1、2000 Text 1A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its
2、 industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the worlds best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed. It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other
3、 countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign
4、 competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Koreas LG Electronics in July.) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. Americas machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looke
5、d as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing busines
6、s was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of Americas industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.How things h
7、ave changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride. “American industry has chan
8、ged its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted,“ according to Richard Cavanaugh, executive dean of Harvards Kennedy School of Government. “It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,“ says Stephen Moore of the Cato I
9、nstitute, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as “a golden age of business management in the United States.“51. The U.S. achieved its predominance after World War because_.A it had made painstaking eff
10、orts towards this goalB its domestic market was eight times larger than beforeC the war had destroyed the economies of most potential competitorsD the unparalleled size of its workforce had given an impetus to its economy52. The loss of U.S. predominance in the world economy in the 1980s is manifest
11、ed in the fact that the American _.A TV industry had withdrawn to its domestic marketB semiconductor industry had been taken over by foreign enterprisesC machine-tool industry had collapsed after suicidal actionsD auto industry had lost part of its domestic market53. What can be inferred from the pa
12、ssage?A It is human nature to shift between self-doubt and blind pride.B Intense competition may contribute to economic progress.C The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation.D A long history of success may pave the way for further development.54. The author seems to believe the
13、revival of the US economy in the 1990s can be attributed to the_.A turning of the business cycleB restructuring of industryC improved business managementD success in education核心词汇1. effortless 没有努力的2. dreadful 可怕的3. handicap 障碍4. handle 处理；解决5. drive 驱动； driving force 驱动力6. glowing 光辉的；灿烂的7. competi
14、tor 竞争对手8. unparalleled 无可比拟的；unmatched=matchless 无可比拟的9. skilled 熟练的10. beyond 超出11. inevitable 不可避免的12. primacy 主导地位13. narrow 缩小14. retreat 撤退；后退15. predominance 绝对主导地位16. at a loss over 对不知所措17. fade 消退；减弱18. competitiveness 竞争力19. shrink 缩小；萎缩20. vanish 消失21. in the face of 面对22. textile 纺织品23.
15、 sweep into 涌入24. domestic 国内25. on the ropes 危在旦夕；命悬一线26. casualty 牺牲品27. cause 引起28. takefor granted 想当然29. inquiry 调查；询问30. sensational 轰动一时的31. look back on 回顾32. solid 稳定；固定33. attributeto 把.归因于34. solely 仅仅35. devalue 贬值36. self-doubt 自我怀疑37. yield to 让位于38. blind pride 盲目自豪39. go on a diet 减肥
16、；裁剪机构40. quick-witted 才智敏捷难句精解A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force.该句是一个并列句，由前后两个转折关系的分句组成，其间的连词为 but。but 与后一个分句之间又插入一个由 if 引导的条件状语 if properly handled，该状语原来是一个 if 引导的条件状语从句，即 if it(a history of long and effortle
