考试吧恩波：2008年12月六级预测试卷及解析(三)

　　Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.

　　It was a bit of a shock when Toyota finally surpassed General Motors last week as the world’s largest carmaker. In a very important sense—profitability—G.M. had not been on top in some time. More important, analysts say that G.M. has awakened to the challenge posed by Toyota and, although more difficult results lie ahead, the company may finally be moving in the right direction.

　　As global competition heats up, Americans will have to get used to having more of their companies fall from the top spot. How businesses respond will in no small way determine how well the United States succeeds in a world where it is no longer the unchallenged economic superpower.

　　A major reason that so many American companies were world-beaters(举世无双) in the last century was the unmatched size of their rich and relatively homogenous domestic consumer market, big enough by itself for mass production, and bequeathing all the advantages of economies of scale for competition abroad. The United States economy is still the largest in the world, but ravenous (饿极了的) young markets in places like India and China make clear that it will not stay that way forever. There will be ever more competitors from all over selling all over, and ready to knock off those in the old guard if they make the wrong choices.

　　This is no reason for American business to despair; instead, it has to refocus on how to stay competitive in a world beyond American dominance. Germany’s recent success might serve as a model. Germany, with the world’s third-largest economy, has been the world’s largest exporter of goods the last four years. And, Americans who believe protectionism is needed to level the playing field should note, it has managed to do it without cheap labor. German businesses have prospered with a focus on quality and strong brands, and particularly with sophisticated niche products, from lasers to Porsches.

　　Germany’s recent success was not accomplished painlessly. There were wrenching layoffs and rounds of cost cutting and outsourcing along the way. General Motors faces a particular set of challenges because in the mass-market automobile game, the huge upfront costs of designing and building cars make sales volume crucial. But Germany’s export prowess proves that for a smart industrialized country, many small successes can add up to No. 1.

　　47. In what terms had General Motors not been on top in the listing of the world’s major businesses?

　　48. According to the author, the success of American companies is determined in large measure by the way they will_________ posed by other economies.

　　49. The reason why American companies were more competitive in the past was the unmatched size of their rich and_________ .

　　50. Faced with challenges all over the world, what should corporate America do?

　　51. According to the author, the secret to Germany’s recent success is that German businesses have attached great importance to_________ .

　　Section B

　　Directions: There are 2 passages in this section.Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A),B),C)and D).You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

　　Humanism originated in the study of classical culture, and humanities disciplines included grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and ethics. These subjects were all studied, whenever possible, in the original classical texts. The humanities curriculum conflicted directly with more traditional education that was based on scholasticism (经院哲学). A scholastic education concentrated on the study of logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics, or the nature of reality. Scholars often clashed sharply over these two systems of education.

　　Underlying the differences between these two philosophies was the humanists’deep conviction that society had outgrown older ways of thought. According to the humanists, these ways of thought emphasized abstract speculation and relied too heavily on Christian teachings. Many of the humanists were townspeople who were not directly associated with the church. These urban residents tended to object to an educational system that was largely monopolized by the clergy and oriented to clerical needs. Humanists were accustomed to the ever changing, concrete activities of city life and found the rigid and closed systems of abstract thought to be both useless and irrelevant. In sum, humanism reflected the new environment of the Renaissance(文艺复兴). Its essential contribution to the modern world was not its concern with antiquity, but its flexibility and openness to all the possibilities of life.

　　Renaissance humanism was complex, with few unifying features beyond a common belief that humanity and society could be improved through a new kind of education based on a study of the classics. Humanists varied widely in the ways they applied these ideas to areas that interested them. Some humanists were mainly interested in rhetoric and Latin prose style, while others analyzed ancient texts to determine exact meanings. One group focused on ways to improve society in general, while Christian humanism applied the techniques of humanist scholarship to the study of church documents, particularly the Bible.

　　52. Why were the humanities subjects required to be studied in the original classical text?

　　A) The humanists believed that those texts were the best ones.

　　B) Humanism took its origin in classical works in many fields.

　　C) The humanists disliked their contemporary works.

　　D) The humanists wanted to be different from scholasticism.