2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 66

Unit 66

After five years of litigation, the World Trade Organisation （WTO） is about to deliver its preliminary ruling on America’s complaint against the provision of prohibited subsidies to Europe’s commercial aircraft industry. The United States alleges that this support was worth $200 billion over 20 years. In a few months the WTO will rule on a counter-claim by the European Union that Boeing received about $24 billion in subsidies over the past two decades as well as large, non-repayable benefits from military and space contracts. Both rulings are subject to appeal. This first ruling is a potential thunderbolt that could ignite a damaging trade dispute between America and Europe at a time when both economies need to present a united front on trade, to prevent a slide towards protectionism.

The origins of the dispute lie in America’s decision, at Boeing’s prompting, to withdraw in 2004 from a 12-year-old bilateral agreement with Europe governing trade in large civil aircraft. The agreement banned direct production and sales subsidies, but let governments continue to funnel money into new aircraft projects. It permitted both repayable direct state aid（the European approach）covering up to a third of all development costs, known as launch aid, and indirect state aid（the American approach）if limited to 3% of the domestic industry’s sales volume. Boeing, however, says it expected the deal to lead to a gradual reduction in subsidies to Airbus. When this failed to materialise, it withdrew. What caused its patience to run out? Two things: the success of Airbus in achieving rough market-share parity at the end of the 1990s, and resentment over launch aid for the A380, the superjumbo designed to bring to an end the long reign of the 747.

Boeing is right to argue that all subsidies distort competition. But although the subsidies that Airbus receives are different from Boeing’s, they are not necessarily much worse. At least they are transparent—and Europe claims that by 2007 Airbus had repaid 40% more than it had been given. Nor has the effect of the subsidies received by both firms been anti-competitive. Boeing and Airbus fight like rats in a sack for every sale, with the consequence that airlines have been able to buy cheaper and better aircraft than if one firm had been dominant.

Two other points should be borne in mind. The first is that it is out of date to see either firm as a national champion. The size and riskiness of large commercial-aircraft projects has forced even Boeing to create extended international supply chains. Second, the aircraft-makers’ subsidies pale by comparison with those doled out by governments on both sides of the Atlantic in the past year. Leaving aside the trillions of dollars spent on preventing financial collapse, industrial subsidies of a kind almost certainly illegal under WTO rules have mushroomed.

Both sides should therefore hold their fire until the WTO rules on Europe’s complaint. Then, putting further litigation to one side, they should head for the negotiating table. The aim should be to secure a new deal along the lines of the old agreement, but this time with an explicit goal of phasing out the most egregious subsidies within a reasonable period. The alternative of an escalating tit-for-tat trade dispute between Europe and America does not bear thinking about.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象：第1、2、3、5、4題分別模仿1995年真題Text 3第1、2、3、5題和Text 4第1題。

1. The word “thunderbolt”（Line 6, Paragraph 1）most probably means ______.

A) thunderstorm

B) cause

C) disaster

D) danger

2. The main problem concerning the dispute between American and European air industries is ______.

A) the breach of their bilateral agreement

B) the different approaches of governmental subsidies

C) whether the governmental assistance they receive is legal

D) whether governmental subsidies would affect market competition

3. From the passage we can infer that ______.

A) it was because of Boeing that America decided to withdraw the bilateral agreement

B) by withdrawing the bilateral agreement, Boeing expected to realize a gradual reduction in subsidies to Airbus

C) the form of subsidy that Boeing receives is superior than that Airbus receives

D) subsidies received by Boeing and Airbus have significantly affected a fair market order

4. According to the author, Boeing’s argument is not quite correct because of the following reasons EXCEPT ______.

A) in this case subsidies do not completely distort the market competition

B) Boeing itself is no longer a national but a multinational company

C) the subsidy dispute will lead to a war between America and Europe

D) governmental subsidies are becoming increasingly common

5. We can learn from the last paragraph that ______.

A) the best way to solve the problem is to wait for WTO’s ruling

B) both litigation and negotiation should go ahead shoulder by shoulder

C) both parties should start negotiating to reach a new deal in place of the old one

D) both parties cannot afford a long-term vicious cycle of sue and counter-sue

篇章剖析

本文主要介紹了世界上兩大飛機制造公司——美國的波音公司和歐盟的空客公司的法律爭端。第一段首先介紹了兩家公司之間的起訴和反訴，表明這可能會引起一場貿(mào)易大戰(zhàn)；第二段分析了兩家公司發(fā)生矛盾、沖突的原因；第三、四段作者表明了自己的觀點，認為兩家公司提出的一些理由有失偏頗；最后一段作者提出，解決兩家公司爭端的最好辦法是進行談判。

