英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集（六） (英国《金融时报》特辑)
Author: 英国《金融时报》, SoBooKs.cc
Date: 2018-01-31T16:00:00+00:00
Publisher: 浙江出版集团数字传媒有限公司

英国《金融时报》
全 球 财 经 精 粹

原文阅读精选集
（六）

英国《金融时报》 出品

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英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集（六）
英国《金融时报》 出品

©浙江出版集团数字传媒有限公司 2018
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目　录

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.51

1. 正在颠覆公共交通的Uber和Lyft
2. 面对骚扰，她们为何沉默？
3. 信自己还是信专家？
4. 谷歌：搜索的灵魂？
5. 假新闻找到了新战场
6. 世界末日的生存之道
7. 价值投资与阿森纳的兴衰
8. 足球转会：金钱狂欢背后的玄机
9. 股神凯恩斯？
10. 用书和笔对抗恐怖主义

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.52

1. 巴萨——加泰罗尼亚政治旗帜
2. 殊途同归的“足球天才”
3. 印度特色的咖喱资本主义
4. 印度style：世界的缩影
5. “了不起的盖茨比陷阱”
6. 当心“金砖”失色
7. 哈布斯堡西班牙的启示
8. 社交媒体改善写作？
9. 视频时代，思考不再？
10. 保守主义教父伯克

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.53

1. 小池百合子：日本首位女首相？
2. 酸奶成为中国消费者新宠
3. 让人捉急的写作能力
4. 与魔鬼订约的电影大师
5. 血汗工厂不便宜
6. 八十七年前···
7. 经济自由主义地基牢固
8. 大数据造就老大哥？
9. 窃听风暴袭击全球？
10. 学习德国好榜样

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.54

1. 止痛药物不再是中国的禁忌
2. 日本人如何为核战争做准备？
3. 雨天基金与英国银行业
4. 改写历史无助于复兴日本
5. 统制主义，天降杀机？
6. “大卫·斯托克曼现象”
7. 民粹登场，民主靠边？
8. 弗爵爷传奇是怎样炼成的
9. 百岁老人的投资智慧
10. 撒切尔是对的

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.55

1. “科技城市”：颠覆创新还是痴人说梦？
2. 苹果需要重新定义数字经济
3. 在洪水中消弭的仇恨
4. 印度遭遇“唐顿效应”
5. 被咬的苹果
6. 装备良好的养老基金？
7. 金钱能买什么？
8. 《林肯》载入史册
9. 爱枪者，美国选民
10. “法国黑”，高级黑？

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.56

1. “行万里路”不会让你变成更好的人
2. “粉丝团”成政坛新兴力量
3. 小可乐难倒大市长
4. 老兵不死
5. 经济预测，欲望永不眠
6. 同性婚姻的真实影响
7. 仇富潮流全球化？
8. 中土世界的主宰
9. 不可思议的漂流
10. 住巴黎，毁三观

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.57

1. “苹果神教”的十年浮沉
2. 监狱金曲《Let it Go》
3. 瓜帅启示录
4. 艰苦新世界中的微软苹果
5. 央行的“浮士德式讨价还价”
6. 来自俄国的失望
7. 胡萝卜加大棒下的缅甸
8. 新闻网站该不该收费？
9. 金砖四国的故事
10. 哈维·韦恩斯坦：好莱坞的衣冠禽兽

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.58

1. 开纳粹的玩笑有什么问题？
2. 巴黎——世界首个“后汽车时代”大都会？
3. 好坏美丑尽在伦敦
4. 挑战果粉信仰的新iPhone
5. 矛盾的美国人
6. 在年轻人中“失宠”的Facebook
7. 安全还是自由？
8. 3.0版的中国？
9. 小乔治的软实力
10. 挥之不去的帝国遗梦

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.59

1. 谷歌的中国寻“宝”之旅
2. 美国“梦想家”面临困境
3. 中国式爱情保险
4. 面对事实，交税吧美国人
5. 远离互联网的一周
6. 看空中国？
7. 得不到教会祝福的婚姻
8. 兄弟反目，家族或得益
9. 怎样鼓励艺术创作？
10. 副总统这个神奇的职位

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.60

1. 几个词读懂德国政坛
2. 纹身的“后悔药”
3. 难以捉摸的战争经济学
4. 美国人信什么？
5. 巧舌如簧的英国佬
6. 政策松紧之辩
7. 如何应对反社会金融行为
8. 中国“小皇帝”们的抗争
9. 中产阶级的困局
10. 在智能时代，我只希望手机“笨”一点

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.51

正在颠覆公共交通的Uber和Lyft

在美国的很多城市，交通出行类科技创业公司正在变得越来越受欢迎。通过Uber或Lyft拼车出行并不一定比坐公交昂贵很多，但其便利和舒适的体验却是公共交通远不能及的。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
prosaic[prə'zeɪɪk] adj.单调的，无趣的
attest[ə'test] v. 证明，作证
carpool['kɑːrpuːl] vi.合伙用车，拼车
cannibal['kænɪbl] n.食人者
disillusion[ˌdɪsɪ'luːʒn] vt. 醒悟，幻想破灭

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分52秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分43秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分56秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分40秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

How Uber and Lyft are reinventing the bus(682 words)

By Leslie Hook

There is a reason that San Francisco is the home of both Uber and Lyft — and it’s not because the town is the beating heart of global innovation. The real cause is much more prosaic: San Francisco’s public transport system is terrible. The city has only one subway line, combined with a couple of old tram lines that are so clogged at rush hour as to be barely usable.

I realise that all city dwellers like to complain about this but, having spent years living in Hong Kong, Beijing and London, I can attest that San Francisco’s public transportation is the worst. It has reached such a state that commuters can often be seen running, skateboarding or riding electric unicycles to work.

This, of course, is a godsend for Uber and Lyft, which thrive in environments with limited transport options. But as the two companies have grown, something strange has happened: they are starting to behave more and more like some of the public transit systems that are so lacking.

The latest example is a new service from Lyft called Shuttle, which offers passengers a fixed-fare, fixed-route trip in a shared vehicle — in other words, a bus. Or rather, a private car acting like a bus. Uber has been testing a similar concept in Manila, dubbed Uberhop.

This raises the question of whether Uber and Lyft are helping or hurting public transport. In many US cities, transport start-ups are highly competitive in terms of price and convenience — a carpool Uber or Lyft is usually just a dollar more than a bus fare, and takes half the time. This is less true in global capitals such as London or Hong Kong, where the subway is faster and cheaper than Uber. But in San Francisco, the “bus” concept has caused a lot of local hand-wringing about whether Uber and Lyft are cannibalising public transport and reducing bus revenues.

For Lyft, it is not accidental that its new service is, basically, a bus. Logan Green, the company’s co-founder, was for years a bus advocate, serving on the Santa Barbara transportation board when he was in college and refusing to own a car. He lobbied to raise money for a better bus system with higher taxes but, when voters rejected the measure, Green became disillusioned. Now, with Lyft, he is essentially offering better bus and transport options through the private sector.

Some cities and towns in North America have turned this challenge on its head by hiring Uber or Lyft to provide public transport services. Just outside Toronto, the town of Innisfil inked a deal to subsidise the cost of Uber rides for residents; it calculated this would be cheaper than installing two new bus lines.

In Summit, New Jersey, the town is subsidising Uber rides rather than spend $20m on a new parking garage next to the train station. “People are going to use cars differently in the future, so why would we want to make a giant capital investment?” Amy Cairns, a spokesperson, told me. Lyft has done similar deals in Colorado.

Uber and Lyft, perhaps sensing the potential to broaden their market, have been eager to embrace this development. They imagine a future in which fewer people own cars and instead rely on a combination of ride-hailing and trains. The companies are already spending promotional dollars to change habits: earlier this month, for example, Uber announced subsidised rides to certain Seattle light-rail stations, with the company itself providing the subsidy.

But along with this strategy comes a risk. If Uber makes itself an indispensable public service, it could end up being regulated like one. Already a string of pricing disputes have trailed the company, which adjusts fares dynamically based on an algorithm. If Uber or Lyft were the sole provider of a public good in a city, regulatory scrutiny would increase.

Other towns have taken a third approach — harnessing the technology of the ride-hailing companies to make public transport services work better. Austin launched its own on-demand, carpool van app earlier this year. A similar pilot is under way in Nashville. Maybe it is possible to reinvent the bus after all.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What makes San Francisco's public transportation so terrible ?

A. Public transport system in San Francisco was built a long time ago.

B. Public transportation lines in San Francisco are quite limited and clogged.

C. Streets in San Francisco are designed to favor bikers and pedestrians.

D. Companies like Uber and Lyft are reducing public transport revenues.

答案(1)

2.According to the article, Lyft's new service Shuttle ____.

A. is popular in San Francisco but unwelcome in Hong Kong and London.

B. offers passengers a fixed-fare, fixed-route trip in an exclusive vehicle.

C. was first launched in Manila and introduced to the US soon afterwards.

D. is highly competitive in terms of price and convenience in San Francisco.

答案(2)

3.According to the article, Lyft's co-founder Logan Green ____.

A. once managed to raise money for a better bus system in Santa Barbara.

B. lobbied for a better bus system with higher taxes but eventually failed.

C. served on the Santa Barbara transportation board after graduated from college.

D. introduced the service Shuttle to offer users better public transport experience.

答案(3)

4.Uber announced it would offer subsidised rides to certain light-rail stations in which city?

A. Seattle.

B. San Francisco.

C. Austin.

D. Innisfil.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B
解释：旧金山的公共交通系统糟糕极了。这座城市只有一条地铁线，几条老旧的电车线一到高峰期就拥挤不堪。

(2) 答案：D
解释：在美国的很多城市，交通类科技创业公司在价格和便利度上非常具有竞争力。

(3) 答案：B
解释： Logan Green曾经为了筹集资金建立更好的公交车系统而四处游说，但大众拒绝了他的提议。

(4) 答案：A
解释：Uber宣布将为前往西雅图的一些特定轻轨车站的订单提供补贴

面对骚扰，她们为何沉默？

《纽约时报》发布长文报道揭露了好莱坞巨头哈维·韦恩斯坦多年来对女性员工进行性骚扰和猥亵，这则令人震惊的性丑闻再次将职场性骚扰的话题推上风口浪尖。面对职场性骚扰，为何女性总是选择沉默？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
patently['peɪtəntli] adv.明白地，公然地
conjure['kʌndʒə] v.变戏法
lothario [ləu'θɑ:riəu] n.色狼，浪子
starlet['stɑːrlət] n.刚出道的演员，小明星
perpetrate ['pɜːpətreɪt] vt.做坏事，犯罪
retaliation[rɪˌtæli'eɪʃn] n.报复，反击
assertive[ə'sɜːtɪv] adj.过分自信的
posit['pɒzɪt] v.假定, 认为

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分33秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分33秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分49秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分38秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Here’s why women hesitate to report sexual harassment(639 words)

By Emma Jacobs

Yesterday, the New York Times alleged Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer, had harassed women, including the actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd, and has reached financial settlements with eight women. Ms Judd claims the incident happened two decades ago. The film producer denies many of the accusations as “patently false”.

Hollywood, Mr Weinstein’s playground, has long been known for the casting couch — conjuring images of creepy lotharios preying on hot young starlets. But sexual harassment is not about men unable to resist beautiful women. It is about power and intimidation.

Such cases are not solely perpetrated by Hollywood power brokers. A study of the UK workforce published last year by the Trades Union Congress with the Everyday Sexism project found almost a quarter of women have experienced unwanted touching (such as a hand on the knee or lower back).

Yet, such cases are not solely perpetrated by Hollywood power brokers. A study of the UK workforce published last year by the Trades Union Congress with the Everyday Sexism project found almost a quarter of women have experienced unwanted touching (such as a hand on the knee or lower back).

Women tend to be harassed, men the harassers. A 2012, report by Eurofound, found women were almost three times as likely to be subjected to unwanted advances as men. Women are most likely to be harassed at work when they are in the minority, according to Vicki Magley, professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut, who has researched the subject.

When stories come to light, people wonder why the victims waited so long to report the incident. The answer is that many fear retaliation if they complain. Or worry that they will not be taken seriously.

In one study, researchers asked women how they thought they would react if a male interviewer asked questions such as "Are you wearing a bra?". The women anticipated they would report the interviewer for harassment.

In fact, when the researchers then asked such inappropriate questions, it turned out, the women did nothing of the kind. Instead of anger, their overriding emotion was fear. “Anticipated behaviour did not mesh with actual behaviour”, the research concluded.

A usually assertive friend, well-read in feminist tracts, was surprised by her own reaction to being harassed — she kept quiet. She did not want to report the stream of lewd emails, texts, comments for fear of causing a fuss; she worried about whining when she only wanted to be known for her work.

To attract attention for the wrong things would be a career disaster, she reasoned. But also she blamed herself — she wondered if she had encouraged his behaviour. She confided in a female colleague who told her to ignore it. Another told her to put up and take it as a compliment.

Research has found that often women endure the situation, hoping it will go away, or they tell themselves it is not really important, that he did not mean it or that they must have encouraged it.

When cases come to light, those who have previously kept quiet might feel emboldened if there is safety in numbers. But they may also not even recognise persistent inappropriate advances as harassment.

Prof Magley has found that women do not necessarily label wandering hands or explicit comments about their appearance as harassment. This might be a coping mechanism, she posits.

“Women will say, this all happened to me but I haven’t been sexually harassed — if you don’t label it sexual harassment then you won’t report it."

But the outcomes are the same: "There is a negative effect on women who have been harassed, including a desire to quit their job.”

A few years ago, I spoke to a personal assistant about being sexually harassed by her chief executive boss. His modus operandi was to wait until everyone had left the office, then grope her. The only course of action, she felt, was to quit — so she did. Who would have believed her?

Today, perhaps, as more cases come to light, thanks to those stories coming out of Silicon Valley and the likes of Ms Judd, she may have felt more confident about speaking out.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Who is Harvey Weinstein ?

A. An actress who was harassed by a film director.

B. An entertainment journalist at the New York Times.

C. A film director accused of sexual harassment.

D. A successful film producer in Hollywood.

答案(1)

2.According to the author, sexual harassment ____.

A. is common because men cannot resist beautiful women.

B. is mainly about power and intimidation, not sex appeal.

C is most likely to happen in the entertainment business.

D. is common in the workplace but seldom considered illegal.

答案(2)

3.What made the author's feminist friend unwilling to report being harassed ?

A. Because she believed she had encouraged his behaviour by taking it as a compliment.

B. Because her female friends repeatedly told her sexual harassment was not really important.

C. Because she believed to attract attention for sexual harassment would damage her career.

D. Because she believed it would damage her reputation and make her unwelcome at work.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following statements would Prof Magley agree with?

A. A man who makes explicit comments about woman's appearance is guilty of sexual harassment.

B. Women anticipate they would report when they are harassed but actually they tend to keep silent.

C. Most of women do not consider wandering hands as harassment as a result of coping mechanism.

D. As more cases come to light, women will feel more comfortable to report once they are harassed.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D
解释：哈维·韦恩斯坦是好莱坞的一名电影制作人。

(2) 答案：B
解释：性骚扰并非是因为男性无法抗拒美丽的女性，而是出于权利和恐吓。

(3) 答案：C
解释：我的朋友认为，因错误的事情引起人们注意会成为她职业生涯的灾难。

(4) 答案：C
解释：Magley教授发现并女性不一定会把冒犯的触摸和对相貌评头论足视为性骚扰。

信自己还是信专家？

在人生的重大事件方面，比如生死和钱财，我们都选择信自己，要是自己不懂，就信专家。这科学吗？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
deterministic [dɪ,tɜːmɪ'nɪstɪk] adj.确定性的
algorithms ['ælgərɪð(ə)mz] n.算法
catastrophic [kætə'strɒfɪk] adj.灾难性的
oblivious [ə'blɪvɪəs] adj.浑然不觉的
dystopian [dis'təupiən] adj.反乌托邦的
taken off guard猝不及防
meteorology [,miːtɪə'rɒlədʒɪ] n.气象学
quirk [kwɜːk] n.怪癖
entail [ɪn'teɪl] v.意味着
aversion [ə'vɜːʃ(ə)n] n.厌恶

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分32秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分6秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分13秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分46秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Human error is unforgivable when we shun infallible algorithms(776words)

David Siegel

Most of us like to make our own choices on matters of life, death and money — and if we cannot decide for ourselves, we would rather turn to a human expert for guidance than to an impersonal program.

Professionals of flesh and blood are supposed to have a healthy sense of responsibility and, when caught in a dark corner, they can often illuminate the way out with a creative spark. That our fate might one day lie with deterministic algorithms is for many people a frighteningly dystopian vision.

It is a prejudice we would do well to overcome. In a world awash with digital information, algorithms are better than people at analysing complex interactions. What they lack in creativity, they more than make up for in consistency and speed.

Consider aviation, where mistakes are often deadly. In the 1960s engineers figured out a way to address a particularly common and catastrophic type of pilot error. Sitting in the cockpits of mechanically sound aircraft, while flying at the right speed and maintaining full control, they would crash into a mountainside or the sea, apparently oblivious to whatever had gone wrong.

Such accidents, which often resulted in the loss of everyone on board, have since been all but eliminated. The ground proximity warning systems now fitted to commercial aircraft can see obstacles that pilots cannot, thanks to comprehensive terrain maps and sensors that work even in darkness and bad weather. As important, they keep track of the aircraft’s position and predict its path, so they are not taken off guard by hard-to-detect dangers such as terrain that is rising faster than an aircraft as it begins its ascent. And, unlike pilots, they are never distracted by other urgent matters, such as a failing engine or an instruction from air traffic control.

In fields as wide ranging as medical diagnosis, meteorology and finance, dozens of studies have found that algorithms at least match — and usually surpass — subjective human analysis. Researchers have devised algorithms that estimate the likelihood of events such as a particular convict lapsing back into crime after being released from custody, or a particular business start-up going bust. When they pitted the predictive powers of these programs against human observers, they found that the humans did worse.

And that, presumably, was on a good day. Aside from their systematic failings, people get sick, tired, distracted and bored. We get emotional. We can retain and recall a limited amount of information under the very best of circumstances. Most of these quirks we cherish, but in a growing number of domains we no longer need to tolerate the limitations they entail. Nor do we have much to gain from doing so. Yet we seem determined to persevere, tending to forgive “human error” while demanding infallibility from algorithms.

Witness the hand-wringing over the safety of driverless cars, even though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finds that human error — not mechanical failure — represents the “critical factor” in nearly all of the traffic accidents that occur in the US each year. People, it seems, would rather place their trust in other humans — whose logic and behaviour they know to be flawed — than in hardware and software that operates in a bias-free way.

This bias is, of course, just another instance of the logical error that humans struggle to avoid. There is even a name for it: “algorithm aversion”, a term three University of Pennsylvania researchers coined in a 2014 study. Even after witnessing algorithms make more accurate predictions than humans when using identical data, they found, test subjects were quicker to lose trust in the programs than in the human forecasters. Logically, the reverse should have been true. Apparently, we are more willing to live with our own predictable mistakes than to place our trust in a demonstrably superior method.

Humans have a long record of rejecting new evidence as paradigms shift in uncomfortable ways. It probably does not help that we were raised on dystopian science fiction, or that public intellectuals keep asserting that artificial intelligence — shorthand, an old joke goes, for almost anything a computer cannot yet do — could cause the demise of the human race.

The sooner we learn to place our faith in algorithms to perform the tasks at which they demonstrably excel, the better off we humans will be. If the fear of the unknown really is driving sceptics’ irrational bias against algorithms, then it is the task of practitioners who do understand their power (and limitations) to make the case in their favour.

The writer is co-chair of Two Sigma, an algorithmic investment manager

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the author, what would make an airplane passengers feel safest?

A. Knowing that the pilot is manually flying the plane

B. Knowing that the plane is on auto-navigation

C. When the passenger is flying the plane himself/herself

D. The above don't make any difference

答案(1)

2.Which of the following statement would the author agree with?

A. With enough data, programs can perform better than people

B. Lack of creativity is a fatal shortcoming for algorithms

C. Plane should be flied without human intervention

D. Human pilots seldom make fatal mistakes.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is the main purpose of this article?

A. To advocate that all airplanes be equipped with ground proximity warning system

B. To make a strong case for driverless cars

C. To state that algorithms are better than people in all tasks

D. To encourage people to trust proven algorithms

答案(3)

4.Which of the following best describes the author's attitude towards artificial intelligence?

A. Supportive

B. Pessimistic

C. Fearful

D. Indifferent

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A
解释：Professionals of flesh and blood are supposed to have a healthy sense of responsibility and, when caught in a dark corner, they can often illuminate the way out with a creative spark. That our fate might one day lie with deterministic algorithms is for many people a frighteningly dystopian vision.

(2) 答案：A
解释：In a world awash with digital information, algorithms are better than people at analysing complex interactions. What they lack in creativity, they more than make up for in consistency and speed.

(3) 答案：D
解释：The sooner we learn to place our faith in algorithms to perform the tasks at which they demonstrably excel, the better off we humans will be. If the fear of the unknown really is driving sceptics’ irrational bias against algorithms, then it is the task of practitioners who do understand their power (and limitations) to make the case in their favour.

(4) 答案：A
解释：In fields as wide ranging as medical diagnosis, meteorology and finance, dozens of studies have found that algorithms at least match — and usually surpass — subjective human analysis. Researchers have devised algorithms that estimate the likelihood of events such as a particular convict lapsing back into crime after being released from custody, or a particular business start-up going bust. When they pitted the predictive powers of these programs against human observers, they found that the humans did worse.

谷歌：搜索的灵魂？

研究报告显示，谷歌的在线广告收入正在逐渐降低，究其原因主要是消费者从台式电脑向移动设备的迅速转变。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
acquisition [,ækwɪ'zɪʃ(ə)n] n.获得；所获之物；采集

AB abbr. Interactive Advertising Bureau 互联网广告署

Nanigans Fackbook广告软件公司

Flurry APP数据分析公司

Bernstein 市场研究机构

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

2分55秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分38秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分10秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分24秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Google: soul searching(410words)

By Lex October 22, 2014 11:51

There comes a time when all monopolies falter. Think of telecoms operators or utilities, for example. For Google, too, its near-monopoly on search ads will someday end. The company is nowhere near this point yet, of course. But recently there have been signs that Google is no longer quite as untouchable as it once was.

Start with online ads. The market for digital advertising has weakened recently. According to IAB, US digital ad spend grew 14 per cent in the second quarter. Not bad. But that was the lowest rate of growth in two years. More concerning still for Google is that search ads’ share of the digital advertising pie has been shrinking since 2011.

Google is still outgrowing the market – revenues from its own sites, including YouTube, grew 20 per cent in the most recent quarter. But the move away from search is starting to hurt: Bernstein estimates that Google search revenue growth slowed to 17 per cent. Google’s fastest-growing source of revenue has become its lower-margin “other” category, which includes sales from Google Play and is growing at 50 per cent a year.

As ad dollars move away from search, Google has been losing share of the overall online advertising market to Facebook. In the US, eMarketer expects Google’s share of digital ads to fall from 40 per cent (2013), to 38 per cent (2014), to 34 per cent (2016). Facebook’s market share is expected to climb from 8 per cent to 11 per cent in the same period.

Part of the problem is that search ads do not seem to be quite as successful on mobile (the fastest-growing part of digital ad spend) as on desktop. People do use search on phones – search is about half of mobile ad spending. But these ads appear to have less impact than targeted social media ads, and could fall off quickly as more effective forms of mobile advertising are found. Facebook, which has a higher ad market share on mobile than on desktop, has seen its click-through rate triple over the past year, according to Nanigans.

Unfortunately for Google, mobile advertising is getting increasingly crowded. Snapchat, a popular photo-sharing app, is launching ads. And Yahoo is trying to boost its mobile ad offering with its acquisition of Flurry. The search business naturally tends towards monopoly. But the advertising business, ex-search, does not.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What dose the word "shrink" mean?

A. Thrive

B. Stable

C. Expand

D. Compress

答案(1)

2.Why dose the author mention IAB in the second paragraph?

A. To explain why the digital advertising market has weakened recently.

B. To support the viewpoint that digital advertising market has weakened.

C. To argue the point that digital advertising market has weakened recently.

答案(2)

3.According to this article, which company might NOT be the competitor of mobile advertising for Google?

A. Facebook

B. Yahoo

C. Snapchat

D. Microsoft

答案(3)

(1) 答案：D
解释：通过原文可推断，谷歌公司所占的搜索广告市场份额从2011年起开始逐渐下降，故选择Compress压缩,其他三个选项的含义分别为：thrive繁荣；stable稳定；expand扩张。

(2) 答案：B
解释：作者在第二段提到互联网广告署的统计数据，是为了支持他的观点，而并非反驳或解释原因。

(3) 答案：D
解释：原文中提到Facebook、Yahoo和Snapchat在移动广告方面的计划可能会对谷歌在此方面的发展产生影响，但并未提及Microsoft是否有相关计划。

假新闻找到了新战场

在假新闻纷飞的今天，深受其害的不仅仅是政客们。不久前，一则“星巴克将为非法移民提供免费星冰乐”的流言传遍了互联网，让星巴克头疼不已。各大公司已经成为了假新闻新的攻击目标，他们会如何面对这种前所未有的挑战？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
fakery['feɪkrɪ] n.伪造，伪装
hoaxer ['həʊksə] n.恶作剧者，骗子
cripple['krɪpl] v.使…跛，削弱
vigilant ['vɪdʒɪlənt] adj.警醒的，警惕的
buyout['baɪaʊt] n.全部买下，买断
warehouse['weəhaʊs] n.仓库
disgruntle[dɪs'grʌntl] vt.使不满
dispute[dɪ'spjuːt] vt.争论，质疑
impersonate[ɪm'pɜːsəneɪt] v.模仿，假冒
firestorm['faɪərstɔːrm] n.大爆发

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分24秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分1秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分9秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分45秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Companies scramble to combat ‘fake news’(757 words)

By Hannah Kuchler

It is not just politicians who have cause to complain about fake news.

Starbucks fell victim to fakery this month when tweets advertising “Dreamer Day”, in which the coffee chain would supposedly give out free frappuccinos to undocumented migrants in the US, spread at lightning speed online.

Advertisements including the company’s logo, signature font and pictures of its drinks were circulated with the hashtag “#borderfreecoffee”. But it was dreamt up by a hoaxer.

“How about we meme ‘Undocumented Immigrant Day’ at Starbucks into existence?” one user of the messaging board 4Chan had asked on August 2. “Could cripple their business a bit.”

Starbucks raced to deny the event, replying to individuals on Twitter that it was “completely false” and that people had been “completely misinformed”.

Yet the rapid spread of the fake news showed again the power of social platforms to damage reputations, and illustrated how companies are having to be more vigilant and creative in responding.

Snopes, the factchecker, compiles a top 50 of “hot” fake news stories, and in a recent week 12 were about companies.

They included false reports of Ulta, a beauty chain, closing after a buyout, an Xbox console killing a teenager and Costco, the warehouse chain, no longer selling memberships.

The 4Chan user who faked the Starbucks news was politically motivated: he wrote that he was searching for a “liberal place” and said that if illegal immigrants gathered there, he would call the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Other companies have also been targeted by suspected Trump supporters, such as with the false story that Indra Nooyi, Pepsi chief executive, told the president’s supporters to “take their business elsewhere”.

