The new aircraft represents a $250m bet by Bombardier that Mexico could provide not just routine labour but manufacturing that depended on high-tech materials. It placed the bet, according to Michael McAdoo, head of global strategy, because it was seeing old European rivals go bust and new ones emerging in low-cost countries such as China and India. Workers in Wichita and Montreal complained. But Mr. McAdoo says they came to realise that if outsourcing some manufacturing to Mexico ensured Bombardier's future, it would safeguard their own jobs for years to come. A shared concern with employment is one of the reasons that politicians are starting to pay more attention to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which in recent years has been failing to live up to its early promise. Rebooting the agreement tops the agenda at the meeting of the leaders of the three countries scheduled to take place in Mexico this February. "There's a joint willingness among all three countries to relaunch the idea of North America, not just in terms of manufacturing, but in innovation and design," says Sergio Alcocer, under-secretary for North America in Mexico's foreign ministry. In May 2013 Barack Obama—who in 2007, on the campaign trail, called NAFTA a "mistake"—trumpeted cross-border trade on a visit to Mexico, noting that the United States exports more to Mexico than to the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—combined. On a visit in September his vice-president, Joe Biden, dwelt on NAFTA's untapped potential. The trade agreement was beginning to look out of date. There needed to be freer movement of "goods, people and information" across the borders, despite security worries. More shared infrastructure investment was necessary. He acknowledged that politicians had held up such improvements: "Make us do it," he urged business people and the public. In the United States, the potential of closer integration has been outweighed—at least in the eyes of politicians—by the fear of job losses, as well as illegal drugs, crime and immigration from Mexico. Canada, however, long ago started seeing Mexico as a rival in its relationship with the United States, rather than a partner. Mexico, in which almost half of the population lives in poverty, much the same level as 20 years ago, has mixed feelings.

单选题 Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：选项A和C可以定位到第一句，但“The new aircraft represents a $250m bet”表明这只是一个“bet”，即“打赌”，并非事实。选项D定位到最后一句“if outsourcing some manufacturing to Mexico ensured Bombardier's future, it would safeguard their own jobs for years to come”，请注意其中的“if”，暗示只是一种有前提的假设，而D选项的陈述直接夸大为了事实。选项B可以定位到第二句话，“because it was seeing old European rivals go bust and new ones emerging in low—cost countries such as China and India”，“old European rivals go bust”与“new ones emerging”都是原因，所以B选项符合原文意思。

单选题 According to Paragraph 2, which one is true about NAFTA?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：选项A对应原文第二段第一句“politicians are starting to pay more attention to NAFFA”，其中选项中的“always”与原文的“are starting to”明显不符，故该项错误。选项B对应原文的“… NAFTA, which in recent years has been failing to live up to its early promise.”其中“failing to live up to(没有做到)”与该项的“has reached(已经达到)”相悖，故错误。选项C对应“A shared concern with employment is one of the reasons that politicians are starting to pay more attention to NAFTA(对就业的共同关注是政客们开始关注NAFTA的原因之一)”。这与C项“政客重视NAFTA的目的之一在于促进就业”的表述一致，故该项为答案。D选项对应第二段最后一句，其中“all countries except Mexico”是原文未提到的，故该项错误。

单选题 According to Paragraph 3, which one is NOT true?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：选项A对应第三段第二、三行：the United States exports more to Mexico than to the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—combined. 根据这句话我们知道该项是正确的，非题干所问的NOT true对应的答案。选项B对应“There needed to be freer movement of “goods, people and information” across the borders, despite security worries”一句。其中“despite security worries”意为“尽管安全问题令人担忧”，说明该项表述也是正确的，故不是答案。选项C对应该段首句：In May 2013 Barack Obama—who in 2007, on the campaign trail, called NAFTA a “mistake”—trumpeted cross-border trade on a visit to Mexico. (2013年5月，巴拉克·奥巴马在访问墨西哥时倡导跨国贸易。而在2007年竞选巡回演讲中，他却称北美自由贸易协定是一个“错误”。) 通过这句话我们知道该项说“美国政府如今更重视与墨西哥的贸易”是正确的。选项D对应最后一句：He acknowledged that politicians had held up such improvements. 其中“held up(阻碍)”与该项的“greatly improved(大大促进)”完全相反，故该项是错误的。

单选题 We can learn from the last paragraph that ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：选项A对应第四段第三、四行：Canada, however, long ago started seeing Mexico as a rival in its relationship with the United States, rather than a partner. 可见加拿大是把墨西哥看作了对手，而不是该项说的把墨西哥和美国当作竞争对手。该项中Mexico and United States一处与原文不符，故错误。选项B对应第一句，尽管第四段未提到NAFTA一词，但我们知道该段提到的美国、加拿大和墨西哥都是北美国家，而该项说“NAFTA为北美三个国家带来的只有好处”，这与该句提到的“the fear of job losses, illegal drugs, crime and immigration from Mexico”完全相悖，故该项错误。选项C同样对应第一句，意思为：美国政治家预测到了北美国家紧密结合后可能出现的问题，这与原文提到的fear of job losses等内容相符合，故该项正确。选项D对应最后一句：Mexico, in which almost half of the population lives in poverty, much the same level as 20 years ago, has mixed feelings. 其中“mixed feelings(复杂的情感)”与该项的“feel optimistic”不符合，故该项错误。

单选题 The text mainly discusses about ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：文章第一段通过讨论墨西哥的劳动力引出北美国家就业问题，引出第二段首句的NAFTA，第二句的rebooting the agreement等关键信息，文章后面三段讨论的都是关于重新启动NAFTA以及可能面对的问题。其中第二段的shared concern，第三段的mistake，security worries，第四段的by fear of等信息都体现了问题的存在，故A选项最能体现文章大意。