单选题   What's the one word of advice a well-meaning professional would give to a recent college graduate? China? India? Brazil'? How about trade?
    When the Commerce Department reported last week that the trade deficit in June approached $50 billion, it set off a new round of economic doomsaying. Imports, which soared to $200. 3 billion in the month, are subtracted in the calculation of gross domestic product. The larger the trade deficit, the smaller the GDP. Should such imbalances continue, pessimists say, they could contribute to slower growth.
    But there's another way of looking at the trade data. Over the past two years, the figures on imports and exports seem not to signal a double-dip recession—a renewed decline in the broad level of economic activity in the United States—but an economic expansion.
    The rising volume of trade—more goods and services shuttling in and out of the United States—is good news for many sectors. Companies engaged in shipping, tracking, rail freight, delivery, and logistics (物流) have all been reporting better than expected results. The rising numbers signify growing vitality in foreign markets—when we import more stuff, it puts more cash in the hands of people around the world, and U. S. exports are rising because more foreigners have the ability to buy the things we produce and market. The rising tide of trade is also good news for people who work in trade-sensitive businesses, especially those that produce commodities for which global demand sets the price—agricultural goods, mining, metals, oil.
    And while exports always seem to lag, U. S. companies are becoming more involved in the global economy with each passing month. General Motors sells as many cars in China as in America each month. While that may not do much for imports, it does help GM's balance sheet—and hence makes the jobs of U. S. -based executives more stable.
    One great challenge for the U. S. economy is slack domestic consumer demand. Americans are paying down debt, saving more, and spending more carefully. That's to be expected, given what we've been through. But there's a bigger challenge. Can U. S. -based businesses, large and small, figure out how to get a piece of growing global demand? Unless you want to pick up and move to India, or Brazil, or China, the best way to do that is through trade. It may seem obvious, but it's no longer enough simply to do business with our friends and neighbors here at home.
    Companies and individuals who don't have a strategy to export more, or to get more involved in foreign markets, or to play a role in global trade, are shutting themselves out of the lion's share of economic opportunity in our world.
单选题     How do pessimists interpret the U. S. trade deficit in June?______
 
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】文章第二段最后一句指出，悲观人士说，如果这种不平衡状态持续下去，可能会导致经济增长放缓。而“不平衡状态”指的就是前面提到的进出口贸易不平衡，故选C。选项中的lead to相当于原文中的contribute to。 [参考译文] 如果一位好心的专业人士要给刚刚毕业的大学生一个词作为建议，会是哪个词呢?“中国”?“印度”?“巴西”?“贸易”怎么样? 上周商务部报告说六月份贸易赤字高达500亿美元，这引发了新一轮的经济衰退说。这个月的进口额飙升至2003亿美元，但在计算国内生产总值(GDP)时被扣除了。贸易赤字越大，GDP就越小。悲观人士说，如果这种不平衡状态持续下去，可能会导致经济增长速度放缓。 但是还可以从另外一个角度分析这些贸易数据。在过去的两年里，进出口数据似乎并没有表明经济陷入了二度衰退——即美国经济活动大范围的再度衰退——而是一种经济扩张的表现。 贸易额不断增长——进出美国的商品和服务日益增多——对许多行业来说是个好消息。报道显示，海运公司、货运公司、铁路运输公司、快递公司和物流公司的业绩都比预期的要好日益增长的数字表明国外市场越来越有活力——我们进口的商品越多，世界人民手中的现金就越多，而美国的出口额增加是因为有更多的外国人有能力购买我们生产和销售的东西贸易增长的趋势对在贸易敏感行业工作的人来说也是个好消息，尤其是对那些生产的商品由全球需求定价(比如农产品、矿产、金属和石油)的人来说更是如此。 尽管出口似乎总是处于落后的状态，但美国企业却月复一月更多地参与到了全球经济中。通用汽车公司在中国的汽车月销量和在美国一样多。尽管这对进口的意义或许不大，但它的确有助通用汽车公司改善其资产负债表的表现——因此也让美国总部高管的工作更加稳定。 美国经济面临的一大挑战是国内消费需求疲软。美国人都在偿还贷款，储蓄更多，消费也更加谨慎。考虑到我们之前的经历，这也是预料之中的事j但是还有一项更大的挑战。美国的企业，不论大小，都能想出从日益增长的全球需求中分得一杯羹的办法吗?除非你想收拾行李搬到印度、巴西或中国，否则最好的办法就是贸易。虽然只与国内的朋友和邻居做生意是自然而然的事，但如今已远远不够了那些没有就扩大出口、更多地融入国外市场或者在国际贸易中占有一席之地而制定策略的公司和个人，也就是在拒绝全球经济最大的机遇。
单选题     What does the author say about the trade data of the past two years?______
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】文章第三段第一句指出，但是还可以从另外一个角度分析这些贸易数据，说明作者并不认同经济衰退的说法。注意本段第二句有很多干扰信息：首先提到了a double-dip recession，接着破折号后又对此进行了解释，但这些都不是答案，本题答案在最后的but转折处：but an economic expansion(而是一种经济扩张的表现)，这才是作者真正的观点。选项A中的increased对应原文中的expansion，故选A。
单选题     Who particularly benefit from the rising volume of trade?______
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】文章第四段首句指出贸易额的增长让很多行业受益。考生需注意本题题干中的particularly，所以原文中particularly近义词前后才是答案所在。该段最后一句中的especially与题干中的particularly为同义替换，故本题答案就在破折号前后，即生产的商品由全球需求定价(比如农产品、矿产、金属和石油)的人。选项C中的producers与原文中的produce对应，law materials则相当于原文中的mining，metals，oil. 故选C。
单选题     What is one of the challenges facing the American economy?______
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】第六段第一句提到，美国经济面临的一大挑战是国内消费需求疲软，选项C与原文属于同义转换，故选C。考生切不能因为原文中出现slack这个词而误选D。
单选题     What is the author's advice to U. S. companies and individuals?______
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章最后一段只有一句话，大意是美国企业和个人若不制定策略扩大出口或者更多地参与国际贸易，就会错失全球经济最大的机遇，言外之意就是作者认为他们应该增加海外市场份额，故选B。