Much fake news is not motivated by politics, however, but by the hope of generating advertising revenue — or just attention-seeking.

Brooke Binkowski, managing editor of Snopes, says: “It hurts businesses financially and it also makes things toxic for them by destroying trust and creating an atmosphere in which people don’t know who they can trust. It is the same tactics that were levelled on us as a country, really.”

Companies have long had to deal with news stories that claim a “particular brand of soda causes cancer”, says Mandy Jenkins, head of news at Storyful, a social news site.

But now the problems of a disgruntled customer or employee can become twisted as they are broadcast to the world.

“A few years ago, you would never imagine this was something you had to deal with,” she says.

“Maybe you would get a letter from a person. Now, millions of people know about the incident because maybe someone had a bad day working in McDonald’s in Kansas.”

The major internet companies have introduced measures to try to slow the spread of misinformation this year. Facebook and Google have tried to cut fake news sites off from their advertising platforms, so they cannot make money.

Facebook has partnered with fact-checkers such as Snopes so that users can flag any news they suspect is fake.

If it is declared false by the fact-checkers, it is tagged as “disputed” and its ranking in the news feed is lowered. Twitter has systems for reporting accounts that attempt to impersonate a brand.

But the platforms have not created special avenues for companies to report fake news before it potentially affects a share price or sales.

PR and crisis management teams are relying on other services: Storyful now has an arm that provides business intelligence on what is being said on social media, and PR firm Weber Shandwick is marketing crisis simulation software called Firebell to prepare companies for being caught in a social media firestorm, whether it is a fake story or a presidential tweet.

Monsanto has been dealing with rumours about its genetically modified crops for years. It learnt it needed to switch its focus from engaging with farmers and investors to looking at the broader internet.

Vance Crowe, Monsanto’s director of millennial engagement, says he tries to stop rumours at their origin, spending time “hanging out” online with different “tribes”.

“The agricultural tribe is really heavily on Twitter, they are sitting in combines and planters and listening to podcasts. Sceptics spend a lot of time on sites like Reddit and have their own YouTube channels,” he said.

Mr Crowe said Monsanto encouraged its employees to use social media and, declaring they worked for Monsanto, represent their case to friends and contacts.

The company believes that their message was distributed as effectively, if not more so, as anything that came from the company directly and it became a “point of pride” for employees, Mr Crowe said — a small win in the battle against fake news.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following is not a motivation behind fake news？

A. Generating advertising revenue.

B. Politics.

C. Inciting racial hatred.

D. Attention-seeking.

答案(1)

2.According to the article, Snopes is a website which ____.

A. has published a number of falsehoods and conspiracy theories.

B. debunks or confirms widely spread Internet rumors in popular culture.

C. allows people discuss about a variety of topics anonymously.

D. deals with disruptive and unexpected events that threaten to its clients.

答案(2)

3.Which company has built a system for reporting accounts that attempt to impersonate a brand?

A. Snopes.

B. Google.

C. Facebook.

D. Twitter.

答案(3)

4.Monsanto achieves a small success in the battle against fake news by ____.

A. communicating with agricultural tribes on social media.

B. encouraging employees to use social media and represent their case to contacts.

C. setting up their own YouTube channels to to counter Internet rumors.

D. partnering with fact-checkers and flagging fake news on the Internet.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C
解释：人们炮制假新闻主要是出于政治目的或为了获得广告收入，也有些只是恶作剧。

(2) 答案：B
解释：Snopes是一家事实查证网站，上面列举了近期互联网上最流行的50则谣言。

(3) 答案：D
解释：推特推出了举报系统以报告各品牌的冒牌账号。

(4) 答案：B
解释：孟山都鼓励员工使用社交网络，代表孟山都为自己的联系人做表率。

世界末日的生存之道

当我那杞人忧天的丈夫提出在家里囤积净水药片、脱水食品和急救抗生素以防大难临头时，我感到荒谬可笑。但如今，看到特朗普和金正恩互放狠话、世界各地不时出现的极端天气，以及科学家对地磁暴的预测，我突然意识到，活命主义者的担忧并不是没有道理的。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
doomsday['duːmzdeɪ] n.世界末日
antibiotic [ˌæntibaɪ'ɒtɪk] n.抗生素
apocalyptic [əˌpɒkə'lɪptɪk/ adj. 预示灾祸的
bunker['bʌŋkə(r)] n.煤仓，掩体
stockpile['stɒkpaɪl] vt.储备，储存
roaming['rəʊmɪŋ] n.漫游的
preposterous[prɪ'pɒstərəs] adj.荒谬的
peril['perəl] n. 危险，冒险
perishable ['perɪʃəb(ə)l] adj. 易腐烂的
unwieldy [ʌn'wiːldɪ] adj.笨重的，笨拙的
intractable[ɪn'træktəbl] adj.倔强的，棘手的
unobtrusive[ˌʌnəb'truːsɪv] adj.不显眼的
paranoia [ˌpærə'nɔɪə] n. 妄想狂，偏执狂

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分28秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分4秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分11秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分46秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Doomsday prepping: how ready are you for disaster? (767 words)

By Esther Bintliff

A year ago I made a compromise with my husband. He could buy a single packet of water purification tablets, but that had to be it. He couldn’t start bulk ordering freeze-dried food or emergency antibiotics. We were not going to descend into full-blown disaster preparedness.

My husband has mild prepper tendencies. He spent much of his childhood living on a boat in Florida, with an annual hurricane season that prompted his family to literally batten down the hatches on numerous occasions. Add to this years of playing apocalyptic computer games and it’s little wonder he has a vivid picture of what the end of the world will look like.

Before I met him, I’d never heard of prepping. Now, it feels like part of the culture — from the viral New Yorker feature on tech billionaires buying remote luxury bunkers to the advice a US friend shared on Facebook last week, entitled “Where to Hide If a Nuclear Bomb Goes Off in Your Area” (“I live in a primary target so it doesn’t matter,” one person replied).

Lying awake in the early hours in our flat in Hackney, I have occasionally found a tiny, stupid sense of comfort in those water purification tablets. Not that they’d last long, my husband tells me, when I decline his suggestion that we stockpile more. At which point he starts talking about the baseball bat we keep by the bed in case of burglars, and whether this would achieve much when roaming gangs desperate to steal our precious clean water reach the flat.

It can feel preposterous to engage in this play-acting at disaster, when so many people around the world — in Iraq or Syria, say — face imminent danger. Yet as Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have traded threats, it’s been hard to keep a sense of perspective on how close we are to civilisational peril.

Apocalyptic thinking has always been with us, but its power waxes and wanes. “We live in an extremely unstable and insecure time,” says Ash Amin, a Cambridge University geography professor who studies urban culture. “Risks are much bigger and globally integrated.”

The psychology of prepping rests on this sense of chaos, of needing to assert some control — any control — over an unpredictable reality. There is solace in practical, orderly steps you can tick off a list. Buy a three-day supply of non-perishable food, a few gallons of water, a torch, a multi-tool. Identify your family meeting place, evacuation route, shelter. These are achievable aims.

Many everyday catastrophes, in contrast, are unwieldy and intractable. Rather than arriving with the sudden bloom of a mushroom cloud, they unfold slowly, in quiet, unobtrusive ways. Some 52,000 people died of drug overdoses in the US in 2015, more than from guns or cars, or from HIV/Aids in the year the epidemic reached its height. Mothers, fathers, teenagers collapsing in shopping aisles and sports pitches is its own kind of Armageddon; most of us feel helpless in its wake.

Of course, calamities do occur. One morning in September 1859, British astronomer Richard Carrington was in his observatory when he saw a white-light solar flare — a huge magnetic explosion on the sun. It was followed by the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded on Earth. Telegraphs were disrupted across Europe and the US. My husband’s fear is of a repeat Carrington event — a severe geomagnetic storm that this time would take down the electrical grid, GPS and satellites. In 2012, scientists suggested that the likelihood of such a storm within a decade was as high as 12 per cent. Worst-case scenario: millions of people, hospitals, businesses without power for months.

Perhaps it’s worth preparing for this one-in-eight possibility of chaos. So when is prepping not paranoia — but planning? Tom Martin, founder of the American Preppers Network, which has 35,000 forum members and 230,000 fans on Facebook, tells me: “The definition of a prepper is quite simply ‘one who prepares’. So if someone stores extra food and emergency supplies in case of a disaster, then by definition they are a prepper …It’s all varying degrees.”

Amin points out that the emphasis on individual prepping may be misplaced. “Where you find really resilient populations, they often share responsibility with their families and communities. And the history of managing for apocalypse is the history of governmental and infrastructure preparedness.”

I take this to mean that instead of building up supplies, we should invite the neighbours round for cake and pressure the government to invest in things such as transport and back-up energy. That’s the kind of prepping I can get behind. But I might buy a wind-up radio as well, just in case.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the author, what did her husband buy in preparation for possible disaster？

A. A packet of water purification tablets.

B. A packet of water purification tablets and a baseball bat.

C. A packet of water purification tablets and freeze-dried food.

D. A packet of water purification tablets and emergency antibiotics.

答案(1)

2.Professor Amin of Cambridge University believes that____.

A. Apocalyptic thinking has became increasingly popular in modern times.

B. In today's world people are facing bigger risks than we used to.

C. In most parts of the world, people face imminent danger in their everyday lives.

D. Most people have no idea how close we are to civilisational peril.

答案(2)

3.What happened in in September 1859？

A. Astronomer Richard Carrington observed the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded on Earth.

B. A geomagnetic storm caused an month-long electricity black-out across Europe and the US.

C. A huge magnetic explosion on the sun took down electrical grids across Europe and the US.

D. A magnetic explosion on the sun caused the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded on Earth.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is true according to the article？

A. Drug overdose is one of the leading causes of accidental death in the US in 2015.

B. The psychology of prepping rests on the sense of insecurity over upcoming disasters.

C. Tom Martin believes everyone who prepares for possible emergencies can be called a prepper.

D. Amin urges that individual prepping is the most important part of disaster preparedness.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A
解释：一年前我向丈夫作出妥协，他可以买一包净水药片，但要适可而止，不能在家里囤积冷冻脱水食品和急救抗生素。

(2) 答案：B
解释：剑桥大学地理学教授Ash Amin表示，我们生活在一个极其不稳定、不安全的时代。全世界人都要面对大得多的风险。

(3) 答案：D
解释：1859年，英国天文学家Richard Carrington观测到了一次巨大的太阳风暴，随后地球遭遇了有史以来最为严重的一次地磁暴。

(4) 答案：C
解释：Tom Martin认为，“准备者”的定义非常简单，就是这事先最准备的人。如果一个人准备好多余的食物和应急用品以防灾难降临，他就是准备者。

价值投资与阿森纳的兴衰

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
raconteur [,rækɒn'tɜː] n.健谈者，擅长讲故事的人
knack [næk] n.诀窍，巧妙手法
striker ['straɪkə] n.前锋
pinnacle['pɪnək(ə)l] n.高峰，尖端
foible ['fɒɪb(ə)l] n.弱点，癖好
disdain [dɪs'deɪn] n./v.蔑视

World Footballer of the Year世界足球先生

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分30秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分38秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分36秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分54秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Scouting, statistics and rice: the rise and fall of Arsène Wenger(910 words)

By Simon Kuper

In 1988 Arsene Wenger, then manager of Monaco, was tracking a young Liberian footballer who played in Cameroon. Each week the Frenchman received intriguing reports about George Weah. Finally Wenger sent a colleague to watch him, who phoned back after: “The bad news is, Weah broke an arm. The good news: he played anyway.”

Wenger liked it. Weah flew to Monaco, signed a contract, then sat back looking miserable: he still didn’t have a cent, he complained. Wenger pulled 500 French francs (then about £50) from his wallet and handed them to the player. A funny raconteur in private, Wenger likes to joke about Weah’s “signing bonus”. Weah, now a politician in Liberia, recently recalled what Wenger told him then: “If you work hard, you will be the best player in Europe.”

“Yeah, right,” he thought. But Wenger was right. In 1995 Weah was voted World Footballer of the Year. He gave the trophy to his mentor.

The story captures much of what made Wenger a great manager: his global eye, his sense for quality, and his knack for getting it cheap. Yet greatness has deserted him. His Arsenal have won no trophies since 2005, lost two star players to richer clubs last month, and on Sunday lost 8-2 to Manchester United. Most Arsenal fans appear tired of Wenger. His decline is a warning to brilliant pioneers in all fields.

When Wenger came to Arsenal from Japanese football in 1996, he brought knowledge that nobody else in insular British football had. Few British managers then even bothered going to world cups, but Wenger was monitoring talent everywhere. While working in Japan, he had contrived to be a regular spectator in Milan, where he befriended a shy young AC Milan reserve named Patrick Vieira – to become Arsenal’s legendary captain. Wenger told Thierry Henry, then a young winger on Juventus’ bench, that he was in fact a striker. “Coach, I don’t score goals,” protested Henry. He became the highest scorer in Arsenal’s history. Wenger discovered the unknown teenagers Nicolas Anelka and Cesc Fabregas. He showed British clubs the benefits of international scouting.

He was a pioneer in nutrition, too. He put Arsenal’s players on a very Japanese diet of fish and boiled vegetables. “We want our Mars bars!” they would chant on the team bus. And the economics graduate introduced statistics into English football. He would track numbers such as how many seconds each player kept the ball. Gilberto Silva was sold after his times inched up. Wenger aspired to a whirlwind passing game: football’s eternal ideal, occasionally achieved by his Arsenal teams, notably the “Invincibles” who won the league unbeaten in 2004.

Wenger was a pioneer but not a revolutionary. For instance, he kept Arsenal’s traditionally English rugged defence intact for years. “I brought my changes in slowly,” he recalled. His best quality, he once said, was listening to more experienced people.

His pinnacle should have been winning the Champions League. He almost did: Arsenal were leading Barcelona 1-0 in the final in 2006 when Henry went through alone on the goalkeeper. But the keeper saved, and Barcelona won. A year later, Wenger was sitting in Athens watching Milan beat Liverpool to win the trophy. As so often during games, he looked angry, as if he had to contain himself to stay seated. Afterwards, as the Milanese collected their medals, he began thumping his hands together. “You see,” he said, “you only need an ordinary team to win the Champions League.” A keen mathematician, he knew that success in any knockout competition is a random walk. He never got lucky.

Eventually he suffered the usual fate of brilliant pioneers: others copied him. Rival clubs replicated his international scouting, diets and statistics. Some also outspent him. In football, the team with the highest wages generally wins. Arsenal’s salary bill is now fifth highest in England. Unlike most managers, Wenger only spends money he has. He discovered the teenaged Cristiano Ronaldo before Manchester United did, but United trumped him with a higher transfer fee. Arsenal spend so cautiously that they regularly turn a profit on transfers.

Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A’s baseball team and a pioneer in his sport, says: “When I think of Wenger, I think of Warren Buffett. Wenger runs his football club like he is going to own the club for 100 years.” Wenger masterminded Arsenal’s move to a much larger stadium, the Emirates. Never previously a giant club, Arsenal now rank fifth in global football for revenues. In the short term, though, debt service on the stadium has curtailed their spending.

Worse, Wenger has another fault common to brilliant pioneers: he has become too much like himself. He no longer seems to hear intelligent criticism. He appears to be indulging his personal foibles: a disdain for physical power, a blind spot for goalkeepers, a delight in buying bargains even when he has money, and the quest for perfect passing rather than goals. So dominant has he become at Arsenal that nobody seems able to correct him. “We are not a democracy,” the club’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis has admitted.

This may be Wenger’s last season in London. Few elite players want to play for Arsenal any more. He may never win another trophy, but he changed English football, and both his rise and his fall carries lessons for brilliant pioneers everywhere.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Billy Beane, a baseball team manager, says: “When I think of Wenger, I think of Warren Buffett."

What are the similarities of these two men?

A. They both focus on long-term investment, seeking solid management.

B. Their philosophy is often adored by others, but not without being questioned.

C. They both have global sight, and the knack for getting high quality assets cheaply.

D. All above is correct.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following cannot support the saying that ‘Wenger is a pioneer’?

A. His club sells star players to richer clubs.

B. He was the first to build a global scouting network.

C. He introduced player nutrition controls into British football.

D. He uses statistics in his coaching.

答案(2)

3.What can we learn from the following sentence? ‘A keen mathematician, he knew that success in any knockout competition is a random walk.’

A. Wenger believes that purchasing expensive star players is a good idea to challenge cups.

B. Wenger believes that managing wisely is as worthless as budgeting heavily.

C. Wenger believes that knock out competition counts a lot on luck.

D. Wenger believes that he can figure out his odds of winning the cup.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following can explain Wenger's recent unsuccessful years?

A. His rival clubs replicated his international scouting, diets and statistics.

B. His rival clubs outspent him.

C. He appears to be indulging his personal foibles.

D. All of above is correct.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D. All above is correct.
解释：长期持有经营稳健的公司，以视野的开阔寻找“价值洼地”，这些都是“价值投资”派的理念。Billy Beane显然认为温格也在应用价值投资的理念来经营俱乐部。

(2) 答案：A. His club sells star players to richer clubs.
解释：BCD三项，都是使得温格成为“开拓者”的行为，这些都可以在第四段中找到。至于A项出售球星则不在其列。

(3) 答案：C.Wenger believes that knock out competition counts a lot on luck.
解释：这句话是说，温格认为，花大钱买球星，不一定能让球队在争冠中更有竞争力，因为在淘汰赛中运气成分非常重要，他认为小本经营、精打细算的球队同样可以成功。

(4) 答案：D.All of above is correct.
解释：ABC三项都是正确的。温格的球队已经好几年没有收获任何一项冠军了。看起来，之前使他成功的做法不再能帮他继续成功了。

足球转会：金钱狂欢背后的玄机

今年夏天，欧洲足球转会市场格外火爆，英超俱乐部今夏的引援花费已经达到了创纪录的11.7亿镑，人们惊呼转会市场已经日趋疯狂甚至失控。事实果真如此吗？隐藏在转会交易背后的种种数据表明，球员看似惊人的转会身价并非毫无节制的烧钱游戏，而是经过了种种精细考量后做出的理性判断。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
realm[relm] n.王国，领域
rationality[ˌræʃə'næləti] n.理性，合理性
breach[briːtʃ] vt.违反，突破
ramp[ræmp] vt.加速
upfront[ˌʌp'frʌnt] adj.在前面的，预付的
proportionate[prə'pɔːʃənət] adj.成比例的，相称的
outlier['aʊtˌlaɪə] n. 局外人
fare[feə(r)] v. 进展，经营

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分44秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分12秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分17秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分48秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Record football transfer deals within the realms of the rational(804 words)

By Murad Ahmed

Antonio Conte, manager of English Premier League champions Chelsea, has labelled spending on players as “crazy”, with Europe’s top football clubs breaking all previous transfer records over the past few weeks.

At the top of the market was Paris Saint-Germain’s €222m signing of Neymar from FC Barcelona, a deal “beyond calculation and beyond rationality”, according to Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager.

Yet, as the summer transfer window — three months when teams can acquire players — closes next Thursday, analysis of the multibillion-euro transfer market suggests most clubs are behaving more rationally than some believe.

According to Deloitte, more than £1.17bn has been splashed out this summer by clubs in the Premier League, Europe’s wealthiest division, where they have combined revenues of roughly £4.5bn. Overall spending in this summer’s window has already breached the £1.16bn spent by English sides during the same period in 2016.

However, the consultancy adds that player spending has remained roughly 20 per cent of team revenues on average. Premier League clubs have the benefit of a £5.1m domestic broadcasting deal with Sky and BT that came into effect last season, allowing them to ramp up spending.

Tim Bridge, a senior manager at Deloitte’s sports business group, says: “Clubs do not account for a transfer all upfront, instead spreading the fee across the life of the contract, so a £30m to £40m revenue uplift in one year translates to £200m in transfer spend across a five-year period.”

“The scale of the numbers attracts attention and gets people asking the question about whether this is sustainable. But on a proportionate level, we are seeing it remain at a similar level.”

Neymar’s transfer is an outlier, with the Brazilian forward’s fee representing more than 40 per cent of PSG’s revenues of €521m. However, the French club believes the global superstar will enable it to secure higher income from future commercial and merchandising deals, as well as achieve better performances in European competition.

When it comes to assessing players’ value, many top teams are adopting an increasingly analytical approach.

21st Club, a London-based football consultancy, is among those to develop a statistically based model to assess signings.

Other clubs, such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, have invested in in-house analytics teams and are believed to have adopted similar methods to judge potential signings.

The 21st Club model, used by a number of European clubs, takes several factors into account to predict how many points a player could add to a team’s final total at the end of a season.

The system analyses the relative strength of the teams a player is moving between, judged on each side’s past results; the total minutes spent on the pitch, with the theory being that managers pick the best possible side, so better footballers play more often; and other indicators, such as the number of goals and assists a player contributes in games.

New signings are compared with those they are replacing. For example, Romelu Lukaku, a Belgium striker, was signed by Manchester United from Everton. Lukaku is not predicted to earn more points than Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But he is a significant improvement on the club’s other attacking options.

“It’s a very affordable transfer for Manchester United,” says Omar Chaudhuri, head of football intelligence at 21st Club. “When you consider they have got him probably on a five-year contract, they have locked him during the best years of his career.”

A player of Neymar’s quality is projected to add up to 6.4 league points to PSG’s total this season. Such gains matter. PSG finished eight points behind Monaco last season, meaning Neymar’s signing is likely to have substantially closed the gap between the Parisian team and its main domestic rival.

But 21st Club’s model also suggests transfer values for players. Based on historical prices, top-of-the-market signings should equate to about 20-25 per cent of a club’s revenues. That would suggest that PSG should have paid no more than €150m for Neymar but were forced to spend more in order to trigger his buyout clause.

Other signings are considered poor by comparison. Chelsea spent €40m on Tiémoué Bakayoko, a defensive midfielder from Monaco. Analysis by 21st Club suggests he is no better than any of the club’s current player options in the same position.

One reason Bakayoko fares badly is that, though Monaco had one of the best attacking sides in Europe last season, the French champions were not a strong defensive team — an area where Chelsea excel.

Mr Bridge at Deloitte says the transfer market is relatively efficient in assessing players’ worth. “I’m certainly in no position to tell Arsène Wenger and Antonio Conte to move with the times,” he says. “But . . . clubs will pay the values they have paid according to their need or desire to fill that position with the best available player.

“I’m sure there are bargains out there still. It’s the responsibility of clubs to go and scout players and try and find the best value.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which football manager has described clubs' spending on players as “crazy”？

A. Antonio Conte.

B. Arsène Wenger.

C. José Mourinho.

D. Pep Guardiola.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is not a reason why PSG was willing to pay a disproportionate amount of money on Neymar’s transfer?

A. Neymar can help them secure higher income from future commercial and merchandising deals.

B. A global superstar will enable the team to achieve better performances in European competition.

C. They were forced to spend more in order to trigger the buyout clause stipulated in Neymar's contract.

D. PSG believes they can recoup the marquee player’s €222m transfer fee through shirt sales.

答案(2)

3.What is the 21st Club model according to the article？

A. A football consultancy which develop a statistically based model to assess signings.

B. A system which analyses how many points a player could add to a team’s final total.

C. An in-house analytics team which helps football club to judge potential signings.

D. An European management company providing services to professional football players.

答案(3)

4.Why does the author conclude that Bakayoko deal fares badly？

A. Bakayoko's signing is not enough to close the gap between Chelsea and its main domestic rival.

B. Bakayoko is projected to add few league points to Chelsea’s total this season according to analysis.

C. Analysis shows Bakayoko will not offer any improvement over Chelsea's alternatives in his position.

D. Bakayoko's transfer fee represents a higher percentage of income than rivals’ top signings.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.Antonio Conte.
解释：上赛季英超冠军切尔西的主教练安东尼奥·孔蒂表示，球员的转会费堪称“疯狂”。

(2) 答案：D.PSG believes they can recoup the marquee player’s €222m transfer fee through shirt sales.
解释：PSG购买内马尔付出的钱超过了球队利润的40%，这家法国球队相信这名国际巨星能够为他们带来更多商业收入和更好的欧战成绩。另外，为了激活内马尔的买断条款，他们不得不付出更多钱。

(3) 答案：B.A system which analyses how many points a player could add to a team’s final total.
解释：第21俱乐部模型是一个预测系统，根据多种因素来预测一名球员能够在整个赛季中为球队贡献多少积分。

(4) 答案：C.Analysis shows Bakayoko will not offer any improvement over Chelsea's alternatives in his position.
解释：在切尔西的阵容中，巴卡约科并不比任何一位同一位置上的其他球员更优秀。

股神凯恩斯？

约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯(John Maynard Keynes)是现代宏观经济学的创始人，他的《通论》等影响世界的著作让他享有“资本主义的救星”、“战后繁荣之父”等美称。那么，经济学大师凯恩斯是否也是一位“股神级”的投资家呢？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
diversification[daɪ,vɜːsɪfɪ'keɪʃən] n.（投资经营的）分散化，多样化
impresario|[,impri'sɑrio] n.歌剧，乐团的经理人
harem ['hɑːriːm]闺房

Sage of Omaha 奥马哈先知，奥马哈圣人，即沃伦·巴菲特
affinity [ə'fɪnɪtɪ] n.亲密关系，类同
dabble ['dæb(ə)l] v.涉猎；涉足
currency speculation 货币投机，指通过短期操纵货币兑换谋取汇率变化上的利润
insider trading 内幕交易

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分28秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分30秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分47秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分37秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

A lesson from the other ‘sage’ of investing (626 words)

By FT UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST Tim Harford

In his famous letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in 1988, Warren Buffett declared: “When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favourite holding period is forever.” Compare this statement, apparently from a kindred spirit: “As time goes on, I get more and more convinced that the right method in investment is to put fairly large sums into enterprises which one thinks one knows something about and in the management of which one thoroughly believes.”

Earlier, in 1984, Buffett had explained his view on diversification by approvingly quoting the theatre impresario Billy Rose: “If you have a harem of 40 women, you never get to know any of them very well.” Here’s that kindred spirit again:

“It is a mistake to think that one limits one’s risk by spreading too much between enterprises about which one knows little and has no reason for special confidence.”

In each case the second statement is from a man who is as quotable as the Sage of Omaha himself: John Maynard Keynes, writing to a colleague in 1934. The affinity between Buffett and Keynes isn’t a new discovery but a newly published study of Keynes’s investments for King’s College, Cambridge allows us to see whether Keynes took his own advice, and whether the results paid off.

Keynes had dabbled in currency speculation after the first world war, trading on margin and realising both large losses and large gains. But after assuming responsibility for the college’s investments in 1921, Keynes had to take a different approach. He persuaded the college to liberate part of its endowment from its traditional, highly conservative strictures, and it is this “Discretionary Portfolio” which has been tracked by David Chambers and Elroy Dimson of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.

At first, Keynes – who arguably invented the very idea of macroeconomics – relied on his gifts as an economist to time the business cycle, moving in and out of investments as economic trends dictated. It speaks volumes about macroeconomics that even for Keynes, this approach was not a success. By August 1929, the Discretionary Portfolio lagged behind the UK equity market by a cumulative 17.2 per cent. Worse, the stock market collapsed in September and Keynes had failed to see it coming.

