复合题

Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.

Text 2

President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an important truth today that business institutions have more prestige in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?

One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition than other institutions in society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected.

Competition is not only good in itself; it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected. Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly of power. In contrast to one, all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses compete for the customers’ dollar, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves.

A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that competition is as important as, or even more important than, democracy in preserving freedom.

Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the idea of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the aristocratic idea of inherited privilege. 

单选题 The statement “The business of America is business” probably means “_____”.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】回答本题的关键是理解business的两个不同的含义， “商业， 生意”与“职责， 事物”。 句中前一个business的意思应当是“事物， 职责”， 而后一个business的意思应当是“商业”， 因此C为正确答案。
单选题 Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】第二段最后一句话“Competition is not only good in itself; it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected.”指出竞争是对基本美国价值的保护伞， 故此题选D。
单选题 Who can benefit from business competition?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章第三段提到， 商家之间为利润而互相竞争， 因此商人在竞争中能获利； 而对待其顾客不好的商家会被对待其顾客好的商家在竞争中打败， 因此顾客也能从竞争中获利， 所以B为正确答案。
单选题 Government is believed to differ strikingly from business in that government is characterized by _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】由第四段第一句话“A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly.”可知商业与政府的不同之处在于商业是竞争性的， 而政府是垄断性的， 也即有着绝对的控制权。 由此可知此题选A。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】第五段第三句提到“Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background.”言下之意是在别的国家成功不是靠竞争， 而是靠社会地位， 故此题选B。