The European Union reached a preliminary deal to curb banker's compensation that would drastically limit the account that can be paid in bonuses. Britain resisted the move to cap the ratio between bankers' fixed and variable pay. In a nod to opposition from the City of London the new rules treat long-term incentives linked to equities and bonds more favourably. The deal has to be agreed on by finance ministries next week.
The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is still majority owned by the British taxpayer five years after a government bail-out, reported an annual pre-tax loss of ￡5.2 billion, mostly because of an accounting quirk connected to the value of its own debts.
RBS's loss was
put in the shade,
however, when Bankia later posted a net loss for 2012 of ￡19 billion. The Spanish government owns just under half the bank, but that is expected soon to rise to 70%.
A report by McKinsey underlined the impact of the financial crisis on annual cross-border capital flows, which fell by 60% from 2007 to $4.6 trillion last year. The study says that financial globalisation has "stalled" and that markets have reached an "inflection point" that could lead to a "Balkanised" structure based on local, rather than global, banking systems.
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, nominated Haruhiko Kuroda to become the next governor of the Bank of Japan. Mr. Kuroda is the current head of the Asian Development Bank and had been a vocal critic of the BOJ. Mr. Abe has turned the central bank's record into a political issue, urging it to do more to help "the real economy".
India's government unveiled the country's most important budget in years, as it seeks to boost output while controlling inflation. Growth has cooled rapidly to around 5%. The official forecast says that the economy will expand by up to 6.6% in 2013-2014, but the opposition is quick to point out that the estimate for this year was overly optimistic.
单选题
What can be learned from the first paragraph?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：根据选项A中的关键词“the EU”定位到第一段的首句，其中“the EU”=“the European Union”；“reached an agreement”=“reached a deal”；“curb banker's compensation”=“control banker's compensation”，故选项A是原文首句的同义转换，故为答案。根据选项B中的“bonuses”定位到该段首句，其中选项中的“considerably”对应原文的“drastically”；其余部分保持不变。但是原文关键词“limit”，被替换成选项中的“increase”，故该项错误。根据选项C中的“Britain”定位到该段第二句，原文说的是Britain拒绝，而选项说的是同意，而选项后面内容和原文是一致的，故该选项是错的。根据选项D定位到该段最后一句：The deal has to be agreed on by finance ministries next week．说明这个协议还未被通过，而选项说的是“The deal has been agreed on by finance ministries”．故错误。
单选题
According to Paragraph 2, which of the following is true?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：该题四个选项的主语都是“the Royal Bank of Scotland”，而问题已经锁定在了第二自然段，我们来一一分析。选项A中提到“completely possessed by the British taxpayer(被英国纳税人完全占有)”；而原文说的是“still majority owned by the British taxpayer(大部分仍然被英国纳税人拥有)”，故选项A错误。选项B对应该段中间部分：...reported an annual pre-tax loss of ￡5.2 billion．原文提及苏格兰皇家银行亏损很大，并未提到bankruptcy这样的字眼，故选项B错误。原文提到“RBS reposed an annual pre-tax loss of ￡5.2 billion，mostly because of an accounting quirk”，而选项C说的是“suffered the loss due to an accounting quirk”，即使不认识quirk这个词，至少我们知道选项C和原文几乎是原词复现，故为答案。选项D中出现的“financial crisis”在该段并未涉及，故属于无中生有。
单选题
The underlined phrase "put in the shade" (Para.3, Line 1 ) is most probably equal to ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：语义题需要在文章上下文寻找同义替换信息，而且一般过于表面的选项往往不太可能是答案。选项A，put in the darkness和原文“put in the shade”几乎是一样的，并非文章所表达的意思。剩下的三项中，选项B表达的意思是“相比之下没什么大不了的”，即没那么严重；选项C表达的意思是“更严重”；选项D表达的意思是“最严重”。而原文提到RBS损失了52亿英镑，而Bankia的损失是190亿英镑，因此相比而言RBS的损失没那么严重，故答案为选项B。短语put in the shade在此处可以理解为“相形见绌”。
单选题
McKinsey's report has ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：根据大写的“McKinsey”可以定位到第四段。选项A对应该段首句：A report by McKinsey underlined the impact of the financial crisis…而选项A说：McKinsey's report has emphasized the influence of financial crisis．其中“underlined”=“emphasized”：“impact”=“influence”。故选项A和原文是同义替换。选项B对应该段第二行：原文提及financial gloablisation这一词，但并未提到该选项中的“stress the importance”，故选项B是错误的。选项C关键词是“inflection point”，在该段的第三行我们可以找到这个词，但原文还是未提到它的影响。故选项C也是错误的。选项D中的关键词“‘Balkanised’structure”非常容易定位。该题的B、C和D三个选项都提及原文涉及的三个不同概念的词，但是均未提及它们的影响，该项中的“impact”一词是无中生有。故我们可以再次确认B、C和D都不是答案，答案为选项A。
单选题
Opponents of economic projection in India reckon that ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的“India”一词可定位到最后一段。题干中的“opponents”对应最后一句中的“the opposition”；“economic projection”对应“official forecast says that the economy…”故将答案锁定到最后一句。该句指出：...but the opposition is quick to point out that the estimate for this year was overly optimistic. 大意为：但是反对者指出，今年的预测太过于乐观。与该句话表述一致的是选项D，government prediction for this year may disappoint us(今年政府的预测可能会令人失望)。其中“government prediction”=“official forecast”；“may disappoint us”对应“overly optimistic”。故该题答案为选项D。