"We will safeguard Britain's credit rating with a credible plan to eliminate the bulk of the structural deficit over a parliament," read the 2010 Conservative manifesto. Well, so much for that. The decision by Moody's, one of the three big rating agencies, to downgrade Britain from Aaa to Aal on February 22nd was a colossal embarrassment. Moody's now ranks Britain's credit lower than that of Luxembourg or the Isle of Man. Will the downgrade harm the economy? In the past countries with lower credit ratings have had to pay higher borrowing costs. But neither America, which was downgraded in 2011, or France, which suffered a similar fate last year, has suffered much. It is hard to spot an immediate impact in Britain, either. Investors had expected the ratings agencies to act after last year's autumn statement revealed that the government was struggling to reduce its deficit on schedule. The two other big ratings agencies—Fitch and Standard & Poor's—both have Britain on "negative watch". Sterling dropped to a 32-month low against the dollar and reached its weakest level against the euro since October 2011. Pull back a little, though, and the picture is more worrying. So far the pound is the weakest major currency of 2013. It has fallen even farther than the yen, where the decline had the explicit backing of the Japanese prime minister. In the past few weeks gilt yields have been rising relative to the cost of borrowing of the German government, too. Several things are making investors prudent of British assets. As Moody's noted in justifying its downgrade, the performance of the economy has been poor; figures released on February 27th showed that GDP had shrunk by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012 and is still 3% smaller than it was in the first quarter of 2008. Growth forecasts for the next few years were lowered in the autumn statement.
单选题
According to the text, Moody's is ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：根据出题顺序和题干中的“Moody's”一词定位到第一段第二行：The decision by Moody's, one of the three big rating agencies...可以推测Moody's和rating有关系，而选项C和D都涉及这个词，我们可以先排除A、B两项。再根据句中的“decision”一词，我们知道Moody's的作用是作决定，而非选项D的“protect the country”，故选项C正确。
单选题
The downgrade of credit ranking will ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的“the downgrade of credit ranking”定位到前两段。选项A对应第二段第二句，原文说的是“countries with lower credit ratings have had to pay higher borrowing costs”，而不是该项说的“Pay higher tax”，该项是偷换概念，错误。选项B明显是肯定选项，而从前两段可以看出downgrade带来的是负面影响，从这点来看就可以将其排除。选项C的“bankruptcy”是无中生有，原文没有提到，故该项错误。选项D对应第二段，由“Pay higher borrowing costs”可以看出downgrade对于一个国家的经济是不利的，即该项说的“do harm to a country's economy”是对的。故答案为选项D。
单选题
Britain has subjected to the situation that ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的“Britain”和出题顺序可定位到第三段。选项A对应该段最后一句：Sterling dropped to a 32-month low against the dollar and reached its weakest level against the euro since October 2011. 其中“sterling”=“its currency value”；“dropped”=“declined”。该项与原文是同义替换关系，故该项正确。选项B对应该段的“the government was struggling to reduce its deficit”一句，其中该项的“foreign debt(外债)”与“deficit(赤字)”不符，属于偷换概念的错误。选项C与原文“The two other big ratings agencies both have Britain on‘negative watch’”不符，故错误。选项D中的“since 2011”与原文表述不符，故错误。综上所述，该题答案为选项A。
单选题
We can infer from the last two paragraphs that ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：根据选项A中的“the weakest currency of 2013”定位到第四段第二句：So far the pound is the weakest major currency of 2013. 文章提到的是“pound”，而非“yen”，故该项错误。根据选项B中的Britain's assets定位到第五段首句：Several things are making investors prudent of British assets. 其中“prudent”=“careful”，故该选项为答案。根据选项C中的“economic performance”定位到第五段第二句：As Moody's noted in justifying its downgrade, the performance of the economy has been poor. 是Moody's noted而非Fitch noted，故该项错误。根据选项D中的“Feb 27th”和“GDP”两个词定位到第五段倒数第二句：...figures released on February 27th showed that GDP had shrunk by 0.3％...smaller than it was in the first quarter of 2008. 其中提到shrunk，即使看不懂，后面还提到smaller，都说明GDP是下滑而非选项所说的增长，故错误。综上所述，该题答案为选项B。
单选题
The best title for the text is ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：主旨题即问文章中心大意或者最合适的标题，主旨题最有效的方法是将各段首句放一起。Para.1: We will safeguard Britain's credit rating with a credible plan to eliminate the bulk of the structural deficit over a parliament, ...Para.2: Will the downgrade harm the economy? Para.3: It is hard to spot an immediate impact in Britain, either. Para.4: Pull back a little, though, and the picture is more worrying. Para.5: Several things are making investors prudent of British assets. A项：第二段首句提到economy，但文章重点讨论的内容并非经济，而是围绕英国在讨论，故选项A错误。B项：五段首句未提到Moody's，可见Moody's非文章讨论重点，故错误。C项：第一、三、五段均提到Britain，第二段提到downgrade，第三段提到impact，该项关键词都出现在各段首句中，故为答案。D项：该项同样出现Britain，deficit在第一段首句也提到，而solution一词并未涉及。故可以判断选项C为答案。