詞匯注釋

subsidy /?s?bs?di/ n. 津貼，補貼；補助金

allege /??led?/ v. 斷言，宣稱

ignite /?g?na?t/ v. 點燃；激起

bilateral /ba??l?t?r?l/ adj. 雙方的；雙邊的

funnel /?f?n?l/ v. （用漏斗）注入；使匯集，集中

parity /?p?r?ti/ n. 同等；類似；相同

distort /d?s?t??t/ v. 扭曲，曲解

dole /d??l/ v. 發(fā)放（賑濟物）

mushroom /?m??r?m/ v. 雨后春筍般地涌現(xiàn)，迅速增加

egregious /??gri?d??s/ adj. 過分的；驚人的；惡名昭彰的

escalate /?esk?le?t/ v. 逐步上升，逐步增強

tit-for-tat /?t?tf??t?t/ adj. 針鋒相對的；一報還一報的

難句突破

In a few months the WTO will rule on a counter-claim by the European Union that Boeing received about $24 billion in subsidies over the past two decades as well as large, non-repayable benefits from military and space contracts.

主體句式：The WTO will rule on a counter-claim.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句主要包含了一個較長的同位語從句，由that引導(dǎo)來說明counter-claim的內(nèi)容。同位語從句的主干是Boeing received $24 billion as well as benefits，從句中還有狀語及兩個賓語各自的定語對波音公司得到的好處進行了具體的補充說明。

句子譯文：世貿(mào)組織還將在幾個月之內(nèi)就歐盟針對波音公司的反訴做出裁決，歐盟指控波音公司在過去20年里不僅接受了240億美元的補助，而且還從與軍事和航天業(yè)的合作中獲得了巨大且不需償還的利潤。

題目分析

1. B 語義題。thunderbolt所在句子“This first ruling is a potential thunderbolt that could ignite a damaging trade dispute between America and Europe”的大致意思是第一次裁決可能會導(dǎo)致美歐之間的貿(mào)易爭端，因此B項的cause最符合這個意思。

2. C 細節(jié)題。從第一段中可以看出，美國投訴歐洲商業(yè)飛機制造業(yè)接受非法補助，而歐盟反訴波音公司不但接受了高額補助，還從與軍事和航天業(yè)的合作中獲利，可見二者爭論的核心是雙方得到的政府援助是否合法、是否應(yīng)該被禁止，所以C是正確答案。

3. A 推理題。本題需要對各個選項進行逐一判斷。第二段指出“這場爭端的起因在于，在波音公司的驅(qū)使下，美國政府于2004年決定撤銷當(dāng)時與歐盟已簽訂12年的大型民航客機貿(mào)易管制雙邊協(xié)議”，換句話說，正是因為波音，美國才退出該協(xié)議，因此A是正確選項。第二段接著指出，“然而波音公司希望這一雙邊協(xié)議會使空客公司得到的補助逐漸減少。波音沒有如愿，因此退出了雙邊協(xié)議”，由此可見B項的錯誤在于弄反了先后時間順序。第三段提到“但是盡管空客公司接受補助的方式不同于波音，但也不是比后者更差”，可見兩種方式并沒有誰優(yōu)于誰的區(qū)分，因此C選項也不正確。第三段最后提到“兩家公司接受補助的結(jié)果也沒有影響市場的自由競爭”，由此可見這些補助并沒有影響公平競爭，所以D項也不正確。

4. C 細節(jié)題。文章第三、四段主要論述了為什么波音公司關(guān)于補助的觀點不完全正確。首先第三段主要反駁了目前的補助“扭曲了競爭”的觀點，因此A項的表述是正確的。第四段又進一步提到了另外兩個觀點，第一個是波音公司不再是民族支柱企業(yè)，而“被迫拓展跨國供應(yīng)鏈”成為了跨國公司，可見B項的表述也是正確的。第二個觀點是在目前經(jīng)濟危機的背景下“明顯違反世貿(mào)組織相關(guān)法規(guī)的給予某種工業(yè)補助金的現(xiàn)象也如雨后春筍般增長”，所以拿補助金作為借口進行訴訟并不是個好主意，因此D項的表述也是正確的。C的表述錯誤在于美國和歐洲的爭端不會引發(fā)戰(zhàn)爭，文中的go to war只是一個比喻，指的是補助金之戰(zhàn)。