Chambers and Dimson then document a change in Keynes’s approach. Instead of trying to anticipate macroeconomic trends, Keynes searched for undervalued stocks, bought substantial holdings and tended to hold on to them. He favoured companies that paid generous dividends and distressed companies that held out the possibility of recovery. This approach paid off handsomely, dragging Keynes’s lifetime track record with the Discretionary Portfolio up to a 16 per cent annual return, well above the 10.4 per cent of the market as a whole.

But Keynes was not just a successful value investor, he was an investment innovator. He appears to have developed the basic principles of value investing independently of Benjamin Graham, the man most closely associated with the approach. And he advanced the idea that equities were a fit investment for the likes of King’s College, at a time when any respectable investor would have stuck to property and bonds.

One note of caution, however: Keynes was very well connected, particularly in the mining sector, where he invested heavily and successfully. Insider trading was also legal in Keynes’s day.

Chambers and Dimson don’t think that the latter is the chief explanation of Keynes’s success. That said, he was so well connected that in 1925 he even received advance notice that the Bank of England’s interest rate was to change. Value investing is a fine idea – but perhaps a little easier to pull off if you are John Maynard Keynes.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which statement is TRUE in regarding to Keynes’s idea about ‘diversification’?

A. One should better invest in enterprises he knows about.

B. Diversification does not always reduce the risks of investments.

C. Buffett’s ideas are similar to Keynes’s.

D. All of above.

答案(1)

2.Which of the followings is NOT TURE?

A. Keynes can be considered as the Sage of Omaha and the father of macroeconomics.

B. Keynes advanced the change of Bank of England’s interest rate in 1925.

C. Keynes developed basic principles and advanced innovative ideas in investment.

D. Keynes invested heavily and made a fortune in the mining sector.

答案(2)

3.Which statement is NOT TURE according to the article?

A. In Keynes’s era, most investors preferred bonds and property to equities.

B. Discretionary Portfolio was not a successful idea at the start.

C. Keynes experienced huge gains before the Great Depression of 1929.

D. Keynes knew that the Bank of England was about to change its interest rate in 1925.

答案(3)

4.What do we know about the research of Cambridge’s Chambers and Dimson?

A. They think Keynes’s earnings in the mining sector have nothing to do with his fame.

B. They are professors teaching in Cambridge’s Judge Business School.

C. They agree with the changes of approach that Keynes made in Discretionary Portfolio.

D. None of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D. All of above.
解释：文中所引用的凯恩斯的两段话，意思为：“正确的投资方法是将相当大比例的资金投入到他个人认为自己非常了解而且管理也完全值得信任的企业上。而投资人如果认为，通过将资金分散投资到大量他几乎一无所知并且没有任何理由予以特别信任的企业，就可以据此限制自己的投资风险，这种看法是完全错误的。”

(2) 答案：B.Keynes advanced the change of Bank of England’s interest rate in 1925.
解释：原文是“...he even received advance notice that the Bank of England’s interest rate was to change”，也就是他被告知、而非预见了利率的改变。

(3) 答案：C.Keynes experienced huge gains before the Great Depression of 1929.
解释：C错误。通读全文可知，凯恩斯的投资实践有三个阶段：第一个阶段是一战（1918）后的货币市场投资； 第二阶段是1921年说服剑桥大学改变保守的投资策略，这一阶段他的投资并不成功，到1929年，他主持的投资组合比英国股市平均水平落后了17.2%； 第三阶段是颇为成功的，他投资股价被低估的和高分红的公司，让他的一生投资业绩达到16%的年回报率，比市场平均的10.4%高出不少。
在阅读时，你会读到一些年份和百分数字，重要的是搞清它们的时间先后和高低顺序。

(4) 答案：D.None of above.
解释：D正确。A与最后一段意思相反，而B、C文中均未提及。

用书和笔对抗恐怖主义

因倡导女童上学的权利，97年出生的巴基斯坦女孩马拉拉·尤萨夫扎伊曾遭塔利班恐怖分子的枪击，一度生命垂危。联合国将她的生日7月12日定为“马拉拉日”，在联合国大会上，她的发言感动了世界：“他们以为子弹将会让我们沉默，但他们失败了。书和笔，是对抗贫困和恐怖主义的最强大的武器”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Swat valley 马拉拉的家乡，在巴基斯坦西北边境省
articulate [ɑ:'tɪkjʊleɪt] adj.发音清晰的，口才好的

Urdu ['uədu:] n.乌尔都语

Unesco 联合国教科文组织
authentic [ɔː'θentɪk] adj.真实的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

7分20秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

4分6秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分56秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

1分1秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The teenage survivor refusing to submit to the Taliban (1028words)

By Isabel Berwick

When I saw her for the first time, a very newborn child, and I looked into her eyes, and I fell in love with her, believe me.” These are the words of a proud father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, speaking about his daughter, Malala, in Class Dismissed . The extraordinary 2009 New York Times documentary follows Mr Yousafzai’s courageous efforts to keep his school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley open after Taliban leaders ordered an end to girls’ education. In the film, Malala, then an articulate 11-year-old with a Harry Potter backpack, says she dreams of becoming a doctor. She seems today to be following a different path.

Still 16, she has become a global campaigner for girls’ education. She is one of the world’s most recognised people – famous enough to be known only by her first name – and a remarkable survivor.

On October 9 last year, fighters from the Taliban forces in the Swat Valley district in the Northwest Frontier Province boarded her school bus. They shot her in the head and wounded two friends. Ms Yousafzai was flown to the UK, where she received emergency treatment in Birmingham. She recovered – she has a titanium plate in her skull – and her campaigning goes on. She was well enough to speak in front of 1,000 youth delegates at the UN on her birthday in July, telling them nothing had changed in her life since the attack, except that “weakness, fear and hopelessness died”.

Ms Yousafzai now lives with her family (she has two younger brothers) in Birmingham and attends school there – although her timetable fits around her campaigning. This week she opened the city’s new £189m public library, the largest in Europe. As she told the watching crowd of “fellow Brummies(people of Birmingham)” in her adopted home: “Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism. I truly believe the only way we can create global peace is through educating not only our minds but our hearts and our souls.”

Her campaign for girls’ right to go to school started before the attack. She had already won Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize. Yesterday she collected the International Children’s Peace Prize in The Hague, and she has been nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize, to be awarded next month.

It is barely credible that someone so young could be such an effective campaigner on the world stage. Yet Ms Yousafzai has single-handedly turned the issue of the right of girls – and all children – to be educated into headline news. And she is a figure worth hearing, according to Jude Kelly, artistic director of London arts hub the Southbank Centre, which will host Ms Yousafzai’s (sold-out) first official appearance in London next month. Ms Kelly says: “We are about to lose [Nelson] Mandela and then, in another area, Malala steps on to the world stage. She is no token signifier – she is a woman with real substance. Her clarity, her determination, her simple clear sense of mission is undeniable.”

Her resilience and courage is clear but it would not have been possible for her to become educated – or a campaigner – were it not for her father’s support. (Her mother is also reportedly supportive but does not appear in public.) Adam Ellick, who made Class Dismissed, first met Mr Yousafzai through the latter’s work as an activist in Swat. The plan was for him to help Mr Ellick find a family to document as they lived through Taliban occupation in 2009. Instead “he showed up with Malala, and we eventually decided to make the documentary about their family”.

Mr Ellick lived with the family, on and off, for six months, and stayed close to them. He said: “I really admired how far the father, who hailed from a small village, became a leader in Swat.” When Mr Ellick met her, Ms Yousafzai was, “like most Pakistani girls, quite deferential to her father. She spoke mainly when spoken to.” But she was already developing her public voice – albeit secretly. Early in 2009 she began writing, using a pen name, about life for a young girl under the Taliban for the BBC’s Urdu service.

Shiza Shahid, a Pakistani education campaigner, first met Ms Yousafzai when she was 10, and has been working with her ever since. While still in hospital, the teenager set up The Malala Fund, with a vision to put every girl in the world through school. The first grants for the US-based charity now run by Ms Shahid – announced by actor Angelina Jolie – have been used to educate 40 girls in Swat. Ms Yousafzai regularly speaks to the girls to see how they are getting on.

Her campaign to get girls into school is a welcome awareness boost in an area with much work still to be done. Unesco figures show 57m primary-age children worldwide do not attend school, of whom 31m are girls. A further 34m adolescent girls are not being educated, mostly in Nigeria and Pakistan. Established groups setting up schools and libraries in the developing world include Room to Read, whose founder, John Wood, acknowledges Ms Yousafzai’s influence but reinforces the scale of the problem. “It’s great to have awareness raised on this issue,” he says, “but to turn that potential energy into kinetic, we need the social sector to think like a business, to build plans and teams that allow for massive scale so that we can reach millions of children like Malala who deserve to gain the life-long gift of education.”

The next milestone in Ms Yousafzai’s global celebrity comes with next month’s publication of her autobiography, I am Malala. Like all hot literary properties, it is under strict embargo. The publicity schedule includes Ms Yousafzai’s first big television interviews – with ABC’s Diane Sawyer in the US and the BBC’s Panorama.

No teenager, perhaps with the exception of Justin Bieber, has achieved such fame and faces such constant public pressure. But Ms Shahid says her friend is unaffected: “She’s a very intelligent girl yet humble and grounded, very much still the authentic Malala.”

The writer is associate editor of FT Life & Arts

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which event happened before she was attacked by Taliban forces?

A. Malala wrote articles for BBC.

B. Malala attended school in England.

C. Malala was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

D. Malala inaugurated Birmingham's new public library.

答案(1)

2.What do we know about the documentary Class Dismissed?

A. It was made by BBC's Urdu service.

B. Angelina Jolie joined the film crew.

C. It was about Pakistani schools under Taliban occupation.

D. Mr Yousafzai was supposed to help the director find interviewees.

答案(2)

3.Malala has been awarded several important prizes, except?

A. Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize.

B. International Children’s Peace Prize.

C. 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

答案(3)

4.What does John Wood, founder of a education NGO mean by "think like a business"?

A. NGOs need to collect loads of money to help millions of children.

B. We need good plans and teams to turn the energy into action.

C. Raising awareness on the issue of girls' education is everything.

D. 65 million girls around the world have no access to education.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A. Malala wrote articles for BBC.
解释：BCD都是之后发生的事情。塔利班领导人公开声称她“宣扬西方观点”，被列入暗杀名单，在她幸存后还称，会再次袭击她。

(2) 答案：D. Mr Yousafzai was supposed to help the director find interviewees.
解释：文中的一些事实细节：马拉拉09年起在BBC的乌尔都语栏目上写文章，安吉丽娜·朱莉为马拉拉基金会宣传并捐款。 塔利班在09年一度控制了巴基斯坦西北边境省的一些地区，但没有控制全国。
D是正确的，尤萨夫扎伊先生本意是帮导演Ellick找人来拍塔利班占领期的故事，后来埃里克发现他和马拉拉就是最好的故事。

(3) 答案：A,B
解释：在全球超过100万人联署的支持下，马拉拉被提名为2013年诺贝尔和平奖候选人，下个月（13年10月）颁奖。

(4) 答案：B
解释：伍德说，能让更多的人了解这个问题太好了，但是别忘了，国际社会需要有力的计划和团队来大规模地推行教育普及。

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.52

巴萨——加泰罗尼亚政治旗帜

巴萨是世界上最受欢迎的足球俱乐部之一，但在它所处的加泰罗尼亚地区，它代表的意义远远超越了足球。巴萨是加泰罗尼亚的非武装部队，它的身上凝结了加泰罗尼亚身份政治的过去、现在和将来。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
autonomy [ɔː'tɒnəmi] n.自治
emissary['emɪsəri] n.密使，特使
prominence ['prɒmɪnəns] n.突出；显著
condemnation[ˌkɒndem'neɪʃn] n.谴责，非难
thwart [θwɔːt] v.反对，阻碍
surrogate ['sʌrəɡət] n.代理；代用品

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分25秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分28秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分46秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分37秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

More than a football club：why Barça is a force in Catalan nationalism(619 words)

By Simon Kuper

“We have no other option but to vote,” Josep Guardiola, Barcelona football club’s former captain and coach, now manager of Manchester City, told a Catalan political rally of 40,000 people in June.

FC Barcelona, arguably the world’s most popular sports club and Catalonia’s largest institution, is backing Sunday’s unofficial referendum on Catalan independence.

The club says it is neutral on whether Catalans should choose independence. But like Mr Guardiola, it has been vocal about one thing: Catalans should have a right to vote, whereas the Madrid government dismisses the referendum as illegal.

If Catalonia ever becomes independent, then “Barça”, as the club is known, will have played a part.

Founded in 1899, Barça has long been the chief symbol of Catalanism: the idea that Catalonia has an identity distinct from Spain. The author Manuel Vázquez Montalbán called Barça “the unarmed army of Catalonia”.

Starting in 1919, the club repeatedly supported Catalonia’s claims for a “statute of autonomy”. In the 1920s, locals waved the club’s blue-and-red flag in nationalist protests against Spain’s dictator General Primo de Rivera.

From the late 1960s, as the fascist General Francisco Franco’s rule waned, the banned Catalan flag and language first began to resurface in the club’s Nou Camp stadium. And Barça’s Catalanism has flourished in the more federal post-Franco Spain of the past 40 years.

Most club directors have historically been drawn from Barcelona’s ethnically Catalan bourgeoisie. They usually speak Catalan in board meetings, though the lingua franca of the multinational changing-room is Spanish.

This Catalanist tradition underlies the club’s motto, Més que un club, “more than a club”. In fact, Barça has become such a powerful nationalist symbol that many Catalans support it as a kind of emotional surrogate for the state they do not have. That helps explain the outsized passion the club mobilises.

Barça plays in the second city of a midsized European country, and had only ever been champions of Europe once before hitting a purple patch from 2006, yet for decades it has regularly filled Europe’s largest stadium. (The Nou Camp now seats 99,354.) Forbes magazine and Hookit, a company that tracks sponsorship value in digital and social media, calculated last year that Barça had 145m social media followers, the most of any sports club on earth, and more than all teams in the NFL gridiron league of American football combined.

The club’s nationalist dimension has also helped turn Barça’s games against Real Madrid into global football’s most high-profile rivalry. Under Franco, many Barça fans regarded Real Madrid as emissaries of Madrilene central authority. Some hotheads still do.

Many Catalans express their nationalism in the Nou Camp on Sundays precisely because they cannot express it through a nation-state. That does not mean that most want a nation-state. Historically, polls in Catalonia rarely show majority support for independence. For some locals, cheering on Barça seems to be release enough.

But lately, the club has helped give prominence to the referendum — both at home and worldwide. In recent weeks, fans in the Nou Camp have chanted, “Let us vote”, and some have sung songs or waved banners for independence.

Before Barça’s match against Las Palmas on referendum day, the home team will warm up in shirts in the colours of Catalonia’s “Senyera” flag.

All this matters because Catalan separatists need not simply to win the referendum. They also need a high turnout to get Madrid and the world to take their demands seriously, which is why Madrid is doing everything it can to thwart the vote.

And if one day Catalonia does gain independence, Barça fans are confident that their club will be allowed to keep playing in the Spanish league. After all, without Barça, not only would the league be left bereft, but so would Real Madrid.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is Catalanism according to the article?

A. The belief that Catalan people are superior to all other races

B. The belief that Catalan people are superior to other ethnic groups in Spain.

C. The idea that Catalonia has an identity distinct from Spain.

D. The existence of racial conflict between Catalan and others.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following descriptions about Barça is true ?

A. It was founded by an ethnically Catalan bourgeoisie in Barcelona.

B. Player from Catalonia speak Catalan in Barça's changing-room.

C. Barça is the world's most popular sport club on social media.

D. Barça had never been champions of Europe once before 2006.

答案(2)

3.What is the political implication behind Barça's motto Més que un club?

A. Barça has long been a standard-bearer for nationalist sentiment in Catalonia.

B. Barça’s Catalanism has flourished in post-Franco Spain of the past 40 years.

C. Barça has a long history of fighting military dictatorship and political oppression.

D. Barça has long been the chief symbol of separatist movement in Spain.

答案(3)

4.What will Barça do on referendum day ?

A. Play against Las Palmas at home.

B. Lead an independence movement.

C. Finish the final game in the Spanish league.

D. Urge the international community to support Catalonia.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C. The idea that Catalonia has an identity distinct from Spain.
解释：加泰兰主义指加泰罗尼亚人与西班牙人属于不同民族身份的观点。

(2) 答案：C. Barça is the world's most popular sport club on social media.
解释：巴萨在社交媒体平台上有1.45亿关注者，这在全球所有体育俱乐部中是最多的，超过了NFL所有球队的总和。

(3) 答案：A.Barça has long been a standard-bearer for nationalist sentiment in Catalonia.
解释：这种加泰兰主义传统在俱乐部的格言“不仅是一家俱乐部”中得以体现。事实上，巴萨是一个强烈的民族主义符号，很多加泰罗尼亚人支持巴萨如同支持他们无法拥有的国家。

(4) 答案：A.Play against Las Palmas at home.
解释：公投日当天，巴萨将在主场对阵拉斯帕尔马，赛前，球员们会穿着加泰旗帜颜色的上衣热身。

殊途同归的“足球天才”

为何曾经所向披靡的教练会一败涂地？为何曾经睿智果敢的战术创新家会失去神奇的魔法？在足坛，我们见证了太多曾经改变足球潮流的天才教练最终归于平庸。足球教练的成功真的如此难以持续？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
mediocre [ˌmiːdi'oʊkər] adj. 平庸的，平凡的
marvel['mɑːvl] v. 惊异于，惊异
scrap [skræp] vt. 扔弃
ritual ['rɪtʃuəl] adj. 老规矩的，惯常的
afield[ə'fiːld] adj. 远离的，偏离的
hindsight ['haɪndsaɪt] n. 后见之明
regress[rɪ'ɡres] v. 倒退，退化
penultimate[pen'ʌltɪmət] adj. 倒数第二的
demeanour[dɪ'miːnə] n. 行为
endgame['endɡeɪm] n. 残局，最后阶段

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分25秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分2秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分10秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分45秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Football managers: a career of two halves(760 words)

By Simon Kuper

Louis van Gaal and Arsène Wenger were once great innovative football managers. Now in their sixties, both remain as keen as ever. Yet both van Gaal at Manchester United and Wenger at Arsenal are stuck in long ruts of mediocre performance. Both, in fact, are suffering the curse of the innovator as an old man — a curse that applies far beyond football.

Innovative football managers tend to follow a predictable career path. Before becoming a manager, they spend years studying their trade, and stealing ideas from the best innovators of the previous generation. Van Gaal as a teenager in the 1960s used to hang around the Ajax stadium in his native Amsterdam-East, watching the great Rinus Michels lead training sessions. In the same way 30 years later, when Van Gaal coached Barcelona, his young translator José Mourinho and club captain Josep Guardiola watched him.

The young innovator starts his managerial career having already decided on his methods. When Van Gaal became coach of Ajax aged 40 in 1991, he had worked more than 20 years in football. He recalls, “The first-team players had to deal with a coach who knew exactly how they had to play.”

The young innovator then immediately makes big changes. When Guardiola began coaching Barcelona aged 37, he introduced a radical new “pressing” game to win the ball, and converted Lionel Messi from winger into withdrawn centre-forward. In Guardiola’s first three seasons, Barça won two Champions Leagues. That was only slightly better than Van Gaal and Mourinho, who each needed four seasons as head coach to win both the Uefa Cup and Champions League.

The world — having missed the young innovator’s years of planning — marvels at his sudden ascent. As Mourinho quipped after making Porto European champions, “After 15 years, I’m an overnight success.”

Wenger got to a big club relatively late: he arrived at Arsenal aged 46. But he too then emerged as a pioneer. He scrapped the ritual prematch meal of baked beans and Coca-Cola, introduced his players to vegetables, studied stats, and stunned English rivals by scouting stars as far afield as France.

Often the young innovator — bursting with energy and self-confidence — gets up people’s noses. Mourinho aged 41 dubbed himself “The Special One”, much as the young Van Gaal famously asked a journalist, “Am I so clever or are you so stupid?” But the early success is indisputable.

With hindsight, the innovator often hits his career peak at about age 40. This pattern seems to apply beyond football. When Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University led a study of 549 successful entrepreneurs in 12 high-growth industries, he found that the average and median age at which they started their company was 40.

After the innovator’s early triumphs, he is typically snapped up by a giant club — often just at the moment when he is becoming less innovative. It’s hard to be a pioneer twice, especially when you have to win a match every three days. Life at the top is busy. Your own loyal staff grows stale with you. Your early luck regresses to the mean. Meanwhile other managers steal your ideas, and younger innovators improve on them.

The innovator quickly uses up the ideas that he began with. Guardiola confesses in Martí Perarnau’s Pep Confidential that when he quit Barcelona in 2012, “I was on my knees and had no new tactical ideas left. That was why I left.”

The penultimate stage is where Van Gaal is now: the bewildered old former innovator. The patient passing game he installed at Ajax 25 years ago can no longer pull apart modern defences. Meanwhile his lasting innovations — for instance, making his forwards ceaselessly press opponents to win the ball — have been copied by everyone else. He keeps chopping and changing unproductively at Manchester United, because he no longer knows what to do. Likewise, all Wenger’s past innovations have long since become best practice across football.

As the innovator ages and loses confidence, he tones down his irritating demeanour, reducing his run-ins with players, club presidents and journalists. But after those first magical six or seven years, he ceases to be special. He becomes just another manager, who wins when his players are good and loses when they aren’t.

Now Van Gaal and Wenger have entered the endgame: trying to time their own career exits before they are pushed out. The next crop of young innovators is poised to replace them. People in football are talking about Borussia Dortmund’s 42-year-old coach Thomas Tuchel. But by the time a giant club hires him, it will probably already be too late.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Before becoming a manager, Mourinho spend years studying from ____.

A. Rinus Michels.

B. Louis van Gaal.

C. Josep Guardiola.

D. Arsène Wenger.

答案(1)

2.What did Guardiola do after he became the coach of Barcelona aged 37 ?

A. He led Barcelona to win the Champions League and became the most successful coach in history.

B. He led his team to win both the Uefa Cup and Champions League in his first three seasons.

C. He applied statistical analysis and healthy eating habits to his team and stunned his rivals.

D. He introduced a radical new playing style which was proved to be wonderfully successful.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is not a reason why talented coaches tend to become less innovative after hired by a giant club ?

A. Big clubs have few tolerance for mistakes.

B. Their old tactical ideas become outdated.

C. The next crop of innovators is ready to replace them.

D. The coach and his staff lose the ability to innovate.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following statements is true according to the article ?

A. In football world, an old coach is doomed to be defeated by younger innovators.

B. The key to becoming a successful coach is stealing ideas from previous innovators.

C. A young innovator usually forms his playing philosophy when coaching lower league teams.

D. A innovator's career often peaks at about age 40, which is a curse that applies beyond football.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.Louis van Gaal.
解释：当范加尔在巴塞罗那执教时，他年轻的翻译穆里尼奥和球队队长瓜迪奥拉都向他学习。

(2) 答案：D.He introduced a radical new playing style which was proved to be wonderfully successful.
解释：当37岁的瓜迪奥拉成为巴塞罗那主教练时，他发明了一种全新的“压迫式”踢法。在他最初的三个赛季里，他赢下了2个欧冠。

(3) 答案：C.The next crop of innovators is ready to replace them.
解释：一个教练很难引领两次潮流，尤其是当你每三天就必须赢下一场比赛的时候。顶级俱乐部的工作非常繁忙，你的员工也和你一样渐渐变得陈腐。

(4) 答案：D.A innovator's career often peaks at about age 40, which is a curse that applies beyond football.
解释：足球的革新者往往在40岁左右达到职业生涯的巅峰，而成功的企业家开始创业的平均年龄也在40岁。

印度特色的咖喱资本主义

本文作者为Omidyar Network India Advisors董事总经理 亚兰特·辛哈(Jayant Sinha),和布朗大学政治学教授托什·瓦尔什尼(Ashutosh Varshney)

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
erratic [ɪ'rætɪk] adj.不稳定的；古怪的
disarray [dɪsə'reɪ] n.无秩序；杂乱；衣冠不整
stealth [stelθ] n.秘密；秘密行动；鬼祟
pivotal ['pɪvətl] adj.关键的；中枢的
unshackle [ʌn'ʃæk(ə)l] v.除去……镣铐；释放

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分39秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分36秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分51秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分39秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

India must harness the profit motive in the spirit of Nehru (651 words)

Normal life has resumed in India since last week’s devastating power cuts, but there is no guarantee they will not recur. The power sector – an erratic blend of state-run companies and private sector players – is in disarray, just one reflection of India’s disappointing economic performance.

Economic growth in the past year was just 6.5 per cent, well below the previous year’s 8.4 per cent. Since 1990, at 6.6 per cent per annum, India’s growth rate has been the third highest in the world, surpassed only by China and Vietnam. But to resume this impressive run, India’s flawed capitalism has to be fixed.

One thing stands out in India’s embrace of pro-market policies since the early 1990s. No political party has mounted an ideological defence of capitalism, which is still to acquire political legitimacy. The spirit of Jawaharlal Nehru, to some extent, endures. He wrote 75 years ago: “It would be absurd to say that the profit motive does not appeal to the average Indian, but it is nevertheless true that there is no such admiration for it in India as there is in the west. The possessor of money may be envied but he is not particularly respected or admired. Respect and admiration still go ... to those who sacrifice themselves ... for the public good.” Doubts about the profit motive are lower today, but they have not vanished. India is embracing capitalism by stealth.

The country has witnessed the rise of three distinct flavours of capitalism: state capitalism, crony capitalism and entrepreneurial capitalism. Together these three constitute what might whimsically be termed “curry capitalism”.

Though India’s public sector companies do not exercise the dominance of state-owned companies in China, the state has substantial or complete control of a host of pivotal sectors. Even when publicly listed, state-owned companies are run as bureaucracies and managed as instruments of the state. Politics play a big role: for example, India’s vast rural electorate gets huge power subsidies, making power generation unattractive commercially. Despite new investments, demand has outstripped supply for decades.

Crony capitalism has taken two forms. In sectors such as aviation and telecommunications, cronyism and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. While the government has awarded licences and contracts in an opaque way, competition has been so vigorous that millions of consumers benefited. But in power generation, mining and property, business conglomerates have operated primarily as crony capitalists, pursuing opportunities in collusion with government; an extractive elite has made vast fortunes.

Entrepreneurial capitalism, the child of liberalisation, dominates knowledge-based industries, capital markets and consumer goods. In these sectors, innovation and rising productivity have driven growth, job creation and wealth generation. This is the form of capitalism that the polity ought to encourage.

But two factors complicate the consolidation of entrepreneurial capitalism. First, India’s turn to markets has coincided with the rise of coalitions in politics. Since 1989, almost every government in Delhi has been a coalition of many parties. To survive, governments have had to satisfy more political players than ever before, often leading them to overlook graft.

Second, politicians have come under increasing pressure to show sensitivity towards poorer, especially rural voters, who have voted more than the urban middle classes. Keeping electricity prices artificially low for farmers is one of the ways in which the polity has responded to this pressure, but more creative solutions are clearly needed to respond both to political necessities and to economic imperatives.

