Walmart is at an "
inflection point
". Those words are truer now than when Bill Simon, the head of its American operation, uttered them last October. He was talking about Walmart's plan for the first time to open more small and medium-sized stores in 2014 than giant "supercentres", and all that would mean. Now another big change looms. On February 1st the company gets a new chief executive, Doug McMillon, until now the head of its international business.
In some respects Mr. McMillon looks like a natural choice to manage a huge beast that inspires loathing and loyalty in equal measure. A native of Arkansas, Walmart's home state, he started out in one of the company's warehouses, rose as a specialist in merchandising (deciding how goods are displayed and sold in stores) and was head of the Sam's Club unit, stores where members buy in bulk.
Genial and approachable, Mr. McMillon may cure the corporate problem that afflicts Walmart when it talks to its 2. 2m employees, to its giant customer base (90% of Americans shop there at least once a year) and to critics who say it pays miserly wages and sucks life out of town centres. On January 15th the National Labour Relations Board accused Walmart of sacking and disciplining workers who went on strike in 2012. Walmart says it acted lawfully and claims to promote 160,000 people a year; Mr. McMillon's box-shifting calluses make such claims a bit more convincing.
Yet the international business, which he has led since 2009, is not thriving. This year it is expected to account for 28% of sales but it has just achieved 19% of operating income. Walmart has reduced costs in China and Brazil after expanding too fast. Confusing policies on foreign investment in retailing have hampered Walmart's push into India. Walmart is co-operating with investigations into allegations that executives in Mexico bribed officials; the inquiries have been broadened to the company's operations in India, Brazil and China. Mr. McMillon is not to blame for these setbacks, many of which date from before he took over, but neither has he brought about a turnaround.
单选题
The underlined phrase "inflection point" (Para. 1, Line 1) is closest to ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：根据“Walmart is at an‘inflection point’”我们很难猜测inflection point一词的意思，而下文的“Those words…and all that would mean”都是细节信息，也没有什么词可以定义inflection point，但是再往下我们会看到这么一句：Now another big change looms．其中出现了一个关键名词change，而且强调another change(另一个改变)，可见上文提到的“inflection point”对应“change(改变，转变)”。四个选项分别是：A“燃点”，B“转折点”，C“起点”，D“终点”。其中与“change(改变，转变)”接近的是“turning point(转折点)”，故得出turning point=change=inflection point，B项为答案。
单选题
According to Paragraph 2, which one of the following is true?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：选项A对应第二段首句，该句提到的“huge beast”指的是Walmart，而不是Mr. McMillon，选项A纯属曲解原文。选项B该段未提到，故错误。选项C对应该段最后一句：...the Sam's Club unit, stores where members buy in bulk. 其中“in bulk(大量)”对应“in large quantities”，故该项正确。选项D对应第二行：he started out in one of the company's ware-houses, rose as a specialist in merchandising…文章提到McMillon既是管理者，也是商品规划专家，但并没有说“在沃尔玛，所有管理者都是商品规划专家”，故该项是过度引申，因而错误。
单选题
Walmart was charged for ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的“Walmart”，“charged”定位到第三段。该段中间有这么一句：On January 15th the National Labour Relations Board accused Walmart of sacking and disciplining workers who went on strike in 2012. 其中charge与accuse同义，本题答案来自“accused Walmart of”后面的内容，即“sacking and disciplining workers”，其中sack意为“解雇”，discipline在此处不是“纪律”的意思，而是“处罚”的意思，故可知D项为答案，其中“dismissing and punishing”是“sacking and disciplining”的同义表达。
单选题
Which one is NOT true about Walmart's international business?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的“Walmart's international business”定位到最后一段。选项A对应第一句的“…which he has led since 2009”，其中“has led(领导)”对应该项的“has taken it over(接管)”。故A选项表述是正确的。选项B对应第二句：This year it is expected to account for 28％ of sales but it has just achieved 19％ of operating income．其中原文的“operating income(营业收入)”被改成了“net income(净收人)”，故该项表述错误，属于偷换概念。选项C对应的也是上面的句子，该句意为：今年国际市场预计占销售额的28％，实则只达到营业收入的19％。可见该项“今年销售额没有达到预定目标"的表述是正确的。选项D对应该段第三句：Walmart has reduced costs in China and Brazil after expanding too fast．其中“tighten its belt(勒紧裤腰带，节省开支)”对应“reduced costs”；“in fast-expanded countries”对应“in China and Brazil after expanding too fast”。综上所述，本题答案为选项B。
单选题
We can conclude from the last two paragraphs that ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：选项A对应的是最后一段第四句“Mr. McMillon is not to blame for these setbacks, many of which date from before he took over, but neither has he brought about a turnaround”，意思是“面对这些挫折，麦克米伦不该受到指责，许多问题根深蒂固，在他接管前就存在，但他也没有为企业带来扭转”，明确表明虽然麦克米伦不该被责备，但他的确没有促成企业的扭转。故A项正确。B选项也与此句的表达不符，因为他并没有解决企业的问题。C选项违背最后一段最后一句内容。D选项来自倒数第二段最后一句“Mr. McMillon's box-shifting calluses make such claims a bit more convincing”，貌似正确，但麦克米伦的说服力显然不仅仅是因为一些老茧，老茧只是他长久实践经验的象征而已，因此D选项比较肤浅。而且选项A比较符合最后两段要表明的中心思想：麦克米伦最终没有解决问题，但是他不应该被责备。