考研英语阅读理解精读100篇【社会文化类】

考研英语阅读理解精读100篇unit30
Unit 30
At the end of last week, Bodega Aurrerá, a Mexican subsidiary of the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, opened a new store in the village of San Juan Teotihuacán, just north of Mexico City. Normally, such an event would cause little stir. Wal-Mart is already Mexico's biggest retailer too. And its shops seem to go down very well with its millions of bargain-hungry customers. But this particular opening was, in fact, the culmination of months of protests, legal actions, hunger strikes and hyperbole by those determined to stop it.

The reason is the location. Just 2.5km (1.6 miles) away is the ancient city of Teotihuacán, probably Mexico's most famous archaeological site. Amongst other attractions, it boasts the third-largest (by volume) pyramid in the world. For many Mexicans, the ancient site, abandoned by its mysterious inhabitants centuries before the Spanish conquerors arrived, remains the ultimate symbol of Mexican identity and nationhood. Thousands troop up to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun to celebrate the summer solstice.
 
To them, the idea of having a Wal-Mart next door is abhorrent. In the words of Homero Aridjis, a writer and one of the leading opponents, "it is like driving the stake of globalisation into the heart of old Mexico." The controversy is only the latest in a string of protesters' attempts to save Mexican culture from what they see as a creeping menace. They won a famous victory by blocking a McDonalds restaurant from opening in the main square of the pretty southern colonial town of Oaxaca.

But this time they were on much thinner ground. For a start, Wal-Mart went through all the appropriate regulatory hoops, even getting permission from the Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites, which judged that the store would cause no harm to the nearby ruins. A small stone platform was indeed found during construction of the new car park, but was preserved.

Just as importantly, the claim that the new store spoils the famous view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun is clearly bogus, as anyone who cares to get to the top can testify. The problem is not so much that you can see the Wal-Mart, but one of trying to distinguish it from the 30-odd other ugly, squat buildings that litter the surrounding countryside--to say nothing of the car parks, the electricity pylons and the large power station. Sadly, unrestricted building long ago ruined this particular view, as well as many others in Mexico.

To the diehards, the issue counts more than the view. But neither mattered much to the hundreds of locals who queued up for the opening, delighted to be freed of the small and expensive local shops. Despite a legal case pending against Wal-Mart and local officials, brought by an irate local left-wing politician, this is one battle that the American retailer has probably won.

注（1）：本文选自Economist; 11/13/2004, p42；
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象2001年真题Text 4（其中因2001年真题Text 4只有四个题目，所以本文第4题模仿参照对象为2003年Text 1的第四题）；

1.       Why the opening of Wal-Mart caused stir?

[A]Wal-Mart would have severe competition with the local stores.
[B]War-Mart would provide them with a larger choice and more benefits.
[C]It was said to have ruined the scene of the ancient site.
[D]There shouldn’t be a store near the ancient site.

2.       From Paragraph 2 we can infer that _________.

[A]the ancient city means a lot to the Mexicans
[B]a store will be too noisy for the ancient city
[C]the ancient city is very mysterious
[D]the pyramid is a good place for holding big ceremony

3.       According to Wal-Mart, it has a good reason to build store there because _______.

[A]it proves no harm to the nearby ruins
[B]the scene of the ancient sites has been damaged
[C]customers want to buy some cheap products
[D]it has been widely accepted by the customers there.

4.       It can be learned from Paragraph 5 that _________.

[A]the famous view is not as good as it used to be
[B]the city lacks planning in building
[C]the ancient site is littered with ugly buildings
[D]Wal-Mart shouldn’t be fully responsible for the ruined view.

5.       Toward the fate of Wal-Mart, the writer’s attitude can be said to be _________.

[A]objective
[B]optimistic
[C]pessimistic
[D]biased

答案：CADDB

篇章剖析
本文采用提出问题——分析问题的模式，指出世界上最大的零售商沃尔玛在墨西哥开设分店时所遇到的麻烦、问题产生的原因以及最终的结果。第一段指出沃尔玛设在墨西哥的子公司Bodega Aurrerá在墨西哥城北部的圣胡安特奥帝瓦坎村开了一家新店所引起的强烈反响；第二段指出事件产生的原因；第三段指出反对者的看法及举动；第四段指出沃尔玛充分的前期工作；第五段指出这座古城的实际情况；第六段指出这个事件最有可能的结果是什么。

词汇注释
subsidiary[]n.子公司
retailer[]n.零售商人, 传播的人
go down with  vt.为...所接受,为...相信
culmination[]n.顶点;结果
hyperbole[]n.[修辞]夸张法
summer solstice夏至
creeping[]adj.爬行的；在一段时间内逐步发展的：
bogus[]adj.<美>假的, 伪造的
diehard[]n.顽固分子
irate[]adj发怒的；生气的

