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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 30^th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper on 5^th Avenue and 52^nd 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

Karen,grown up in a very traditional family in the western United States,maintained high moral(道德的) standards throughout her youth.In 1984,at the age of 23,she married Bill.They were blessed with two children,a boy and a girl.

By 1991 their love had deepened,and they were happy.Later that year,Bill developed a white spot on his tongue.He visited a doctor.

One day shortly after that,Bill called Karen to sit beside him.He said with tears in his eyes that he loved her and wanted to live forever with her.The doctor suspected that he had been infected with HIV,the virus that leads to AIDS.

The family was tested,Bill and Karen’s results were positive.Bill had become infected before he met Karen;then he passed the virus on to Karen.The children’s results were negative.Within three years,Bill was dead.“I don’t know how to express what it is like to watch the once handsome man you love and intend to live with forever dying slowly.I cried many nights.He died three months short of ten years of our marriage,”says Karen.Though a doctor told Karen that she would soon follow her husband into death,she is still alive.The infection has progressed to the early stages of AIDS.

Karen is but one of about 30 million people now living with HIV/AIDS,a figure larger than the combined populations of Australia,Ireland and Paraguay.According to one UN report,Africa has 21 million of these victims.By the turn of the century that number could reach   40   million and the disease will bring on the greatest disaster in human history.Of the world’s sexually active adults aged 15 to 49,1 in 100 has already been infected with HIV.Of these,only 1 in 10 realizes that he or she is infected.In some parts of Africa,25 percent of the adults are infected.

Since the beginning of the spread of AIDS in 1981,about 11.7 million people have died of it.It is roughly calculated that in 1997 alone,about 2.3 million people died of it.Nevertheless,there are fresh reasons for optimism in the battle against AIDS.During the past few years,there has been a drop in new AIDS cases in wealthy nations.In addition,promising drugs hold out hope of better health and longer life.

By telling the story of Karen,the author intends to ______.

A.warn people against high risk behaviors

B.stress the importance of medical tests

C.express sympathy for AIDS victims

D.show the consequences of AIDS

The underlined part in Paragraph 1 most probably means “_______”.

A.were lucky in having

B.were asked to adopt

C.regretted having

D.gave birth to

Bill was suspected of being infected with HIV after ______.

A.he got married to Karen

B.the family members were tested

C.Karen persuaded him to see the doctor

D.he found something wrong with his tongue

It can be concluded from the passage that ______.

A.promising drugs will soon stop AIDS

B.the spread of AIDS could be controlled

C.it is hopeless to win the battle against AIDS

D.the death rate of AIDS patients has been reduced

Moving to a new city and state was difficult for me, especially in winter. Little did I know that a Colorado snowstorm would greet me after I had been in my new home for only a week.
I just missed home. But more than the old house and the beach, I missed Stacey, my best friend. And I missed our lovely tea. Going to a sweet little tearoom, we had discovered was a special treat for us. The place was a Victorian dream, with delicate teacups and tablecloths with flower prints. The hat shelf near the front door swept us back to childhood. Stacey and I became little girls, trying on different hats until we found the perfect one for our dress-up tea party. We would then choose a lovely table and order our tea. That was a precious time, filled with laughter between scones（煎饼） and sharing our lives between tiny cucumber sandwiches.
Springtime descended upon Denver, and the sun lightened my heart. But I still fought loneliness almost every day. I decided to explore the Denver area. While my husband went to the office, I took time to see what our new area had to offer.
One day, I was walking along the street when suddenly the words "Tea Leaves" caught my eye. A tea room? Here, in the land of loneliness and pain?
I walked through the doors, and tears came to my eyes. It was a beautiful room, not Victorian, but simple and lovely.
I sat down and ordered a pot of tea, a cucumber sandwich, and some scones.It felt silly and wonderful --- and it felt like home. For the first time since moving, I felt as if this new city and state could be, would eventually be, my home. I would come back here and bring new friends. When Stacey visited, we would come here.
I lifted my cup and made a silent toast. I toasted Stacey, whom I missed  ly, and I toasted the sweet little tearoom that lessened my pain.
【小题1】 The author's hometown ______________.

The Apple iPhone’s impact was widely evident (明显的) at the Consumer Electronics Show, as new touch－screen devices could be found everywhere.

The consumer electronics industry came unbuttoned in Las Vegas this week. At the annual Consumer Electronics Show, companies from around the world unveiled many devices boasting (以拥有…而自豪) touch – sensitive technology, rather than traditional push-button controls.

Motorola, Sony, and LG Electronics all showed off touch-screen phones this week. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates praised and offered a touch-screen computer, the Surface, related to a flat panel TV for a tabletop. Even camera makers, such as Kodak，included touch-screen LCDs in their devices. Touch-screen tech has been in use for years，but the push to develop and weave it into consumer electronics gathered steam with the June introduction of Apple’s iPhone. “The touch-screen industry is really getting hot,” says Jennifer Colegrove, a senior analyst at iSuppli. “Since the iPhone came out, there are a lot of companies that did not have a relationship with touch screens before that decided, ‘OK, I want to make a touch screen, too.’”

The touch－screen tech ecosystem now includes more than 100 companies specializing in everything from smudge-proof (防污的) screens to sensors (传感器) able to detect fingers before they even contact the screen. Sales of leading touch-screen technologies，such as those used in mobile phones and navigation (航行) devices，are expected to rise to $ 4.4 billion in 2012, up from $ 2.4 billion in 2006，according to iSuppli estimates.

67. What did the writer think about the Apple iPhone？

A. The Apple iPhone was beautiful.          

B. The Apple iPhone was popular.

C. The Apple iPhone was expensive.                        

D. The Apple iPhone was attractive.

68. What is the meaning of the underlined word “unveiled” in the second paragraph？

A. Invented.                                                            B. Unlocked.          

C. Discovered.                                              D. Showed.

69. The touch-screen tech was used in consumer electronics mainly because of _______.

         A. traditional push-button controls                           

B. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates

         C. the introduction of Apple’s iPhone                        

D. the touch-screen tech ecosystem

70. What can we learn from the passage?

A. The touch-screen technology will disappear.

B. The touch-screen technology will be replaced by traditional push-button controls.

C. The touch-screen technology will be as important as traditional push-button   controls.

D. The touch-screen technology will be more widely used in electronics devices.

I ______ ping-pong quite well, but I haven’t had time to play since the New Year.

　 A. will play                 B. have played 

   C. played                    D. play