Walmart is at an " inflection point ". Those words are truer now than when Bill Simon, the head of its American operation, uttered them last October. He was talking about Walmart"s plan for the first time to open more small and medium-sized stores in 2014 than giant "supercentres" , and all that would mean. Now another big change looms. On February 1st the company gets a new chief executive , Doug McMillon, until now the head of its international business. In some respects Mr McMillon looks like a natural choice to manage a huge beast that inspires loathing and loyalty in equal measure. A native of Arkansas, Walmart"s home state, he started out in one of the company"s warehouses, rose as a specialist in merchandising(deciding how goods are displayed and sold in stores)and was head of the Sam"s Club unit, stores where members buy in bulk. Genial and approachable, Mr McMillon may cure the corporate problem that afflicts Walmart when it talks to its 2. 2m employees, to its giant customer base(90% of Americans shop there at least once a year)and to critics who say it pays miserly wages and sucks life out of town centres. On January 15 th the National Labour Relations Board accused Walmart of sacking and disciplining workers who went on strike in 2012. Walmart says it acted lawfully and claims to promote 160,000 people a year; Mr McMillon"s box-shifting calluses make such claims a bit more convincing. Yet the international business, which he has led since 2009, is not thriving. This year it is expected to account for 28% of sales but it has just achieved 19% of operating income. Walmart has reduced costs in China and Brazil after expanding too fast. Confusing policies on foreign investment in retailing have hampered Walmart"s push into India. Walmart is co-operating with investigations into allegations that executives in Mexico bribed officials; the inquiries have been broadened to the company"s operations in India, Brazil and China. Mr McMillon is not to blame for these setbacks, many of which date from before he took over, but neither has he brought about a turnaround.

单选题 The underlined phrase "inflection point"(Para 1, Line 1)is closest to______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：根据Walmart is at an“inflection point”我们很难猜测inflection point一词的意思，而下文的“Those words…and all that would mean”都是细节信息，也没有什么词可以定义inflection point，但是再往下我们会看到这么一句：Now another big change looms．其中出现了一个关键名词change，而且强调“another change另一个改变”，可见上文提到的inflection point对应change(改变，转变)。四个选项分别是：[A]燃点，[B]转折点，[C]起点，[D]终点。其中与“change改变，转变”接近的是“turning point转折点”，故得出turning point=change=inflectionpoint，[B]项为答案。

单选题 According to Paragraph 2, which one of the following is true?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：选项[A]对应第二段首句，该句提到的huge beast指的是Walmart，而不是Mr Mc—Millon，选项[A]纯属曲解原文。选项[B]该段未提到，故错误。选项[C]对应该段最后一句：…the Sam’s Club unit，stores where members buy in bulk．其中in bulk(大量)对应in large quantities，故该项正确。选项[D]对应第二行：he started out in one of the company’s warehouses，roseas a specialist in merchandising…文章提到McMillon既是管理者，也是商品规划专家，但并没有说“在沃尔玛，所有管理者都是商品规划专家”，故该项是过度引申，因而错误。

单选题 Walmart was charged for______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的Walmart，charged定位到第三段。该段中间有这么一句：On January15th the National Labour Relations Board accused Walmart of sacking and disciplining workers whowent on strike in 2012．其中charge对应accuse，本题答案来自“accused Walmart of”后面的内容，即sacking and disciplining workers，其中sack表示“解雇”，discipline在此处不是“纪律”的意思，而是“处罚”的意思，故可知[D]项为答案，其中dismissing and punishing是sacking anddisciplining的同义表达。

单选题 Which one is NOT true about Walmart"s international business?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：根据Walmart’s international business定位到最后一段。选项[A]对应第一句的“…which he has led since 2009”，其中“lead领导”对应该项的“take over接管”。故[A]选项表述是正确的。选项[B]对应第二句：This year it is expected to account for 28％ of sales but it hasjust achieved 19％ of operating income．其中原文的operating income(营业收入)被改成了netincome(净收入)，故该项表述错误，属于偷换概念。选项[C]对应的也是上面的句子，该句意为：今年国际市场预计占销售额的28％，实则只达到营业收入的19％。可见该项“今年销售额没有达到预定目标”的表述是正确的。选项[D]对应该段第三句：Walmart has reduced costs inChina and Brazil after expanding too fast．其中tighten its belt(勒紧裤腰带，节省开支)对应re-duced costs：in fast-expanded countries对应in China and Brazil after expanding too fast。综上所述，本题答案为选项[B]。

单选题 We can conclude from the last paragraph that______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：选项[A]对应的是最后一段第四句：Confusing policies on foreign investment in retai—ling have hampered Walmart’s push into India．unclear overseas policies对应confusing policies onforeign investment；hindered Walmart’s spread对应hampered Walmart’s push。故[A]项正确。选项[B]situations of overseas markets have turned around for Walmart(沃尔玛海外市场情况有所好转)与该段最后一句but neither has he brought about a turnaround(但他也没带来任何扭转)表述不符，故错误。选项[C]中的only一词是明显错误，文章并没有说沃尔玛的海外市场仅集中在这几个国家。选项[D]中的“McMillon is to blame for problems…”与原文“Mr McMillon is notto blame for these setbacks”完全相反，故该项错误。