17、ss success) is properly handled，其中的it is 由于和该分句的主句部分主谓语一致而被省略掉了。本句结构比较简明，只需注意 but 与 it may become a driving force 之间的 if 结构是一个插入语，并且是一个省略了主语和系动词的被动语态。此外 handicap 意为“不利条件” 。Its scientists were the worlds best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of th
18、e Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.前一句中 its workers the most skilled 是一个伴随状语，省略了其中的 being，补齐成分后应为 its workers being the most skilled。后一句中 beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians 作 prosperous 的状语，beyond 为介词，是“超越，超出”的意思。而 whose economies the war had destroyed 作定语从句修饰 th
19、e Europeans and Asians，原形是 the war had destroyed the economies of the Europeans and Asians。注意 beyond 一词的意思，它表示“在之外” 。For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had invented and which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.该句带有一个表语
20、从句，其表语从句中又套有两个并列的定语从句。全句主句部分的主谓结构是 it looked.，as though（即 as if 好像）引导的从句是 looked（看上去）的表语。表语从句中主语为 the making of semiconductors，谓语为 was going to be，而逗号之间的两个 which 从句是 the making of semiconductors 的非限定性定语，同时又是插入语。注意理解 the next casualty 的含义，casualty 本意为“伤亡”，此处是“被国外产品击败的美国本土产业”。Their sometimes sensation
21、al findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.英语的句式词汇一般都比较简练，如果将本句用中国人习惯的语式讲出应该如下：Their sometimes surprising findings about the causes of Americans industrial decline are full of the warnings about the growing competition from overseas nations.sensational 即 surpri
22、sing。另外注意本句的中心意思在句末的 the growing competition from overseas。Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride.attribute. to.将归功或归咎于。solely 作状语修饰 attribute，this 指代上一句中的 five years of solid growth，
23、此外 as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle 作宾语 such obvious causes 的补语。yield to 是“ 向屈服” ，即“被取代”。此处使用了现在完成时，证明这种状态到现在已成型。试题解析51. C 意为：战争摧毁了多数潜在的竞争国的经济。第一段指出，第二次世界大战以后，美国进入一个欣欣向荣的(glowing)发展时期，它拥有八倍于其他任何一个竞争国家的市场，工业经济发展到空前规模，它拥有世界上最优秀的科学家和技术最高的工人。美国的繁荣和美国人的富裕水平，是欧洲人和亚洲人做梦也达不到的，因为战争摧毁
24、了他们的经济。A意为：它已经为实现这一目标付出了艰苦的努力。该选项错在 Painstaking 与原文的 effortless 相反。B选项错在 before 上，应该改为比其它竞争对手。D 错误在 unparalled 在原文是修饰 economies of scale 而不是修饰workforce。52. D 意为：汽车工业失去了部分国内市场。第二段第六句提到，进口车和纺织品涌进（美国）国内市场，这意味着美国失去了部分国内市场。A 意为；电视工业萎缩回到了国内市场（即：该工业失去了国际市场） 。根据第二段，到 80 年代中期，面对其工业竞争力的日益衰退，美国人感到无计可施(at a los
25、s)，美国某些大的行业如电子消费品在园际竞争的压力下，面临萎缩或消亡的威胁。到 1987 年为止，美国仅存的电视制造商只有 Zenith 一家了（现在已荡然无存：Zenith 于 7月份（指文章写作年代的 7 月份）被韩国 LG 电子有限公司购买） 。这里并没有直接提到美国电视失去国际市场，事实上，它连国内市场也保不住了。B半导体行业被外国公司接管。第二段最后一句提到，在一段时间内，半导体制造业似乎要成为下一个受害者，虽然美国是半导体的发明者，而且半导体又处于新的计算机时代的核心位置（即：在新的时代中起着关键作用） 。本句中 casualty 意为“伤亡” 、 “受害者”，与上一句中 be o
26、n the ropes（美语俚语，意为“即将完蛋” ）相照应。这里所说的是半导体制造商似乎(as though)要失去国内外市场而不是被国外企业接管。C机床制造业自取灭亡。第二段提到了机床制造业“危在旦夕 ”(on the ropes)。这显然也是说它正在失去国内外市场，并未提到它的消失。53. B 意为：激烈的竞争可能促进经济的发展。第三段提到，严峻的现实（this 指上一段中提到的诸多现状）使美国人失去了自信，他们不再认为繁荣是自然而至的事，他们开始认识到自己的经营方式存在严重问题(failing)。在 80 年代中期，他们开始挖掘美国经济衰退的原因，他们有时有些轰动一时(sensatio
27、nal)发现，其中往往提示人们警惕外来竞争。第四段提到了 90 年代的经济复苏。其中的含义是：在竞争的压力下，美国人在 80 年代进行了自我反思和产业结构调整，因此带来了 90 年代的经济复苏。A意为：在自我怀疑和盲目骄傲之间摆来摆去是人的本性。 （即：人倾向于在这两种心态之间摇摆） 。C经济的复苏取决于国际间的合作。属于无中生有的选项。D长期的成功可以为进一步的发展铺平道路。这个选项错在主语没有把原文中的内容讲完整，第一段第一句说到一个没有努力就能获得漫长成功的历史，如果处理得当就能是一种驱动力，所以该选项的主语没说完整。54. A 经济周期的转机。在第四段，作者指出，截止到 1995 年，
