视听说教程（第三版）4 quiz 9
视听说教程（第三版）4 quiz 9
Reading Comprehension
Section A
Passage One
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.
In many ways, today’s business environment has changed qualitatively since the late 1980s. The end of the Cold War radically altered the very nature of the world’s politics and economics. In just a few short years, globalization has started a variety of trends with profound consequences: the opening of markets, true global competition, widespread deregulation (解除政府对……的控制) of industry, and an abundance of accessible capital. We have experienced both the benefits and risks of a truly global economy, with both Wall Street and Main Street (平民百姓) feeling the pains of economic disorder half a world away.
At the same time, we have fully entered the Information Age, startling breakthroughs in information technology have irreversibly altered the ability to conduct business unconstrained by the traditional limitations of time or space. Today, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world without intranets, e-mail, and portable computers. With stunning speed, the Internet is profoundly changing the way we work, shop, do business, and communicate.
As a consequence, we have truly entered the Post-Industrial economy. We are rapidly shifting from an economy based on manufacturing and commodities to one that places the greatest value on information, services, support, and distribution. That shift, in turn, place an unprecedented premium on “knowledge workers,” a new class of wealthy, educated, and mobile people who view themselves as free agents in a seller’s market.
Beyond the realm of information technology, the accelerated pace of technological change in virtually every industry has created entirely new business, wiped out others, and produced a Pervasive demand for continuous innovation. New product, process, and distribution technologies provide powerful levers for creating competitive value. More companies are learning the importance of destructive technologies — innovations that hold the potential to make a product line, or even an entire business segment, virtually outdated.
Another major trend has been the fragmentation of consumer and business markets. There’s a growing appreciation that superficially similar groups of customers may have very different preferences in terms of what they want to buy and how they want to buy it. Now, new technology makes it easier, faster, and cheaper to identify and serve targeted micro-markets in ways that were physically impossible or prohibitively expensive in the past. Moreover, the trend feeds on itself, a business’s ability to serve sub-markets fuels customers’ appetites for more and more specialized offerings.
- According to the first paragraph, the changes in the business environment in the past decades can be attributed to ________.
A) worldwide economic disorder
B) the fierce competition in industry
C) technological advances
D) the globalization of economy - What idea does the author want to convey in the second paragraph?
A) The rapid development of information technology has taken businessmen by surprise.
B) Information technology has removed the restrictions of time and space in business transactions.
C) The Internet, intranets, e-mail, and portable computers have penetrated every corner of the world.
D) The way we do business today has brought about startling breakthroughs in information technology. - If a business wants to thrive in the Post-Industrial economy, ________.
A) it should try its best to satisfy the increasing demands of mobile knowledgeable people
B) it has to invest more capital in the training of free agents to operate in a seller’s market
C) it should not overlook the importance of information, services, support, and distribution
D) it has to provide each of its employees with the latest information about the changing market - In the author’s view, destructive technologies are innovations which ________.
A) may destroy the potential of a company to make any profit
B) can eliminate an entire business segment
C) demand a radical change in providing services
D) call for continuous improvement in ways of doing business - With the fragmentation of consumer and business markets ________.
A) manufacturers must focus on one special product to remain competitive in the market
B) it is physically impossible and prohibitively expensive to do business in the old way
C) an increasing number of companies have disintegrated
D) businesses have to meet individual customers’ specific needs in order to succeed
Passage Two
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.
A strange thing about humans is their capacity for blind rage. Rage is presumably an emotion resulting from survival instinct, but the surprising thing about it is that we do not deploy it against other animals. If we encounter a dangerous wild animal ― a poisonous snake or a wild cat ― we do not fly into a temper. If we are unarmed, we show fear and attempt to back away; if we are suitably armed, we attack, but in a rational manner not in a rage. We reserve rage for our own species. It is hard to see any survival value in attacking one’s own, but if we take account of the long competition, which must have existed between our own subspecies and others like Neanderthal man ― indeed others still more remote from us than Neanderthal man ― human rage becomes more comprehensible.
In our everyday language and behavior there are many reminders of those early struggles. We are always using the words “us and them”. "Our” side is perpetually trying to do down the “other” side. In games we artificially create other subspecies we can attack. The opposition of “us” and “them” is the touchstone of the two-party system of “democratic” politics. Although there are no very serious consequences to many of these modern psychological representations of the “us and them” emotion, it is as well to remember that the original aim was not to beat the other subspecies in a game but to exterminate it.
The readiness with which humans allow themselves to be regimented has permitted large armies to be formed, which, taken together with the “us and them” blind rage, has led to destructive clashes within our subspecies itself. The First World War is an example in which Europe divided itself into two imaginary subspecies. And there is a similar extermination battle now in Northern Ireland. The idea that there is a religious basis for this clash is illusory, for not even the Pope has been able to control it. The clash is much more primitive than the Christian religion, much older in its emotional origin. The conflict in Ireland is unlikely to stop until a greater primitive fear is imposed from outside the community, or until the combatants become exhausted.
