题目内容

An economist is____________expert who will know tomorrow why_________things he predicted yesterday didn't happen.


  1. A.
    the; \
  2. B.
    the; the
  3. C.
    an; the
  4. D.
    an; \
C
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Dear Economist,
My newly-wedded wife and I are deeply in love．There is, however, one issue that threatens the happiness of our marriage．I absolutely insist on shopping at Walmart．My wife, meanwhile, would rather avoid Walmart at all costs．
　　I have recently tried to convince her that not only does Walmart offer the lowest prices known to man, but that the chain is also a force for good―lower prices mean better standards of living for all consumers, increased global trade means a tighter-knit(紧密团结的) international community, and efficient operations translate into higher productivity growth for the economy．My wife complains about poor labour policies, the “fact” that Walmart squeezes suppliers, and that it puts local shops out of business．
　　Who is right? Will our marriage survive?
Brian Gee
Dear Brian,
I have to agree with you about Walmart．Jason Furman, then an economist at New York University, now an adviser to President Obama, famously argued in 2005 that Walmart was unwittingly (不知不觉地) a progressive success story．The chain’s prices don’t much affect me (I prefer Whole Foods) but Furman estimated that they benefited low-and-middle-income Americans to the sum of around $250 billion a year．
　　Walmart does not pay much, so it may depress wages．Then again, it may increase wages by offering jobs to the otherwise-unemployed．Either way, the benefits of low prices to Walmart shoppers far outweigh any seemingly reasonable costs to Walmart employees．And while it is true that Walmart employees tend to be poor, the same is true of Walmart shoppers．
　　Armed with this information you can face your wife with confidence．You are sure to win the conversation．The divorce is likely to be more argued．
Economist
【小题1】What concerns Brian Gee so much that he wrote the letter?

A．His wife refuses to shop at Walmart．
B．They are faced with a divorce．
C．They can’t afford the costs of shopping at Walmart．
D．They are in conflict about shopping at Walmart．
【小题2】Brian Gee’s wife tends to hold the opinion that _________．
A．it is wrong for Walmart to depress its employees’ wages
B．consumers’ lives have improved thanks to Walmart
C．Walmart’s business operation increases productivity in economy
D．Walmart’s business increases global trade
【小题3】What can be inferred from the reply letter?
A．Some employees accept the low pay to keep the job．
B．Walmart appeals to only poor consumers and poor employees．
C．Employees suffer from Walmart’s low prices more than consumers．
D．Jason Furman, a New York University economist, spoke highly of Walmart．

Made In The USA: An Export Boom
In his State of the Union address two years ago, President Obama argued that in order to recover from the economic recession, one of the few things the U．S. needed to do was to export more goods around the world. That night, the president unveiled a new goal: to double U．S. exports over the next five years. It would be an increase that the president said would “support two million jobs in America.”
Most economists dismissed the promise at the time as something unrealistic, but two years later, the U．S. is on pace to meet that goal. American exports are up 34 percent since the president gave that speech, and the number continues to rise.
Competitive In A Global Market
Marlin Steel, a metal working business in Baltimore, makes parts that ship all across the world.“We export to 36 countries，” owner Drew Greenblatt tells All Things Considered Host Guy Raz.“We're working around the clock, and we're growing.”
It's not just advanced manufacturing exports on the rise, but pork, cattle and all kinds of agricultural exports are up as well. Even American craft beer has found an export market.
Flying Dog CEO Jim Caruso says that increasingly, people all over the world are trying the beer from the Maryland－based brewery. Caruso says，“Even in those top beer－producing countries, a competitive American product is finding a market.”
Services Are Exports, Too
Another place exports are coming from is New York City—in particular, the 30th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper on 5th Avenue and 52nd Street. That's where the consulting firm Kurt Solomon lies. It doesn't actually produce a product for export; it provides management advice and strategy.
“Four out of every five Americans is now employed in the service industry，” the nation's top trade official, Ron Kirk says, “Services are a significant part of our exports, and make up about a quarter of our exported goods.” These services can include everything from legal consulting, finance, information technology and even engineering.
And There Are Other Factors
So why has there been an increase of more than 30 percent for exports in almost everything? Part of the increase, at least for the manufacturing side, is due to better technology, says Tyler Cowen, an economist.“A lot of it is being driven by smart machines，” he tells Raz，“The U．S. has high wage rates, which is a disadvantage, but if machines are doing a lot of the work, that doesn't matter.”
China factors a lot in America's export economy, too.“Wages in China have been going up as the country becomes more productive. Thus China is losing the cheap labor advantage it has held for some time.” Cowen says.
Will Jobs Grow, too?
“Companies have become more productive by dismissing workers and lowering costs.”Cowen says.“So I don't view exporting as a way of creating a very large number of jobs, but it will create more profits.”
So not every business or worker is necessarily benefiting from the export boom in the U．S., and Cowen says that could ultimately lead to a polarization(两极) of economic outcomes.
Made In the USA: An Export Boom

