions. And Coca-Cola owes at least some of its success to its southern origins.
单选题
In contrast to Disney World, one of the characters in the service sector is that ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 文章第一段结尾句Contrary to the stereotype of rapid flow in the service sector，the average full-time employee sticks around for nine years． [深层剖析] 此题的答题思路与2003年考研真题第4篇阅读文章的第4题极为相似。这种类型的题目是以对比为出题点，找出题干中所提及事物的特点。深度分析后，考生会体会到，这类题目很简单，考大家的是原文关键词的近义表达或反义表达。[C]选项中的are reluctant to be employed in a company for long恰恰是原文中rapid flow的近义表达。因此，[C] 正确。 [主干扰项分析] [B]的干扰性较大，很多同学认为只有迪斯尼雇用全职员工，其他公司，尤其是服务业，只雇用兼职人员。这可能是很多同学看到在中国，麦当劳和肯德基这些象征着美国服务业的公司招聘的多是小时工，因此主观臆断，误选[B]。◆谨记：答题过程中不要掺杂任何个人主观情感和印象，严格做到“忠实原文”。 [次干扰项分析] [D]选项中谈到公司经营问题，在有些经营很好的公司中，人员流动性依然很严重；相反，在那些经营不善的公司中，员工未必不忠实于企业。两者之间并不是充分必要的条件关系。其他公司的全职员工数量在本文中没有提及，[A]属于无关选项。
单选题
When mentioning "the South's weather got in the way of its development" (Line I, Paragraph 3), the author is talking about ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第三段开头：For a long time the South's weather got in the way of its development．…“Smallish barren farms almost lost in the white heat of a hot and humid summer sun as the owners and their help fought swarms of mosquitoes to plant，cultivate and harvest the meagre cotton crop for market．” [深层剖析] 本题既可以通过理解关键词组来作答，也可以通过后文的描述来解答。本段的第一句用get in the way这一词组来解释天气对南方发展的影响，其意思是“妨碍”；但如果考生不了解此词组的含义，还可以根据下文Richard Pillsbury教授对南方描述的词汇Smallish barren，hot and humid，meagre中得知其气候条件比较恶劣，所以阻碍南方发展。◆注意：有的试题解题思路突破点不止一处。 [主干扰项分析] 迪斯尼公司在南方选址不是因为南方的地理劣势，作者写此段的目的是为了先抑后扬，[A]不对。[D]选项的意思与正确答案完全相反。 [次干扰项分析] [B]谈到空调的问题，此句意思是正确的，空调能够在南方流行确实与南方恶劣的气候相关，但文章的目的不是讲空调的销售，而是说空调的普及解决了南方气候对其发展造成的影响。◆谨记：正确的观点不一定是正确的答案，错误的观点也未必是错误的选项。
单选题
In Old South, New South, Gavin Wright believes that ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 文章第三段结尾In his book Old South，New South，Gavin Wright lists four reasons why Federal defence spending stimulated growth. Sunshine attracted skilled professionals.…，without strong labour unions, entrenched…，the potential returns were higher than in the north. [深层剖析] 此题为人物观点题，近几年考题经常出现，例如2007年第1篇文章的24题；2006年第3篇文章的 32题。此类型题目答案点分布广泛，很难从原文中直接得出答案，需先阅读四个选项，然后再对应原文分析。文中提到“without entrenched bureaucracies，restrictive laws or outdated machinery”表明南部没有那些根深蒂固的官僚作风，也没有繁琐的司法制度，这就促进外来投资和移民。因此，[D]正确。 [主干扰项分析] 文中虽然提到南方比北方的投资回报大，但没有讲投资与回报的关系，故[A]不对。没有强大的工会组织可能有助于南部的发展，但北方的工会组织并不一定会阻碍其发展，因此[B]也是错误的。 [次干扰项分析] [C]选项中谈到一些专家来南方是因为气候原因，在此，有些同学曲解了sunshine的意思，其本意是阳光，但后文又提及clean slate(无不良记录)，目的是要表明sunshine是指“公开透明的阳光制度”。◆谨记：表达单词表面含义的答案往往是错误的选项。
单选题
Which of the following best defines the word "bolster" ( Line 2, Paragraph 4)?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第四段前两句：Southerners have prospered in part by playing to their traditional strengths．The fame of southern hospitality has bolstered the region's hotel chains，such as Holiday Inn. [深层剖析] 本题在考查考生词汇知识的同时，也考查大家对全文结尾段的写作思路的理解。全文最后一段第一句是用抽象的语言解释南部地区经济繁荣的一个原因，即：顺应(利用)了南部的传统力量。而第二句恰恰是用具体的事例来解释第一句，即：南方人好客的特点(南部的一种传统特点)促进了宾馆酒店业的发展。因此，要想得知bolster的意思，只要理解上一句话的意思即可。字典将其解释为“to support with or as if with a bolster： reinforce”所以选[B]。◆注意：此题虽然看似不难，但此类型题是将两种出题思路结合在一起，换在其他文章中，可能难度会很大，要小心作答。 [主干扰项分析] 不少同学看到[A]项很容易误选，认为flourish与上句中的prosper是同义词，但flourish作“昌盛，繁荣”解时，是不及物动词。 [次干扰项分析] [C]Cushion用作动词时意为“加衬垫”，不符合题意。[D]Blossom“兴旺，开花”与[A]选项为同义词。◆谨记：备选答案中存在的同义词皆为错误选项。
单选题
The text intends to express the idea that ______.