- A suitable title for this passage would be____.
A) Why Human Armies Are Formed
B) Man’s Anger Against Rage
C) The Human Capacity for Rage
D) Early Struggles of Angry Man - According to the author, the surprising aspect of human anger is ____.
A) its lengthy and complex development
B) that we do not fly into a temper more often
C) a conflict such as is now going on in Northern Ireland
D) that we reserve anger for mankind - The passage suggests that____.
A) humans have had a natural disinclination toward formal grouping
B) historically, we have created an “us” versus “them” society
C) the First World War is an example of how man has always avoided domination
D) the emotional origin of the war in Ireland is lost in time - From the passage we can infer that ____.
A) the artificial creation of a subspecies unlike us is something that never happens
B) any artificially created subspecies would be our enemy
C) games are psychologically unhealthy
D) the real or imagined existence of an opposing subspecies is inherent in man’s activities - The author believes that a religious explanation for the war in Northern Ireland is____.
A) deceptive
B) apparent
C) founded in historical fact
D) probably accurate
Section B
A) storage【n. 贮藏；存放；存储；贮存空间】
B) delicately【adv. 精致地；圆通地；精密地；小心翼翼地】
C) skeptical【adj. 怀疑的】
D) intimate【adj. 亲密的；有性关系的；私密的；宜于密切关系的；详尽的】
E) shortened【vi. 变短】【vt. 截短；缩短；收起；在⋯中加起酥油】
F) manipulation【vt. 画⋯的轮廓；概述】【n. 操作；操纵；控制；篡改；推拿】
G) outline【n. 轮廓；略图；提纲；梗概】
H) programmer【n. 编程人员】
I) rationality【n. 理性；合理性；神智清醒】
J) temperamental【adj. 喜怒无常的；性能不稳定的；时好时坏的；性格上的】
- Little Tom was so excited that he could not say a word when he was asked to 11)
the design of such an amazing building. - All the troublesome journalists were denied access to the wedding ceremony of the greatest movie star in Hollywood, who had invited to the party only his 12)
friends. - With all the kind support of his colleagues, the governor has failed to convince the 13)
citizens of the state that he is innocent【adj. 无罪的；无辜的；无害的；无恶意的；天真无邪的】. - With a history of over one thousand years, this single piece of china has to be treated ______ .
- A couple of years ago, a 15)
was very popular even before they left university, but now the situation has changed a lot, not so promising any more. - The latest investigation has pointed out that the 16)
of oil price by the world major economies does not exist any longer. - The rice wine is supposed to be put into well constructed 17)
under earth before going into the domestic market. - The waiting time for a business visa has been 18)
from three weeks to one, which is absolutely helpful to the success of international trades. - While making critical decisions, we attach the greatest importance to 19)
other than anything else. - With a strong 20)
dislike of crowds, the painter has never been seen at any party or meeting with a large audience.
Vocabulary and Structure
Section A
- As one of the biggest powers in the world, the USA has ____________ talented people from different countries and regions.
A) adapted
B) assimilated【vt. 吸收；同化】
C) adjusted
D) afforded - With all the foreign scholars present at the academic conference, the young man __________ the speaker without any hesitation.
A) contradicted
B) persuaded
C) informed
D) contracted - The flood, which seemed not to have any impact on the daily life of the people in the small village, was in reality ____________ to the ancient temple built in Tang Dynasty.
A) dangerous
B) risky
C) disastrous
D) threatening - According to a latest article published in Nature, the recent fossil finds may imply a totally new answer to human ____________.
A) solution
B) resolution
C) innovation
D) evolution - With science and technology developing at an amazing speed, most computer hardware becomes _____________ more rapidly than expected.
A) obsolete
B) objective
C) optimistic
D) absolute - To avoid possible damage to be caused by the coming disastrous typhoon, they had to _____________ the school houses into shelter for the migrant workers.
A) direct
B) construct
C) introduce
D) convert - Appearing to be so strong and energetic to the audience, the boxers have to sit down and _____________ their breath frequently so as to get themselves refreshed for the next round.
A) change
B) catch
C) regain
D) further - The ____________ of the costal cities have attracted a large number of talented youngsters for the inland provinces in the last decade.
A) prosperity【n. 繁荣】
B) productivity
C) production
D) possibility - Before the discussion about the candidates, the president _____________ the minister of education for the prime minister’s office.
A) had in mind
B) had in hand
C) had
D) had asked - No one has seen any ____________ in the president’s inaugural speech, which is especially disappointing to his followers and supporters.
A) objectivity【n. 客观性】
B) objection
C) observation【n. 观测；观察；观察力；观测结果；评论】
D) object
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