Outline
Details
The purpose of  increasing exports
*To help America make a (1)______ from the economic recession
*To help raise the nation's (2)______ rate
The current situation
*American exports have risen (3)______ thirty－four percent up to now
*There has been an increase in exports in everything
*The export boom does not necessarily (4)______ every business or worker
(5)______ contributing to the export boom
(6)______products
Even in those top beer－producing countries, people try craft beer from Flying Dog, a brewery (7)______ in Maryland
Various products
A variety of products are provided around the world，services (8)______ for 25%
Lower costs
*(9)______ take the place of labor, helping companies reduce wages
*China, who used to take (10)______ of cheap labor, has given way to America in exports to some extent because of its increasing production

At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question: are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they’re bad. Yet the agreement among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from farm produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets. So why is there such a discrepancy between the perception of immigrants’ impact on the economy and the reality?

There are a number of familiar theories. Some argue that people are anxious and feel threatened by an inflow of new workers. Others highlight the stress that undocumented immigrants place on public services, like schools, hospitals, and jails. Still others emphasize the role of race, arguing that foreigners add to the nation's fears and insecurities. There’s some truth to all these explanations, but they aren’t quite sufficient.

To get a better understanding of what’s going on, consider the way immigration’s impact is felt. Though its overall effect may be positive, its costs and benefits are distributed unevenly. David Card, an economist at UC Berkeley, notes that the ones who profit most directly from immigrants’ low-cost labor are businesses and employers —meatpacking plants in Nebraska, for instance, these producers’ savings probably translate into lower prices at the grocery store, but how many consumers make that mental connection at the checkout counter? As for the drawbacks of illegal immigration, these, too, are concentrated. Native low-skilled workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor. According to a study by George Borjas, a Harvard economist, immigration has reduced the wages of American high-school dropouts by 9%. 

Among high-skilled, better-educated employees, however, opposition was strongest in states with both high numbers of immigrants and relatively generous social services. What worried them most, in other words, was the financial burden of immigration. That conclusion was reinforced by another finding: that their opposition appeared to soften when that financial burden decreased, as occurred with welfare reform in the 1990s, which curbed immigrants’ access to certain benefits.

The irony is that for all the overexcited debate, the net effect of immigration is minimal. Even for those most acutely affected — say, low-skilled workers, or California residents — the impact isn’t all that dramatic. “The unpleasant voices have tended to dominate our perceptions,” says Daniel Tichenor, a professor at the University of Oregon. “But when all those factors are put together and the economists calculate the numbers, it ends up being a net positive, but a small one.” Too bad most people don’t realize it. 

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Whether immigrants are good or bad for the economy has been puzzling economists.

B．The American economy used to thrive on immigration but now it’s a different story.

C．The agreement among economists is that immigration should not be encouraged.

D．The general public thinks differently from most economists on the impact of immigration.

2.What is the chief concern of native high-skilled, better-educated employees about the inflow of immigrants?

A．It may change the existing social structure.

B．It may pose a threat to their economic status.

C．It may decrease .their financial burden.

D．It may place a great pressure on the state budget.

3.What is the irony about the debate over immigration?

A．Even economists can’t reach an agreement about its impact.

B．Those who are opposed to it turn out to benefit most from it.

C．People are making too big a fuss about something of small impact.

D．There is no essential difference between seemingly opposite opinions.

4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．A debate about whether to immigrate.

