考研英語一閱讀理解Text 4真題與答案解析

1、Text 4The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) continues to bleed red ink. It reported a net loss of $5.6 billion for fiscal 2016, the 10th straight year its expenses have exceeded revenue. Meanwhile, it has more than $120 billion in unfunded liabilities, mostly for employee health and retirement costs. There

2、 are many bankruptcies. Fundamentally, the USPS is in a historic squeeze between technological change that has permanently decreased demand for its bread-and-butter product, first-class mail, and a regulatory structure that denies management the flexibility to adjust its operations to the new realit

3、yAnd interest groups ranging from postal unions to greeting-card makers exert self-interested pressure on the USPSs ultimate overseer-Congress-insisting that whatever else happens to the Postal Service, aspects of the status quo they depend on get protected. This is why repeated attempts at reform l

4、egislation have failed in recent years, leaving the Postal Service unable to pay its bills except by deferring vital modernization.Now comes word that everyone involved-Democrats, Republicans, the Postal Service, the unions and the system's heaviest usershas finally agreed on a plan to fix the s

5、ystem. Legislation is moving through the House that would save USPS an estimated $28.6 billion over five years, which could help pay for new vehicles, among other survival measures. Most of the money would come from a penny-per-letter permanent rate increase and from shifting postal retirees into Me

6、dicare. The latter step would largely offset the financial burden of annually pre-funding retiree health care, thus addressing a long-standing complaint by the USPS and its union.If it clears the House, this measure would still have to get through the Senate where someone is bound to point out that

7、it amounts to the bare, bare minimum necessary to keep the Postal Service afloat, not comprehensive reform. Theres no change to collective bargaining at the USPS, a major omission considering that personnel accounts for 80 percent of the agencys costs. Also missing is any discussion of eliminating S

8、aturday letter delivery. That common-sense change enjoys wide public support and would save the USPS $2 billion per year. But postal special-interest groups seem to have killed it, at least in the House. The emerging consensus around the bill is a sign that legislators are getting frightened about a

9、 politically embarrassing short-term collapse at the USPS. It is not, however, a sign that theyre getting serious about transforming the postal system for the 21st century.36. 【題干】The financial problem with the USPS is caused partly by_.【選項(xiàng)】Aits unbalanced budget.Bits rigid management.Cthe cost

10、 for technical upgrading.Dthe withdrawal of bank support.36. 答案 B its rigid management解析：細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)題干信息定位到文章第一段，注意問的是主要原因(partly)。第一段第四句提到“破產(chǎn)原因有很多”。接著第五句以一個(gè)長難句指出“從根本上來講，the USPS 處于歷史性的壓榨期，這里面就包括對(duì)于實(shí)用產(chǎn)品以及一類郵件需求量無限期減少而面臨的技術(shù)改革，管理結(jié)構(gòu)方面沒能夠靈活地將自己的生產(chǎn)模式適用到現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中”。由此可見，主要原因在于管理方面。

11、因此B項(xiàng)為正確答案。句中的Fundamentally與題干中的partly屬于同義替換。37. 【題干】According to Paragraph 2, the USPS fails to modernize itself due to_.【選項(xiàng)】Athe interference from interest groups.Bthe inadequate funding from Congress.Cthe shrinking demand for postal service.Dthe incompetence of postal unions.37. 答案 

12、A the interference from interest groups解析：細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)題干信息fail以及modernize定位到第二段最后一句。該句提到“這就是近些年來立法改革屢次失敗的原因”，正是題干問的問題。上文提到利益集團(tuán)，從郵政聯(lián)盟，到賀卡制作公司，都對(duì)USPS施加壓力，強(qiáng)調(diào)無論發(fā)生什么，他們所依賴的現(xiàn)狀都要得到保護(hù)。因此，利益集團(tuán)的干預(yù)是改革失敗的主要原因。故選A項(xiàng)。38. 【題干】The long-standing complaint by the USPS and its unions can be addr

13、essed by_.【選項(xiàng)】Aremoving its burden of retiree health care.Bmaking more investment in new vehicles.Cadopting a new rate-increase mechanism.Dattracting more first-class mail users.38.答案A removing its burden of retiree health care.解析：題目中出現(xiàn)了大寫USPS以及具體信息the long-st

14、anding complaint等具體內(nèi)容，可知本題目為具體細(xì)節(jié)題。我們需要根據(jù)題目中出現(xiàn)的關(guān)鍵詞complaint，USPS，union等定位，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)本題目是對(duì)本篇文章第三段最后的一部分，最后一句話提到了thus addressing a long-standing complaints by the USPS and its union，這是題目的原詞。所以，答案就是前面的the latter step would .offset 

15、;the financial burden of annually pre-funding retiree health care。另外，the latter step也指上一句中的shifting postal retiree into Medicare。再對(duì)應(yīng)選項(xiàng)，得出A項(xiàng)removing its burden of retiree health care。39. 【題干】In th

16、e last paragraph, the author seems to view legislators with_.【選項(xiàng)】Arespect.Btolerance.Cdiscontent.Dgratitude.39.答案C discontent.解析：題目中指出了the author對(duì)legislator的觀點(diǎn)和看法是什么，與態(tài)度題相關(guān)，態(tài)度題一定要通過文中的相關(guān)詞找到相應(yīng)的傾向，判斷好或者壞，向上或者向下。根據(jù)題目中的關(guān)鍵信息legislator定位到最后一段倒數(shù)第二句話，該句在陳述完legislators的內(nèi)容后，下一句緊跟著一個(gè)詞however，明確指出了作者的

17、傾向，并且寫到it is not a sign.，結(jié)合前后句的內(nèi)容，可以得出作者的傾向是明確的負(fù)向色彩。選項(xiàng)中表示負(fù)面色彩的只有C項(xiàng)discontent。40. 【題干】Which of the following would be the best title for the text?【選項(xiàng)】AThe USPS Starts to Miss Its Good Old DaysBThe Postal Service: Keep Away from My CheeseCThe USPS: Chronic Illness Requires a Quick CureDThe Postal Service Needs More than a Band-Aid40.答案D The Postal Service Needs More than a Band-Aid.解析：該題目中的best title為典型的文章主旨題。首先，我們可以通過題目中反復(fù)出現(xiàn)的內(nèi)容來確定文章與什么樣的主題相關(guān)，可以看出反復(fù)出現(xiàn)了USPS，也就是U.S. Postal