2003考研英语阅读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 重点词汇：merge /mE:dV/ （v.合并）比emerge（v.出现；形成）少首字母e，merger /5mE:dVE/ （n.合并）merge+r名词

14、后缀。monopoly /mE5nCpEli/ （n.垄断；专利权）即mono+poly，mono-前缀“单独的”，poly（词根=sell）可看作play，于是“一个人玩”垄断。动词为monopolizemono+pol(y)+ize动词后缀。含前缀mono-的单词另如：monotonous（单调的）mono+ton调+ous形容词后缀；monoxide（一氧化物）mon(o)+ox氧+ide化合物；monocracy（独裁统治）mono+cracy统治。Liberty and monopoly cannot live together.自由与垄断不能并存。monopoly business

15、 at the end of its journey 垄断穷途末路的商业。substantial /sEb5stAnFEl/ （实质的；坚固的；富裕的）sub在下面+st(=stand)+antial形容词后缀。名词为substance（物质；实质；财产）sub+st+ance。Every person born in the USA is endowed with life, liberty and a substantial share of the national debt.生在美国的每个人都被赋予生命、自由和国债的大量份额。reduction /ri5dQkFEn/ （减少）re(=

16、back)+duc引导+tion名词后缀；reduce /ri5dju:s/ （v.减少；还原）re+duce。同根词：deduce（v.演绎）de(=away)+duce；deduction（演绎；推论）de+duc+tion。The tendency of modern science is to reduce proof to absurdity by continually reducing absurdity to proof.现代科学的趋势，是以不断地把谬论化为证明来使证明沦为谬论。reducing diet the taming of the chew 节食驯服咀嚼。coordi

17、nate /kEu5C:dinit/ （使协调；同等的；坐标的；坐标）即co+ordin+ate，co-前缀=together，ordin词根意为“in order”，-ate后缀，于是“按次序摆在一起”使协调；“按次序摆在一起的”同等的。coordination（协调；同等）co+ordin+ation名词后缀；coordinator /kEu5C:dineitE/ （协调者；同等的人或物）co+ordin+at(e)+or人或物。fierce /fiEs/ （激烈的；凶猛的）The fiercest agonies have shortest reign.最强烈的痛苦持续时间最短。comp

18、ete /kEm5pi:t/ （v.竞争；竞赛）即com+pet+e，com-前缀“一起”，pet（本为词根，此不论）宠物，“在一起争宠”；competition /kCmpi5tiFEn/ （竞争；竞赛）com+pet+ition名词后缀；competitor /kEm5petitE/ （竞争者）com+pet+itor后缀表“人”。Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers and never succeeding.艺术就是与鲜花之美竞争的不断努力而且从未成功。The biggest things ar

19、e always the easiest to do because there is no competition.最大的事总是最容易做的事，因为不存在竞争。shipper /5FipE/ 托运者，货主。consolidation /kEn7sCli5deiFEn/ （巩固，加强）con(=together)+solid坚固+ation名词后缀，动词为consolidatecon+solid+ate。captive /5kAptiv/ （a.被俘虏的n.俘虏）capt抓+ive后缀。Youre not free until youve been made captive by supreme

20、 belief.在被至上的信仰俘获之前，你不是自由的。discrimination /dis7krimi5neiFEn/ （辨别；歧视）即dis分离+crimin+ation名词后缀，crimin可看作criminal（罪犯）要把罪犯“辨别”开来，但不可“歧视”；动词为discriminatedis+crimin+ate。discriminate between 区分，辨别；discriminate against 歧视，不一样对待。switching /5switFiN/ （n.开关；转换）switch+ing，switch（v.n.开关；转换），-ing后缀。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.当你喜欢的人改变一年前或四年前的说法时，他是个有足够勇气随时修正意见的坦荡的人；当你不喜欢的人这么做，他就是个食言的骗子。I fi

22、nd television very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book.我发现电视有很好的教育功能。因为每次有人打开电视，我就跑到另外的房间去读一本好书。subscribe /sEb5skraib/ （v.订购；捐助；签署；赞成）即sub在下面+scribe写“在下面写上自己的名字”，名词为subscription；同根词describe（v.描述）即de向下+scribe写“写下来”，名词为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读到同一内容的人，但要在新印的报纸上。flourish /5flQriF/ （v.繁荣）即flour+ish动词后缀，flour为词根=flower，也可看作单词“面粉”“使像面粉一样撒得到处都是”繁荣。The sciences are of sociable disposition, and fourish best in the neighborhood of each other.各门科学性喜交际，因而在相邻地带最为繁荣。a

24、rbiter /5B:bitE/ （仲裁者，权威人士）可参arbitrary（任意的，专断的）记忆，动词为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 仲裁者唯一对最后解决方案完全满意的人 聆听双方陈说，研究证据，最后误读判决的人。fortune /5fC:tFEn/ （运气；财富）可看作fo

25、r+tune，争取“运气”与“财富”是为了(for)生活的和谐(tune)。Every man is the artisan of his own fortune.每个人都是制造其自身命运的工匠。Honesty is incompatible with amassing a large fortune.诚实与积聚大量财产是不相容的。invest /in5vest/ （v.投资）in+vest，in在里面，vest看作单词“马甲”，“投资大量金钱生产马甲”。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.富人投资并变得更加富有，要比穷人能够开始投资容易得多。attitude /5Atitju:d/ （态度；看法；姿势）与latitude（纬度）一起记：因为“态度”的“态”拼音声母为t，故attitude双写t；因为“纬度”是标示在一根根与赤道平行的拉(la)长的纬线上的，故latitude以la开头。Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men.文明是一种生活方法，一种对所有的人同样尊重的态度。appre

