阅读理解 As John Steele Gordon points out, Ben Bernanke's latest attempt to bail out a failing economy by manipulating interest rates isn't likely to be met with any more success than his first two tries. Some Democrats may think the Federal Reserve's decision to print more money will inflate the economy enough to get President Obama re-elected. The assumption is that it will cause a rise in the stock market that will be interpreted as a sign that the recovery has finally succeeded. However, the result of another dose of inflationary economics, compounded by growing debt, unemployment and less than 2 percent growth may be another recession that will come on the heels of the current anemic recovery.
The constant refrain coming from the administration and its defenders has been that a change of course away from the President's reliance on trying to spend our way out of the economic ditch would be a return to the failed Republican policies of the past that created the problem in the first place. But as James Pethokoukis writes at the American Enterprise Institute blog, it is cheap money and too much debt that caused the so-called Great Recession that the president inherits. That recession ended in the summer of 2009. It was followed by a recovery for which the President once took credit. But the feeble nature of that revival is something he still blames on his predecessor. Thanks to the continuation of the spending and debt binge that took place over the last four years, the country may soon be faced with another Great Recession no matter who wins in November. But it is not likely that most Americans will be willing to blame that one on George W. Bush.
Bernanke's third chorus of interest rate cuts is a last-ditch attempt to save Obama's recovery. But we may look back on it next year as the moment when the next Great Recession became inevitable. In the long run, only a program that aims to reform our out-of-control spending, tax cuts to fuel real economic growth and to create wealth, and sound money policies from the Fed will create a genuine recovery.
But a steady diet of more spending, debt and cheap money has set the stage for a transition from a weak recovery to another collapse. Indeed, the bad employment numbers show that the recovery never reached some sectors of the economy or the army of unemployed Americans.
President Obama is hoping Bernanke's latest stunt will give him the boost he needs to stay ahead of Mitt Romney in the final weeks of the campaign. But the long-term impact of the Fed chairman's QE3 may merely pave the path for a poor economy that will make a second term a misery for both Obama and the American people.
单选题 16.Why does Gordon believe Bernanke's policy isn't likely to be successful?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】事实细节题。根据题干关键词Gordon定位至第一段。该段However后是对第一句的解释,即疲软的经济复苏之后可能是再一次的经济衰退,而这个衰退是由通货膨胀经济政策所导致的。因此选[C]。其他几个选项的陈述本身正确,但并不是本·伯南克的政策不成功的理由,故均排除。
单选题 17.What led to the recession in the first place according to the administration and its defenders?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】事实细节题。根据题干关键词the administration and its defenders定位至第二段第一句。该题主要考查对该句的理解。政府和它的捍卫者们反对的理由是,改变总统对现行摆脱经济困境方法的依赖会重复过去共和党的政策所犯下的错误,而正是这些政策导致了最初的问题,因此选[A],同时排除[B]、[C]和[D]。
单选题 18.According to the passage, who deserves to be praised for the recovery?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推理判断题。文章第一段第二句提到现任的总统是奥巴马,第二段第四句提到总统因为经济复苏受到称赞“It was followed by a recovery for which the President once took credit.”没有提到前总统,或是继任总统。由此推断,受到称赞的人应该是奥巴马,因此选[B]。
单选题 19.Which of the following can cure the Great Recession and create a genuine recovery?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】事实细节题。根据题干关键词a genuine recovery定位至第三段第三句。由该句可知,从长远来看,只有旨在改革失控的支出计划、削减税收以及来自美联储的稳健的货币政策才能实现真正意义上的复苏。因此选[A]。其他几个选项都是断章取义:要改革失控的支出计划,而不是失控的支出计划本身可以解决经济衰退,故排除[B];削减税收的目的是刺激经济增长和创造财富,故排除[C];[D]的表述不完整,应该是美联储的稳健的货币政策。
单选题 20.What is the passage mainly about?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】主旨大意题。文章通篇都在谈论美联储的新政策,即QE3给美国政治及其经济带来的影响,因此选[B]。[A]太过笼统,伯南克的经济政策开始可能会刺激经济,但最终会导致新一轮的经济衰退;[C]和[D]对文章的概括都比较片面:[C]是QE3的最终结果,[D]是QE3最初的作用,故均排除。