Government policy must rest on three pillars: to unshackle India’s entrepreneurial energies by making markets more competitive, to reduce graft by simplifying regulation and making it more transparent, and to use tax revenues from higher growth to develop an efficient welfare state that attends to the poor.

Nehru’s invocation against capitalism requires reformulation. India’s key challenge is to harness the profit motive for the larger national purpose, not to shackle the private sector.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What can be deduced from ''the spirit of Jawaharlal Nehru''?

A. Today's India leader is Nehru.

B. Some parties make capitalism their ideology, though they are not very powerful.

C. Nehru was very vigilant against capitalism.

D. Doubts about the profit motive are always strong in India.

答案(1)

2.The writers mention several types of ''capitalism'', but they appreciate only one of them, which one?

A. Curry capitalism.

B. Entrepreneurial capitalism.

C. State capitalism.

D. Crony capitalism.

答案(2)

3.''Keeping electricity prices artificially low'' has been Indian government's policy for a long time.

According to the passage, what are the consequences of this policy?

A. It pleases the poor farmers who possess a lot of voting power.

B. It continually requires huge amounts of government subsidies.

C. It discouraged private capital to invest in power generation industry.

D. All of the above is correct.

答案(3)

4.To solve the problems in India, according to the passage, which one is not viable?

A. To make markests more competitive and spark India's entrepreneurial energies.

B. To reduce corruption by simplifying regulation and making it more transparent.

C. To make good use of state capitalism to do ''macroscopic readjustment and control''.

D. To use tax revenues from higher growth to develop an efficient welfare state that helps the poor.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.Nehru was very vigilant against capitalism.
解释：尼赫鲁是印度独立后首任总理，他将“资本主义”与“帝国主义”联系起来，对它们保持着警惕，实行偏社会主义的政策。B是错误的，原文第三段中说：No political party has mounted an ideological defence of capitalism. D项也是错误的，原文第三段中说：Doubts about the profit motive are lower today, but they have not vanished.

(2) 答案：B.Entrepreneurial capitalism.
解释：作者说：In these sectors, innovation and rising productivity have driven growth, job creation and wealth generation. This is the form of capitalism that the polity ought to encourage.作者认为国家资本主义、权贵资本主义，以及上述三种资本主义的混合物：印度特色的“咖喱资本主义”，都不值得推崇。

(3) 答案：A，B，C
解释：ABC三项都是正确的，文中第五段有这么一句：India’s vast rural electorate gets huge power subsidies, making power generation unattractive commercially.

(4) 答案：C.To make good use of state capitalism to do ''macroscopic readjustment and control''.
解释： ABD三项都是作者在文中的主张。C项“用国家资本主义进行宏观调控”不仅不是作者的主张，相反，他们认为这正是印度电荒问题的根源而不是解药。

印度style：世界的缩影

FT专栏作家吉迪恩·拉赫曼(Gideon Rachman)。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
manicured['mænikjuəd] adj.整修的；修剪整齐的

Uttar Pradesh 印度北方邦，北部与尼泊尔接壤。Badaun是北方邦的一个城市布道恩。

spree[spriː] n.狂欢；无节制的狂热

Jaguar Land Rover 捷豹路虎，是一家拥有两个顶级奢华品牌的英国汽车制造商，08年被印度塔塔汽车收购
categorical imperative 绝对命令。康德的表述为:“不论做什么﹐总应做到，使你的意志所遵循的准则，永远同时能够成为一条普遍的立法原理”（《实践理性批判》）。这一提法在于强调意志自律和道德原则的普遍有效性﹐体现了康德的伦理学原则。

outskirt ['aʊtskɜːt] n.郊区，市郊
malnourishment [mælnʌrɪʃm(ə)nt] adj.营养不良
scavenger ['skævɪn(d)ʒə] n.清道夫；清除剂；拾荒者；食腐动物

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分31秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分39秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分36秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分54秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

India is part of an upside-down world (914 words)

The highway leading out of Delhi is lined with adverts for new housing developments with names such as “Exotica Dreamville”. A typical hoarding shows a smiling young couple, standing on a manicured lawn, under the slogan: “Lifestyle is here.”

Keep driving, however, deep into the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, and you will find lifestyles that are neither exotic nor the stuff of dreams. On the outskirts of the city of Budaun, many of the children show signs of malnourishment. Goats, buffalo, cows and camels roam the filthy streets. Unicef, the UN agency for children, is running a campaign to equip all the houses in the district with a modern toilet. It is also trying to find new work for the “manual scavengers”, who make their living by cleaning dry latrines by hand.

In Budaun itself, the sanitation project is making slow but steady progress. But for Uttar Pradesh – whose population is more than 200m, larger than that of Brazil – the task is still dauntingly big. Unicef estimates that only 21 per cent of the state’s inhabitants have access to a proper toilet. In India as a whole about 600m people – out of a total population of 1.2bn – still practice “open defecation”, either in fields or urban wasteland.

India’s sanitation problems are a public health disaster that helps explain other grim statistics. Last year, according to Unicef, 1.7m children under the age of five died in India – just under a quarter of the worldwide total – while 42 per cent of the country’s children are officially categorised as underweight. Although India is often bracketed with China as a rising superpower, it is a significantly poorer nation – with a per-capita income less than a third of the Chinese level.

Statistics such as these are sometimes used to pour scorn on the idea that India is an emerging great power. The truth, of course, is more complicated. After 20 years of strong economic growth, India is simultaneously a rich and a poor country. Its sheer size means that India is the 10th largest economy in the world – and it could well be the third largest by 2030.

The country’s consumer market is growing rapidly. It now has more mobile phones than toilets. India has more absolutely poor people than Africa, and more billionaires than Britain. It is magnet both for the world’s aid agencies and for its multinationals. Corporate India is so wealthy that it is going on an international buying spree – snapping up well-known western marques such as Jaguar Land Rover. A country that almost ran out of money during the economic crisis of 1991 now has foreign reserves that stand at a healthy $300bn. India has nuclear weapons and a space programme; it recently announced a plan for a mission to Mars. It is now also the world’s largest importer of weapons, and recently said it would spend $10bn buying new fighter jets from France.

Some regard all these contrasts as evidence that the Indian government has scandalously misplaced priorities. The reality is less clear-cut. The central government has a great many poverty alleviation programmes and spends a lot of money. The story is not so much one of outright government neglect as one of corruption, maladministration and rigid social structures. A decade ago the central government allocated about $300m to improve sanitation in Uttar Pradesh alone – but the money somehow disappeared between Delhi and places such as Budaun. Local residents tell stories of the small tragedies that blight lives and thwart official policy – such as government ration cards that are stolen by local officials.

Yet the numbers suggest that, even in rural areas, things are improving. Rural wages are said to have doubled over the past decade in India. Amid all the poverty in Budaun, there is plenty of commerce – from small workshops to roadside stalls. People are moving off the farms into rural industries or towards the cities.

It is this migration from rural to urban areas that brings together the stories of the two Indias. One senior official in Delhi says that his main reason for confidence about his country’s future is that the move to the cities will drive economic growth for the next 20-30 years, as it has in many societies in the past – from Britain in the 18th century to China today. “You stay sane in India by looking at the medium-term,” he remarks.

The fact that India is simultaneously a rich and a poor country is not just baffling for Indians – it is also a puzzle for outsiders. In Britain at the moment, there is a lively debate about whether the UK should continue to send foreign aid to India. If the idea is to help the world’s poorest people, then there are more of them in India than in any other country in the world. And yet India also has a smaller budget deficit and larger foreign reserves than Britain.

Indians could have their own version of this debate about aid and equity. For even as European countries send aid to India, India will be indirectly funding the bailouts in the eurozone – through its contributions to the IMF. Yet living standards in Greece or Ireland remain unimaginably lavish by the standards of rural India.

These kinds of paradox crop up in debates about everything from arms sales to climate change. They are characteristics of a world in which notions of “rich” and “poor” nations are being turned upside down.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does the writer try to do in the first paragraph?

A. To show that India's urban development is impressive.

B. To show that Indians are quite fashionable.

C. To imply that a housing bubble might appear in India.

D. To contrast life of Delhi-style with that of Uttar Pradesh-style.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is not true about India?

A. Uttar Pradesh State alone is more populated than Brazil.

B. Its per-capita income is almost the same as China.

C. About half of India's total population do not have access to a proper toilet.

D. India is the 10th largest economy in the world.

答案(2)

3.What are the reasons for India's poor development in rural areas?

A. corruption

B. maladministration

C. rigid social structures

D. All of above.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following statement best illustrates "an upside-down world"?

A. India almost ran out of money during the economic crisis of 1991, now it has foreign reserves of $300bn.

B. India has more absolutely poor people than Africa, and more billionaires than Britain.

C. India now has more mobile phones than toilets.

D. India will be indirectly funding eurozone bailouts, yet living standards in Greece remain much higher than those of India.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.To contrast life of Delhi-style with that of Uttar Pradesh-style.
解释：出德里市的高速公路上的各种奢华地产广告让人印象深刻，但是，只要你继续开车到北方邦去，就能发现两地的生活方式和生活水平简直是天壤之别。

(2) 答案：B.Its per-capita income is almost the same as China.
解释：ACD项都是正确的，B项不正确，印度的人均收入不到中国的1/3。 第四段中作者说：···India is often bracketed with China as a rising superpower······a per-capita income less than a third of the Chinese level.

(3) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC都是正确的。文中说：The story is not so much one of outright government neglect as one of corruption, maladministration and rigid social structures. 问题并非是简简单单的“政府失职”，事实上印度政府也做了努力、投了钱，但是腐败、管理不善和僵化的社会结构抵消掉了这些努力。

(4) 答案：D.India will be indirectly funding eurozone bailouts, yet living standards in Greece remain much higher than those of India.
解释：作者对“上下颠倒的世界”的阐释是：notions of “rich” and “poor” nations are being turned upside down，也就是说穷国竟然在支援富国，而不是富国支援穷国，这就让人困惑了。而A项是讲述印度经济发展的成果，BC两项则描述印度国内的贫富差距，因此不是对这一说法的准确阐释。

“了不起的盖茨比陷阱”

了不起的盖茨比曲线 (The Great Gatsby Curve)指出，社会代际流动性较大的国家，居民收入差距较小，拼爹程度越高的国家，收入差距越大。那么，哪些发达国家贫富差距较大？近些年来，这些国家的“1%与99%”的差距加大的原因是什么？这有哪些危害？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
symposium [sɪm'pəʊzɪəm] n.讨论会，专题论文集

Journal of Economic Perspectives JEP，美国经济学会的《经济展望杂志》，是世界上顶尖的经济学期刊
old-boy network 校友会，校友关系网
largesse [lɑː'(d)ʒes] n.慷慨的赠与
file one's boots （吃的喝的）请随意
governance arrangement 制度安排
plutocrat ['pluːtəkræts] n.富豪，财阀政治
also-ran 落选者，失败者，备胎
let the matter drop 听任事务发展

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分22秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分34秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分33秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分53秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

How the wealthy keep themselves on top (893 words)

By Tim Harford, FT "undercover economist"

When the world’s richest countries were booming, few people worried overmuch that the top 1 per cent were enjoying an ever-growing share of that prosperity. In the wake of a depression in the US, a fiscal chasm in the UK and an existential crisis in the eurozone – and the shaming of the world’s bankers – worrying about inequality is no longer the preserve of the far left.

There should be no doubt about the facts: the income share of the top 1 per cent has roughly doubled in the US since the early 1970s, and is now about 20 per cent. Much the same trend can be seen in Australia, Canada and the UK – although in each case the income share of the top 1 per cent is smaller. In France, Germany and Japan there seems to be no such trend. (The source is the World Top Incomes Database, summarised in the opening paper of a superb symposium in this summer’s Journal of Economic Perspectives.)

But should we care? There are two reasons we might: process and outcome. We might worry that the gains of the rich are ill-gotten: the result of the old-boy network, or fraud, or exploiting the largesse of the taxpayer. Or we might worry that the results are noxious: misery and envy, or ill-health, or dysfunctional democracy, or slow growth as the rich sit on their cash, or excessive debt and thus financial instability.

Following the crisis, it might be unfashionable to suggest that the rich actually earned their money. But knee-jerk banker-bashers should take a look at research by Steven Kaplan and Joshua Rauh, again in the JEP symposium. They simply compare the fate of the top earners across different lines of business. Worried that chief executives are filling their boots thanks to the weak governance of publicly listed companies? So am I, but partners in law firms are also doing very nicely, as are the bosses of privately owned companies, as are the managers of hedge funds, as are top sports stars. Governance arrangements in each case are different.

Perhaps, then, some broad social norm has shifted, allowing higher pay across the board? If so, we would expect publicly scrutinised salaries to be catching up with those who have more privacy – for instance, managers of privately held corporations. The reverse is the case.

The uncomfortable truth is that market forces – that is, the result of freely agreed contracts – are probably behind much of the rise in inequality. Globalisation and technological change favour the highly skilled. In the middle of the income distribution, a strong pair of arms, a willingness to work hard and a bit of common sense used to provide a comfortable income. No longer. Meanwhile at the very top, winner-take-all markets are emerging, where the best or luckiest entrepreneurs, fund managers, authors or athletes hoover up most of the gains. The idea that the fat cats simply stole everyone else’s cream is emotionally powerful; it is not entirely convincing.

In a well-functioning market, people only earn high incomes if they create enough economic value to justify those incomes. But even if we could be convinced that this was true, we do not have to let the matter drop.

This is partly because the sums involved are immense. Between 1993 and 2011, in the US, average incomes grew a modest 13.1 per cent in total. But the average income of the poorest 99 per cent – that is everyone up to families making about $370,000 a year – grew just 5.8 per cent. That gap is a measure of just how much the top 1 per cent are making. The stakes are high.

I set out two reasons why we might care about inequality: an unfair process or a harmful outcome. But what really should concern us is that the two reasons are not actually distinct after all. The harmful outcome and the unfair process feed each other. The more unequal a society becomes, the greater the incentive for the rich to pull up the ladder behind them.

At the very top of the scale, plutocrats can shape the conversation by buying up newspapers and television channels or funding political campaigns. The merely prosperous scramble desperately to get their children into the right neighbourhood, nursery, school, university and internship – we know how big the gap has grown between winners and also-rans.

Miles Corak, another contributor to the JEP debate, is an expert on intergenerational income mobility, the question of whether rich parents have rich children. The painful truth is that in the most unequal developed nations – the UK and the US – the intergenerational transmission of income is stronger. In more equal societies such as Denmark, the tendency of privilege to breed privilege is much lower.

This is what sticks in the throat about the rise in inequality: the knowledge that the more unequal our societies become, the more we all become prisoners of that inequality. The well-off feel that they must strain to prevent their children from slipping down the income ladder. The poor see the best schools, colleges, even art clubs and ballet classes, disappearing behind a wall of fees or unaffordable housing.

The idea of a free, market-based society is that everyone can reach his or her potential. Somewhere, we lost our way.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.In which developed country we cannot observe a widening income gap?

A. UK.

B. Canada.

C. Australia.

D. Germany.

答案(1)

2.Why should we care about the widening income gap, according to the writer?

A. It implies that the gains of the rich are ill-gotten.

B. It means the old-boy network is too strong a vested interest.

C. It might result in envy or dysfunctional democracy.

D. It is a result of slow growth as the rich sit on their cash.

答案(2)

3.What is not a cause for the widening income gap?

A. Chief executives of large companies are being paid too much.

B. Technological changes favor the highly skilled.

C. Winner-take-all markets are emerging.

D. Globalisation.

答案(3)

4.What is the "painful" conclusion drawn by the JEP resaerch by Steven Kaplan and Joshua Rauh?

A. Income gap is small in France, Germany and Japan.

B. Intergenerational income mobility has something to do with income equality.

C. Intergenerational transmission of income is higher in developed countries.

D. A free, market-based society is the best system to reduce the gap.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.Germany.
解释：文中第二段说美国、澳大利亚、加拿大和英国都有“1%”的收入增速快于其他人的现象，而法国德国和日本则没有了不起的盖茨比曲线。

(2) 答案：C. It might result in envy or dysfunctional democracy.
解释：为什么我们要担忧呢？There are two reasons we might: process and outcome. 也就是说贫富差距加大的过程和结果让人忧虑。AB如此确信是不严谨的，原文准确说法是We might worry that the gains of the rich are ill-gotten:；D是颠倒了因果，贫富差距加大可能导致增长缓慢，因为富人的整体边际消费倾向低于穷人。

(3) 答案：A.Chief executives of large companies are being paid too much.
解释： 作者用了不少笔墨来讲自己也怀疑大公司首席执行官总是千方百计给自己提高收入，但他们比小公司、未上市公司经理人的收入增幅要小（监督大公司的经理人更困难）。这说明前面的假设是不成立的。 BCD是正确的，全球化和技术进步让高技能者收入大涨，而低技能者就没这么好运了：发达国家大量把劳动密集型产业转移到发展中国家。“赢者通吃市场”不难理解，facebook和微信都是一家公司统治一个行业的。

(4) 答案：B.Intergenerational income mobility has something to do with income equality.
解释： C是偷换概念，原文意思是说，在发达国家中，代际流动性较小的国家，收入差距较大。事实上发达国家的整体收入差距远远小于发展中国家。B说法是准确的。D也是错误的，如之前的解释，全球化和技术变革倾向于增大收入差距。A为什么会痛苦呢？

当心“金砖”失色

“金砖国家正在重蹈欧洲的覆辙”，美国外交关系委员会高级研究员，FT特约编辑塞巴斯蒂安·马拉贝(Sebastian Mallaby)说。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
debt denominated in domestic currency 内债
quiescent [kwɪ'es(ə)nt] 静止的
sclerotic labour market 僵化的劳动力市场：劳动力难自由流动、择业和雇佣限制过多、社会保障成本过高。比如曾有一英国人在法国开雪橇出租店被拘捕，因为他没有法国雪橇教师资格证——只有英国的资格证。

resilience [rɪ'zɪlɪəns] n.恢复力；弹力
blizzard ['blɪzəd] n.暴风雪
epitomize [ɪ'pɪtəmaɪz; e-] 摘要；概括；成为…的缩影

525 basis points 一个基点为万分之一，525个基点也就是5.25%
pervasive [pə'veɪsɪv] adj.普遍的，到处渗透的
macroeconomic and microeconomic n./adj.宏观经济与微观经济，前者关注的是GDP、物价水平、就业、进出口与政府债务等，后者研究的是单个生产者或消费者的生产和消费行为等。

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分52秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分17秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分21秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分49秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Beware membership of this elite club (823 words)

A year ago, Brazil, Russia, India and China were the darlings of the world economy. Today, Brazil is barely growing, Russia is struggling and India and China are on course for their lowest growth in a decade. Although they are as different as they are similar, all four of the original Bric countries have contrived to stumble simultaneously. The lessons are that microeconomics can matter as much as macroeconomics – and that belonging to a prestigious economic club is hazardous.

The Brics, and emerging economies generally, deserve enormous credit for their macroeconomic management. In the 1970s and 1980s, one in two emerging and developing economies had double-digit inflation. Today, fewer than one in five do. As recently as the 1990s, the median emerging economy had public debt to gross domestic product of more than 65 per cent. In the past two years, the median has been below 40 per cent. Add in bulging foreign exchange reserves, debt denominated in domestic currency rather than dollars and (with China the big exception) flexible exchange rates, and the hype surrounding emerging economies seems almost reasonable.

Since the emerging market crises of 1997-2002, these strong macro foundations have delivered extraordinary performance.

When the global financial crisis hit, emerging economies’ budget deficits were small so the fiscal counterattack could be forceful. Inflation was quiescent so credit could be eased safely. In the 1990s, emerging economies that cut interest rates were punished with capital flight and currency collapse, triggering the bankruptcy of businesses with debts in dollars. This time, ample foreign exchange reserves offset capital flight and the shift away from dollar borrowing insured companies against depreciation.

That is the good news. But, as the rich world discovered in the wake of its own “Great Moderation”, resilient growth encourages complacency. In the US, households borrowed too much and regulators grew indulgent. In Europe, this pattern was amplified by the “club effect” of euro membership. Countries that had tightened their belts to meet the criteria for accession went soft once they were admitted. With cheap foreign capital buoying living standards, there was no will to fix microeconomic problems such as sclerotic labour markets.

The Brics are following a version of this playbook. Macroeconomic management remains credible. China, in particular, has dramatically cut export dependence without suffering a hard landing. But macro success has bred micro complacency. Governments have permitted themselves to meddle destructively in markets. State companies have been allowed to stifle innovative competitors. The upshot is that the resilience of the Brics in the face of the 2008 financial shock has not been matched by resilience to an extended period of weak global demand.

Consider Brazil. It boasts moderate inflation, sober public finances and a partially flexible exchange rate. Its central bank has tried to revive growth by reducing its lending rate by 525 basis points over the past 16 months. But growth this year will come in at barely more than 1 per cent because a blizzard of micro meddling has damaged business confidence. Petrobras, the state oil company that accounts for a 10th of the economy, epitomises this malady. Despite the discovery in 2007 of lucrative offshore oil, it is losing money because of local content rules and irrational fixed prices.

The story is similar in Russia. The current account is in surplus, inflation is modest and the budget is in balance. But microeconomic policy is lousy. Corruption deters investors. State companies elbow out private ones. Plans to diversify the economy have been a failure. Instead of building manufacturing exports, Russia is exporting skilled workers.

In some ways India is the odd one out: it runs a chronic budget deficit but shares the microeconomic weaknesses of its brethren. Corruption is pervasive and dysfunctional regulation inflicted blackouts on 600m consumers in the summer. Supply side rigidities handicap India’s economy so thoroughly that stimulus quickly causes inflation, which is close to 10 per cent. Last year the IMF projected India could sustain growth of 8.1 per cent per year. This year that has been revised to 6.9 percent.

The IMF’s estimate of trend growth in China has come down from 9.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent. As elsewhere, corruption and distorted prices are the key challenges. State-owned companies account for more than half the capitalisation of the stock market. They hog subsidised credit, hire the best graduates and lobby fiercely against deregulation. Li Keqiang, the incoming premier, recently said that China had used up its “demographic dividend” of plentiful labour and would now have to rely on a “reform dividend”. But China has yet to act accordingly.

For all their macroeconomic resilience, the business climate in the Brics is unreliable. In the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings, China comes in a shameful 91st, Russia 112th, Brazil 130th and India 132nd. By contrast, Rwanda, Oman, Colombia and Kazakhstan are all in the top 60. The Rocks could teach the Brics how to regain momentum.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1."The Brics···deserve enormous credit for their macroeconomic management".This can be supported by?

A. Inflation went down.

B. Public debt to GDP ratio went down.

C. Foreign exchange reserves grew.

D. All of above.

答案(1)

2.For some european countries, the "club effect" is harmful in what way?

A. Fosters economic growth and standard of living.

B. Encourages foreign capital inflows.

C. They are less willing to reform their labour market.

D. Their once prudent fiscal policies became extravagant.

答案(2)

3.What are the similarities of the four BRIC countries?

A. Government's meddling destructively in markets.

B. Corruption deters investors.

C. Skilled workers fleeing out of the country.

D. Having used up “demographic dividend”.

答案(3)

4.What is true about the state companies in BRIC?

A. Brazil's state oil company accounts for 1/10 of the economy.

B. Russian state companies elbow out private ones.

C. Chinese state companies enjoy privileges of all kinds and lobby for maintaining them.

D. All of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.All of above.
解释： ABC三项都是正确的。文章第二段介绍了最近二三十年来以金砖国家为代表的新兴市场国家在宏观经济上取得了 不小的成就。除此三项之外，还有公共债务不再以外债为主，而是主要是内债；以及浮动利率制度——这一点中国除外。

(2) 答案：C.They are less willing to reform their labour market.
解释：C项是正确的。这四项在事实上都是正确的：加入欧盟后，利用一体化的市场和资本，“欧猪”等国家经济得到发展。 但是，加入欧盟前它们整顿财政，以达到入盟标准，但是加入后就不是这样了。 Countries that had tightened their belts to meet the criteria for accession went soft once they were admitted. 因此，“俱乐部效应”的一个坏处就是让这些国家不再积极fix microeconomic problems such as sclerotic labour markets.

(3) 答案：A.Government's meddling destructively in markets.
解释：严重的腐败阻碍了外国投资这事儿主要发生在俄罗斯和印度，至少目前中国和巴西还在吸引外资最多的国家之列。 技术人才流失主要发生在俄罗斯。人口红利被用完是李克强发出的警告，这个威胁出现在中国。 作者说金砖四国正重复那些欧洲国家的错误，也就是resilient growth encourages complacency. 要害就在政府干预太多，而国企势力太强大。

(4) 答案：D.All of above.、
解释：把欧元交易拉回欧陆的想法显然在欧陆国家得到了支持，而英国则奋力反击，向欧洲法院控告这不合法，侵犯了统一市场原则。 The policy has yet to come into effect only because the UK Treasury has challenged its validity at the European Court of Justice…

哈布斯堡西班牙的启示

16世纪的欧洲霸主、西班牙国王腓力二世是个借钱如流水，违约如便饭的君主，破产了好几次。但热那亚的银行家们却几十年如一日地给他放贷，还赚到了钱，并能安然度过一次又一次债务违约，全然没有今天的“金融海啸”式冲击。这是怎么回事？两位经济史学家分析说，今天的银行需要学习他们的策略。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Habsburg Spain 西班牙哈布斯堡王朝（1506-1700），西班牙是当时的世界超级强国，统治美洲和半个欧陆，但无敌舰队和三十年战争的战败让其霸权没落。

déjà vu （法语）似曾相识；旧事幻现
strewn[struːn] adj.撒满的，布满的
snare[sneə] n./v.陷阱，捕获

Genoese[,dʒenəu'i:z] n./adj.热那亚人，热那亚的

Armada [ɑ:'mɑ:də] n.无敌舰队
state-contingent 状态依存，在这里意思是，腓力二世借短债时与债主有共识，钱能不能还，是视情况而定的，即“对赌”式的。

galleon ['gælɪən] n.大帆船

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分8秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分52秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分3秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分43秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Banks should learn from Habsburg Spain (720 words)

By Hans-Joachim Voth and Mauricio Drelichman

Investors in the volatile debt of Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy can be forgiven a sense of déjà vu. The history of sovereign debt is strewn with promises broken, creditors losing their shirts (and sometimes literally their heads) and, during defaults, economic malaise. So does the long, melancholy history of government borrowing offer any lessons for policy makers today?

Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, in their classic study of eight centuries of financial crises, argue that the repeated folly of investors is the cause of sovereign debt problems. After a few good years, creditors forget the risks, lend recklessly, then end up snared in a default. The cycle soon restarts as new investors convince themselves “this time is different”.

At the dawn of sovereign lending, King Philip II of Spain – ruler between 1556 and 1598 of the only superpower of his age – signed hundreds of loan contracts. He also became the first serial defaulter, halting payments four times. The story of a powerful monarch able to convince creditors to lend as much as 60 per cent of gross domestic product while defaulting again and again offers useful insights into how the bargain can be improved.

