Passage Two
　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
　　Henry Ford, the famous U.S. inventor and car manufacturer, once said, “The business of America is business.” By this he meant that the U.S. way of life is based on the values of the business world.
　　Few would argue with Ford’s statement. A brief glimpse at a daily newspaper vividly shows how much people in the United States think about business. For example, nearly every newspaper has a business section, in which the deals and projects, finances and management, stock prices and labor problems of corporations are reported daily. In addition, business news can appear in every other section. Most national news has an important financial aspect to it. Welfare, foreign aid, the federal budget, and the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business. Moreover, business news appears in some of the unlikeliest places. The world of arts and entertainment is often referred to as “the entertainment industry” or “show business.”
　　The positive side of Henry Ford’s statement can be seen in the prosperity that business has brought to U.S. life. One of the most important reasons so many people from all over the world come to live in the United States is the dream of a better job. Jobs are produced in abundance (大量地) because the U.S. economic system is driven by competition. People believe that this system crates more wealth, more jobs, and a materially better way of life.
　　The negative side of Henry Ford’s statement, however, can be seen when the word business is taken to mean big business. And the term big business—referring to the biggest companies, is seen in opposition to labor. Throughout U.S. history working people have had to fight hard for higher wages, better working conditions, and the fight to form unions. Today, many of the old labor disputes are over, but there is still some employee anxiety. Downsizing—the laying off of thousands of workers to keep expenses low and profits high—creates feelings of insecurity for many.
　　26. The United States is a typical country ________.
　　A) which encourages free trade at home and abroad
　　B) where people’s chief concern is how to make money
　　C) where all businesses are managed scientifically
　　D) which normally works according to the federal budget（D）
　　27. The influence of business in the U.S. is evidenced by the fact that ________.
　　A) most newspapers are run by big businesses
　　B) even public organizations concentrate on working for profits
　　C) Americans of all professions know how to do business
　　D) even arts and entertainment are regarded as business（C）
　　28. According to the passage, immigrants choose to settle in the U.S., dreaming that ________.
　　A) they can start profitable businesses there
　　B) they can be more competitive in business
　　C) they will make a fortune overnight there
　　D) they will find better chances of employment（B）
　　29. Henry Ford’s statement can be taken negatively because ________.
　　A) working people are discouraged to fight for their fights
　　B) there are many industries controlled by a few big capitalists
　　C) there is a conflicting relationship between big corporations and labor
　　D) public services are not run by the federal government（C）
　　30. A company’s efforts to keep expenses low and profits high may result in ________.
　　A) reduction in the number of employees
　　B) improvement of working conditions
　　C) fewer disputes between labor and management