28、美国已经经历了五年的稳定（经济）增长，而日本却在困境中挣扎，但是，美国人并不将这一增长看做是美元贬值或经济周期的转机等明显的因素直接带来的，而是由自我怀疑变为盲目的骄傲。这里作者实际上对当前美国人的盲目乐观情绪进行了批评，认为，90 年代的增长是由美元贬值或经济周期的转机等因素造成的。属于正话反说的情况。B产业结构的调整。根据 Richard Cavanaugh 的看法，美国经济的持续增长是由产业结构的调整造成，他认为美国的产业正在“节食”(go on a diet)，正在变得更加理智。但这并不是作者的观点。参阅第四段。C经营管理的改善。根据 Stephen Moore 的看法，美国的经济正在
29、提高其生产率。但这也不是作者的观点。参阅第四段。D教育上的成功。属于无中生有的选项。参考译文一段长时间并且不费力而成功的历史可能成为一种可怕的不利因素，但若处理得当，这种不利因素也有可能转化为一种积极的推动力。二战结束后，美国恰好进入了这样的一个辉煌时期，当时，它拥有比任何竞争者大 8 倍的市场，这使其工业经济具有前所未有的规模经济。美国的科学家是世上最优秀的，它的工人是最富于技术的。美国的国富民强是那些经济遭到战争破坏的欧亚诸国做梦也无法/想到的或达到的。随着其他国家日益强盛，美国的这一优势地位逐渐下降是不可避免的。从优势地位上退出的痛苦也同样是不可避免的。到了 80 年代中期，面对其日益衰
30、退的工业竞争力，美国人感到不知所措。面对国外竞争，一些大型的美国工业，如消费电子产业，已经萎缩或渐渐消失。到 1987 年，美国只剩下 Zenith 这一家电视生产商。 （现在一家也没有了：Zenith 于当年 7 月被韩国 LG 电器公司收购。 ）外国制造的汽车和纺织品正在大举进入国内市场。美国的机床工业也危在旦夕。人们曾一度感觉下一个在海外品牌面前全军覆没的似乎该轮到美国的半导体制造业了，而在新计算机时代有着核心作用的半导体正是美国人发明的。所有这一切导致了信任危机。美国不再视繁荣为理所当然之事。他们开始相信自己的商业经营方式不灵了，也相信不久他们的收入也会因此而下降。80 年代中期，人们
31、对美国工业衰退的成因作了一次又一次的探寻。在美国人那些有时耸人听闻的发现中充满着对其他国家日益增长的经济竞争的警告之词。情况的变化真快！1995 年，当日本还在奋力拼搏的时候，美国却可以对 5 年的稳固发展作一回顾了。没几个美国人将这一巨变单纯归因于美元贬值或商业周期循环这些显而易见的原因。到如今，对自身的怀疑已被盲目乐观所取代。 “美国的工业已经改变了结构，消除了滞胀，学会了明智”，这是哈佛大学肯尼迪管理学院行政院长理查德卡佛纳的看法。华盛顿特区的智囊团卡托研究院的史蒂芬莫尔说：“看到我们的企业正在提高自身的生产率，作为一个美国人，我感到自豪。 ”哈佛商学院的威廉萨尔曼相信人们将会把这一时期
32、视为“美国企业管理的黄金时代”。2000 Text 2Being a man has always been dangerous. There are about 105 males born for every 100 females, but this ratio drops to near balance at the age of maturity, and among 70-year-olds there are twice as many women as men. But the great universal of male mortality is being changed
33、. Now, boy babies survive almost as well as girls do. This means that, for the first time, there will be an excess of boys in those crucial years when they are searching for a mate. More important, another chance for natural selection has been removed.Fifty years ago, the chance of a baby(particular
34、ly a boy baby) surviving depended on its weight. A kilogram too light or too heavy meant almost certain death. Today it makes almost no difference. Since much of the variation is due to genes, one more agent of evolution has gone.There is another way to commit evolutionary suicide: stay alive, but h
35、ave fewer children. Few people are as fertile as in the past. Except in some religious communities, very few women have 15 children. Nowadays the number of births, like the age of death, has become average. Most of us have roughly the same number of offspring. Again, differences between people and t
36、he opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have diminished. India shows what is happening. The country offers wealth for a few in the great cities and poverty for the remaining tribal peoples. The grand mediocrity of today everyone being the same in survival and number of offspring
37、 means that natural selection has lost 80% of its power in upper-middle-class India compared to the tribes.For us, this means that evolution is over; the biological Utopia has arrived. Strangely, it has involved little physical change. No other species fills so many places in nature. But in the past
38、 100,000 years even the past 100 years our lives have been transformed but our bodies have not. We did not evolve, because machines and society did it for us. Darwin had a phrase to describe those ignorant of evolution: they “look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something whol