27、hensive /7Apri5hensiv/ （有理解力的；忧虑的）ap(=to)+prehen抓+sive形容词后缀，名词为apprehension（理解；忧虑）ap+prehen+sion；同根词：comprehensive（能理解的；广泛的）、comprehension（理解；包含）。难句解析：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.本句是由三个分句构成的，分别由but和and两个连接词连接。第一个分句中complain的后边跟了一个that引导的宾语从句。阅读逗号较多的句子时，抓出其中的连词也是一种方法。虽然本句话看上去较乱，但是抓住了but和and层次感也就出来了。“have. by the throat”在此处译为“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.本句是由三个分句构成的，分别由but和and两个连接词连接。第一个分句较长，可以缩句为shippers have the right。shipper的后边跟了一个who引导的定语从句。本句的结构与上句非常相像。阅读的时候建议还是先抓出两个连词，然后再各个分句逐个击破。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.这是一个由if引导的条件状语从句。主句的主干是shippers would do so。Shipper的后边接了一个who引导的定语从句。最后一个逗号的后边是一个现在分词短语作状语。最

31、后一个逗号的后边有两个现在分词，但是用法有所不同。leaving sb. to do sth.这个现在分词短语充当状语。而remaining这个现在分词时作customers的定语，可以译为“剩余的客户”。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连接的两个分句。第一个分句的主干部分是I

32、ts theory，后边紧跟了一个which引导的定语从句。but后边的分句的主语是it，谓语是leave。determining的后边接了两个并列的宾语从句：which companies will flourish and which will fail。要注意subscribe的用法，它作“订阅”或“订购”意思讲的时候，是不及物动词，后面应该接to，比如：subscribe to China Daily，此处应该引申译为“采取”(adopt)；它作及物动词时候表示“捐献”，比如：subscribe fifty dollars to a local charity。试题解析：这是一篇经济类

33、的文章。在文章中，作者对铁路行业中并购的状况和趋势进行了观察，阐述了并购支持者和铁路托运商对铁路行业垄断的不同看法，以及他们对并购可能带来的影响的看法。考生对这类题材也许不太熟悉。但是，经济是社会生活的一个重要组成部分，是考生在生活中不可避免的话题。而且，这篇文章的专业性并不强，题目也都是从语言理解能力方面考查，所以这篇文章是符合大纲要求的。这篇文章的语言不难，存在一些生词，但是生词的数量并没有超出大纲允许的范围。实际上，在真实的语言环境中，我们在阅读中总会碰到生词，即使是英语国家的人们也是如此。考生应该掌握这样的阅读能力，即在不认识一些词语的情况下，通过上下文来推断和猜测词义以读懂文章。这种

34、能力是实际语言环境要求我们掌握的。这篇文章的几个文字难点是：“merge”，“captive shipper”等。“merge”一词虽未列入大纲词汇表，对考生来说是个生词，但是考生可以通过上下文理解它的含义。文章的第一句是：“In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into supersystems.”，从“combining with each other”我们可以猜出“merging”的意思是“合并”。“shipper”一词是动词“ship”（意思是“to send esp. a lar

35、ge article to a distant place by post or other means”，“运送”）加上后缀“er”构成的，表示“托运货物的人”或称“货主”，在文中指的是依靠铁路运输货物的商家，铁路公司的客户。“captive”的原义为“被俘虏的”，引申义为“受限制的”。这两个词在大纲上都已列出，考生应能通过构词法的知识猜测、引申出它们的含义。这篇文章5个小题除第52小题较难外，其他小题都属中等难度的题目。51. C该小题考查的是考生对具体信息的理解能力。题目问的是并购支持者为什么认为铁路行业内不会形成垄断。答案要在第二段的前半段中找，后半段说的是货主们的观点。支持者认为：“

36、Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks.”，意思是：因为要和卡车（指公路运输）竞争，所以不存在垄断的可能。所以C选项最符合文章的意思。A项不对，文章说支持者认为合并能降低成本，与竞争没有关系。B项没有根据。D项把主语和宾语弄反了，而且也不是支持者的观点，所以也是错误的。该小题属中等难度，区分度很好。52. D上题问的是支持者的观点，本题问的是货主的态度，要求考生根据文中所提供的线索做判断。通过文章中几处对托运商的描述，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），我们可以判断出货主的态度是忧虑的，对未来的状况忧心忡忡。所以D选项是正确的。较多的考生选择的是C。C项的含义是“愤怒的”。这篇文章是论说性的文章，反映的是各方对铁路行业内合并的趋势和前景的看法。文中的许多描述用的是将来时，因为是对未来的推测。文中并没有线索说明货主们有强烈的敌对情绪，C项言过其实了。该题的难度值较低。53. C该小题考查的是考生的推理、引申能力。A项正好与原文意思相反。从第三段第二句中，我们得

38、知铁路公司合并后，铁路公司向货主们收取的费用是以前的20至30，所以，应该是“Shippers will be charged more without a rival railroad.”。B项缺乏依据，所以也是不对的。C项是正确的，因为文章里说到：货主们若认为铁路公司收费不合理，可以向联邦政府的机构申请降低收费。但是，因为申诉的过程耗时费钱，所以极少人提出申诉。由此，我们可以推断出受到剥削的货主们不大可能提出申诉。D项说的是政府能保证铁路行业内的公平竞争。这种说法缺乏依据。事实上，由于货主们申诉的困难大，大多数情况下政府部门根本管不着。该小题属中等难度偏易的题目。54. B该小题考查的是考

39、生猜测生词词义的能力。“arbiter”的意思是“仲裁者”。考生可以通过上下文猜测到这个含义。这个词出现在第四段的最后一句，其实它要表述的内容已在前一句体现了：“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，我们可以猜测出“arbiter”指的是“those who are in the position of determining someth