Inflation has just exploded. The real problem is that we have an underlying rate of inflation— an impetus of wages chasing prices—of maybe 9 percent that is heading towards 10 percent. There also have been tremendous shocks in energy, food and housing prices, making it worse. By the end of the year, we will be in a situation where year in, year out, we can look forward to at least 10 percent inflation. And the question will be: How much worse will oil, food and housing prices make that? The situation has degenerated to the point that the only way to turn it around is to think of some very extreme changes in policy. A policy of gradualism, where you're talking about a mild recession and another 1 to 2 million people unemployed, won't make much difference. Postponing action just means that inflation presses further and is even more difficult to deal with. You have to start with revenue and monetary restraint. All the burden now is on monetary policy. We should shift to a much more restrictive revenue policy and an easier monetary policy. To be significant, the 1981 budget should be cut by at least 20 billion dollars from 616 billion President Carter proposed. That's a major cut in government programs— and very hard to do. It's impossible if you save defense and all the programs indexed for changes in the cost of living. So it means cuts across the board in every area — including the indexed programs, such as Social Security and food stamps. State and local-government revenue-sharing programs are another major candidate. You've also got to reopen the 1980 budget and cut that. Then I would favor wage and price controls to break the impetus of the wage-price interaction. In order to get quick results, I'd set the standard around 5 or 6 percent for both wages and prices. Basically, you're aiming to cut the rate of inflation in half the first year. There would be no exceptions, but you would focus on large corporations and major labor settlements. For the special sectors where the big shocks have occurred, controls won't work. Instead, you need additional policies in each one of those areas. There are no cheap or easy solutions to the inflation problem. My answer is to take all the things that everybody wants to do, and instead of choosing among them, do all of them. We've got to think in terms of a comprehensive program.
单选题
In the author's opinion, the high inflation rate in the US was accompanied by______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】分析推理题。本题推断的依据是第一段第二句： ...an impetus of wages chasing prices(一种工资追赶物价的动力)以及第六段第一句：Then I Would favor wage and price controls…(那么我更赞成控制工资和物价……)。作者认为，随着物价上涨，工资也不断上涨，工资追赶着物价是通货膨胀的动力，这正是作者在后文中建议控制工资的原因。所以，作者的意思不言而喻：高通胀伴随着不断增长的工资(mounting wages)而来，故本题选[B]。有许多考生依据第一段最后一句误选了其他选项，其实只要仔细将其他选项与该句进行对照，就不难发现它们都是不符合原文的。
单选题
The only way to reverse the worsening situation seems to be ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题。对应的信息位于第三段第一句：...is to think of some very extreme changes in policy(在政策方面想出一些很极端的改变)。其中的extreme 相当于[C]项中的radical(激进的)。一部分考生误选了[A]项，但原文中指出：A policy of gradualism…won’t make any difference(按部就班的政策…不会有任何意义)，实际上是否定了这一政策。[D]项也是如此，在第三段最后一句中加以了否定。至于[B]项，在原文中没有体现。
单选题
We can learn from the fourth paragraph that______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】分析推理题。首先，该段第三句明确指出：We should shift to a much more restrictive revenue policy...(我们应当转向一种更为严格的税收政策……)；其次，该段后文又进一步说明应当削减政府预算，并且指出如果国防开支、与改善生活成本挂钩的其他项目都不做变化的话，减少预算是不可能做到的。由此可以看出，作者所说的a much more restrictive revenue policy指的就是减少年度税收，因此本题选[A]。其余三项中，[B]项与该段最后一句的意思相反；[C]项在该段中没有提及；[D]项中exercise less control over属于对该段第三句中的easier(宽松的，放宽的)一词的曲解，且与第一句中的start with revenue and monetary restraint．(首先约束税收和货币)明显相反。
单选题
The phrase "special sectors"(Line 1, Para. 7 ) most probably refers to ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】词句理解题。本题比较特殊，因为前后文中并没有出现与special sectors相对或相关的其他说明，因此初看上去，这一词组的出现比较突兀。但是，仔细研读题目所在句后，我们发现这个词组后有一个定语从句对其进行了限定：...where the big shocks have occurred，这与第一段最后一句中指出的There also have been tremendous shocks in energy，food and housing prices一处正好对应，故special sectors无疑就是指energy, food and housing这些部门，即本题答案是[A]。
单选题
What is the text mainly about?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章先指出(美国)通货膨胀率激增的现状，然后分析了原因，而在短文后半部分提出了解决这一问题的方案，且短文最后一句又强调指出：We’ve got to think in terms of a comprehensive program(我们得考虑一种全面的解决之道)，所以文章的主旨当然是如何全面解决美国的通货膨胀问题，即答案是[D]。其余三项都只是短文的部分内容，不是作者的写作重点和短文主旨。