英語四級(jí)基礎(chǔ)閱讀訓(xùn)練 Text 8

Text 8

Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as "steering the economy to a soft landing" or "a touch on the brakes", makes it sound like a precise science. Nothing could be further from the truth. The link between interest rates and inflation is uncertain. And there are long, variable lags before policy changes have any effect on the economy. Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rear view mirror and a faulty steering wheel.

Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 2.5% this July. This is a long way below the double digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.

It is also less than most forecasters had predicated. In late 1994, the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America's inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In 1995, in fact, it fell to 2.6% in August, and expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.

Economists have been particularly surprised by favorable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially America's, have little productive slack. America's capacity utilization, for example, has historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate (5.6% in August) has fallen below most estimates of the natural rate of unemployment—the rate below which inflation has taken off in the past.

Why has inflation proved so mild? The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a little defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have up-ended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.

1.From the passage we learn that_______.

A.there is a definite relationship between inflation and interest rates

B.economy will always follow certain models

C.the economic situation is better than expected

D.economists had foreseen the present economic situation

2.According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A.Making monetary policies is comparable to driving a car.

B.An extremely low jobless rate will lead to inflation.

C.A high unemployment rate will result from inflation.

D.Interest rates have an immediate effect on the economy.

3.The sentence "This is no flash in the pan" (Line 5, Para. 3) means that_______.

A.the low inflation rate will last for some time

B.the inflation rate will soon rise

C.the inflation will disappear quickly

D.there is no inflation at present

4.The passage shows that the author is ________ the present situation.

A.critical of　　B.puzzled by　　C.disappointed at　　D.amazed at

5.Which country suffered less from inflation?

A.America　　B.Britain　　C.Japan　　D.Britain and Japan

長(zhǎng)難例句分析

［長(zhǎng)難例句］Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 2.5% this July.

［結(jié)構(gòu)分析］本句中，主干是Average inflation fell to 2.3％，后面的兩個(gè)分句都是補(bǔ)充、修飾這句話的。close to意為“接近于”，before在這里意為“之后”，即“后來到了7月份就稍稍上升了”。

［參考譯文］去年七大工業(yè)國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的平均通貨膨脹率降到了2.3％，接近30年以來的最低水平，今年7月才僅僅達(dá)到2.5％。

［長(zhǎng)難例句］Economists have been particularly surprised by favorable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially America's, have little productive slack.

［結(jié)構(gòu)分析］本句由一個(gè)附帶原因狀語從句的復(fù)合句組成。在后面的分句當(dāng)中，and especially America's作插入語，that引導(dǎo)的是賓語從句。

［參考譯文］特別讓經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家感到驚訝的是，英美兩國(guó)的通貨膨脹率帶來的是有利結(jié)果，因?yàn)閭鹘y(tǒng)的衡量辦法表明，兩國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)尤其是美國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)幾乎沒有出現(xiàn)生產(chǎn)遲緩的現(xiàn)象。

全文參考譯文

許多描述金融政策的詞語，像“指導(dǎo)經(jīng)濟(jì)軟著陸”或“經(jīng)濟(jì)剎車”，使人聽起來覺得它仿佛是一門精確的科學(xué)。事實(shí)并非如此。利率與通貨膨脹之間的聯(lián)系是不確定的。政策變化對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)生的任何影響之前，會(huì)出現(xiàn)較長(zhǎng)時(shí)間且易變的滯后期。因此人們將金融政策的執(zhí)行比做駕駛一輛擋風(fēng)玻璃發(fā)黑、后視鏡破碎而且驅(qū)動(dòng)輪不靈便的汽車。

盡管有這么多不利因素，但近來主要的銀行家們好像有許多可以夸耀的東西。去年七大工業(yè)國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的平均通脹率降到了2.3％，接近30年以來的最低水平，今年7月才僅僅達(dá)到2.5％，這比許多國(guó)家20世紀(jì)70年代和80年代早期經(jīng)歷的兩位數(shù)通脹率低很多。