B．A debate about the impact of illegal immigrants.

C．The great impact of immigrants on the economy.

D．Opposition to illegal immigration.

 

Chinese reports say the country’s vast pool of cheap labor is getting smaller, which could hurt an economy that heavily depends on labor-intensive manufacturing.

The academy’s research shows that China’s rural labor surplus, the source of migrant workers for the country’s factories, is about 50 million people—far less than the previously estimated 150 to 200 million.

Jonathan Unger, director of the Contemporary China Center at the Australian National University, says fewer rural residents are willing to leave their farms today. This is partly because there are more employment opportunities in rural areas, and because agricultural prices have gone up.

“And at the same time taxes in the countryside, fees in the countryside have gone down because of new sets of government policies,” he explained. “So people are not eagerly forced in the way they were five, six years ago to leave the farm in order to earn enough money for their families.”

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says another reason for the reduced labor pool is the country’s population policy, which allows city residents to have just one child, and farmers up to two if the first one is a girl.

A UN study predicts that China’s workforce will reach its top in 2015 and then gradually drop. Some of China’s major manufacturing areas, such as Guangdong Province, already face labor shortages.

Some economists think these shortages are, at least for now, a regional rather than a national problem. Sun Mingchun, an economist with investment bank Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong, points out that there are still millions of people in China who can not find work.

57. According to the academy’s research, China’ rural labor surplus today is about _______.

A. 150 million      B. 50 million      C. 200 million      D. 175 million

58. The reason why many rural residents don’t leave their farms today is ________.

A. the farmers are older than before.

B. the farmers are lazier than before

C. the farmers have much more money

D. there are more employment opportunities and agricultural prices have gone up

59. Which of the following is TURE according to the passage?

A. A study of UN estimates China’s workforce will come to the top in 2015.

B. No a study shows millions of people can’t find work in China.

C. The country’s population policy isn’t a reason for the reduced labor.

D. Five years ago, few farmers left their homes to earn money for supporting their families.

60. According to some economists, the shortage of Chinese workforce __________.

A. is a national problem                     B. is a regional problem

C. is not a problem                         D. can be solved easily

 

 If you give something to someone for free, will that person value it and use it? Development experts have debated this question for decades. Some think the act of paying causes people to value something and use it more.

   Selling necessary health treatments, others argue, may deny them to the people who need them the most.

    Consider, for example, chemically treated bed nets, which kill mosquitoes anti protect people against malaria(疟疾)while they are sleeping. William Easterly, an economist at New York University, believes this is one example of development having gone wrong. In a recent book, Professor Easterly suggests bed nets given free in Africa are often used for the wrong purpose. Yet, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends bed nets be given out free and used by whole communities. The success of a large free bed net campaign in Kenya led the WHO to announce this recommendation

    This debate will likely influence social programs in the developing world. Many non-governmental organizations support the creation of self-supporting programs in poor countries. Goods and services are sold for a price to help these programs survive.

    According to Rachel Glenerster, who runs a research lab doing development and poverty studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, her several studies have proven that small price changes have a big influence on the number of people who use a product. A price change will reduce the total amount of use of the product as well, she says. She has also found no evidence that the very act of paying for something changes how people use it.

    As for a particular product among special populations, some development experts argue that pricing is useful. When it comes to bed nets, Miss Glenerster says research shows no evidence of this. People are just as likely to use a bed net whether they paid for it or not.

1. The debate among experts focuses on       .

 A. a special use of bed nets in Africa

 B. the use of assistance-related products

 C. the importance of social programs for the poor

 D. a popular way to help the poor

2. According to some experts, certain health treatments        .

  A. can only be sold to the rich                   B. should be completely free                         

  C. are too expensive                                D. are not needed by the poor                       

3.What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

  A. The WHO's advice may not be always practical.

  B. Many Africans don't know the function of bed nets.

  C. The case of Kenya is doubtful.

  D. Bed nets given to Africans are poor in quality.

4. What may be the possible change in the social program according to the third paragraph?

  A. Some of them may become financially independent.

  B. Many of them will not be organized by the government.

  C. Some of them will go to developed countries.

  D. Most of them will be free of charge.

 

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