5. D 推理題。本題主要針對最后一段，可以采取排除法。該段提到“雙方在世貿(mào)組織對歐盟的訴訟做出裁決之前都應(yīng)該按兵不動。之后，他們應(yīng)該暫停隨后的訴訟而走向談判桌”，可見最好的辦法還是坐下來談判，因此A項的表述不夠準確；而且也不是訴訟和談判同時進行，因此B項也不正確。文中接下來還指出“談判的目標應(yīng)該是達成一項與舊協(xié)議類似的新協(xié)議”，可見不是新交易完全替代舊協(xié)議，因此C也不正確。而文章最后一句話指出“任何擴大歐洲和美國間貿(mào)易爭端的做法都不在考慮范圍內(nèi)”，由此可以推斷出作者的意思是，這種訴訟和反訴訟的惡性循環(huán)是美國和歐洲都無法長期承受的，因此D項是正確答案。

參考譯文

經(jīng)過五年的訴訟，世界貿(mào)易組織即將就美國投訴歐洲商業(yè)飛機制造業(yè)接受非法補助一案做出最初裁決。美國聲稱，在20多年間，歐洲商業(yè)飛機制造業(yè)接受的補助總額達到兩千億美元。同時世貿(mào)組織還將在幾個月之內(nèi)就歐盟針對波音公司的反訴做出裁決，歐盟指控波音公司在過去20年里不僅接受了240億美元的補助，而且還從與軍事和航天業(yè)的合作中獲得了巨大且不需償還的利潤。這兩項裁決都可以上訴。第一個裁決的結(jié)果很可能是一個晴天霹靂，由此引發(fā)美國和歐盟之間一場破壞性巨大的貿(mào)易爭端大戰(zhàn)，但在目前這個時候，這兩個經(jīng)濟體最需要做的是結(jié)成貿(mào)易統(tǒng)一戰(zhàn)線，以防止向貿(mào)易保護主義傾斜。

這場爭端的起因在于，在波音公司的驅(qū)使下，美國政府于2004年決定撤銷當(dāng)時與歐盟已簽訂12年的大型民航客機貿(mào)易管制雙邊協(xié)議。該協(xié)議禁止直接對生產(chǎn)和銷售給予補助，但允許政府為新的飛行器項目不斷注入資金。它既允許可應(yīng)償還的政府直接援助（歐洲模式）高達開發(fā)成本的三分之一，即所謂的研發(fā)資助；也允許間接政府援助（美國模式），只要援助金額不高于國內(nèi)工業(yè)產(chǎn)品銷售額的3%。然而波音公司希望這一雙邊協(xié)議會使空客公司得到的補助逐漸減少。波音沒有如愿，因此退出了雙邊協(xié)議。到底是什么使波音失去了耐性？有兩方面的原因：一是上世紀90年代末空客取得了與波音旗鼓相當(dāng)?shù)氖袌龇蓊~，二是旨在結(jié)束波音747統(tǒng)治地位的空客A380客機得到了研發(fā)資助，波音對此非常不滿。

波音關(guān)于所有補助都扭曲了競爭的觀點是正確的。但是盡管空客公司接受補助的方式不同于波音，但也不見得比后者更糟糕。至少空客得到的補助都是透明的——歐洲聲稱截至2007年，空客公司償還的資金比它接受的援助還多40%。兩家公司接受補助的結(jié)果也沒有影響市場的自由競爭。波音和空客公司像在糧袋里爭食的老鼠一樣為每一筆銷售大打出手，而各個航空公司則因此能夠買到比它們某一家獨占鰲頭時更物美價廉的飛機。

還有兩點也應(yīng)該謹記在心。首先把這兩家公司的任何一家再看成是民族支柱企業(yè)的想法早已過時了。大型商業(yè)飛機項目的龐大規(guī)模和巨大風(fēng)險使得波音公司被迫拓展跨國供應(yīng)鏈；其次，在過去一年中，大西洋兩岸的這兩家飛機制造商得到的補助金與其他少量的救濟金相比更加少得可憐。姑且不談為避免金融崩潰而花費的上萬億美元，就是明顯違反世貿(mào)組織相關(guān)法規(guī)的工業(yè)補助金現(xiàn)象也如雨后春筍般增長。

因此，雙方在世貿(mào)組織對歐盟的訴訟做出裁決之前都應(yīng)該按兵不動。然后他們應(yīng)該暫停隨后的訴訟而走向談判桌。談判的目標應(yīng)該是在舊協(xié)議的基礎(chǔ)上達成一項新協(xié)議，但這次的目標顯然是要在一個合理的期限內(nèi)逐步取消那些數(shù)額驚人的補助金。任何擴大歐洲和美國間貿(mào)易爭端的做法都不在考慮范圍內(nèi)。