单选题 The domestic economy in the United States expanded in a remarkably vigorous and steady fashion. The revival in consumer confidence was reflected in the higher proportion of incomes spent for goods and services and the marked increase in consumer willingness to take on installment debt. A parallel strengthening in business psychology was manifested in a stepped-up rate of plant and equipment spending and a gradual pickup in expenses for inventory. Confidence in the economy was also reflected in the strength of the stock market and in the stability of the bond market. For the year as a whole, consumer and business sentiment benefited from the ease in East-West tensions.
The bases of the business expansion were to be found mainly in the stimulative monetary and fiscal policies that had been pursued. Moreover, the restoration of sounder liquidity positions and tighter management control of production efficiency had also helped lay the groundwork for a strong expansion. In addition, the economic policy moves made by the President had served to renew optimism on the business outlook while boosting hopes that inflation would be brought under more effective control. Finally, of course, the economy was able to grow as vigorously as it did because sufficient leeway existed in terms of idle men and machines.
The United States balance of payments deficit declined sharply. Nevertheless, by any other test, the deficit remained very large, and there was actually a substantial deterioration in our trade account to a sizable deficit, almost two-thirds of which was with Japan. While the overall trade performance proved disappointing, there are still good reasons for expecting the delayed impact of devaluation to produce in time a significant strengthening in our trade picture. Given the size of the Japanese component of our trade deficit, however, the outcome will depend importantly on the extent of the corrective measures undertaken by Japan. Also important will be our own efforts in the United States to fashion internal policies consistent with an improvement in our external balance.
The underlying task of public policy for the year ahead—and indeed for the longer run—remained a familiar one: to strike the right balance between encouraging healthy economic growth and avoiding inflationary pressures. With the economy showing sustained and vigorous growth, and with the currency crisis highlighting the need to improve our competitive posture internationally, the emphasis seemed to be shifting to the problem of inflation. The Phase Three program of wage and price restraint can contribute to reducing inflation. Unless productivity growth is unexpectedly large, however, the expansion of real output must eventually begin to slow down to the economy's larger run growth potential if generalized demand pressures on prices are to be avoided.

单选题 The author mentions increased installment debt in the first paragraph in order to show ______.

A. the continuing expansion of the economy
B. the growth of consumer purchasing power
C. the consumers'confidence in the economy
D. the soaring consumer incomes for spending

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[考点] 逻辑结构题。 [解析] 作者在第1段第2句中提到：The revival in consumer confidence was reflected in the higher proportion of incomes spent for goods and services and the marked increase in consumer willingness to take on installment debt. 从句子前后的逻辑关系可以看出，“消费者分期付款债务的增加”反映了他们对经济发展的信心。故应选C。A、B、D孤立起来看似乎都有道理，但从段落内部的直接逻辑关系来看似乎是答非所问，故应排除。这种逻辑结构题常考，是近年考研命题的一大特点，考生务必注意：解这类题时切忌凭常识答题，而应密切注意细节之间或论点与论据之间具体的逻辑关系。

单选题 Paragraph 2 mainly deals with ______.

A. the revival of stronger liquidity positions
B. the stimulative monetary and fiscal policies
C. the causes of business development for the period
D. economic policy measures suggested by the President

单选题 It can be inferred from the third paragraph that the author's attitude toward the reduction of the international payments deficit seems ______.

A. bitter-sweet
B. optimistic
C. sympathetic
D. depressing

单选题 Part of the public policy task, as outlined in the text, is to ______.

A. prevent payments deficit
B. avoid inflationary pressures
C. devalue the dollar
D. increase the balance of trade

单选题 It can be learned from the last paragraph that the Phase Three program contained ______.

A. reduced government spending
B. devaluation of the dollar
C. productivity measures
D. wage and price controls

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[考点] 细节理解题。 [解析] 从本文最后一段中可以了解，“第3阶段”计划包括哪些内容?本文最后一段倒数第2句写道：“The Phase Three program of wage and price restrainl ean eontribute to reducing inflation. ”(限制工资和价格的第3阶段计划有助于降低通货膨胀。)可见，D“工资和价格控制”与上面的句意相符。注意：有关经济方面的文章几乎每年阅读理解中都有一篇，考生应积极掌握这类文章中常用的词汇和短语。