Sovereign debt crises today “hurt” in three ways. First, when bond markets panic and yields rise in a downturn, taxes are raised and spending is cut. Austerity aggravates the slump. Second, a country’s banking system typically implodes. Third, the return to debt markets is often long delayed; state employees are sacked, contractors go unpaid, and the economic slump deepens.

By contrast, Genoese lenders to Philip II created a safe and stable sovereign borrowing system. It survived shocks such as the failed 1588 invasion of England with the Armada. Most bankers lent to the king for decades; no lender lost money in the long term. Financiers simply charged higher rates in normal times to compensate for the risks during crises.

When shocks hit – such as a combination of low silver revenues and a costly war against the Ottomans – debt contracts were not expected to be honoured to the letter. Renegotiations were concluded fast – in 12 to 18 months, compared with today’s average of six to seven years. “Haircuts” for investors, from 20 to 40 per cent, were moderate. Lending resumed promptly.

Even in normal times, lenders and borrowers shared risk effectively. A large fraction of Philip II’s short-term debt was “state contingent” – repayment terms and interest rates were automatically adjusted in line with fiscal conditions. In bad times – when the silver fleet from the Americas was small, say – the king either repaid less or extended the maturity of a loan. This avoided the need to let soldiers go unpaid.

Automatic loan modification enabled Spain to avoid negative feedback loops such as those seen in southern Europe today, with falling tax revenue leading to austerity and hence an even more severe slump. The ability to write state-contingent debt using an easily observed indicator of fiscal health, such as the arrival of a fleet, was crucial. In modern debt markets, verifiable indicators such as value added tax receipts, certified economic growth figures or world oil prices could be used as measures of fiscal strength.

The practices of the bankers, too, offer lessons for today. Loans were expensive and profits high. The Genoese absorbed losses easily because of their low leverage. Instead of borrowing themselves or taking deposits (as earlier competitors had done), they mostly financed themselves with equity. In addition, they sold the lion’s share of each loan on to other investors. Profits and losses were then distributed proportionately. During crises, everyone suffered, but no toxic concentration of risk threatened the bankers’ survival. In other words, risk transfers that failed during the recent subprime crisis worked well in the 16th century.

Repeated cycles of lending and default, contrary to common belief, are not a sign of bankers’ stupidity. Often, creditors have realised that “next time will be the same”, and prepared themselves accordingly. They have provided effective insurance to the sovereign, and absorbed losses with thick equity cushions. The age of the galleon produced effective risk-sharing and a stable banking system; the age of the internet and jet travel is failing to do the same.

The writers, who teach economic history in Barcelona and Vancouver

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What do we know about King Philip II's Spain?

A. It was the only superpower of the age.

B. Its debt-to-GDP ratio reached 100%.

C. Its Armada defeated England.

D. It lost the war against the Ottomans.

答案(1)

2.Sovereign debt crises today “hurt” in three ways, which one of them is not?

A. Bond yield rise and governments are forced to cut spending.

B. A country's banking system implodes.

C. Employees and contractors of the government lose money.

D. Foreign forces would enter and intervene.

答案(2)

3.What is the difference between the Spanish debt crisis of King Philip II, and that of today?

A. The debt-to-GDP ratio is significantly higher today.

B. Debt extension would be negotiated only today.

C. Unlike Philip's time, today's debt is largely mortgage debt.

D. Creditor have to accept a "haircut" in Philip II's time.

答案(3)

4.What is not Genoese bankers' "magic"?

A. The were fully aware and prepared for the possible default.

B. Their leverages are low and capital ratios are high.

C. They avoided the concentration of the risks and profits.

D. They take in huge sums of cash deposits.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.It was the only superpower of the age.
解释：西班牙的债务/GDP比重达到60%（考虑到当时的交通和财政手段，这绝对是个天文数字），它的无敌舰队被英格兰击败，它打败了奥斯曼土耳其，从而获得了整个地中海的霸权。

(2) 答案：D.Foreign forces would enter and intervene.
解释：ABC都是文中提到的

(3) 答案：C.Unlike Philip's time, today's debt is largely mortgage debt.
解释：C显然与事实刚好相反，腓力二世可以用美洲运来的金银抵押给银行家，而今天的国债是纯靠信用，无抵押的。 腓力二世的债务占GDP的60%，今天的西班牙是80%多，两者并没有数量级上的差距。债务展期和部分免除是当时和今天都有的。

(4) 答案：D.They take in huge sums of cash deposits.
解释：ABC都是值得今天的银行学习的。他们非常谨慎，知道贷给国王有风险，因此不会廉价借给他，而他们多是用自有资本而不是借来的钱去放贷，不会遇到挤兑和流动性危机。 另外，他们把贷款再分包一部分给别的投资者，自己不会过多地集中风险和收益。
The Genoese absorbed losses easily because of their low leverage.与 Profits and losses were then distributed proportionately.这两句话解释了BC选项。

社交媒体改善写作？

社交媒体、短信、电邮……给我们带来了什么？提笔忘字？不规范的语法与表达？无法表达连贯的思想？Simon Kuper对这种观点不以为然。他说，2000年前就有老学究们惋惜语言的衰败了，信息时代和社交媒体实际上大大帮助人们提高了写作和阅读能力。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

CC Carbon Copy，抄送
mute [mjuːt] n.哑巴
vandal ['vændəl] n.汪达尔人（曾经洗劫罗马），破坏文化的人

Genghis Khan 成吉思汗
pedant ['ped(ə)nt] n.学究，书呆子
omniscience [ɒm'nɪsɪəns] n.全知；上帝
astrophysicist [,æstrəʊ'fiːzɪsɪst] n.天体物理学家
abound [ə'baʊnd] adj.富余，充满

The Onion magazine 一家专职讽刺和搞笑的媒体，发表过“金正恩获评世上最性感男子”等著名“新闻”。

heartthrob ['hɑːtθrɒb] n.柔情，心跳对象
insomnia [ɪn'sɒmnɪə] n.失眠
syntax ['sɪntæks] n.句法

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分11秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分27秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分28秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分51秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

How social media improved writing (866 words)

By Simon Kuper

Here’s an email exchange I had with a colleague the other day:

Colleague: Thought it was a bit too easy! I’ll go back to them and see when the next times are. Thanks Simon

Me: Sorry about this. If you cc me, then I can take over planning and make your life easier

Colleague: i don’t mind – lets see what she says next but if it gets silly i’ll step aside.

This is a very modern phenomenon: writing that reads like conversation. Day by day, prose is becoming blessedly more like speech. Social media, blogs and emails have hugely improved the way we write.

Before the internet, only professional writers wrote. I remember the term at school when we were taught to write essays. Most of my classmates just endured it. They’d never written down their extended thoughts before, and were confident they’d never need do it again.

A woman I know says only after the internet arrived did she realise her mother was semi-literate. Previously they’d always communicated by phone, but now Mom was suddenly sending her emails full of “!!!!”s and “……”s.

Email kicked off an unprecedented expansion in writing. We’re now in the most literate age in history. I remember in 2003 asking someone, “What’s a blog?” By 2006, the analysis firm NM Incite had identified 36 million blogs worldwide; five years later, there were 173 million. Use of online social media rises every month. In fact, writing is overtaking speech as the most common form of interaction. Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, says Britons now text absent friends and family more often than they speak to them on the phone or in person.

Pessimists like to call this the death of civilisation: a vision of mute youths exchanging semi-literate solipsistic messages. John Humphrys, the BBC broadcaster, once dismissed “texters” as “vandals who are trying to do to the language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbours”.

He’s wrong. As the Columbia linguist John McWhorter points out, pedants have been lamenting the decline of language since at least AD63. Clare Wood, development psychologist at Coventry University, says very little research exists to back up claims such as Humphrys’. Her own study of primary schoolchildren suggested that texting improved their reading ability. Texters, after all, are constantly practising reading and spelling. Sure, children tend not to punctuate text messages. But most of them grasp that this genre has different rules from, say, school exams. That’s a distinction we adults are slowly learning: I’ve only just begun dropping commas from texts.

But texts, blogs, emails and Facebook posts are infecting other kinds of writing, and mostly for the good. They are making journalism, books and business communications more conversational.

Social media offer a pretty good model for how to write. First, the writers mostly keep it short. People on Twitter often omit “I”, “the” and “a”, which are usually wastes of space anyway. Vocabulary tends to be casual: bloggers say “but” instead of “however”. They don’t claim a false omniscience, but proclaim their subjectivity. And the writing is usually unpolished, barely edited. That’s a great strength. “Major Memory for Microblogs”*, a recent article in the academic journal Memory & Cognition, found that people were much better at remembering casual writing like Facebook posts or forum comments than lines from books or journalism. One possible reason: “The relatively unfiltered and spontaneous production of one person’s mind is just the sort of thing that is readily stored in another’s mind.” That’s probably why Twitter, Facebook and reality TV are successful.

The unfiltered productions of people’s minds are often stupid. However, they don’t have to be. Nobel Prize-winning academics tweet too. You can say brilliant things even in casual conversational prose (except perhaps if you’re an astrophysicist). It’s just that conversational prose improves your chances of being heard and understood. True, other styles are valid too. Jane Austen wrote formally. But for an average writer with no particular gift, the conversational mode works best. (The other tip for getting a point across is to tell a human story, as I always want to shout at conference speakers who talk in diagrams.)

Of course, bad writing still abounds. The Onion magazine loves parodying newspaper prose, as in this fake news story naming North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-eun as the sexiest man alive: “With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true.” And old-fashioned overwriting survives too, as in this recent newspaper column about insomnia: “Those liminal hours between dark and dawn continue to haunt my praxis even now that my nest is empty.”

But mostly, social media have done wonders for writing. George Orwell in 1944 lamented the divide between wordy, stilted written English, and much livelier speech. “Spoken English is full of slang,” he wrote, “it is abbreviated wherever possible, and people of all social classes treat its grammar and syntax in a slovenly way.” His ideal was writing that sounded like speech. We’re getting there at last.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is a merit brought by the social media on the way we write?

A. School children rarely write down entended thoughts.

B. Emails are often full of “!!!!”s and “……”s.

C. People can constantly practise reading and spelling.

D. Britons now text friends and family more often than they speak to them.

答案(1)

2.Who would be happy about the impact of social media on the way we write?

A. Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator.

B. John Humphrys, the BBC broadcaster.

C. Pedants in the Roman era

D. George Orwell, the writer.

答案(2)

3.According to the writer, why Twitter, Facebook and reality TV are successful?

A. The informations are usually short.

B. The vocabulary tends to be simple.

C. The are cool and fashionable.

D. They are appealing to human instincts.

答案(3)

4.Why quoting the Onion magazine and its report on Kim Jong-eun?

A. To provide a bad exemple of writing.

B. To mock a bad kind of newspaper prose.

C. To introduce us an interesting website.

D. To tell that old-fashioned overwriting is disappearing.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.People can constantly practise reading and spelling.
解释：很显然ABD是经常招致批评和吐槽的现象，而作者“旗帜鲜明”地表示社交媒体促进了人们写作能力，原因就是C。

(2) 答案：D.George Orwell, the writer.
解释：本文最后说：His ideal was writing that sounded like speech. We’re getting there at last.

(3) 答案：D.They are appealing to human instincts.
解释：简单的、本能式的反应头脑中想法的信息，很容易被其他人所接受和记住，That’s probably why they are successful.

(4) 答案：B.To mock a bad kind of newspaper prose.
解释：洋葱杂志loves parodying newspaper prose, as in this fake news story···

视频时代，思考不再？

今天的信息科技，能让图像和视频的分享传播变得易如反掌。观看吸引眼球而无需动脑的视频，正在成为我们生活的一部分。一些镜头前不经意的动作可能影响总统大选的结果，一些并不严谨的视频可能拥有令人不安的巨大影响。这，是否意味着一个新的时代，使文字阅读和严谨思考渐渐被边缘化？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
truculence ['trʊkjʊləns] n.好战

North Korea's cryptic videos 今年2月，朝鲜官媒在youtube上发布了两段宣传视频，片中朝鲜军队以立体化进攻迅速攻占韩国，绑架美国侨民，攻击美国城市
thrown-down gauntlet 扔在地上的长手套，在中世纪的欧洲，这是一种要求与对方决斗的姿态。

vernacular [və'nækjʊlə] n./adj.本地话，方言

1960 presidential debates 史上第一次电视直播的总统大选辩论，年轻的民主党人肯尼迪VS共和党副总统尼克松。一般认为，尼克松在观点和表达上更胜一筹，但镜头前形象更好的肯尼迪最终以微弱优势获胜
unkempt [ʌn'kem(p)t] adj.蓬乱不整
wallop ['wɒləp] v.冲击

Neda Agha-Soltan 2009年伊朗大选时被无辜射杀的一名女学生，这一视频引发巨大反响

KONY 2012 一部发布于2012年3月的纪录片，旨在揭示乌干达军阀科尼的残暴行径。尽管片中有诸多夸大和不实之处，但有各界名人转发，7个月内就有9700万点击

Protestant ['prɒtɪstənt] n./adj.新教，新教徒，新教的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分52秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分17秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分21秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分49秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

In the unthinking age, seeing is believing (823 words)

By Christopher Caldwell

It might be easier to do something about North Korea’s nuclear truculence if we could make head or tail of the cryptic videos it has been posting on the web. The latest shows a dreaming man, some Korean script and a video of rockets flying through space while fires burn in skyscrapers and a pianist plays “We Are the World” at dirge tempo. Is this a harmless fantasy? A thrown-down gauntlet? Should the west respond with a statement? Should it post a video of its own? It is hard to know. Our traditional media are being “replaced” by the internet. But the “information” coming out of the information economy is often hard to decipher, and composed for purposes that are hard to discern.

The film academic Stephen Apkon argues in The Age of the Image , published this week, that it is possible to speak of a new kind of literacy, one built on figuring out such non-verbal messages. At its humblest level, his book is about the “language” of film, but Mr Apkon has a larger philosophical point, too. Our culture is growing more global. While it still relies on words, they are increasingly wrapped up with images, and it is the images people remember. Elizabeth Daley, dean of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, believes writing today is like Latin on the eve of the Renaissance – the language of a scholarly establishment. YouTube clips and other visuals are the equivalent of vernacular Italian. They are the street language, and the medium for much new and creative thinking.

Images have always mattered in public arguments more than we admit. Few people cared that Richard Nixon won the 1960 presidential debates against John Kennedy, so unkempt did the Republican look. Mr Apkon quotes a neuroscientist who says people are so attuned to picking up subtle signals that they make decisions about whether they like or dislike politicians “immediately”. And unsubtle, non-verbal messages with a great emotional wallop can now be broadcast more widely. Video of the shooting of Neda Agha-Soltan, captured during June 2009 protests against irregular Iranian elections, spread round the world. In the gut-wrenching Kony 2012 video (100m views in six days), American activists sought to enlist the US military in a manhunt for a Ugandan warlord.

Eyesight is the most trusted sense, Mr Apkon notes, and that means we need to be careful with it. There is a standing danger that the public will grow so upset by images of mistreatment that it will demand the government send the army off to war. This is arguably what happened Somalia in 1992, with America’s poorly planned military response to the African country’s famine. In future, Mr Apkon says, we are likely to need “a combination of scepticism and incisiveness”, enabling citizens to “[critique] what is put in front of them with some level of sophistication”.

That is unlikely. When the passions provoked by visual imagery lead to the same conclusion as the logic of a verbal argument, people are generally comfortable coming to a decision. But when passion and logic are at odds, one of them must be favoured.

Until recently, it was the essence of statesmanship, scholarship and justice to purge strong emotion from our deliberations. Images today, though, are so plentiful and sharp that they dominate our thought processes. Although Mr Apkon relishes the immediacy of YouTube, he fears that political advertisers will soon be able to craft stories around “hidden mental hungers”, easily manipulating voters.

Citizens tend to think about voting in one of two ways. First, you base your vote on your identity. You are a farmer, so you choose the candidate best disposed towards farmers. The second theory is that you vote on arguments, independent of identity. You believe a sales tax should replace income tax, so you vote for the candidate who shares that opinion. But today’s image-based communication has little to do with identity or arguments. It has to do with the lowest-common-denominator traits that mark you as a human animal.

There is no obvious solution. Even if we acquire the scepticism Mr Apkon speaks of, certain institutions “go with” certain styles of perceiving, absorbing and interpreting information. You would not think that there was anything “Protestant” about the printing press. And yet the press seems to have been a prerequisite for Protestantism’s rise. Likewise, our own democracies, imperfect though they may be, are the culmination of the culture of the written word. Mr Apkon notes how Kennedy, in those 1960 debates, “tapped into a lever in the psyche more primal than mere facts”.

In retrospect, that was an ominous moment. Once you find that lever, isn’t democracy bound to lose a bit of its appeal, rather like a detective story in which you have been told the ending?

The writer is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.The three exemple of the 1960 presidential debates, the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, and KONY 2012, can imply what?

A. Images have always mattered in public arguments more than we admit.

B. Videos on political issues are the most popular among all.

C. Videos carrying messages with a great emotional wallop can attract attention.

D. Activists must use street language to appeal to the audience.

答案(1)

2.What does this mean?

“writing today is like Latin on the eve of the Renaissance – the language of a scholarly establishment”

A. That videos are like Italian that served as the street language.

B. That "a video is worth more than a thousand words".

C. That writing would be less popular among common people.

D. That writing would face extinction, just as Latin.

答案(2)

3.What does the writer think of the phenomenon of “seeing is believing”?

A. positive

B. negative

C. dangerous

D. useful

答案(3)

4.According to the author, what may "image-based communication" influence voter behavior？

A. People might vote on their identities.

B. People might vote on arguments, independent of identity.

C. People might vote on their “hidden mental hungers”.

D. People might vote on political advertisers who have better stories.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A. Images have always mattered in public arguments more than we admit.
解释：第三段中作者举了这三个例子，A是本段的第一句话，是这段话试图表达的。

(2) 答案：C.That writing would be less popular among common people.
解释：几个选项乍看都有道理，但是，这句话中有几个元素：拉丁文、文艺复兴前夜、学术语言。
AB并未解释“前夜”意味着拉丁文“逐渐被边缘化”这一含义。D忽略了“学术语言”，拉丁文并未灭亡，只是不再被大众使用。

(3) 答案：B.negative
解释：Apkon说，在未来，人们需要有怀疑精神，要能对眼前的东西有深刻一点的考虑。但作者说，That is unlikely。作者还说了，when passion and logic are at odds, one of them must be favoured.

(4) 答案：C.People might vote on their “hidden mental hungers”.
解释：AB显然是“读图时代”之前的选民行为。Apkon担忧的是：新时代的基于图像的宣传，会代替选民的严肃思考，而政治广告竞相去搞能煽动人内心深处的需要的东西（比如对正义的需要，让“不转不是中国人”这种转发语颇有市场），从而操纵选民行为。

保守主义教父伯克

尊重传统，强调秩序，反对激进变革，埃德蒙·伯克被世界各国的保守党人奉为教父。他反对各种肆意而不受制约的权力，不管它是来自君主还是来自群众。支持者和反对者都承认，伯克的遗产很大程度上塑造了今天的世界。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
blissful ['blɪsfʊl; -f(ə)l] adj.充满喜悦的
specious ['spiːʃəs] adj.似是而非的，华而不实的
recantation [,ri:kæn'teiʃən] n.改变论调
blasphemous ['blæsfəməs] adj.亵渎神明的，不敬的
pantheon ['pænθɪən] n.先贤祠
tumultuous [tjʊ'mʌltjʊəs] adj.喧闹的，狂暴的
sans-culottes n.无套裤汉，即法国革命者
kaleidoscopic [kəlaɪdə'skɒpɪk] adj.千变万化的，万花筒似的
poppycock ['pɒpɪkɒk] n.废话

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

9分6秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

5分5秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

3分38秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

1分16秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Burke & Sons (1275 words)

By John McDermott

More than a decade on from the blissful dawn of the French Revolution, William Wordsworth issued an apology. “Genius of Burke! Forgive the pen seduced/ By specious wonders”, he wrote in the 1805 version of The Prelude.

Whereas the poet had been taken in by the cries from the Paris street, Edmund Burke, had forewarned terror. It is a fine recantation, amplified a century later by William Yeats’s “The Seven Sages”, which paid tribute to Burke’s campaigns for justice in America, India, France and his native Ireland.

Burke’s philosophy defies easy summary. As Alan Ryan(Professor of Politics at Oxford) writes, this “leaves his readers free to project on to him almost any doctrine they like (or dislike)”.

For Jesse Norman, a Conservative MP, this is blasphemous. “Edmund Burke is both the greatest and most underrated political thinker of the past 300 years,” he writes at the outset of his superb new biography. Norman aims to place Burke above Hume, Smith, Mill, Marx and Rawls in the pantheon. Not only that, he seeks to reclaim Burke as a conservative thinker – one who has much to teach today’s politicians. Implicitly, this also requires Norman to answer the question, “what is conservatism?” For if Burke is the father of conservatism, as Norman attests, then his children seem like runaways.

The first half of Norman’s book tells the story of Burke’s life. Born in Dublin in 1729, Burke attended Trinity College before heading to London to make his name. He became a minor literary figure with early works of satire and aesthetics.

In 1765, Burke entered parliament, where over the next three decades he became one of the most famous rhetoricians of that tumultuous age. Norman describes Burke’s “five great political battles”: for more equal treatment of Irish Catholics; against British oppression in the American colonies; for parliamentary restraints on monarchical power; against brutal exploitation by the East India Company; and, of course, against the ideas and actors of the French Revolution.

The problem Norman sets himself is that none of these fights strike the contemporary reader as indisputably “conservative”. They all have in common the desire to resist the imposition of arbitrary power by a sovereign (or the mob) on individuals. Burke may have had little to say about women and, unlike his rival Thomas Paine, he was wrong about the effects of democracy. William Gladstone(Liberal Party leader, Prime Minister for 4 times from 1868-1894) found Burke to be “a magazine of wisdom”. More recently, centre-left thinkers have claimed Burke for their side. But Norman is clear: Burke was a conservative first, not a liberal, as revealed by his most famous tract, Reflections on the Revolution in France.

That book was notionally a response to a letter from a French friend, Charles-Jean-François Depont, but it was really a reply to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the philosopher of the sans-culottes. Rousseau believed that man is a solitary creature of nature corrupted by society. He can achieve redemption, however, through the use of reason to form a “civil society” governed by a “general will” of rational people. What came before did not matter.

Not so, according to Burke. Humans are social animals. There is no meaning to be attached to man as solitary creature. Humans grow up in societies and it is these – not reason – that give our lives meaning. Societies and their institutions are inheritances from past generations, replete with wisdom and mystery. They should receive our respect and care. As Burke put it in the Reflections, “Society ... becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born.”

Given this analysis, the job of the politician is to understand the “tempers” of those he represents and, as Norman puts it, “to protect and enhance human society” through careful and proportionate reform. Burke was not a “reactionary” in the sense of opposing any form of change to the status quo, or wishing to revert to a point in history. He supported Irish Catholics, American colonists and Indians because he felt that the British state and the East India Company had undermined the societies they were supposed to develop. He opposed the French revolutionaries because it was they who, in a bloody drop of the guillotine, had undermined theirs.

Burke died in 1797. His legacy has been hotly contested. In Edmund Burke in America, the historian Drew Maciag charts the use of Burke by US intellectuals. “Burke will be heard to say whatever needs to be said,” he argues. This is especially true of the past few decades. Neo-conservatives have used his anti-Jacobinism to call for strong military action in the cold war and after 9/11. Religious conservatives have cited Burke’s belief in Providence. Others, foreshadowing the Tea Party, have sought to parallel his reverence for the unwritten English constitution and the Glorious Revolution with theirs for the US constitution and the wars of independence.

In Maciag’s telling, Burke has been abused by American rightwing thinkers. His conservatism ends up appearing kaleidoscopic. Maciag implies that if the father of modern conservatism has spawned such diverse offspring, it makes no sense to think of a single, identifiable “conservatism”.

For Norman, what defines Conservatism is “an inevitable tension between its leading principles, such as that between liberty and authority”. But although there may not be a bumper-sticker definition, Burke remains for Norman the first conservative. This is because, in contrast to liberals, he “sees freedom as ordered liberty”, believes in “tradition, habit and ‘prejudice’”, detests radical change and embraces duty’s primacy over will.

What it is not is an accurate portrayal of the conservatives who predominate in either the Conservative or Republican parties. To differing extents, these are children of Thatcher and Reagan rather than Burke. Parse it all you like, Thatcher said “there is no such thing as society”. As a governing philosophy hers was almost diametrically opposed to Burke’s conception of the social order. She would have found poppycock the idea that society was metaphysical, bestowing meaning on individuals. At times David Cameron has adopted a Burkean air but his Big Society of “little platoons” is in retreat. In its place, he has adopted as his defining metaphor the idea of Britain being in “a global race” as capitalist competition heats up across the world. His public service reforms are radically transforming Britain’s postwar settlement.

Norman, who advises the Number 10 Policy Unit, writes that politicians need to learn lessons from Burke. He argues that “extreme liberalism is now in crisis” and that “rampant individualism” must be curbed. Good political leaders “do not regard politics as a subset of economics”. They understand that “culture matters” and “preserve and enhance the social order in the national interest”.

Burke should not provide the only reference for today’s politics. There is still much more to be gleaned from, among several others, Paine, Mill and Rawls, with whom conservatives tend not to engage. They help us understand what it is we should actually conserve. As Burke well understood, not all that is old is good. But how is one to know whether he would, say, support gay marriage, an issue dividing today’s Tories?

Nevertheless, Norman succeeds in elevating his subject, showing what is conservative about Burke, and why he matters today. Ironically, he makes such a strong case that it would seem perverse if only Tories took something from Burke’s legacy. Burke may be a conservative but, as he would have explained better than anyone, his is an inheritance for all of society.

John McDermott is the FT’s executive comment editor

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is the best interpretation for quoting William Wordsworth at the begining?

A. To praise Wordsworth's integrity.

B. To illustrate the penetrating influence of the French Revolution

C. To reveal Burke's genius foresight on the Revolution.

D. To explain the common misunderstanding of the British about the Revolution.

答案(1)

2.In that “tumultuous age”, Edmund Burke stood together with whom?

A. King's government(against parliament).

B. American revolutionaries.

C. The East India Company.

D. French revolutionaries.

答案(2)

3.Who was Burke's mortal enemy in the field of political philosophy?

A. Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

B. Adam Smith.

C. John Steward Mill.

D. Thomas Paine.

答案(3)

4.What do we know about Conservatism?

A. It denies any tension between liberty and authority.

B. It looks kaleidoscopic today.

C. It is usually hostile to reforms and changes.

D. It sees old things as crystallization of wisdom.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.To reveal Burke's genius foresight on the Revolution.
解释：通读全文不难发现C正确。

(2) 答案：B. American revolutionaries.
解释：ACD都是他高调反对的一方。这四场斗争，加上他支持爱尔兰天主教徒反对英政府的压制，就是诗人叶芝和保守党议员诺曼所总结的他的“five great political battles”.