39、ly beyond his comprehension.“ No doubt we will remember a 20th century way of life beyond comprehension for its ugliness. But however amazed our descendants may be at how far from Utopia we were, they will look just like us.55. What used to be the danger in being a man according to the first paragra
40、ph?A A lack of mates. B A fierce competition.C A lower survival rate. D A defective gene.56. What does the example of India illustrate?A Wealthy people tend to have fewer children than poor people.B Natural selection hardly works among the rich and the poor.C The middle class population is 80% small
41、er than that of the tribes.D India is one of the countries with a very high birth rate.57. The author argues that our bodies have stopped evolving because_.A life has been improved by technological advanceB the number of female babies has been decliningC our species has reached the highest stage of
42、evolutionD the difference between wealth and poverty is disappearing58. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?A Sex Ration Changes in Human Evolution.B Ways of Continuing Mans Evolution.C The Evolutionary Future of Nature.D Human Evolution Going Nowhere.核心词汇1. ratio 比率2. dro
43、p 下降3. maturity 成熟4. universal 普遍性5. mortality 死亡；morality 道德6. excess 过剩7. crucial 关键的8. natural selection 自然选择9. make no difference 无差别10. variation 变化11. due to 因为12. agent 途径；代理13. evolution 进化14. commit 犯，做；致力于15. suicide 自杀16. fertile 肥沃的17. offspring 后代18. diminish 缩小；减少19. poverty 贫困20. rema
44、ining 剩余的；剩下的21. mediocrity 平庸；普通；普遍化22. compared to 与相比23. evolution 进化24. involve 涉及到25. transform 改变26. ignorant 无知的27. savage 野蛮人28. beyond comprehension 不能理解29. descendant 后代30. however amazed 无论怎样吃惊难句精解There are about 105 males born for every 100 females, but this ratio drops to near balance a
45、t the age of maturity, and among 70-year-olds there are twice as many women as men.该句是由三个递进关系的简单句组成的并列句，句法结构比较清晰。第一个分句的关键词在 born，表明该比数是婴儿出生时的性别比例；第二个分句的关键词在 near balance（接近持平）和 at the age of maturity，表示性别比例的持平状态发生在成年时期；第三个分句的 70-year-olds 指代的是“70 岁的人们”，作名词。Again, differences between people and the o
46、pportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have diminished.注意 differences between people 和 the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it 是两个并列的主语，千万不要理解成 people 与 the opportunity 是 between 的并列宾语。and 连接的两个并列部分是 differences between people 和 the opportunity for natural sel
47、ection to take advantage of it，而不是 people 和 the opportunity。另外注意句中的 it 指代的是 differences between people。The grand mediocrity of todayeveryone being the same in survival and number of offspring means that natural selection has lost 80 of its power in upper-middle-class India compared to the tribes.该句的
48、主语是 The grand mediocrity，谓语是 means，其后跟着 that 引导的宾语从句 that natural selection has lost 80 of its power in upper-middle-class India compared to the tribes，其中 compared to the tribes 是分词结构作状语，省略了 if/when being。破折号中间 everyone being the same in survival and number of offspring 是典型的插入语，其中 survival 和 number
49、of offspring 都是介词 in 的宾语。grand 在此处不是“宏伟，壮丽”的意思，而是“ 程度很深”；mediocrity 也非“平庸，平常”，而是“平均化”或“ 折衷”；offspring 是“后代”。另外要理解 natural selection has lost 80 of its power in upper-middle-class India 的意思，这里是指在原来的社会不平等的情况下，印度中上层阶级拥有一些能使自己在自然选择中处于优势的特权，而随着医疗和卫生条件的改变，下层人民也拥有同样的生存条件，因此中上层阶级就丧失了 80的自然选择中的优势。Darwin had a phrase to describe those ignorant of evol