這也比大多數(shù)預(yù)言家所預(yù)測(cè)的要低。每月都要邀請(qǐng)一些經(jīng)濟(jì)專家座談的《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家》雜志，在1994年底邀請(qǐng)的經(jīng)濟(jì)專家們說，1995年美國(guó)的平均通脹率將達(dá)到3.5％。事實(shí)上，在8月份就降到了2.6％，而且，預(yù)計(jì)全年的平均通脹率只在3％左右。在英國(guó)和日本通脹率比去年年底預(yù)測(cè)的低半個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。這不是暫時(shí)的現(xiàn)象，在過去兩年里，英國(guó)和美國(guó)的通脹率一直比預(yù)計(jì)的要低。

特別讓經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家感到驚訝的是，英美兩國(guó)的通脹率帶來的是有利結(jié)果，因?yàn)閭鹘y(tǒng)的衡量辦法表明，兩國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)尤其是美國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)幾乎沒有出現(xiàn)生產(chǎn)遲緩的現(xiàn)象。比如，在今年初，美國(guó)的生產(chǎn)力利用率創(chuàng)歷史新高，而失業(yè)率（8月份為5.6％）卻比大多數(shù)人預(yù)測(cè)的自然失業(yè)率要低——在過去，失業(yè)率一低于此，通脹率就會(huì)上升。

為什么通貨膨脹沒起什么作用？遺憾的是，最令人振奮的解釋也是不完善的。某些經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家認(rèn)為，世界強(qiáng)大的結(jié)構(gòu)變化已結(jié)束了原有的基于經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)和通貨膨脹的歷史聯(lián)系的經(jīng)濟(jì)模式。

題目答案與解析

1.我們從本文可以了解到_________。

A.通貨膨脹和利率有明確的關(guān)系　　B.經(jīng)濟(jì)將總是遵循特定的模式

C.經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)比預(yù)期的好　　　　　　D.經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家早已預(yù)見了現(xiàn)在的經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)

【答案】C

【解析】從文章第一段的內(nèi)容可知，利率與通貨膨脹之間的聯(lián)系并不穩(wěn)定；政策變動(dòng)對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)生影響之前，有一段時(shí)間長(zhǎng)且易變的滯后期；因此，出現(xiàn)了這樣的類比——將管理金融政策比做駕駛一輛擋風(fēng)玻璃發(fā)黑、后視鏡破碎并且驅(qū)動(dòng)輪不靈便的汽車；從文章第二段的內(nèi)容可知，盡管有這些不利條件，但是最近，主要的銀行家似乎有不少值得夸耀的東西；七大工業(yè)國(guó)家的平均通脹率下降了，接近三十年來的最低水平，比許多國(guó)家20世紀(jì)70年代和80年代早期經(jīng)歷過的兩位數(shù)的通脹率要低很多；從文章第三段的內(nèi)容可知，這一數(shù)字也比大多數(shù)預(yù)測(cè)人員的預(yù)測(cè)低；從文章第四段的內(nèi)容可知，英美兩國(guó)良好的通脹率尤其令經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家感到驚異，兩國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)，尤其是美國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)，幾乎沒有停滯；文章在最后一段總結(jié)到：為什么通脹率沒起什么作用呢？一些經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家認(rèn)為，舊的經(jīng)濟(jì)模式以經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)和通貨膨脹的歷史聯(lián)系為基礎(chǔ)，但是世界經(jīng)濟(jì)結(jié)構(gòu)所發(fā)生的巨大變化已經(jīng)打破了這種模式。據(jù)此可知，英、美兩國(guó)目前的經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)比預(yù)計(jì)的狀況要好。C項(xiàng)與文章的意思相符。A項(xiàng)之意與文章第一段第三句話的意思不符。B項(xiàng)不正確，依據(jù)是文章最后一段的最后一句“舊的經(jīng)濟(jì)模式以經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)和通貨膨脹的歷史聯(lián)系為基礎(chǔ)，但是世界經(jīng)濟(jì)結(jié)構(gòu)所引起的巨大變化已經(jīng)打破了這種模式”。D項(xiàng)明顯與文章第三、第四段第一句話的意思不符。綜上所述，只有C項(xiàng)為正確答案。

