2003考研英語閱讀3

1、2003 Text 3 In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into super systems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995, the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers i

2、s completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers. Supporters of the new super systems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed b

3、y fierce competition from trucks. But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat. The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shipp

4、ers are served by only one rail company. Railroads typically charge such captive shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad is competing for the business. Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal governments Surface Transportation Bo

5、ard for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases. Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyones cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they a

6、rgue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. Its theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining whi

7、ch companies will flourish and which will fail. Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace? asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shipper. Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be his with a round of huge rate

8、increases. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortunes, still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider

9、 the $10.2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrails net railway operating income in 1996 was just $427 million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. Whos going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Nor

10、folk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market. 51. According to those who support mergers railway monopoly is unlikely because _.A cost reduction is based on competition B services call for cross-trade coordination C outside competitors will continue to exist D shippers will have the railw

11、ay by the throat 52. What is many captive shippers attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry? A Indifferent. B Supportive. C Indignant. D Apprehensive. 53. It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that _.A shippers will be charged less without a rival railroad B there will soon be only one

12、railroad company nationwide C overcharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rate relief D a government board ensures fair play in railway business 54. The word arbiters (line 7, paragraph 4) most probably refers to those _.A who work as coordinators B who function as judges C who supervise transac

13、tions D who determine the price 55. According to the text, the cost increase in the rail industry is mainly caused by _.A the continuing acquisition B the growing traffic C the cheering Wall Street D the shrinking market 重點詞匯：merge /mE:dV/ （v.合并）比emerge（v.出現(xiàn)；形成）少首字母e，merger /5mE:dVE/ （n.合并）merge+r名詞

14、后綴。monopoly /mE5nCpEli/ （n.壟斷；專利權(quán)）即mono+poly，mono-前綴“單獨的”，poly（詞根=sell）可看作play，于是“一個人玩”壟斷。動詞為monopolizemono+pol(y)+ize動詞后綴。含前綴mono-的單詞另如：monotonous（單調(diào)的）mono+ton調(diào)+ous形容詞后綴；monoxide（一氧化物）mon(o)+ox氧+ide化合物；monocracy（獨裁統(tǒng)治）mono+cracy統(tǒng)治。Liberty and monopoly cannot live together.自由與壟斷不能并存。monopoly business

15、 at the end of its journey 壟斷窮途末路的商業(yè)。substantial /sEb5stAnFEl/ （實質(zhì)的；堅固的；富裕的）sub在下面+st(=stand)+antial形容詞后綴。名詞為substance（物質(zhì)；實質(zhì)；財產(chǎn)）sub+st+ance。Every person born in the USA is endowed with life, liberty and a substantial share of the national debt.生在美國的每個人都被賦予生命、自由和國債的大量份額。reduction /ri5dQkFEn/ （減少）re(=

16、back)+duc引導(dǎo)+tion名詞后綴；reduce /ri5dju:s/ （v.減少；還原）re+duce。同根詞：deduce（v.演繹）de(=away)+duce；deduction（演繹；推論）de+duc+tion。The tendency of modern science is to reduce proof to absurdity by continually reducing absurdity to proof.現(xiàn)代科學(xué)的趨勢，是以不斷地把謬論化為證明來使證明淪為謬論。reducing diet the taming of the chew 節(jié)食馴服咀嚼。coordi

17、nate /kEu5C:dinit/ （使協(xié)調(diào)；同等的；坐標的；坐標）即co+ordin+ate，co-前綴=together，ordin詞根意為“in order”，-ate后綴，于是“按次序擺在一起”使協(xié)調(diào)；“按次序擺在一起的”同等的。coordination（協(xié)調(diào)；同等）co+ordin+ation名詞后綴；coordinator /kEu5C:dineitE/ （協(xié)調(diào)者；同等的人或物）co+ordin+at(e)+or人或物。fierce /fiEs/ （激烈的；兇猛的）The fiercest agonies have shortest reign.最強烈的痛苦持續(xù)時間最短。comp

18、ete /kEm5pi:t/ （v.競爭；競賽）即com+pet+e，com-前綴“一起”，pet（本為詞根，此不論）寵物，“在一起爭寵”；competition /kCmpi5tiFEn/ （競爭；競賽）com+pet+ition名詞后綴；competitor /kEm5petitE/ （競爭者）com+pet+itor后綴表“人”。Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers and never succeeding.藝術(shù)就是與鮮花之美競爭的不斷努力而且從未成功。The biggest things ar

19、e always the easiest to do because there is no competition.最大的事總是最容易做的事，因為不存在競爭。shipper /5FipE/ 托運者，貨主。consolidation /kEn7sCli5deiFEn/ （鞏固，加強）con(=together)+solid堅固+ation名詞后綴，動詞為consolidatecon+solid+ate。captive /5kAptiv/ （a.被俘虜?shù)膎.俘虜）capt抓+ive后綴。Youre not free until youve been made captive by supreme