难句突破
1.But this particular opening was, in fact, the culmination of months of protests, legal actions, hunger strikes and hyperbole by those determined to stop it.
主体句式：the … opening was … the culmination …
结构分析：本句是一个简单句。“months of protests, legal actions, hunger strikes and hyperbole”跟在介词“of”后面来修饰“culmination”；“by”意思是“由…”；“determined”之前省去了“who are”。
句子译文：这次开张实际上是那些决心阻止它成立的人数月以来进行反对、合法行动、绝食抗议和其它一些偏激行为无效而落得的最终结果
2.For many Mexicans, the ancient site, abandoned by its mysterious inhabitants centuries before the Spanish conquerors arrived, remains the ultimate symbol of Mexican identity and nationhood.
主体句式：the ancient site …remains …the symbol
结构分析：本句是一个简单句。“abandoned”之前省去了“which was”。
句子译文：数百年前在西班牙征服者到来之前被这里的神秘居民所抛弃的这座古城，对很多墨西哥人来说依然是墨西哥民族和国家身份的根本象征。

题目分析
1.答案为C, 属推理判断题。从句子“Normally, such an event would cause little stir.”，我们可以看出沃儿玛开业这样的事情一般不会引起什么反响的。但是作者笔锋一转，“But this particular opening was, in fact, the culmination of months of protests, legal actions, hunger strikes and hyperbole by those determined to stop it.”那么为什么反对在沃儿玛开业，原因在于“The reason is the location.”和“the claim that the new store spoils the famous view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun”。
2.答案为A，属推理判断题。原文对应信息是“For many Mexicans, the ancient site, abandoned by its mysterious inhabitants centuries before the Spanish conquerors arrived, remains the ultimate symbol of Mexican identity and nationhood.”
3.答案为D，属推理判断题。原文对应信息是“Wal-Mart is already Mexico's biggest retailer too. And its shops seem to go down very well with its millions of bargain-hungry customers.”
4.答案为D，属推理判断题。原文对应信息是“Just as importantly, the claim that the new store spoils the famous view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun is clearly bogus, as anyone who cares to get to the top can testify.”
5.答案为B，属情感态度题。原文对应信息是“Despite a legal case pending against Wal-Mart and local officials, brought by an irate local left-wing politician, this is one battle that the American retailer has probably won.”

参考译文
上周末，世界上最大的零售商沃尔玛设在墨西哥的子公司Bodega Aurrerá在墨西哥城北部的圣胡安特奥帝瓦坎(San Juan Teotihuacán)村开了一家新店。通常情况下，这样的事情是不会引起什么反响的。沃尔玛已经是墨西哥最大的零售商了。设在这里的商店倍受那些想买廉价货的上百万顾客的欢迎。这次开张实际上是那些决心阻止它成立的人数月以来进行反对、合法行动、绝食抗议和其它一些偏激行为无效而落得的最终结果。

事件的原因在于地段的选择问题。商店地址选在了离特奥蒂瓦坎（Teotihuacán）古城仅2.5公里（1.6英里）的地方。特奥蒂瓦坎古城可能是墨西哥最为出名的古文化遗址，除了别的景观之外，它还拥有世界上第三大金字塔（体积上）。数百年前在西班牙征服者到来之前被这里的神秘居民所抛弃的这座古城，对很多墨西哥人来说依然是墨西哥民族和国家身份的根本象征。每逢夏至都有上千人一起登上太阳金字塔的顶部以示庆祝。

对于这些人来说，在古城附近建沃尔玛超市这样的主意简直太可恶了。奥梅罗•阿里迪斯是一位作家，也是其中的一位主要反对者，用他的话来说：“这好比是把全球化的树桩子插到了古老的墨西哥的心脏上。”这是最近的一场争端，是反对者为了使墨西哥文化免受在他们看来是一种潜在的危险而做出的多方努力。他们曾赢过一场令人满意的胜利，成功阻止了麦当劳餐厅在美丽的南部殖民城镇瓦哈卡（Oaxaca）的主要广场上开店。

但是这次他们的底气就没那么足了。因为从一开始，沃尔玛就通过了所有相关的规章制度的审核，甚至还得到了驻巴黎的国际古迹遗址理事会的认可，他们判定在那里设店对周边遗迹是不会造成任何损害的。在新停车场施工过程中确实发现了一个小的石头平台，这已被保存起来了。

同样重要的是，声称新店破坏了太阳金字塔从塔顶往下望的良好的视觉效果，这显然是不对的，任何人只要登上塔顶就可以证实这一点。问题并不在于你是否能看到沃尔玛，而是你得从三十多个凌乱地散布在郊区的丑陋、低矮的建筑中努力去辨认沃尔玛——更不用提那里的停车场、电缆塔和大型发电站了。令人遗憾的是，那些随意建成的建筑很早以前不但毁坏了墨西哥其它的景观，也毁了这处风景。

对于顽固分子来说，事件本身要比风景问题重要。但是对于许许多多排队等候它开业，因为再不用受又小又贵的当地商店的限制而开心不已的当地居民来说，这些都不重要了。虽然当地一名愤怒的左翼政客对沃尔玛和当地官员提起的诉讼案件还悬而未决，但是在这场战斗中，美国零售商差不多已胜券在握了。

二：资料下载

更多资料请访问：考试吧考研栏目