2.依據(jù)本文的觀點(diǎn)，以下面說法中正確的是哪項(xiàng)？

A.制定金融政策類似于開車?！　.極低的失業(yè)率將引發(fā)通貨膨脹。

C.通貨膨脹將導(dǎo)致高失業(yè)率?！　.利率對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)有直接影響。

【答案】B

【解析】本題中，A項(xiàng)不正確，文章第一段最后一句話只是將管理金融政策比做駕駛汽車，并不是說制定金融政策就像開車；C項(xiàng)明顯不符合文章的意思；D項(xiàng)不正確，從文章第一段的第三、四句話可知，利率與通貨膨脹之間的聯(lián)系并不穩(wěn)定，政策變動(dòng)對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)生影響之前，有一段時(shí)間長(zhǎng)且易變的滯后期；從文章第四段的最后一句話可知，今年早些時(shí)候，美國(guó)的生產(chǎn)力利用率創(chuàng)歷史新高，而失業(yè)率卻比大多數(shù)預(yù)測(cè)的自然失業(yè)率要低——過去，失業(yè)率一低于此，通貨膨脹率就會(huì)上升。據(jù)此可知，如果失業(yè)率低就會(huì)導(dǎo)致通貨膨脹。B項(xiàng)與文中的意思相符，因此為正確答案。

3.句子“This is no flash in the pan”（第三段第五行）意指_________。

A.低通脹率將持續(xù)一段時(shí)間　　B.通脹率不久將上升

C.通貨膨脹將很快消失　　　　D.目前沒有通貨膨脹

【答案】A

【解析】本題中，B項(xiàng)和C項(xiàng)之意明顯與文章的意思不符。D項(xiàng)不正確，文中只是說“通脹率低”，并沒有說沒有通脹。從文章第三段的內(nèi)容可知，通脹率也比大多數(shù)預(yù)測(cè)人員的預(yù)測(cè)低；由經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家組成的專門研究小組說，美國(guó)1995年的平均通脹率將達(dá)到3.5％，而實(shí)際上，通脹率8月份就降到2.6％，并且全年的平均通脹率有望達(dá)到大約3％的水平；在英國(guó)和日本，通脹率比去年年底預(yù)測(cè)的要低0.5％；這不是暫時(shí)的現(xiàn)象；在過去的兩年里，英國(guó)和美國(guó)的通脹率一直比預(yù)測(cè)的低。據(jù)此可知，英美兩國(guó)的通脹率低并不是偶然現(xiàn)象，而是一直比預(yù)測(cè)的低，并且可能持續(xù)一段時(shí)間。A項(xiàng)與文章的意思相符，因此為正確答案。

4.本文顯示出作者對(duì)目前的形勢(shì)_________。

A.持批評(píng)態(tài)度　　B.感到困惑　　C.感到失望　　D.感到驚訝

【答案】D

【解析】本題中，A項(xiàng)和C項(xiàng)之意明顯與文章的意思不符。B項(xiàng)不正確，文中是說對(duì)良好的通脹率感到驚異，并不是說感到困惑。從文章第二段的內(nèi)容可知，通脹率比許多國(guó)家20世紀(jì)70年代和80年代早期經(jīng)歷過的兩位數(shù)的通脹率要低很多。從文章第四段的內(nèi)容可知，英美兩國(guó)良好的通脹率尤其令經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家感到驚異，兩國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)，尤其是美國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)，幾乎沒有停滯。從文章最后一段的內(nèi)容可知，為什么通貨膨脹率如此和緩呢？不幸的是，即使最令人振奮的解釋也不怎么完美。據(jù)此可知，作者認(rèn)為當(dāng)前的經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)出人意料。D項(xiàng)與文中意思相符，因此為正確答案。

5.哪個(gè)國(guó)家較少地遭受通貨膨脹的影響？

A.美國(guó)?！　.英國(guó)?！　.日本?！　.英國(guó)和日本。

【答案】D

【解析】本題考查細(xì)節(jié)問題。從第三段的后半部分可以找到答案。