1、 1 / 188Passage 1 (1/63)(This passage was written in 1978.)Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunitiesas well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and ot
2、her minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do t
3、heir best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.Corporate response app
4、ears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980s is estimated to be over 53 b
5、illion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large busi
6、nesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purch
7、asing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small companys efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.A second risk is that
8、White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neit
9、her could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as “fronts” with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of o
10、ne large corporate customer often runs the danger of becomingand remainingdependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from
11、 a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.1. The primary purpose of the passage is to(A) present a commonplace idea and its inaccuracies(B) describe a situation and its potential drawbacks(C) propose a temporary solution to
12、 a problem(D) analyze a frequent source of disagreement(E) explore the implications of a finding2. The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?(A) What federal agencies have set percentage goals for the use of minority-owned businesses in public works contract
13、s?(B) To which government agencies must businesses awarded federal contracts report their efforts to find minority subcontractors?2 / 188(C) How widespread is the use of minority-owned concerns as “fronts” by White backers seeking to obtain subcontracts?(D) How many more minority-owned businesses we
14、re there in 1977 than in 1972?(E) What is one set of conditions under which a small business might find itself financially overextended?3. According to the passage, civil rights activists maintain that one disadvantage under which minority-owned businesses have traditionally had to labor is that the
15、y have(A) been especially vulnerable to governmental mismanagement of the economy(B) been denied bank loans at rates comparable to those afforded larger competitors(C) not had sufficient opportunity to secure business created by large corporations(D) not been able to advertise in those media that re
16、ach large numbers of potential customers(E) not had adequate representation in the centers of government power4. The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result quickly in orders might cause it to(A) experience frustration but not serious financial
17、harm(B) face potentially crippling fixed expenses(C) have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government(D) increase its spending with minority subcontractors(E) revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts5. The author implies that a minority-owned concern t
18、hat does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should(A) avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding(B) concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation(C) try to expand its customer base to avoid becoming dependent on the co
19、rporation(D) pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns(E) use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns6. It can be inferred from the passage that, compared with the requirements of law, the percentage goa
20、ls set by “some federal and local agencies” (lines 14-15) are(A) more popular with large corporations(B) more specific(C) less controversial(D) less expensive to enforce(E) easier to comply with7. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the authors assertion that, in the 1970s, corporate
21、response to federal requirements (lines 18-19) was substantial(A) Corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses totaled $2 billion in 1979.(B) Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.(C) The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the
22、extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses.3 / 188(D) The estimate of corporate spending with minority-owned businesses in 1980 is approximately $10 million too high.(E) The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 as did $77 million in 1972.
23、8. The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate response to working with minority subcontractors?(A) Annoyed by the proliferation of “front” organizations, corporations are likely to reduce their efforts to work with minority-owned subcontractors in the n
24、ear future.(B) Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970s, their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.(C) The significant response of corporations in the 1970s is likely to be sustained and c
25、onceivably be increased throughout the 1980s.(D) Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in the 1970s made substantial response impossible.(E) The enormous corporate response has all but eliminated the dangers of over-expansion that used to
26、plague small minority-owned businesses.Passage 2 (2/63)Woodrow Wilson was referring to the liberal idea of the economic market when he said that the free enterprise system is the most efficient economic system. Maximum freedom means maximum productiveness; our “openness” is to be the measure of our
27、stability. Fascination with this ideal has made Americans defy the “Old World” categories of settled possessiveness versus unsettling deprivation, the cupidity of retention versus the cupidity of seizure, a “status quo” defended or attacked. The United States, it was believed, had no status quo ante
28、. Our only “station” was the turning of a stationary wheel, spinning faster and faster. We did not base our system on property but opportunitywhich meant we based it not on stability but on mobility. The more things changed, that is, the more rapidly the wheel turned, the steadier we would be. The c
29、onventional picture of class politics is composed of the Haves, who want a stability to keep what they have, and the Have-Nots, who want a touch of instability and change in which to scramble for the things they have not. But Americans imagined a condition in which speculators, self-makers, runners