20、 belief.在被至上的信仰俘獲之前，你不是自由的。discrimination /dis7krimi5neiFEn/ （辨別；歧視）即dis分離+crimin+ation名詞后綴，crimin可看作criminal（罪犯）要把罪犯“辨別”開來，但不可“歧視”；動詞為discriminatedis+crimin+ate。discriminate between 區(qū)分，辨別；discriminate against 歧視，不一樣對待。switching /5switFiN/ （n.開關(guān)；轉(zhuǎn)換）switch+ing，switch（v.n.開關(guān)；轉(zhuǎn)換），-ing后綴。When the man yo

21、u like switches from what he said a year ago, or four years ago, he is a broadminded person who has courage enough to change his mind with changing conditions. When a man you dont like does it, he is a liar who has broken his promises.當你喜歡的人改變一年前或四年前的說法時，他是個有足夠勇氣隨時修正意見的坦蕩的人；當你不喜歡的人這么做，他就是個食言的騙子。I fi

22、nd television very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book.我發(fā)現(xiàn)電視有很好的教育功能。因為每次有人打開電視，我就跑到另外的房間去讀一本好書。subscribe /sEb5skraib/ （v.訂購；捐助；簽署；贊成）即sub在下面+scribe寫“在下面寫上自己的名字”，名詞為subscription；同根詞describe（v.描述）即de向下+scribe寫“寫下來”，名詞為description。subscriber someo

23、ne who wants to read the same every morning, but on freshly printed paper 捐款者每天早上都想讀到同一內(nèi)容的人，但要在新印的報紙上。flourish /5flQriF/ （v.繁榮）即flour+ish動詞后綴，flour為詞根=flower，也可看作單詞“面粉”“使像面粉一樣撒得到處都是”繁榮。The sciences are of sociable disposition, and fourish best in the neighborhood of each other.各門科學(xué)性喜交際，因而在相鄰地帶最為繁榮。a

24、rbiter /5B:bitE/ （仲裁者，權(quán)威人士）可參arbitrary（任意的，專斷的）記憶，動詞為arbitrate（仲裁）。arbiter the only man who is completely satisfied with the final settlement a man who listens to both sides, studies the evidence, and then mispronounces judgment 仲裁者唯一對最后解決方案完全滿意的人 聆聽雙方陳說，研究證據(jù)，最后誤讀判決的人。fortune /5fC:tFEn/ （運氣；財富）可看作fo

25、r+tune，爭取“運氣”與“財富”是為了(for)生活的和諧(tune)。Every man is the artisan of his own fortune.每個人都是制造其自身命運的工匠。Honesty is incompatible with amassing a large fortune.誠實與積聚大量財產(chǎn)是不相容的。invest /in5vest/ （v.投資）in+vest，in在里面，vest看作單詞“馬甲”，“投資大量金錢生產(chǎn)馬甲”。It is very much easier for a rich man to invest and grow richer than f

26、or the poor man to begin investing at all.富人投資并變得更加富有，要比窮人能夠開始投資容易得多。attitude /5Atitju:d/ （態(tài)度；看法；姿勢）與latitude（緯度）一起記：因為“態(tài)度”的“態(tài)”拼音聲母為t，故attitude雙寫t；因為“緯度”是標示在一根根與赤道平行的拉(la)長的緯線上的，故latitude以la開頭。Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men.文明是一種生活方法，一種對所有的人同樣尊重的態(tài)度。appre

27、hensive /7Apri5hensiv/ （有理解力的；憂慮的）ap(=to)+prehen抓+sive形容詞后綴，名詞為apprehension（理解；憂慮）ap+prehen+sion；同根詞：comprehensive（能理解的；廣泛的）、comprehension（理解；包含）。難句解析：But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and t

28、he railroads therefore have them by the throat.本句是由三個分句構(gòu)成的，分別由but和and兩個連接詞連接。第一個分句中complain的后邊跟了一個that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句。閱讀逗號較多的句子時，抓出其中的連詞也是一種方法。雖然本句話看上去較亂，但是抓住了but和and層次感也就出來了?！癶ave. by the throat”在此處譯為“卡住的脖子，主宰”。Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal governments

29、 Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases.本句是由三個分句構(gòu)成的，分別由but和and兩個連接詞連接。第一個分句較長，可以縮句為shippers have the right。shipper的后邊跟了一個who引導(dǎo)的定語從句。本句的結(jié)構(gòu)與上句非常相像。閱讀的時候建議還是先抓出兩個連詞，然后再各個分句逐個擊破。If railroads charged all custom

30、ers the same average rate, they argue，shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line.這是一個由if引導(dǎo)的條件狀語從句。主句的主干是shippers would do so。Shipper的后邊接了一個who引導(dǎo)的定語從句。最后一個逗號的后邊是一個現(xiàn)在分詞短語作狀語。最

31、后一個逗號的后邊有兩個現(xiàn)在分詞，但是用法有所不同。leaving sb. to do sth.這個現(xiàn)在分詞短語充當狀語。而remaining這個現(xiàn)在分詞時作customers的定語，可以譯為“剩余的客戶”。Its theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail.本句是由but連接的兩個分句。第一個分句的主干部分是I