(3) 答案：A.Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
解释：伯克的名作《法国革命论》就是对“革命导师”卢梭的批判。文章用了好几段话来解释这个。卢梭那种用理性设计来搞激进变革、重塑社会的哲学在他看来是非常危险的。他的主张跟CD两人有些分歧，但跟亚当·斯密颇为契合，因为坚定支持自由贸易，伯克甚至在1780一度丢掉了国会席位。

(4) 答案：B.It looks kaleidoscopic today.
解释：今天的世界上有各种五花八门的门派采用伯克的保守主义思想，从主张强硬外交军事政策的“新保守主义”， 到宗教保守人士，到文化保守派，到财政保守派茶党·····这一点在文章另一处也有强调：如果说伯克是保守主义教父的话，then his children seem like runaways. CD不正确，而A中的两者都是保守主义的主张，它们是有矛盾的，但保守主义认为两者可以调和。

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.53

小池百合子：日本首位女首相？

日本首相安倍晋三押注自己强势反弹的支持率，宣布将解散众议院，提前举行大选。但他的劲敌小池百合子来势汹汹，誓要让他的如意算盘落空。小池百合子的参选会给日本政界带来怎样的影响？她有多大的机会成为日本史上首位女首相？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
vest [vest] vt./vi.授权，给与
jittery['dʒɪtəri] adj.战战兢兢的
phase[feɪz] v. 逐步执行，实行
formidable['fɔːrmɪdəbl] adj. 强大的，可怕的
dissolution [dɪsə'luːʃn] n. 分解

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分9秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分53秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分3秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分43秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Yuriko Koike turns Japan poll into showdown with Shinzo Abe(722 words)

By Robin Harding

Yuriko Koike vowed to run candidates nationwide and fight for an absolute majority as the popular governor of Tokyo charged into Japan’s snap election with her trademark blend of risk-taking, ruthlessness and anti-establishment political theatre.

A stream of defectors rushed to join her new Party of Hope on Tuesday amid speculation that Ms. Koike herself could yet stand down as governor of the capital in order to run for parliament and make an all-out bid to become prime minister.

Ms. Koike’s dramatic launch has transformed a snap election expected on October 22 from a referendum on prime minister Shinzo Abe — one he was expected to win handily given a large opinion poll lead — to a contest between the country’s two most powerful politicians.

Analysts said Ms. Koike is taking a huge gamble, questioning whether she has the resources for a national campaign, and whether the public will forgive her for treating the Tokyo governorship so casually. But the excitement she has already generated, with Japan’s media framing the election as an Abe versus Koike showdown, suggests Mr. Abe may have miscalculated.

Nine parliamentarians from across the political spectrum, including a deputy minister in Mr. Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic party, have already quit to join the Party of Hope. “I quit my party because politics needs dynamism and that’s what Ms. Koike’s new party will be — a dynamic force for reform,” said Jin Matsubara, a veteran member of parliament and former head of the Democratic party in Tokyo.

The 65 year-old Ms. Koike was an environment minister and defence minister in the LDP before she defied Mr. Abe last summer, ran against his candidate for the Tokyo governorship and won in a landslide. She set up a local party called Tomin First and in July it won a sweeping victory in elections to the Tokyo assembly.

The Party of Hope is an attempt to repeat that success on the national stage. With the LDP holding 28 seats in Tokyo city alone, and another 66 in the wider Tokyo region, Ms. Koike could take a big chunk out of the prime minister’s majority even if her party struggles to go nationwide.

Ms. Koike said the Party of Hope would be dedicated to “politics free of vested interests”, “reform conservatism” and “freedom of information” — a repeat of the anti-establishment platform that brought her success in Tokyo. Many of her political beliefs mirror those of Mr. Abe: she favours constitutional reform and has been a regular visitor to the controversial Yasukuni shrine, which commemorates Japan’s war dead, including its war criminals.

In a move that alarmed already jittery LDP members of parliament, Ms. Koike followed up the launch of her party by meeting with Junichiro Koizumi, a reformist prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and one of the country’s most popular elder statesmen. Mr. Koizumi was Ms. Koike’s political mentor and he praised her “guts” when she ran for the Tokyo governorship last year.

Mr. Koizumi is now a campaigner against nuclear power. Ms. Koike said he had offered her encouragement. She said: “We need to present a road map for phasing out nuclear power.” Even tacit support from Mr. Koizumi, who has steered clear of party politics since he retired, would be a powerful electoral asset for Ms. Koike.

So far, Mr. Abe has avoiding any confrontation with Ms. Koike, calling her a “formidable opponent” and declining to criticise her directly. But that will be hard to sustain given Ms. Koike’s own sharp attacks.

“It feels like this is a case of ‘Abe First’, prioritising his own political schedule with the justification for this election coming afterwards,” Ms. Koike told broadcaster NHK. “However, a dissolution is a chance to generate new reforming energy, and I want to prepare us for real reform.”

There have been no opinion polls since Ms. Koike launched her campaign but Mr. Abe may be hoping a public backlash in Tokyo will scare her off.

“I strongly feel the governor has betrayed us,” said Kunihiro Higashimura, head of the Komei party in the Tokyo assembly, where it is in coalition with Ms. Koike. “It’s a very unpleasant feeling. She promised to devote herself to the Tokyo government.”

If the public share that feeling then Mr. Abe will breathe a sigh of relief and go back to crushing the Democrats. If Ms. Koike gains momentum, however, Mr. Abe’s premiership could yet be at risk.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following statements about the Party of Hope is true?

A. A recent poll shows Party of Hope is leading in Japan’s upcoming election.

B. The Party of Hope won a sweeping victory in elections to the Tokyo assembly.

C. Yuriko Koike created The Party of Hope after she she defied Mr Abe's LDP.

D. The Party of Hope and LDP are Japan’s two most powerful political parties.

答案(1)

2.Jin Matsubara believes the Party of Hope ____.

A. will be dedicated to politics free of vested interests.

B. has the dynamism to pursue constitutional reforms.

C. lacks resources for a nationwide electoral campaign.

D. can take a big chunk out of the LDP’s majority in Tokyo.

答案(2)

3.Yuriko Koike presently holds the position of ____ in Japan.

A. environment minister.

B. Tomin First's leader.

C. Tokyo Governor.

D. defence minister.

答案(3)

4.What does “Abe First” mean according to the article ?

A. Abe vowed to fight for an absolute majority in the election coming afterwards.

B. Abe is now better placed in the race for the Prime Minister of Japan.

C. Abe has been expected to win the election handily given a large opinion poll lead.

D. Candidates have to submit to Abe's political schedule in the upcoming election.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.The Party of Hope and LDP are Japan’s two most powerful political parties.
解释：小池的参选让日本大选变成了国内最有势力的两名政客的抗衡。

(2) 答案：B. has the dynamism to pursue constitutional reforms.
解释：松原离开了安倍的自民党加入了希望之党，他认为小池的新政党有推动改革的动力。

(3) 答案：C. Tokyo Governor.
解释：去年夏天，小池离开了安倍的自民党，在东京都知事的竞选中大获全胜。

(4) 答案：D. Candidates have to submit to Abe's political schedule in the upcoming election.
解释：“感觉就像是‘安倍优先’。为选举找好理由，优先考虑自己的政治时间表。”小池对NHK表示。

酸奶成为中国消费者新宠

在牛奶需求增长乏力、供过于求导致价格下滑的同时，酸奶销量的迅速增长成了中国奶制品市场最大的亮点，发酵乳制品的利润即将超越牛奶。相比日渐“失宠”的牛奶，酸奶为何能俘获中国消费者的心？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
saviour ['seɪvjər] n. 救助者，救星
implosion[ɪm'pləʊʒn] n. 向内破裂
outmaneuver[ˌaʊtmə'nuːvə] v. 以策略制胜
perception[pə'sepʃn] n. 感知，观念

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分9秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分19秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分39秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分34秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

China’s yoghurt sales poised to overtake milk for first time(582 words)

By Tom Hancock

The increasing popularity of high-priced yoghurt in China has become a saviour for the country’s biggest dairies, with revenues of the fermented dairy product set to overtake milk sales for the first time.

China’s dairy market, which generates $55bn in annual sales, is the world’s second biggest after the US, according to consultancy Euromonitor. But dairies have been struggling with slowing milk demand growth and reduced prices since 2013 because of oversupply — a situation that contributed to the stock-price implosion this year of Hong Kong-listed Huishan Dairy.

Enter high-profit yoghurt products, the sale of which have salvaged dairy groups’ sales and profits in recent years.

Moreover, the success of China’s three dairy giants in selling yoghurt in the country underlines how skilled Chinese groups have become at marketing, often outmanoeuvring bigger western groups. The three companies control about 70 per cent of China’s yoghurt market.

“Yoghurt is an area where foreign brands should have had the advantage,” said Mark Tanner, of China Skinny, a marketing agency that works with dairy companies in China. “But they [offshore groups] were slow to react to the market trend.”

Chinese milk sales will grow just 4 per cent in 2017 compared with last year, while yoghurt sales will rise 18 per cent to almost Rmb122bn ($17bn), surpassing plain milk sales for the first time, Euromonitor projects.

China’s three dominant dairies, state-run Bright Dairy and private competitors Mengniu and Yili, have been able to charge higher prices for yoghurt because of perceptions that it is more nutritious than milk and can be slimming. Income growth has also enabled Chinese consumers to “upgrade” to higher-end brands.

“I drink a lot of yoghurt, about a bottle each day,” said Cooky Mi, who is in her 20s and works at a tech company in Shenzhen. Yili’s yoghurts are among her favourites and her daily habit is aimed at “keeping thin and healthy”, she said.

Profit margins for yoghurt in China are about 40 per cent — double those for plain milk, according to independent dairy analyst Song Liang. As a result yoghurt has been making an “increasingly large contribution to revenue growth at the three large dairies, and an even larger contribution to profit growth,” he said.

Bright Dairy took the initiative in 2012, launching the Momchilovtsi brand made with bacteria imported from Bulgaria, but has since lost market share to rivals. “The other giants caught up and better used their national distribution networks to expand,” said Robin Yuen, an analyst at RHB Investment Bank in Hong Kong.

Yili’s net profit rose 4.5 per cent over the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year, to Rmb3.37bn. Sales of the group’s flagship Greek-style “Ambrosial” yoghurt — developed with the Greek Academy of Agricultural Sciences — increased about 31 per cent over the period, it said.

Mengniu’s net profit over the same period rose 4.7 per cent to Rmb1.13bn, with premium yoghurt products its two biggest revenue growth contributors during the period both, it said. The company partnered with French dairy group Danone — which owns 10 per cent of Mengniu — to improve its yoghurt technology.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which kind of dairy product has became the new money-spinner for biggest dairies in China?

A. High-priced yoghurt.

B. Soy yoghurt.

C. Lowfat and nonfat yoghurt.

D. Dairy-free yoghurt.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following statements about China’s dairy market is true?

A. Foreign brands lost their advantage in China’s dairy market.

B. China’s dairy market is set to exceed the US in 2017.

C. Western companies control about 30% of China’s yoghurt market.

D. China’s yoghurt market is dominated by three domestic dairy giants.

答案(2)

3.Which dairy giant in China is a state-owned enterprise?

A. Yili Group.

B. Mengniu Dairy.

C. Bright Dairy.

D. Sanlu Group.

答案(3)

4.We can conclude from the passage that the profit margins for milk in China are about ____ per cent.

A. 10.

B. 20.

C. 30.

D. 40.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.High-priced yoghurt.
解释：在中国，日渐流行的高价酸奶成了国内奶制品巨头的救星。

(2) 答案：D.China’s yoghurt market is dominated by three domestic dairy giants.
解释：中国的三家奶制品巨头占据了中国约70%的酸奶市场。

(3) 答案：C.Bright Dairy.
解释：中国的三家主宰市场的奶制品公司，国营的光明和私营的蒙牛、伊利给酸奶的定价更高。

(4) 答案：D.40.
解释：在中国，酸奶的利润率约为40%，是牛奶的两倍。

让人捉急的写作能力

一位美国名校MBA的教授布置了写作作业，没想到学生们竟纷纷跑到院长那儿哭诉：我们平时用电邮、Twitter和Facebook交流就够了，教授他这不是要人命吗？学生们的语法、标点和拼写能力堪称"凶残"，别提完整而有逻辑地表达了。这让人反思：家长们拼命让孩子学绘画、学外语，还不如让他们扎扎实实学好母语写作呢。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
memorandum [memə'rændəm] n.备忘，既要
prose [prəʊz] n.散文
rote [rəʊt] n.死记硬背

Paul Klee 德籍瑞士画家

Mandarin ['mænd(ə)rɪn] 汉语“满大人”的音译，即中国普通话
apostrophe [ə'pɒstrəfɪ] n.撇号

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分19秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分58秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分7秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分44秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Does it matter if students can’t write? (745 words)

By Michael Skapinker, FT columnist on business, language and society

A few weeks ago I received an email from a US professor whose dean had reprimanded him for trying to teach his students how to write.

The professor, who has been teaching business and law students at some of America’s top universities for 50 years, told an MBA class that clear writing would be essential in their careers.

Each week in his class, they would compose a one-page memorandum, which he would read and mark. The memos would answer a simple question from their textbooks. “I wanted the assignment to be more about conveying their analyses than testing their ability to get the analyses right,” he said.

Were they grateful? “The students complained so vigorously to the dean that the dean urged me to stop.” The students said that in business today they did not need to know how to write. “Emails and tweets are the medium of exchange. So, they argued, the constant back-and-forth gives one an opportunity to correct misunderstandings caused by unclear thinking and writing.”

The dean insisted that the professor make the writing exercise voluntary. By the end of the term, only one student, a non-native English speaker, was submitting the assignments.

The professor’s worry about writing is widely shared. According to 2008 research, 46 per cent of first-year California state university students needed writing help.

The deficiency is not confined to undergraduates. A study published in 2009 in the journal Current Issues in Education found that a group of 97 US masters and doctoral students did no better in a diagnostic writing test than the typical college-bound high school senior.

Teachers at even the UK’s top universities say the same. David Abulafia, a Cambridge history professor, said in a talk this year: “People do not know how to write. Command of grammar, punctuation and spelling is atrocious.”

There was a need, Prof Abulafia said, to recover “an art (I shan’t call it a skill) that has been lost and has to be instilled in first-year undergraduates even at Oxford and Cambridge: the ability to write continuous prose, clearly, elegantly, concisely, setting out an argument”.

Is students’ writing really worse, or are professors imagining a golden age of literacy that never existed?

People have been complaining about writing for a while. “If your children are attending college, the chances are that when they graduate they will be unable to write ordinary, expository English with any real degree of structure and lucidity,” Newsweek magazine said in a famous essay called “Why Johnny can’t write”.

That was in 1975. The experts blamed “the simplistic spoken style of television”.

Today, Prof Abulafia says poor writing “may reflect a society in which fewer young people read and much of their informal writing consists of Twitter and Facebook messages”. He does, however, also worry about rote learning in schools and that pupils receive no reward in examinations for having read more widely. He adds that many more students are now sitting school-leaver A-level examinations, which means teachers and examiners have less time to spend on each candidate.

Whether poor writing is new or old, it is odd that it persists at a time when parents are vying to provide their children with any possible advantage, exposing them to Paul Klee at the age of four, as the New York Times recently reported, and teaching them to sing “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes” in Mandarin.

If there is such a shortage of competent writers, why aren’t ambitious parents rushing to make sure their kids can compose an elegant English essay, and why aren’t MBA students scrambling to do the same?

One possible answer is that there really isn’t much of a demand and that being a decent writer commands no premium in the job market. Are the US professor’s students right in thinking that Twitter, Facebook and text messaging are all they need?

I doubt it. There are still jobs where good writing matters. It is hard to see those law students stepping up to the bench without being able to render a literate judgment. And I can’t be the only customer who assumes that a banker who doesn’t know where an apostrophe goes is going to be equally careless with my money.

There’s a gap in the market and the smarter parents and students should get on to it. Good writing is far easier to master than Mandarin.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why the MBA professor's story is alarming?

A. He would read and mark the memorandums he assigned.

B. The students were ungrateful and even complained.

C. Clear writing is essential in those students' careers.

D. The dean insisted that the writing should be voluntary.

答案(1)

2.Are professors "imagining a golden age of literacy that never existed?"

A. No, students are doing worse and worse.

B. No, that problem did not exist until 1975.

C. Yes, there never was a time when students' writings were not atrocious.

D. The author does not answer it.

答案(2)

3.Narrowly speaking, it is what kind of writing that matters so much?

A. Argumentative writing.

B. Narrative prose.

C. Diagnostic writing.

D. Descriptive prose.

答案(3)

4.What is the most possible economic explanation to this phenomenon?

A. Being a decent writer commands no premium in the job market.

B. Twitter, Facebook and text messaging are economically superior.

C. Writing skill does not make much difference except for lawyers and bankers.

D. Parents find out that training children writing is too expensive.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C. Clear writing is essential in those students' careers.
解释：这是最值得人们警醒和反思的地方，非常需要书写表达能力的MBA名校学生，竟然不会写作，也不愿练习。最后只有个母语非英语的学生交了作业。

(2) 答案：D. The author does not answer it.
解释：A不正确，教师们担忧学生写作能力，可有段时间了，至少在1975年Newsweek杂志还专门做了个报道。但1975并非一个转折点，所以B也不对。C在文中并未提到，因此作者并未回答。
你怎么看这个问题呢？

(3) 答案：A. Argumentative writing.
解释：这里所说的写作能力主要是指议论文写作，这是最能体现一个人的逻辑思维能力和清晰表达能力的，文中几次将写作重要性的时候，都是在说议论文。 比如开头MBA教授说写作是要锻炼他们conveying the analyses.再比如剑桥大学的Prof Abulafia强调了，the ability to write continuous prose, clearly, elegantly, concisely, setting out an argument. 而一些学生认为，推特这种方式可以很快的back-and-forth，讲的不清楚也可以马上补充和更正。

(4) 答案：A. Being a decent writer commands no premium in the job market.
解释：这是第三段的原话。所以最后一段作者写道 There’s a gap in the market and the smarter parents and students should get on to it.既然市场上写作能力与收入之间有条缺口，那聪明的家长和学生就该自己努力了。 BCD都是不对的。

与魔鬼订约的电影大师

莱妮·瑞芬斯塔尔，是一位杰出的电影导演，在电影美学和拍摄技巧方面有巨大贡献的人。她最著名、最宏大、最有感染力的作品，却让她成为众矢之的。因为，她“与魔鬼签订了浮士德式契约”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Leni Riefenstahl 莱妮·瑞芬斯塔尔(1902－2003)，德国女电影导演，主要作品有宣扬纳粹的《意志的胜利》和《奥林匹亚》等纪录片。

socialite ['səʊʃəlaɪt] n.社会名流

Triumph of the Will 《意志的胜利》，1935年上映的著名纪录片，纳粹以无限经费支持她拍摄，影片以无与伦比的艺术表现力和感染力塑造了希特勒的救世主形象。

the Third Reich 第三帝国，即纳粹德国
kitschy ['kɪtʃɪ] adj.低级庸俗的
abominate [ə'bɒmɪneɪt] v.憎恨，痛恨
diffident ['dɪfɪd(ə)nt] adj.羞怯的
pentagram ['pentəgræm] n.五角星

Goebbels 戈培尔
repudiate [rɪ'pjuːdɪeɪt] v.否定，断绝关系

Jesuitically [dʒe,zju'itikəli] adv.耶稣会地，阴险地

Faustian pact 浮士德式的协议，即出卖灵魂给魔鬼

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

2分53秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分37秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分9秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分24秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Monstrous talent (405 words)

By Nigel Andrews, FT film critic.

How do you deal with a monster? Leni Riefenstahl was a multiple achiever on a frightening scale. She was an actress-dancer, a film-maker, a socialite and social climber, a propagandist for Nazism, and late in life a successful photographer. She had talent, even if some might deem it, in film critic Dilys Powell’s words, ”an appalling talent”.

By the end of a long life - she died at 101 - the director of Triumph of the Will, the Third Reich’s great hour in the artistic sun, was vilified for almost everything she did. Susan Sontag wrote the essay ”Fascinating Fascism”. Sontag’s thesis was that Riefenstahl blindly worshipped the strong, the beautiful, the dominant.

Triumph of the Will is great film-making. It is pointless to attack it as less and pointless to try to pull down its monumentality with words like ”shallow”, ”vulgar” or ”kitschy”. Great art can be made in terrible causes.

Riefenstahl might be thought to have met her match in biographer Steven Bach, who in an earlier life ran United Artists.

There is the same sense of a civilised flailing in his approach to Riefenstahl. Should he respect this woman or abominate her? Bach is not sure and it shows. This is the position we have met in every Riefenstahl book: a diffident stand-off, with the author staying inside his pentagram of decent liberal enlightenment, deploring here, admiring there.

Yet Bach writes well and researches well. For Leni he found unpublished interviews with the film-maker and followed these up with his own interviews with survivors. This is a fuller, rounder portrait, even if the main features show no change.

Bach also has a knack for the pithy phrase. In isolating reasons why Riefenstahl was remarkable, he cites a comment from Goebbels’ deputy Fritz Hippler: ”No one else in Germany had the right to decide alone what to film.” Exactly. And this film-maker was a woman, a non-party member and, quite possibly Bach reminds us, of Jewish descent.

It remains a stunning story. Riefenstahl spent the second half of her life repudiating, or Jesuitically seeking to justify, the things she had done in the first half. But she had signed a Faustian pact. It was too bad for her that the Devil was thrown out of power, a decade after her signing, and she was left with all the infamy and none of the rewards.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.This article is most likely to be a piece of?

A. obituary

B. book review

C. film critique

D. history research paper

答案(1)

2.What can best describe Riefenstahl's present-day public image?

A. A monstrous talent.

B. An appalling talent.

C. A shallow propagandist.

D. A successful photographer.

答案(2)

3.Why Bach's book is different from other Riefenstahl books?

A. It is not differnt.

B. He provided a diffident stand-off.

C. He interviewed with surviving related people.

D. He found out that Reni was possibly of Jewish descent.

答案(3)

4.What was "the Faustian pact" for Leni?

A. Being a socialite and social climber.

B. Depicting "Fascinating Fascism" through her movies.

C. Blindly worshipping the strong, the beautiful, the dominant.

D. Spending the second half of her life seeking to justify the first half.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.book review
解释：从哪里可以看出这是篇书评？ 第四段有这么一句：Riefenstahl···met her match in biographer Steven Bach。另外，倒数第四段的一句This is the position we have met in every Riefenstahl book... 以及下一段的Yet Bach writes well and researches well. 这本书是瑞芬斯塔尔的传记，中文版叫做《极权制造：莱妮·瑞芬斯塔尔的一生》

(2) 答案：A.A monstrous talent.
解释：正如标题所示。we have met in every Riefenstahl book: deploring here, admiring there.

(3) 答案：C.He interviewed with surviving related people.
解释：This is a fuller, rounder portrait, even if the main features show no change. 也就是说这本书主要的基调和态度没有什么特别之处，但是发现了一些老的未经发表的瑞芬斯塔尔的访谈，并亲自采访了一些相关人员。这提供了一个更完整的画面。

(4) 答案：B.Depicting "Fascinating Fascism" through her movies.
解释：这四项都不是什么好事，但是B显然是最具争议、最毁她形象的“与魔鬼订约”的行为。 瑞芬斯塔尔回忆自己是怎样被希特勒震撼，并主动请缨要求做点事的： “我听到他那句‘我的德国同胞们’那一刹那，我眼前一亮，如同神谕出现，永生难忘，就像地球在我眼前无尽地绵延，并突然从中间裂成两半，喷射出巨大的水柱，直冲云霄，使得地球颤抖。当时，我似乎瘫痪了。”

血汗工厂不便宜

孟加拉国服装厂倒塌事故造成数百工人死亡一事震惊了世界。英国服装公司Primark曾要求安全生产，也进行过厂房安全检查。但FT社论认为，这些还不够。如这次事故一样，孟加拉很多工厂的老板都是官员，他们可以轻易使法律监管形同虚设。而跨国公司有义务用种种方法迫使工厂不再忽视工人的安全和健康，血汗工厂可不便宜。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
the ruins of a Bangladesh garment factory 孟加拉国首都达卡郊区一栋八层高的服装厂大楼本周三(4.24)发生倒塌事故，目前已导致超过300人死亡。

Primark 一家以销售低价时尚服装著称的英国公司。发生事故的工厂就接这家公司的订单。

rife [raɪf] adj.普遍的，流行的
bristle with 充满，密集
ethical trader 有道德的商人
flout [flaʊt] n./vt./vi.嘲笑，轻视，愚弄
scanty ['skæntɪ] adj.仅有的，缺乏的
above the law 凌驾于法律之上
clout [klaʊt] n./v.影响力，势力

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

2分57秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分39秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分10秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分24秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Bangladeshi factory workers pay the high cost of cheap clothing (413 words)

FT Editorial

What is a fair price for a T-shirt? The tragedy unfolding in the ruins of a Bangladesh garment factory, where at last count more than 220 people have died and scores more are missing, is a stark reminder that in a world where consumers demand ever lower prices, the cost of a bargain can be too high.

The disaster in Bangladesh was first and foremost the fault of the building’s owner. A local politician, he used his influence to circumvent building regulations in order to extend a complex rented out to factories making clothes for cut-price store brands such as Britain’s Primark. But the world’s big retailers, most of which have flocked to profit from Bangladesh’s low wages and poor working conditions, also share responsibility for choosing to operate in a country where such abuse is rife and, worse, tolerated.

It is no longer enough to claim that occasional factory inspections and contracts bristling with conditions entitle a retailer to the title of ethical trader. Primark has drawn praise from campaign groups and labour unions in recent years for such efforts. The reality on the ground is that all the inspection procedures in the world are pointless if laws are flouted.

Retailers will argue that it is not their job to enforce regulation. That is true. They should focus on developing long-term relationships with trusted factories, and help manufacturers to invest in desperately needed health and safety measures. But they should also use their economic muscle to press the government to do its job. Bangladesh’s political establishment is hostage to the garment industry, which accounts for more than three-quarters of the country’s exports. Many politicians are themselves clothes factory bosses and have little reason to want even existing scanty regulations on construction, health, safety and labour enforced.

The world’s clothing brands may be under pressure from rising raw material costs and price competition. But they cannot continue to sell garments that campaigners will argue have been manufactured at the cost of innocent lives. In the end, even Bangladesh’s cost benefits may be outweighed by reputational damage. Those who died at Rana Plaza were not the first and are unlikely to be the last victims of an industry that has operated above the law.

On Thursday, thousands of factory workers marched in protest to demand safer working conditions. Big western retailers have a moral obligation, and the clout, to lead that change.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Who has the primary responsability for the tragedy, according to FT?

A. The local politician-factory building owner.

B. Britain’s Primark garment company.

C. Western consumers who welcome low prices.

D. Free market and free trade.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is not a fact about Bangladesh?

A. It is a poor and underdeveloped country.

B. Its economy is famous for the garment industry.

C. In Europe, made-in-Bangladesh clothes are at lower prices.

D. Crony capitalism as a major reason why the laws are flouted.

答案(2)

3.What do we know about free trade?

A. It is important that different countries play by different rules.

B. Large corporations usually ignore corporate responsibilities.

C. Capital always seeks for low-cost labourforce around the world.

D. Free trade is incompatible with tight regulation.

答案(3)

4.What should big western retailers do?