30、are always using the new opportunities given by our land. These economic leaders (front-runners) would thus be mainly agents of change. The nonstarters were considered the ones who wanted stability, a strong referee to give them some position in the race, a regulative hand to calm manic speculation;
31、 an authority that can call things to a halt, begin things again from compensatorily staggered “starting lines.”“Reform” in America has been sterile because it can imagine no change except through the extension of this metaphor of a race, wider inclusion of competitors, “a piece of the action,” as i
32、t were, for the disenfranchised. There is no attempt to call off the race. Since our only stability is change, America seems not to honor the quiet work that achieves social interdependence and stability. There is, in our legends, no heroism of the office clerk, no stable industrial work force of th
33、e people who actually make the system work. There is no pride in being an employee (Wilson asked for a return to the time when everyone was an employer). There has been no boasting about our social workersthey are merely signs of the systems failure, of opportunity denied or not taken, of things to
34、be eliminated. We have no pride in our growing interdependence, in the fact that our system can serve others, that we are able to help those in need; empty boasts from the past make us ashamed of our present achievements, make us try to forget or deny them, move away from them. There is no honor but
35、 in the Wonderland race we must all run, all trying to win, none winning in the end (for there is no end).4 / 1881. The primary purpose of the passage is to(A) criticize the inflexibility of American economic mythology(B) contrast “Old World” and “New World” economic ideologies(C) challenge the inte
36、grity of traditional political leaders(D) champion those Americans whom the author deems to be neglected(E) suggest a substitute for the traditional metaphor of a race2. According to the passage, “Old World” values were based on(A) ability(B) property(C) family connections(D) guild hierarchies(E) ed
37、ucation3. In the context of the authors discussion of regulating change, which of the following could be most probably regarded as a “strong referee” (line 30) in the United States?(A) A school principal(B) A political theorist(C) A federal court judge(D) A social worker(E) A government inspector4.
38、The author sets off the word “Reform” (line 35) with quotation marks in order to(A) emphasize its departure from the concept of settled possessiveness(B) show his support for a systematic program of change(C) underscore the flexibility and even amorphousness of United States society(D) indicate that
39、 the term was one of Wilsons favorites(E) assert that reform in the United States has not been fundamental5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author most probably thinks that giving the disenfranchised “a piece of the action” (line 38) is(A) a compassionate, if misdirected, legislative m
40、easure(B) an example of Americans resistance to profound social change(C) an innovative program for genuine social reform(D) a monument to the efforts of industrial reformers(E) a surprisingly “Old World” remedy for social ills6. Which of the following metaphors could the author most appropriately u
41、se to summarize his own assessment of the American economic system (lines 35-60)?(A) A windmill(B) A waterfall(C) A treadmill(D) A gyroscope(E) A bellows5 / 1887. It can be inferred from the passage that Woodrow Wilsons ideas about the economic market(A) encouraged those who “make the system work” (
42、lines 45-46)(B) perpetuated traditional legends about America(C) revealed the prejudices of a man born wealthy(D) foreshadowed the stock market crash of 1929(E) began a tradition of presidential proclamations on economics8. The passage contains information that would answer which of the following qu
43、estions?I. What techniques have industrialists used to manipulate a free market?II. In what ways are “New World” and “Old World” economic policies similar?III. Has economic policy in the United States tended to reward independent action?(A) I only(B) II only(C) III only(D) I and II only(E) II and II
44、I only9. Which of the following best expresses the authors main point?(A) Americans pride in their jobs continues to give them stamina today.(B) The absence of a status quo ante has undermined United States economic structure.(C) The free enterprise system has been only a useless concept in the Unit
45、ed States.(D) The myth of the American free enterprise system is seriously flawed.(E) Fascination with the ideal of “openness” has made Americans a progressive people.Passage 3 (3/63)No very satisfactory account of the mechanism that caused the formation of the ocean basins has yet been given. The t
46、raditional view supposes that the upper mantle of the earth behaves as a liquid when it is subjected to small forces for long periods and that differences in temperature under oceans and continents are sufficient to produce convection in the mantle of the earth with rising convection currents under
47、the mid-ocean ridges and sinking currents under the continents. Theoretically, this convection would carry the continental plates along as though they were on a conveyor belt and would provide the forces needed to produce the split that occurs along the ridge. This view may be correct: it has the ad
48、vantage that the currents are driven by temperature differences that themselves depend on the position of the continents. Such a back-coupling, in which the position of the moving plate has an impact on the forces that move it, could produce complicated and varying motions.On the other hand, the the
49、ory is implausible because convection does not normally occur along lines, and it certainly does not occur along lines broken by frequent offsets or changes in direction, as the ridge is. Also it is difficult to see how the theory applies to the plate between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the ridge in the Indian Ocean. This plate is growing on both sides, and since there is no intermediate trench, the two ridges must be moving apart. It would be odd if the rising convection currents kept exact pace with them. An alternative theory is that the sinking part of the plate, which i