　　D) a rise in workers’ wages（D）
　　這篇材料的核心內(nèi)容是美國(guó)無處不在的商業(yè)哲學(xué)。這一哲學(xué)的創(chuàng)始者就是亨利·福特，小段引用他的話說：The business of America is business，個(gè)business應(yīng)該泛指“事情”，第二個(gè)指“商業(yè)”、“買賣”，大體句意是說美國(guó)人的生活就是商業(yè)。后面的一句也對(duì)這句名言做了解釋：美國(guó)人的生活方式搭建在商業(yè)世界的價(jià)值基礎(chǔ)之上（way of life is based on the values of the business world）。
　　這句話到底因何而出呢？第二段集中筆墨對(duì)此做了詳述。作者的著眼點(diǎn)主要在于美國(guó)的報(bào)紙。幾乎所有報(bào)紙都一個(gè)商業(yè)板塊，里面充斥著交易、項(xiàng)目、財(cái)經(jīng)、管理、股價(jià)等等報(bào)道（the deals and projects, finances and management, stock prices and labor problems of corporations are reported daily）。而大多數(shù)全國(guó)性報(bào)紙的財(cái)經(jīng)板塊對(duì)于報(bào)紙本身來說地位至關(guān)重要。商業(yè)新聞還出現(xiàn)在一些貌似不可能出現(xiàn)的地方（business news appears in some of the unlikeliest places）。藝術(shù)與娛樂世界經(jīng)常被成為娛樂產(chǎn)業(yè)或是演藝商業(yè)。
　　作者羅列了如此豐富的證據(jù)，看來福特的名言確實(shí)無可爭(zhēng)辯。接下來，作者就來討論商業(yè)社會(huì)利弊了。首先是利：商業(yè)給美國(guó)帶來了繁榮（prosperity that business has brought to U.S. life）。許多人奔赴美國(guó)的重要原因之一是這里可以找到更好的工作（dream of a better job）。由于美國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)系統(tǒng)是由競(jìng)爭(zhēng)驅(qū)動(dòng)的，就產(chǎn)生了大量的職位需求。人們相信這一系統(tǒng)創(chuàng)造了更多的財(cái)富、職位，改善了物質(zhì)生活（this system creates more wealth, more jobs, and a materially better way of life）。
　　后一段討論了商業(yè)哲學(xué)的消極影響。作者首先說明消極影響的發(fā)生條件：當(dāng)business指的是big business，而big business指的是biggest companies的時(shí)候，而這種影響發(fā)生在大公司的勞方身上。在美國(guó)歷史上，工人始終要為更高的工資、更好的工作條件和組織工會(huì)的權(quán)利而與資方斗爭(zhēng)（higher wages, better working conditions, and the right to form unions）。現(xiàn)在，雖然舊有的勞資糾紛已經(jīng)消失，但勞方依然存在某方面的憂慮，比如，為節(jié)約成本、增加利潤(rùn)的目的而經(jīng)常發(fā)生的裁員現(xiàn)象（laying off詞組指的是解雇），就使許多人感到不安。
　　26. B
　　題目問的是美國(guó)是一個(gè)什么樣的典型國(guó)家。
　　A，鼓勵(lì)國(guó)內(nèi)外的自由貿(mào)易。
　　B，人們關(guān)心的問題是如何賺錢。
　　C，所有的公司都得到了科學(xué)地管理。
　　D，依賴聯(lián)邦預(yù)算而正常運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的國(guó)家。
　　本文的段很短，出題的可能性不大，而結(jié)合題目來看，僅從段確實(shí)無法直接得出答案。本題的解答需要充分理解第二段。
　　雖然段內(nèi)容較短，但其后一句話卻是第二段整段的核心。該句的意思是美國(guó)人的生活方式基于商業(yè)世界的價(jià)值。第二段從美國(guó)社會(huì)的商業(yè)新聞無孔不入現(xiàn)象出發(fā)，論述了這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)。
　　結(jié)合四個(gè)題支，可以看出本題并不是很難，因?yàn)锳和C的說法在文中根本沒有出現(xiàn)，可以直接排除。D中的federal budget在文中有所提及：the federal budget, and the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business，意思是聯(lián)邦預(yù)算要受到商業(yè)的重大影響。這一句同樣是強(qiáng)調(diào)商業(yè)的重要性的。這樣的話，D也可以排除。
　　這樣就只剩下B了。B的說法實(shí)際上是段后一句話的通俗說法，因?yàn)椋绹?guó)人連自己的生活方式都是基于商業(yè)世界的價(jià)值，那么他們首先關(guān)心的確實(shí)應(yīng)該是賺錢——商業(yè)的本質(zhì)就是賺錢。第二，商業(yè)新聞無孔不入，說明人們非常關(guān)心這類新聞，否則刊登這類新聞的報(bào)紙的銷路就會(huì)受到影響。
　　27. D
　　題目問商業(yè)在美國(guó)的影響以哪一事實(shí)而得到證明。
　　A，大多數(shù)報(bào)紙都由大公司運(yùn)營(yíng)。第二段以大量篇幅描述了與報(bào)紙相關(guān)的內(nèi)容，作者舉出這些報(bào)紙的例子的目的是什么呢？第二句話是一個(gè)概括句，A brief glimpse at a daily newspaper vividly shows how much people in the United States think about business，可以看出這些報(bào)紙可以顯示出美國(guó)人對(duì)商業(yè)的想法。這和由什么公司運(yùn)營(yíng)沒有關(guān)系，所以A是錯(cuò)誤的。
　　B，即便是公共機(jī)構(gòu)也集中全力賺錢。與這句話相關(guān)的原文是：Welfare, foreign aid, the federal budget, and the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business，這里的welfare（福利）和foreign aid（外國(guó)援助）應(yīng)該和公共機(jī)關(guān)有關(guān)，但heavily affected by business僅是說受到商業(yè)影響，這不代表就是集中精力賺取利潤(rùn)。
　　C，所有不同職業(yè)的美國(guó)人都知道如何做生意。文中沒有明確這一點(diǎn)，從常識(shí)上也可以判斷這種說法太過武斷了。
　　D，即便是藝術(shù)和娛樂也被視為生意。這一說法和第二段后一句話相照應(yīng)：The world of arts and entertainment is often referred to as “the entertainment industry” or “show business.”