32、ts theory，后邊緊跟了一個which引導(dǎo)的定語從句。but后邊的分句的主語是it，謂語是leave。determining的后邊接了兩個并列的賓語從句：which companies will flourish and which will fail。要注意subscribe的用法，它作“訂閱”或“訂購”意思講的時候，是不及物動詞，后面應(yīng)該接to，比如：subscribe to China Daily，此處應(yīng)該引申譯為“采取”(adopt)；它作及物動詞時候表示“捐獻”，比如：subscribe fifty dollars to a local charity。試題解析：這是一篇經(jīng)濟類

33、的文章。在文章中，作者對鐵路行業(yè)中并購的狀況和趨勢進行了觀察，闡述了并購支持者和鐵路托運商對鐵路行業(yè)壟斷的不同看法，以及他們對并購可能帶來的影響的看法。考生對這類題材也許不太熟悉。但是，經(jīng)濟是社會生活的一個重要組成部分，是考生在生活中不可避免的話題。而且，這篇文章的專業(yè)性并不強，題目也都是從語言理解能力方面考查，所以這篇文章是符合大綱要求的。這篇文章的語言不難，存在一些生詞，但是生詞的數(shù)量并沒有超出大綱允許的范圍。實際上，在真實的語言環(huán)境中，我們在閱讀中總會碰到生詞，即使是英語國家的人們也是如此?？忌鷳?yīng)該掌握這樣的閱讀能力，即在不認識一些詞語的情況下，通過上下文來推斷和猜測詞義以讀懂文章。這種

34、能力是實際語言環(huán)境要求我們掌握的。這篇文章的幾個文字難點是：“merge”，“captive shipper”等?！癿erge”一詞雖未列入大綱詞匯表，對考生來說是個生詞，但是考生可以通過上下文理解它的含義。文章的第一句是：“In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into supersystems.”，從“combining with each other”我們可以猜出“merging”的意思是“合并”?！皊hipper”一詞是動詞“ship”（意思是“to send esp. a lar

35、ge article to a distant place by post or other means”，“運送”）加上后綴“er”構(gòu)成的，表示“托運貨物的人”或稱“貨主”，在文中指的是依靠鐵路運輸貨物的商家，鐵路公司的客戶?！癱aptive”的原義為“被俘虜?shù)摹保炅x為“受限制的”。這兩個詞在大綱上都已列出，考生應(yīng)能通過構(gòu)詞法的知識猜測、引申出它們的含義。這篇文章5個小題除第52小題較難外，其他小題都屬中等難度的題目。51. C該小題考查的是考生對具體信息的理解能力。題目問的是并購支持者為什么認為鐵路行業(yè)內(nèi)不會形成壟斷。答案要在第二段的前半段中找，后半段說的是貨主們的觀點。支持者認為：“

36、Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks.”，意思是：因為要和卡車（指公路運輸）競爭，所以不存在壟斷的可能。所以C選項最符合文章的意思。A項不對，文章說支持者認為合并能降低成本，與競爭沒有關(guān)系。B項沒有根據(jù)。D項把主語和賓語弄反了，而且也不是支持者的觀點，所以也是錯誤的。該小題屬中等難度，區(qū)分度很好。52. D上題問的是支持者的觀點，本題問的是貨主的態(tài)度，要求考生根據(jù)文中所提供的線索做判斷。通過文章中幾處對托運商的描述，如：“But many shippers complai

37、n that.”（第2段），“Many captive shipper also worry.”（第5段），“Many captive shippers fear that.”（第5段），我們可以判斷出貨主的態(tài)度是憂慮的，對未來的狀況憂心忡忡。所以D選項是正確的。較多的考生選擇的是C。C項的含義是“憤怒的”。這篇文章是論說性的文章，反映的是各方對鐵路行業(yè)內(nèi)合并的趨勢和前景的看法。文中的許多描述用的是將來時，因為是對未來的推測。文中并沒有線索說明貨主們有強烈的敵對情緒，C項言過其實了。該題的難度值較低。53. C該小題考查的是考生的推理、引申能力。A項正好與原文意思相反。從第三段第二句中，我們得

38、知鐵路公司合并后，鐵路公司向貨主們收取的費用是以前的20至30，所以，應(yīng)該是“Shippers will be charged more without a rival railroad.”。B項缺乏依據(jù)，所以也是不對的。C項是正確的，因為文章里說到：貨主們?nèi)粽J為鐵路公司收費不合理，可以向聯(lián)邦政府的機構(gòu)申請降低收費。但是，因為申訴的過程耗時費錢，所以極少人提出申訴。由此，我們可以推斷出受到剝削的貨主們不大可能提出申訴。D項說的是政府能保證鐵路行業(yè)內(nèi)的公平競爭。這種說法缺乏依據(jù)。事實上，由于貨主們申訴的困難大，大多數(shù)情況下政府部門根本管不著。該小題屬中等難度偏易的題目。54. B該小題考查的是考

39、生猜測生詞詞義的能力?！癮rbiter”的意思是“仲裁者”?？忌梢酝ㄟ^上下文猜測到這個含義。這個詞出現(xiàn)在第四段的最后一句，其實它要表述的內(nèi)容已在前一句體現(xiàn)了：“Its a theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail.”。由此，我們可以猜測出“arbiter”指的是“those who are in the position of determining someth