A. Doing business only with those law abiding factories.

B. Urge the Bangladeshi government to make and enforce necessary laws.

C. Lobby their own governments to exert pressure on Bangladesh.

D. All of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.The local politician-factory building owner.
解释：这是第二段的第一句话。工厂主是当地的官员，他利用自己的影响避开了建筑监管。
Primark公司尽管has drawn praise from campaign groups and labour unions for such efforts.但是做的还不够。 而FT一贯坚持自由贸易立场，认为这是最能改善穷国和穷人福利的政策，因为如果没有外资来孟加拉投资和贸易，人们只能去做更危险、更肮脏、收入更低的工作。

(2) 答案：D.Crony capitalism as a major reason why the laws are flouted.
解释：根据文章，ABCD都是正确的。不过ABC是对客观事实的讲述，而D则是涉及到了判断——类似于“主要原因”这种词。 注意，“价格更低”或“更高”是事实描述，而如果说“俭朴”或“奢侈”则是观点和判断——每个人对50块钱一件衬衫是否简朴有不同的意见，但是没有人能否认50块比70块便宜。

(3) 答案：C.Capital always seeks for low-cost labourforce around the world.
解释：A显然不正确，all the inspection procedures in the world are pointless if laws are flouted.国际贸易需要各国都遵守同样的游戏规则。 B也不正确，事实上能够做大的企业相对来说还是注重自己的企业责任的。

(4) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC都正确。A是文章中明确提到的。另外，文中说they should also use their economic muscle to press the government to do its job. 而BC都是常见的企业进行合法政治博弈的手段。俗话说，就是促使它成为“完全市场经济国家”。

八十七年前···

美国著名记者和作家亨利·门肯的出版业的朋友告诉他，只有四种书能盈利：侦探小说、爱情小说、关于神秘现象的书，以及关于林肯的书。前FT华盛顿社长Jurek Martin说，短短的一篇《葛底斯堡演说》，为他塑造了形象、赢得了声望，并且深刻影响了美国的历史进程（甚至美国文学的风格）。在葛底斯堡战役打响150年之际，回顾一下林肯与葛底斯堡吧。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
ode|颂歌
curmudgeon [kɜː'mʌdʒ(ə)n] n.脾气坏的人，乖戾的人
bodice-rippers 爱情小说（有贬义），bodice是女式紧身上衣
spiritualism, occultism and other claptrap 通灵术，神秘学以及其他哗众取宠的东西
pithy ['pɪθɪ] adj.有趣的
etched ['etʃid] adj.被风化的
climactic [klaɪ'mæktɪk] adj.高潮的；顶点的
wordsmith ['wɜːdsmɪθ] n.文人墨客
pellucid [pɪ'luːsɪd] adj.透明的，清晰的

Roger Bacon 罗杰·培根，英国方济各会修士、哲学家、炼金术士，他倡导经验主义，即通过实验获得知识
sublime [səˈblaɪm] n./adj./v.崇高，顶点

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

7分15秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

4分3秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分54秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

1分0秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Ode to Abe (1016 words)

By Jurek Martin, former FT Washington bureau chief Writing

Writing in 1922, the great American curmudgeon, HL Mencken, reported that a publishing friend had told him only four types of books ever make money: detective novels; bodice-rippers; those about "spiritualism, occultism and other claptrap"; and volumes on Abraham Lincoln. Certainly no American president and few, if any, historical figures, have ever attracted so much serious scholarly attention.

……

Obviously he is worth it. Only George Washington and Franklin D Roosevelt, also forged in crises, are in his league as US presidents. In 1860 he won the election for the new anti-slavery Republican party. He freed the slaves and saved the Union by fighting a civil war that, at times, looked unwinnable. He told his country what he was doing with magnificent clarity, approached only by Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King, which was remarkable for a man with only one year's formal education. He was also the funniest and pithiest resident of the White House. Historian James McPherson writes that after devoting 50 years to Lincoln, he is forever discovering something new or acquiring fresh perspectives.

His life story, from childhood through to his assassination in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, is etched in the collective American memory. He taught himself to read and write and was little more than a farm labourer and occasional storekeeper, postman and surveyor before he fell in love with the law and politics. His home state of Illinois was "free" and Lincoln detested slavery but he was pragmatic - he was, after all, a politician seeking election.

It was his oratory that earned his reputation. Two speeches, among the many, stand out: the Gettysburg address in 1863 after the war's decisive, but not climactic, battle, and the second inaugural address as the war wound down in 1865, just five weeks before his death.

Because I write for a living, I have long been fascinated by Lincoln's way with words. How could anybody say so much in the Gettysburg address in just 272 words or in his second inaugural, 701 pearls of prose?

The Lincoln Anthology is a treasure trove of what other wordsmiths thought of him. British writer HG Wells rated him one of the six greatest men of all time, along with Jesus, Buddha, Aristotle, Asoka(阿育王) and Roger Bacon: "He seems to me to embody the essential characteristics of America." Leo Tolstoy tells a wonderful story about chiefs and bandits in the remote Caucuses plugging the author for all he knew about this far away American. He writes: "The greatness of Napoleon, Caesar and Washington was only moonlight by the sun of Lincoln . . . He was great through his simplicity and was noble through his charity."

Even Mencken, never charitable, thought the Gettysburg address sublime: "Eloquence brought to a pellucid and almost child-like perfection." He could not, of course, resist adding that it was a one-off and based on a false premise. Ibsen(易卜生) and Whitman wrote odes to Lincoln. But none of them addressed the quality of his writing.

Jacques Barzun, a French-born Columbia University professor, did so, however, in a marvellous 1959 essay. Even in his early political pamphlets and court cases, Lincoln showed control over words, says Barzun. A parallel emerged between the shortness of an Aesop fable "and the mania Lincoln had for condensing any matter into the fewest words".

According to legend, Lincoln scribbled down the Gettysburg address on a train to the event. He did not write fast but he did write a lot. He stuffed his notes in his desk, his pockets and his stove-pipe hat, to be retrieved when needed. When called to speak, all had already been thought through.

Barzun praises Lincoln's literary art: "[His] precision, vernacular ease, rhythmical virtuosity and elegance may at a century's remove seem alien to our tastes," he writes. But out of Lincoln came Mark Twain, and out of Twain came Sherwood Anderson, Mencken and Ernest Hemingway. His legacy endures.

…

Lincoln's homes began with the humble log cabin in Kentucky 200 years ago and ended 56 years later, with an assassin's bullet, in a theatre half a mile from the most important home in the land. Writing on the 100th anniversary, Tolstoy hoped his birthday "will create an impulse towards righteousness among nations". This remains our hope today.

Gettysburg Address, 1863/11/19

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government, of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Where did Lincoln write his Gettysburg Address, according to legend?

A. A small log cabin in Kentucky.

B. The White House.

C. In a theatre in D.C.

D. On the train to Gettysburg.

答案(1)

2.Why books about Lincoln is one of the "only four types of books ever make money"?

A. He was a war time president.

B. His life was so legendary.

C. He stood for "righteousness among nations".

D. He fought a civil war that at times looked unwinnable.

答案(2)

3.What do Mark Twain, Sherwood Anderson, Henry Mencken and Ernest Hemingway have in common?

A. All of them were precise and vernacular in wording and phrasing.

B. All of them wrote volumes on Abraham Lincoln.

C. All of them were known for self-teaching and individual struggle.

D. All of above.

答案(3)

4.Which interpretation of the Gettysburg Address is not correct?

A. Quoting "all men are created equal" meant that he redifined the war as a war against slavery.

B. By "testing whether any nation so conceived, can long endure", he believed the war was of international importance.

C. "They who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced" suggested that the Battle of Gettysburg was decisive.

D. "The great task remaining before us" refered to amending the constitution and banning slavery forever.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.On the train to Gettysburg.
解释：D是正确答案。这四个地点都与林肯的故事关系密切。

(2) 答案：B. His life was so legendary.
解释：注意这跟问“为什么没有任何一位总统像他一样得到大量的scholarly attention”，的答案是不一样的。
书好卖一定是因为故事有传奇色彩，喜闻乐见，在这一点上与另外三种类似。因此C托尔斯泰的解读，和D关于历史评价的讨论不是答案。A也不对，为什么别的战时总统就没这么受读者关注。

(3) 答案：A.All of them were precise and vernacular in wording and phrasing.
解释：这句出现在文章部分的倒数第二段，out of Lincoln came Mark Twain, and out of Twain came...他们都深受林肯文风的影响。

(4) 答案：D."The great task remaining before us" refered to amending the constitution and banning slavery forever.
解释：ABC都正确。 文中并未提到宪法修正案的问题，1863年的葛底斯堡战役逆转了合众国的劣势，到1865年战争胜利在望的时候才通过了第十三修正案。这是影片《林肯》中的故事。

经济自由主义地基牢固

金融危机让经济自由主义受到打击，但是大厦的地基依然牢固。经济自由主义的有其好处，也有缺陷。FT经济评论员塞缪尔·布里坦(Samuel Brittan)分析了它的前景和挑战。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
neoliberalism 新自由主义，是兴起于上世纪70年代的一种意识形态，基于古典自由主义，主张小政府，强调私有制和交易自由，与"福利国家"和凯恩斯主义针锋相对。

pejorative [pɪ'dʒɒrətɪv] n./adj.轻蔑的，轻蔑的话

Ludwig Erhard 路德维希·艾哈德，经济学家，联邦德国经济部长、总理，“社会市场经济之父”。 malign [mə'laɪn] v./adj.诽谤，污蔑
coercion [kəʊ'ɜːʃ(ə)n] n.强迫
externalities 外部性，指一个人的行为直接影响他人的福祉，却没有承担相应的义务或获得回报。

political failure 政治失灵，政府失灵，也称Government failure，是一种由政府干预而引发的一系列无效率资源分配，其作用往往会恶化其市场失灵的结果。一般认为人性自私和行政体制的缺陷是其原因。

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分48秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分15秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分19秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分48秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

A case remains for economic liberalism (814 words)

This is a good time to ask what is left of an outlook known to its enemies as neoliberalism and by at least some of its friends as just economic liberalism. One cannot be too careful in choice of wording. For neoliberalism was originally the self-chosen name for a group formed just before the second world war around the US commentator Walter Lippmann and which advocated, among other things, making greater use of market forces in economic policy. It has only more recently acquired pejorative associations.

Roughly speaking, the quarter century after 1945 was not a promising time for economic liberalism – except perhaps in West Germany where Ludwig Erhard was the guiding spirit of the so-called economic miracle. The tide turned towards economic liberalism in the last quarter of the century, symbolised by the leadership of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. The approach lingered on even after the departure of these charismatic leaders. While Tony Blair and Bill Clinton may have come from a different end of the political spectrum, they made no attempt to reverse course. The traumatic event was of course the financial crisis that broke out in 2007-08 and administered a fatal blow to economic liberalism.

Or did it? As far as normal goods and services are concerned, there is still a great deal to be said for giving a leading role to prices and profits. But for financial markets economic liberalism, at least in the form we have known it, has proved fatally flawed. The tendency of capitalist economies to boom and bust is intimately connected with that failure. As almost every government and central bank is committed to its reform, I would for the present concentrate on other aspects.

The basic case for competitive markets is, first, that they provide consumers with what they wish to have rather than with what some authority thinks would be good for them. Second, they provide some guidance on how goods and services should be produced. It would not have been sensible to build the Great Wall of China with 21st-century electronic equipment when there were millions of underemployed labourers ready to hand. Thirdly, allowing innovators to keep some of the fruits of their activities may provide some incentive to progress. In a priori theory, competitive markets do not have to be capitalist ones. There have been numerous blueprints, from market economies based on state ownership to workers’ co-operatives. But they have not really got off the ground.

An example of misunderstanding is a book that appeared this year with the strange title Masters of the Universe by Daniel Stedman Jones. It was about free-market economists, such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman and their supposedly malign influence over governments. It is very thorough, honest according to its lights, but thoroughly misleading. For the thinkers in question are not just politicians in disguise. So far as they had an overriding policy or agenda, it was to reduce the influence of coercion in human affairs. What they certainly did not wish to do was to rule the universe either directly or through their political disciples.

There are, of course, numerous examples of market failures. There are the famous “externalities”. Factories do not have to pay for the damage caused by smoking chimneys. Owners of smart front gardens receive no benefit from the enjoyment conferred on passers-by.

There is also always the temptation of successful capitalists to try to become monopolists. There are correctives using markets and prices. Examples range from the auctioning of planning permits to anti-cartel legislation. Free trade is often the most effective corrective. Above all, however, critics of market failures are offset by political failures. Governments often have neither the incentive nor the knowledge to impose effective correctives.

The biggest flaw in market liberalism is in the distribution of income and wealth. For a long time the degree of concentration fluctuated around a fairly stable rate. But in the past two or three decades it has increased markedly, making it much more difficult for supporters of capitalism to argue that a rising tide floats all boats. We could live with this situation in which the top 1 per cent of US families owned 7-8 per cent of US incomes, as in the early 1980s, but hardly when they are getting 18 per cent as they are said to do now. The respectable academic response is to try to correct the situation through the tax and social security systems. But this may be more difficult in a world struggling to achieve genuine mobility of labour where emigrants could overwhelm the redistributive apparatus.

This has not happened yet. But we need to prepare. The hard truth is that tensions can develop between free migration and other economic freedoms. But for all the looming problems, it is still untrue that the nanny state knows best.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Who was the champion of economic liberalism in its bad times?

A. German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard.

B. US President Ronald Reagan.

C. British PM Margaret Thatcher.

D. British PM Tony Blair.

答案(1)

2.Why competitive markets are necessary?

A. Consumers need nanny state to decide what they really need.

B. Markets provide signals guiding resource allocation to produce goods and services.

C. Innovators can do well outside a market economy at least in the form we know it.

D. All of above.

答案(2)

3.What can we learn about free-market economists?

A. They deny the existence of externalities.

B. They are politicians in disguise who exert a bad influence over governments.

C. They oppose the idea that a rising tide floats all boats.

D. They do not like state ownership or planned economy.

答案(3)

4.According to the passage, what's "the biggest flaw" of economic liberalism?

A. Critics of market failures are offset by political failures.

B. The distribution of income and wealth is becoming unbearable.

C. There is always the temptation of successful capitalists to try to become monopolists.

D. Tensions can develop between free migration and other economic freedoms.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard.
解释：这四人都践行经济自由主义的政策。
作者说，1945年以后四分之一个世纪，也就是到80年代之前，经济自由主义式微，似乎只有艾哈德一个例外。 而80年代的“里根-撒切尔革命”一直影响至今。西方学界一般认为中国的改革开放也是这一去管制化、私有化、自由化浪潮的一部分。 90年代的克林顿和布莱尔，虽然来自左翼党，但是made no attempt to reverse course.

(2) 答案：B.Markets provide signals guiding resource allocation to produce goods and services.
解释：AC与作者的总结刚好相反。 消费者最有权判断产品和服务如何、资源该用来生产什么，而创新者和企业家只有在能将自己才能变现的市场经济中，才有动力进行创新。

(3) 答案：D.They do not like state ownership or planned economy.
解释：ABC都与事实相反。A:自由市场经济学家并不否认外部性，也不否认市场的失灵，但是指出政府失灵可能更严重。
B:他们想要making greater use of market forces，也就是说希望减少人为的、权力的干预，因此作者说《宇宙的主宰》这本书错的离谱。
C:他们赞同这一观点，认为“一部分人先富起来”可以带动“共同富裕”。

(4) 答案：B.The distribution of income and wealth is becoming unbearable.
解释：1%最富的美国人拥有的收入在30年间从7%上涨到18%。不管收入更加集中是否合理，在公众看来这多少有点难以接受。A提到了市场失灵，但是对市场失灵的矫正，常常带来更糟的政府失灵。CD算是经济自由主义面临的问题和挑战，但不是“最大的缺陷”。

大数据造就老大哥？

令人炫目的“大数据”技术有着无限的潜力改变世界，它能让普通人也过上《唐顿庄园》里的贵族生活——轻松得到量身定做的个性化服务。但是，斯诺登泄密事件也深刻反映了大数据可能带来的对个人隐私的侵犯。FT专栏作家John Gapper认为，必须警惕政府有关部门和网络公司通过大数据正在积聚着的巨大权力。难怪，斯诺登事件爆出后，《1984》的销量猛增。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Big Brother “老大哥”，乔治·奥威尔的名著《1984》中的经典形象，一个令人感到窒息和恐怖的、控制一切的“大洋国领袖”。"Big Brother is watching"是书中一句名言，指个人言行随时被官方监视着。

artificial intelligence 人工智能，即AI

Taj Mahal 泰姬陵

Uttar Pradesh 印度的北方邦

Brick Lane 砖块街/布里克巷，在东伦敦，现在是孟加拉移民的社区。

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分58秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分54秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分47秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分58秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Big data has to show that it’s not like Big Brother(977 words)

Sales of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four have risen since Edward Snowden revealed how the National Security Agency of the US gains access to telephone records and data from technology companies. So far, if people do not exactly love Big Brother, they are prepared to accept some invasion of their privacy in return for security.

What about “big data”? Companies that hold rapidly expanding amounts of personal information are using new kinds of data analysis and artificial intelligence to shape products and services, and to predict what customers will want. Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, describes his ideal form of technology as “a really smart assistant doing things for you so you don’t have to think about it”.

The vision of living in a virtual Downton Abbey, with a computer to plan your day, suggest the best route to travel, the films you might want to watch and the best flight to catch – even to book it for you – has an allure. We are all pressed for time and want an easy life. Instead of being bombarded with information and forced to choose, it’s nice to get personal service.

But just as the NSA disclosures have taken people by surprise, although it has existed for 60 years, I doubt whether many grasp either the size of the data trail they create daily, or the advances in technology that are permitting a select group of big data enterprises to exploit it. The technology is evolving so quickly that what was unthinkable two years ago is routine.

“It is both a wonderful and scary future. Companies with huge amounts of data will know more about you than yourself. They will be able to predict what you might do next,” says Kai-Fu Lee, a Beijing-based investor and the former head of Google in China.

In a column last week I compared Google to General Electric in the late 19th century – an innovative industrial enterprise riding a wave of new technology. The flip side of that is that Google, Amazon, Microsoft and other technology giants are amassing powers that need to be controlled carefully.

The NSA and big data companies put their databases and computing power to different uses – one to identify spies and terrorists, and the others to match services to users. They have in common the use of very large databases and techniques such as pattern recognition and network analysis.

At the advanced end, this shades into artificial intelligence of the kind that, for example, intuits what you meant to search for even when you misspell the key words; can translate speech into another language in real time (as Microsoft demonstrated in China last year); or learns to recognise a photograph of a cat by viewing thousands of images.

The ability of computers to learn in a similar manner to humans is known as “deep learning” and it is notable that Google has hired several pioneers in the field, including the scientist and author Ray Kurzweil. Among the technology transfer offered by the NSA to private US companies are “cutting-edge machine learning technologies”.

Such software can infer a lot from scraps of information, provided that it has enough of them, as shown by the NSA’s effort to analyse phone call metadata from Verizon (and perhaps other operators). President Barack Obama assured Americans that “no one is listening to your phone calls”, but this alone is a trove.

A study by Latanya Sweeney, a professor at Harvard University, found that 87 per cent of people can be identified simply by knowing their age, gender and postcode, if these are cross-checked against public databases. That is typical of the data collected by social networks and internet companies.

The extraordinary power of big data companies comes from being able to combine the personal data of customers with observations about them, from which products they buy to where (as measured by global positioning satellite data from mobile phones) they are. That produces a set of “inferred data” about what they probably want.

If I search on an Android phone for “Taj Mahal” while standing in India, for example, Google will prioritise results for the shrine in Uttar Pradesh. If I do the same in Brick Lane, east London, it will suggest local Bangladeshi restaurants. How long before it offers to book a restaurant based on how I rated others as I walk around a foreign city at dusk?

At one level, I would be pleased if it did (as long as it was a good one) since it would save me doing the work myself. At another, as a World Economic Forum report on personal data put it: “Inferred data can feel like an all-knowing Big Brother watching the security camera.”

One of the concerns that springs from this is that big data companies with such software are very difficult to compete with. The more data that I and other users provide them with, the better they are at predicting what we want. The machine brain becomes cleverer with use.

Another is trust. Social networks have been poor at protecting users’ data, and they hold only a fraction of the information on people’s behaviour, habits and intentions on the new generation of services. It is no wonder that the NSA turns to them – it has computing power and they have swaths of material.

A third is ownership. We each have rights over our own information, but what happens when it gets mixed up with that of others and combined into a vast database of intentions? If I change my mind, how can it be unscrambled?

Above all, we don’t know what this technology means because we are only at the beginning of the era of big data. There are plenty of aspects to admire but it will take some time to love.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.About artificial intelligence, which of the following is not correct?

A. It is based on data analysis.

B. Computers will be able to predict what customers want.

C. It was an idea first brought up by Google’s cofounder Larry Page.

D. "A really smart assistant doing things for you so you don’t have to think about it."

答案(1)

2.There are technology giants that "are amassing powers that need to be controlled carefully", which company is not among them?

A. Google.

B. Amazon.

C. Facebook.

D. Verizon.

E. Cisco.

答案(2)

3.What best explains the concern that big data companies are "very difficult to compete with"?

A. They usually have ponopoly power on the market.

B. The more data they have, the better they can do.

C. They are very rich and have armies of genius engineers.

D. They have already forged powerful lobby groups.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is significantly different from the other three?

A. "network analysis"

B. "deep learning"

C. "cross-checking"

D. "inferred data"

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.It was an idea first brought up by Google’s cofounder Larry Page.
解释：人工智能的概念很早就有了，AB都正确，D是拉里·佩奇说的。

(2) 答案：E.Cisco.
解释：从文中不难得知，那些可以得到大量用户数据的、可以进行大数据业务的公司，正在积聚着巨大的权力，这样的公司有搜索引擎、社交网络、电信公司、网上商城等。ABCD都是典型。而思科主营电信硬件设备，不大可能拥有这样的数据。

(3) 答案：B.The more data they have, the better they can do.
解释：ACD在某种程度上是有道理的，但是最根本的原因还是大数据的“自然垄断”性——类似水电燃气等基础设施，用的人多了，再多的人就只能用它们的。

(4) 答案：C."cross-checking"
解释：ABD都是大数据技术专有的术语，而C相互检验和反复核实则是早就有的技术，至少信息化社会之前就有了。

窃听风暴袭击全球？

NGO“自由之家”的研究显示，全球范围内的言论表达自由正处于10年来的低点。缅甸、科特迪瓦和塞内加尔等国言论自由的扩展让人欣慰，而希腊、印度和巴西等民主程度不同的国家都出现了让人担忧的现象。谷歌顾问Kampfner指出，未来5年可能有多达50亿人进入网络时代，美国和欧盟应更好地以身作则捍卫网络自由。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
ebb [eb] v.衰退，退潮
out-and-out 里里外外的，彻底的
grim [grɪm] adj.冷酷的，糟糕的
thuggery ['θʌɡəri] n.谋财害命；暗杀

Myanmar 缅甸，原名为Burma
galvanise ['ɡælvənaiz] v.激励；通电；镀锌
dissent [dɪ'sent] n./v.异议
takedowns ['teɪkdaʊns] n.拆卸，这里指删帖
disparaging [dɪ'spærɪdʒɪŋ] v.adj.蔑视，蔑视的
impunity [ɪm'pjuːnɪtɪ] 免除处罚
come to a head 达到紧急关头
toy with 玩弄
shelved [felvd] v./adj.搁置

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分45秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分39秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分54秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分39秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

It is down to democracies to protect the most precious of freedoms (666 words)

By John Kampfner

Last Friday was World Press Freedom Day, the 20th annual celebration of this most essential of human rights. But you would be forgiven for wondering what there is to cheer about.

The previous day, Freedom House, an American non-governmental organisation, produced research suggesting global freedom of expression is at its lowest ebb for a decade. It charts the many countries whose record had deteriorated during 2012, from out-and-out dictatorships and more “modern” authoritarian regimes to self-proclaimed democracies.

Some of the worst performances, in countries such as Mali, were the result of political turmoil and civil war. Russia and China continued on their grim ways, armed with a combination of legislation, thuggery and increasing technical nous. State-dominated media hampered free elections from Venezuela to Ukraine. New laws prevent effective investigative journalism in South Africa. Ecuador is going downhill; Thailand, too. The list goes on.

There are several rays of hope. As it emerges from decades of military rule, Myanmar is relaxing curbs. In Africa, improvements were noted in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Liberia and Mauritania.

Economic crisis, instead of leading to more transparency, has galvanised the rich and powerful to censor. In Greece, a journalist was arrested for publishing information about senior public officials who had evaded tax by shipping their money into secret Swiss bank accounts. Kostas Vaxevanis was charged with violating privacy laws, acquitted, but on appeal by the state faces retrial next month.

Legitimate concerns over privacy, child protection and copyright are prompting governments to introduce laws for a different aim – to silence dissent and stop corruption investigations.

Perhaps the most crucial countries to monitor in coming years are India and Brazil, which are seen as examples for others to follow. A series of laws in India has led to pretty much anything considered “disparaging” or “hurting religious sentiments”, or damaging the reputation of the country or its allies, being deemed an offence. Internet service providers are being required to respond to all “takedown” requests within 36 hours.

Brazil, too, has clamped down, particularly on internet freedom. According to Google’s latest twice-yearly Transparency Report, the authorities made more demands for online “takedowns” than any other country. Reporters are routinely harassed, sometimes killed. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which is looking at the issue of impunity, says the murders of nine Brazilian journalists are unsolved.

Worldwide, according to the CPJ, 70 journalists were killed in 2012 – among the highest totals in 20 years.

With citizens better connected than ever, such reports might seem surprising. More than 1bn people have access to the internet. At current growth rates, 5bn – 70 per cent of the world’s population – will be connected in five years’ time, mainly through their phones.

The more technology allows us to communicate the more governments are frightened. Indeed, many are appropriating it to track down dissenters.

If the worst abusers get their way, the more prescriptive approach to the internet could be enshrined in international governance. Last December, at the International Telecommunication Union – a previously obscure branch of the UN – 89 countries supported plans to give the body oversight of the web. Some 55 nations, including the US and most European countries, opposed the proposal. Matters are likely to come to a head at a further meeting in Geneva next week.

Democracies play a vital role in preventing the global takeover of the internet by governments – they must lead by example, which they often fail to do. The Obama administration’s record – notably with respect to its security legislation – has been poor.

In Britain, the government has toyed with plans to introduce a bill allowing public bodies access to all citizens’ electronic communications for a year. This has been shelved. But the damage such moves make is incalculable, giving the green light for authoritarian states to follow, smiling and shrugging their shoulders as they do.

The writer is external adviser to Google on free expression and advises the Global Network Initiative

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does the writer imply by "But you would be forgiven for wondering what there is to cheer about"?

A. It's understandable that you do not know or forget about World Press Freedom Day.

B. We all know that worldwide press freedom is not satisfying.

C. The role of World Press Freedom Day has been overestimated.

D. All of above.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is incorrect?

A. Mali's performance is poor because of political turmoil and civil war.

B. Venezuela and Ukraine's state-media hampered free elections.

C. Russia and China are banning anything considered “hurting religious sentiments”.

D. A Greek reporter was arrested for disclosing tax evasion of senior officials.

答案(2)

3.The writer opposed "government takeover of the internet" because he believes some governments are actually intended to...