　　28. D
　　題目問移民選擇到美國(guó)定居，懷揣什么樣的夢(mèng)想。
　　A，他們能在美國(guó)開展有利可圖的生意。
　　B，他們能在生意上更具競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。
　　C，他們能在美國(guó)一夜暴富。
　　D，他們能獲得更好的工作機(jī)會(huì)。
　　第三段提到了人們來到美國(guó)定居的原因：One of the most important reasons so many people from all over the world come to live in the United States is the dream of a better job，這里講的非常明顯，原因就是想要獲得一份更好的工作，是job，而不是business（可排除A）。D的說法與此為接近。
　　此句之后的兩句做了進(jìn)一步的解釋，其中提到了driven by competition，B的說法應(yīng)該是源于這里的competition，不過本句意思是說競(jìng)爭(zhēng)會(huì)促使工作機(jī)會(huì)大量出現(xiàn)，和增強(qiáng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力沒有關(guān)系。
　　C的說法可能源于第三段后一句中的wealth一詞，不過理解文意后可以輕松排除該選項(xiàng)。
　　29. C
　　題目問福特的名言也可以消極地理解，是因?yàn)槭裁础?
　　A，不鼓勵(lì)工人為自己的權(quán)利而戰(zhàn)。
　　B，許多產(chǎn)業(yè)被少數(shù)大資本家控制。
　　C，在大公司和工人之間存在沖突關(guān)系。
　　D，公告事業(yè)不由聯(lián)邦政府運(yùn)營(yíng)。
　　福特名言的消極一面是后一段的內(nèi)容（開頭即提到The negative side of Henry Ford’s statement）。后一段先是指出進(jìn)行消極理解的前提條件：business指代大公司。在這一前提下，大公司是與工人對(duì)立的（in opposition to labor），后文具體論述了二者如何對(duì)立，如工人要求提高工資待遇、資方進(jìn)行裁員等等。
　　和這些內(nèi)容相關(guān)的選項(xiàng)有A和C，其中C的說法完全符合第三段的論述。至于A，因?yàn)槿鄙倭岁P(guān)鍵的前提條件——大公司，所以不能認(rèn)為是正確的。
　　30. A
　　題目問公司壓縮成本、抬高利潤(rùn)的行為有可能導(dǎo)致什么。
　　A，減少員工數(shù)量。
　　B，改善工作環(huán)境。
　　C，減少工人和管理層直接的摩擦。
　　D，提高工人工資。 　
　　題目里的keep expenses low and profits high一句出現(xiàn)在后一段的后一句話：Downsizing—the laying off of thousands of workers to keep expenses low and profits high—creates feelings of insecurity for many，可以看出keep前面有to，表明這是一個(gè)目的狀語(yǔ)，那么to前面的內(nèi)容就是題目所問的內(nèi)容。這道題可以歸結(jié)為是對(duì)短語(yǔ)the laying off的考查。Laying off的意思是“解雇”，那么the laying off of thousands of workers就是“解雇成千上萬(wàn)的工人”，恰好是A所說的“減少員工數(shù)量”。
　　如果不了解這個(gè)短語(yǔ)的含義，從downsizing這個(gè)單詞的結(jié)構(gòu)上也可以作出大致的判斷（down——向下，size——尺寸）。另外，BCD三個(gè)選項(xiàng)都是對(duì)工人有利的情形，必然不會(huì)引起工人的憂慮，這就和原文中的feelings of insecurity（不安全感）意思相反了。從這一點(diǎn)也可以排除BCD三個(gè)錯(cuò)誤選項(xiàng)。

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