A. ...better protect privacy, children and copyright.

B. ...silence dissent and stop corruption investigations.

C. ...crack dowm rumors and purify the Internet environment.

D. ...gain control over this "lifeblood industry".

答案(3)

4.Why US and UK governments' legislation bills incur "incalculable" damage?

A. Because they give the green light for authoritarian states to follow.

B. Because they harm their own public images at home.

C. Because citizens' privacy could be violated.

D. Because they are against "global takeover of the internet by governments".

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.We all know that worldwide press freedom is not satisfying.
解释：文章第一句说，今年5月3日的新闻自由日是这个基本人权的第20次庆典。 但是你显然不知道有啥好庆祝的。接下来第二段就是介绍Freedom House的研究报告。

(2) 答案：C.Russia and China are banning anything considered “hurting religious sentiments”.
解释：做这事的是印度。ABD的说法都正确。

(3) 答案：B....silence dissent and stop corruption investigations.
解释：作者认为A不过是有些政府控制言论的表面理由罢了。

(4) 答案：A.Because they give the green light for authoritarian states to follow.
解释：这是本文最后一句说的。英国政府不负责任地toyed with言论自由可能带来难以估计的负面影响，那就是给威权国家开绿灯，让它们可以明目张胆干涉言论自由，耸耸肩说“英美也这么搞啊为什么我不行”。

学习德国好榜样

“德国模式”为大西洋两岸所瞩目。美国政商界意识到，仅靠州之间在税收上的竞争并不是长久的成功之道，美国应借鉴德国强大竞争力的秘诀：教育体制。与德国相比，美国的劳动力显得“既技能不足，又教育过度”：一方面350万空缺岗位找不到合适员工，一方面大量拥有学位的的哥和门卫在为偿还学生贷款而发愁……

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

State of the Union speech 美国总统每年在国会发表的《国情咨文》。今年，奥巴马引用西门子高管的话，说如果美国提升基础设施，可以吸引外资创造更多就业。

vocational education 职业教育
apprentice [ə'prentɪs] n.学徒
apprenticeship [ə'prentɪ(s)ʃɪp] n.学徒制，被认为是德国工业实力的基础。

participation rate劳动参与率，是经济活动人口（就业者+失业者，失业者为失业但积极寻找工作者）占劳动年龄人口（一般15-65岁）的比率。

pilgrimage ['pɪlgrɪmɪdʒ] n.朝圣
casino [kə'siːnəʊ] n.赌场
covet ['kʌvɪt] v.垂涎
nocturnal [nɒk'tɜːn(ə)l] adj.夜间的
rejuvenate [rɪ'dʒuːvəneɪt] v.使复原，使年轻
pipe fitters and boilermakers 管道工和锅炉工

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分39秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分43秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分39秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分55秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Why the US is looking to Germany (931 words)

By Edward Luce

When asked by Tony Blair for the secret of her country’s resilience, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said: “We still make things.” It is a question you often hear in the US nowadays. It would be an exaggeration to say Germany is back in fashion. There is too much disapproval of Berlin’s handling of the eurozone crisis for that. Yet when it comes to the labour market, the US is suffering from a rising case of “German envy”, as one analyst puts it.

“People are continually asking me how we do it,” says Eric Spiegel, the US chief executive of Siemens, which has the distinction of being cited by Barack Obama in his last two State of the Union speeches. Getting a “shout out” from the US president may sound trivial – although executives at unuttered competitors, such as General Electric, do not see it that way. But Mr Obama was only repeating what was being widely said by many business leaders and trade unionists in the US. “Can we replicate the German model?” asks a centrist Democratic senator.

As a package, the answer is no. Germany channels roughly half of all high-school students into the vocational education stream from the age of 16. In the US that would be seen as too divisive, even un-American. More than 40 per cent of Germans become apprentices. Only 0.3 per cent of the US labour force does so. But with the US participation rate continuing to plummet – last month another 496,000 Americans gave up looking for work – many US politicians are scouring Germany for answers.

It is turning into something of a pilgrimage. Rick Snyder, the Republican governor of Michigan, and John Kasich, Republican governor of Ohio, have both recently toured vocational academies in Germany. The German embassy in Washington has even set up a programme called the “skills initiative” to cater to all the questions from the heartlands.

“The US is not a developing country so we don’t need to send teams of technical advisers into the field,” one German diplomat said. “We are just trying to respond to the curiosity about the German model.”

The longer the US recovery continues, the more that curiosity increases. The US faces a deepening mismatch between what its labour market needs and what the education system is producing. There are two sides to this paradox. First, the US is underskilled. It has high unemployment at a time when there are 3.5m job vacancies, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some economists argue that the US “skills gap” is imaginary – a shortage of engineers would have shown up in salary inflation, which has not happened. The average hourly cost of a US manufacturing worker is $32. In Germany it is $48. Yet US employers insist the shortage of skilled labour is a growing problem.

US states tend to outbid each other with tax breaks. This works well for casinos. But many states, such as Michigan and Ohio, are realising that what desirable investors most covet is skilled labour. According to the OECD, the US comes last out of 29 countries in terms of the work readiness of its high-school leavers. And 46 per cent of those who go to college fail to complete their four-year degree within six years. “Getting a tax holiday does not make up for having a bad business plan, it just delays the pain,” says a senior US executive at Daimler, the German carmaker, which has several US plants. “If you have a good plan, what you are really looking for is good people.”

Second, the US is overqualified. Almost half of Americans with a degree are in jobs that do not require one, according to a study by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. Fifteen per cent of taxi drivers in the US have a degree, up from 1 per cent in 1970. Likewise, 25 per cent of sales clerks are graduates, against 5 per cent in 1970. An astonishing 5 per cent of janitors now have a bachelor’s degree. They must offer endless nocturnal moments to repent those student loans. Only at the top of the system do the labour and education markets mesh well. PhDs and postgraduates are the only US category to enjoy rising incomes, often dramatically so.

For a company such as Siemens, which has 60,000 American employees and recently reintroduced train manufacturing to the US (in a plant near Sacramento), the answer is simple. The US needs to rejuvenate its community colleges, which offer two-year vocational degrees but are often starved of funds. And it needs to fall back in love with apprenticeships. Benjamin Franklin started off as a printer’s apprentice in Boston. Many US trade unions, such as the pipe fitters and boilermakers, used to train their own. Perhaps they should remember their history.

Siemens, meanwhile, is angling for a third Obama mention. The group recently had 2,000 applications for 50 vacancies in North Carolina. Only 10 per cent passed the aptitude test. At a cost of $165,000 an apprentice, Siemens is training six local high-school leavers in “mechatronics”, a hybrid of mechanical engineering and computer science. These are robot supervisors. The company hopes apprenticeships will catch on in the US. It graduates 10,000 a year in Germany, a country that seems to have fewer problems with the underskilled or the overqualified. “There is a great potential for the reshoring of manufacturing to the US,” Mr Spiegel says. “But if companies have problems finding qualified people, a lot of it won’t happen.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why US politicians are "scouring Germany for answers"?

A. Because President Obama called for "learning from Germany".

B. Only 0.3% of Americans become apprentices.

C. They are disappointed by the job market.

D. Because other European countried are also learning from Germany.

答案(1)

2.What can we learn about "something of a pilgrimage"?

A. Republicans are more keen on learning from Germany.

B. Many US companies are inviting German technical advisers.

C. The German embassy is sponsoring skills training programs.

D. States like Michigan and Ohio are struggling to revive manufacturing.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following can support the argument that the US faces "a deepening mismatch" between its labour market and education system?

A. US has high unemployment together with 3.5m job vacancies.

B. A shortage of engineers does not raise the wage level.

C. 25% of sales clerks are graduates, against 5% in 1970.

D. All of above.

答案(3)

4.For US policy makers, what might be the best treatment for the problem?

A. Increasing financial support for college student loans.

B. Attracting more German companies to invest in America.

C. Reviving America's good old tradition of apprenticeships.

D. Reshoring manufacturing back to the US.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.They are disappointed by the job market.
解释：A也不对，因为Mr. Obama was only repeating what was being widely said... B实际上是解释为什么将德国模式整体打包过来不可能。至于D，骄傲的美国人怎么肯跟欧洲人亦步亦趋？ 为何要用scouring擦亮这个词呢？也许是美国人像阿拉丁对神灯一样寻求答案吧。

(2) 答案：D.States like Michigan and Ohio are struggling to revive manufacturing.
解释：A未提到，民主党的奥巴马和一位参议员也主张学习德国。BC也未提到，原文是德国外交官说，我们不需要向对发展中国家那样派出技术顾问团，只需要解答美国人的好奇。 五大湖“铁锈州”作为衰落的老工业地带，把目光放在制造业强大的德国，希望学习德国的职业教育，这是非常符合逻辑的事。读懂财经文章文字背后的含义，需要积累一些知识：铁锈地带深刻影响了美国的经济、政治和文化。

(3) 答案：C.25% of sales clerks are graduates, against 5% in 1970.
解释：A无疑可以支持“美国人才市场失衡很严重”这一判断，但不能支持“越来越失衡”的判断。注意问题中的deepening，讲的是一个动态的过程。B也类似，工程师的短缺只能说明“失衡严重”，而工资水平未提高的原因很多（比如外包和印度、中国的技术移民），但不可能是“失衡更严重”。按道理说，如果工程师越来越供不应求，工资水平应该上涨的。C是从overqualified这一角度的准确回答：越来越多的大学生找不到脑力工作，只能去做售货员、门卫和的哥。（当然作者丝毫没有对这些岗位的不敬。）

(4) 答案：C.Reviving America's good old tradition of apprenticeships.
解释：通读全文可知，AB两项甚至可能使问题恶化：已经有很多人本可以通过职业教育找到好工作，却读了耗资不菲的大学而后悔；另外，文章最后引用西门子美国CEO说，如果在美国找不到合适的人才，企业是不愿意把制造业带回美国的。作者在倒数第二段还引用本·富兰克林，强调说学徒制并非德国特有，它其实根植于美国的传统之中。Perhaps they should remember their history.

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.54

止痛药物不再是中国的禁忌

中国对止痛药的污名和误解由来已久，但这种情况正在慢慢改观。过去的一年，中国止痛药市场增长了20%，人们对于阿片类药物的接受度渐渐提高。中国人对止痛药的恐惧究竟从何而来，又是怎样被克服的？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
prostate ['prɑːsteɪt] n. 前列腺
synthetic[sɪn'θetɪk] adj. 合成的，人造的
traumatic[traʊ'mætɪk] adj. 创伤的，令人痛苦的
eradicate[ɪ'rædɪkeɪt] v. 根除，扑减
stigma['stɪɡmə] n. 耻辱，污名
dispensationˌdɪspen'seɪʃn] n. 分配，施与

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分9秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分19秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分39秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分34秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Opioid boom in China as patients lose addiction fears(582 words)

By Wang Xueqiao and Tom Hancock

Diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, 77-year-old Zeng Changhe relies on a cocktail of drugs to treat his pain: five pills of Oxycontin three times a day, and morphine injections if the tablets fail to provide sufficient relief.

“We knew that opioids are addictive but he has to rely on it,” says his wife Ren Zhongqiong. “He’s suffering too much. Only these painkillers can make him feel like himself.”

Synthetic opioids have become the star performers in China’s pharmaceutical market, as a rapid increase in cancer cases drives demand for pain-reducing drugs and patients lose fears about addiction.

The market for painkillers in China grew 20 per cent last year to reach Rmb3.6bn ($530m), according to the China Pharmaceutical Industry Association, more than twice the rate of the overall drug market, which is the world’s second largest.

While most painkillers in China are used in surgical contexts, the recent growth has mainly been driven by a rise in a cancer rates from 2.1m new cases in 2000 to 4.3m in 2015, creating demand for management of chronic pain, analysts say. Lung cancer is China’s most common, partly due to high rates of smoking and air pollution.

“The development of treatment for late-stage cancer is the cause,” said Fan Bifa, director of China’s national centre for pain treatment. “The pain of advanced stage cancer patients is intense . . . generally we will use opioids in accordance with guidelines.”

Increased spending on dental surgery and a growth in surgical operations had also driven demand, he added.

China has traumatic historical memories of opioid abuse after Britain forced it to accept imports of opium from British India in the 19th century, leading to widespread addiction that was mostly eradicated, sometimes brutally, by the Communist party after it seized power in 1949.

A continued stigma about opioids created a reluctance to use them among doctors and patients alike because of associations with addiction.

But China’s government has driven a change in attitudes with a “good pain management” programme launched in 2011, which trains hospital staff to recognise different levels of pain and “provide effective relief through timely dispensation of medication”.

Rather than arriving on the ships of foreign merchants, now most of the opioids consumed in China are locally produced.

With a nearly 40 per cent market share last year, the Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group’s dezocine was the bestselling painkiller in China, according to CNPIC data. The drug is mostly used after surgery. By contrast, the most popular foreign brand is Bard Pharma’s Oxycodone, with a 6.5 per cent market share.

The Chinese market is just one-twentieth the size of the US’s, where a slow-burning epidemic of opioid abuse has seen prescription rates more than double since the early 1990s, while tens of thousands have died of overdoses.

The third most popular painkiller in China last year was Sufentanil, a powerful synthetic opioid developed for use in operating theatres, which has also seen growing rates of addiction in the US.

As the US government tries to tackle the epidemic by discouraging physicians from prescribing painkillers for chronic pain, companies are seeking growth in emerging markets such as China.

Mundipharma, which produces OxyContin — a drug blamed for intensifying the addiction crisis in the US — has launched a large-scale campaign in China involving cartoon videos aimed at both doctors and patients.

So far staff from more than 6,000 hospitals across China viewed online lectures hosted by Mundipharma’s platform to promote pain treatment some 64,000 times, according to the company’s website.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following statements is true according to the article?

A. China has the second largest market for painkillers in the world.

B. Most painkillers in China are used in cancer treatments.

C. China has the highest death rate from lung cancer in the world.

D. The rise in cancer rates resulted in a rapid growth in painkiller market.

答案(1)

2.Fan Bifa believes the development of ____ causes the growth of painkillers in China.

A. chronic pain management.

B. cancer early diagnosis.

C. treatment for late-stage cancer.

D. hospice care.

答案(2)

3.According to the author, the continued stigma about opioids originated from ____.

A. the epidemic of opioid abuse in the US.

B. the widespread opioid abuse in the 19th century.

C. the brutal opioid eradication after 1949.

D. the imports of opium from Britain.

答案(3)

4.Which is the bestselling foreign painkiller in China?

A. Dezocine.

B. Sufentanil.

C. Oxycodone.

D. OxyContin.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.The rise in cancer rates resulted in a rapid growth in painkiller market.
解释：尽管在中国大部分止痛药都被用于外科手术，但近期的增长则主要是由癌症发病率的上升推动的。

(2) 答案：C.treatment for late-stage cancer.
解释：Fan Bifa认为，晚期癌症医疗水平的提高导致止痛药使用量增加。

(3) 答案：B.the widespread opioid abuse in the 19th century.
解释：中国对阿片类物质滥用有着惨痛的回忆。19世纪，英国强迫中国接受进口来自英属印度的鸦片，这导致了中国出现大规模的鸦片成瘾。

(4) 答案：C.Oxycodone.
解释：根据CNPIC的数据，在中国销量最高的止痛药是扬子江药业集团的地佐辛，而最受欢迎的外国产品是巴德制药的羟考酮。

日本人如何为核战争做准备？

朝鲜一次又一次的核试验不断挑动着各国的神经，与朝鲜隔海相望的日本自然无法放松警惕。一些谨慎的日本民众已经开始为可能降临的核爆做了准备。日本官方也给出了具体的建议。日本人是如何为核战争做准备的？他们能给我们什么启发？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
secretive['siːkrətɪv] adj.秘密的
cupboard['kʌbəd] n.碗橱
fallout ['fɔːlaʊt] n.辐射性微尘，原子尘
duly['djuːli] adv.当然地，适当地
ricochet['rɪkəʃeɪ] vi. 跳
fuss [fʌs] n. 大惊小怪，小题大作
peculiar[pɪ'kjuːliə(r)] adj. 奇怪的，古怪的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分47秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分40秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分54秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分40秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

How Japan is preparing for a nuclear attack(670 words)

By Gillian Tett

Earlier this month, I travelled to Tokyo, where I caught up with some Japanese friends. As we chatted about global affairs, one of them, Michiyo, revealed that her doctor husband had recently given her anti-radiation pills to carry in her handbag.

The reason? Not the leak of radioactive material that occurred at the Fukushima nuclear plant after it was hit by a tsunami six years ago. Instead, what worries Michiyo’s husband is North Korea.

In recent months, the secretive country has conducted an escalating series of missile tests, including one just last week. This has sparked fears among western intelligence services that Pyongyang could be close to acquiring an inter-continental ballistic missile with the ability to deliver nuclear warheads to places such as Japan, Guam, Hawaii or even California.

There are reports that North Korea has mastered several of the crucial stages for creating an ICBM: the ability to launch and guide a missile, create a nuclear warhead and then miniaturise it. Meanwhile tensions have risen between the unpredictable regime of Kim Jong-un and the (sometimes equally unpredictable) US president Donald Trump, prompting speculation that North Korea might try to direct a missile at a US base in Japan.

The Japanese government has responded by issuing guidelines for what to do in the event of a missile strike. Suggestions include sheltering in an underground shopping arcade, basement, concrete building or, if all else fails, under a table or in a cupboard in the centre of the house, for at least two days, presumably to let any fallout from an attack settle down.

Many Japanese households have duly been stocking up on food, water, batteries, nappies (which might be needed to stand in for toilets, my friends solemnly told me) and those anti-radiation tablets. Company executives have prepared backup offices, financial institutions have spread money in different locations and utility services and schools have conducted drills. Indeed, while I was in Tokyo the trains briefly shut down following one of North Korea’s missile tests.

Nobody has a clue whether Pyongyang could or would ever dare fire a missile, or whether the Americans possess the ability to intercept it. Foreign policy observers still think an attack is very unlikely. But what is striking about all these preparations in Japan is not that they are occurring but that so few people in the US or Europe know about them.

One of the US’s biggest business groups, for example, polls its members each quarter about how company executives perceive geopolitical risks. Until very recently, a minute proportion of companies considered North Korea to be the most serious threat; instead, the dominant focus for concern was so-called Islamic State.

Yet the pattern is changing. In the most recent survey, compiled this month, North Korea is ranked as the number one threat, above Isis. But most voters still know little about the country, and few realise that American troops in Japan or California might be a target.

A second reason why the preparations are not better known is that the Japanese public are themselves notably stoic. If the White House had told voters to buy supplies for a possible missile attack, the news would have ricocheted around the world. But most Japanese have simply acquired supplies as suggested and got on with their lives with a minimum of fuss.

That might seem peculiar to Americans. But Japanese people have lived with the knowledge that North Korea could fire a missile towards them for many years. And, of course, they have also weathered earthquakes. Confronting a possible missile threat looks scary but it’s not necessarily any more frightening than the knowledge that more than 33,000 people are killed by gunfire each year in the US. Cultural perceptions of danger vary.

But the next time I see Trump talk or tweet about North Korea, I will think about my friend’s anti-radiation pills. The fact that she is now carrying them in her wallet is a tragic sign of how peculiar the world has become. I just hope that she will never even have to think about using them.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why does the author's friend Michiyo carrying anti-radiation pills in her handbag?

A. To protect her from radioactive material that occurred at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

B. To protect her from radioactive material that occurred during North Korean missile tests.

C. To protect her from radioactive material that could possibly occur in a missile strike.

D. To protect her from radioactive material that could possibly occur in a deadly earthquake.

答案(1)

2.What is the attitude of the Americans towards North Korean threat?

A. Optimistic.

B. Worried.

C. Unconcerned.

D. Ignorant.

答案(2)

3.Japanese are utterly stoic under the threat of missile strike because ____.

A. they have rich experience in grappling with missile strikes and nuclear disasters.

B. they have already acquired supplies as suggested and got ready for a nuclear explosion.

C. they have got accustomed to North Korea's threat and had experience in tackling disaster.

D. they are well informed about what to do in the event of a missile strike.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following statements about North Korea is true?

A. Pyongyang could be close to possess the ability to direct a missile at California.

B. Japan's missile defences are not able to intercept missile from North Korea.

C. It is predicted that North Korea will conduct its first ICBN test in a few months.

D. US military bases in Japan is believed to be the main target of North Korea.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.To protect her from radioactive material that could possibly occur in a missile strike.
解释：我的一位日本朋友Michiyo从她的医生丈夫那里防辐射药片并随身携带在包里。准备这些药片是出于对朝鲜的担忧。

(2) 答案：B.Worried.
解释：不久前，只有一小部分美国公司将朝鲜视作头等威胁，但本月的调查显示，朝鲜超过了ISIS成为最令人担忧的威胁。

(3) 答案：C.they have got accustomed to North Korea's threat and had experience in tackling disaster.
解释：日本人在很多年前就已经知道朝鲜可能会向他们发射核弹，另外，他们也已经经历过了多次大地震。

(4) 答案：A.Pyongyang could be close to possess the ability to direct a missile at California.
解释：朝鲜的一些列核试验引起了西方情报部门的担忧，他们担心平壤方面已经接近具备通过洲际弹道导弹对日本、关岛、夏威夷甚至加利福尼亚等地进行核打击的能力。

雨天基金与英国银行业

银行居然也会缺钱？资本缺口是什么意思？英国银行业250亿英镑的资本短缺是怎样造成的？又有什么影响？FT社论作者Martin Sandbu用简介通俗的对话形式教授货币银行学入门，并给你讲一个并不复杂的道理：“出来混，迟早要还的”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
restructuring [riː'strʌktʃərɪŋ] n.这里指的是资本重组，如通过债转股的形式将银行的债主转变为股东。

weighted ['weɪtɪd] adj.加权的
refrain [rɪ'freɪn] n./v.叠句，重复
eurozone periphery 欧元区边缘国家。德法荷等为核心国家，而南欧葡萄牙、希腊等国家即为边缘国家。

mischief ['mɪstʃɪf] n.恶作剧，损害
interest swap 利率互换

Threadneedle Street 伦敦的针线街，英格兰银行和波罗的海交易所所在地
gnome [nəʊm] n.侏儒，精灵。记得《哈利·波特》中的银行家是什么形象吗？

rustle up 凑集到，筹集到

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分30秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分5秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分12秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分46秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

A rainy-day fund for what went wrong (772 words)

By Martin Sandbu

‘UK banks have a collective capital shortfall of £25bn and must close it by the end of the year with new capital and restructuring, the UK’s new financial stability regulator announced.’

FT.com, March 27

Wait a minute – start from the beginning. What’s bank capital?

Banks need to keep a safety cushion of cash and assets in case their investments go sour. That’s how they make sure people leaving money in banks can get it back.

How much do they keep?

Ah – that’s a difficult question. The amount is “risk-weighted”. They require less capital for investments that are safe.

Like government bonds ...

Maybe not all of them ...

... and they need more capital if they invest in something that is more likely to go wrong.

Exactly.

So banks needing more capital sounds like bad news. Wasn’t getting the banks back into shape the reason for throwing so much money at them?

It’s becoming a bit of a refrain to say that things are worse than we thought. But that’s what the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee is saying. The banks have too little capital because they are still likely to lose money from decisions they made before the crisis.

I see. What kind of decisions are we talking about?

You could divide them into mistakes and mischief. The mistakes were the bad investments they made – the FPC mentions the eurozone periphery and UK commercial real estate. The mischief was stuff such as manipulating the Libor benchmark rate and selling payment protection insurance and interest swaps to people who didn’t need them.

Haven’t banks paid for this already?

They have. But now the regulators think it could get even worse. They reckon that between them banks may still face a cool £10bn in fines or compensation claims. That’s if there’s no other scandal waiting to come out of the woodwork, mind you.

That’s reassuring. How do we know that the BoE is right this time and that £10bn is the end of it?

We don’t.

Right. And the bad investments?

That’s not exactly news either. Here, too, the eagle-eyed experts in Threadneedle Street have decided that losses could be worse than the banks have estimated.

Wait ... than the banks have estimated? You mean we are taking the banks’ word for how much they stand to lose?

Surprised? It’s been part of international bank regulation, set in Basel, for years. You know how banks need to hold that “capital” stuff against the investments they make? Well, the big ones may often use their own models to estimate how risky their investments are and how much capital they actually need to hold.

Are you kidding me? These banks thought subprime mortgages were ultra-safe!

Don’t yell at me, go talk to the gnomes of Basel. But, to be fair, the regulators are on to this. The third reason banks have to rustle up more capital – apart from investment losses and additional punishment for their sins – is that their risk weights have been found to be too low.

They have been cheating.

Using what they called a “more prudent approach”, the regulators suggested that UK banks were not holding enough capital, given the riskiness of their portfolios.

And all of this adds up to them needing £25bn more?

Er, no, it adds up to £50bn. But the Bank of England thinks some of the shortfall is in banks that have capital to spare. So only £25bn of new equity is needed.

Let’s hope they’re right. What does this mean for me, though? Are the banks going to let me do my own risk-weighting so I can get a better mortgage deal?

Not quite. Anyway, who do you bank with?

There’s not much choice.

Too right. The government wants more competition, so they are letting new banks get away with less capital for each deal. The hope is to make it easy for new banks to attract customers. You should give it a try.

What if I want to stay with my own bank? It’s such a hassle to switch accounts.

The government promises to fix that too. Until it does, if you’re stuck with your bank things depend on how it goes about raising capital ratios. If it finds investors who want to buy new shares, great. If not, it must choose between limiting bonuses and dividends, or shrink its lending to meet the ratio.

We know what that means!

The regulators promise they will not let banks react to the rule by lending less ...

We’re in safe hands then.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is true about "bank capital"?

A. It is provided by the government.

B. Banks need constant capital injection year by year.

C. The money deposited in a bank is its capital.

D. The more a bank invests in high-risk assets, the more capital it needs.

答案(1)

2.Why do British banks need more capital?

A. They made too much bad investments before the crisis.

B. They underestimated the risk of their investment.

C. Also, they need capital to pay fines for their wrongdoings.

D. All of above.

答案(2)

3.What might not be a choise for the banks?

A. Raise capital in the stock market.

B. Shrink their lending.

C. Limit bonuses for employees.

D. Pay less dividends to shareholders.

答案(3)

4.Who might be happy about the news(capital shortfall)?

A. Stockholders of the banks involved.

B. Depositors of the banks involved.

C. New banks and foreign banks.

D. British bank regulators and central bankers.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.The more a bank invests in high-risk assets, the more capital it needs.
解释：这正是本文的一个要点。 银行的资本是银行股东提供的“本钱”，如果银行业务不断扩张而自身利润不能支持的话， 才需要补充资本。储户的存款是银行的负债，资本加上负债，就是银行可以用来放贷和投资的资金。 如果银行投资的资产中，低风险的较多，则可以用较少的自有资本和较多的负债来投资。反之亦然。

(2) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC都是正确答案。

(3) 答案：B.Shrink their lending.
解释：文章倒数第二句说，The regulators promise they will not let banks react to the rule by lending less ...

(4) 答案：C.New banks and foreign banks.
解释：央行的金融政策委员会认为英国的银行还面临着100亿英镑的赔偿或罚款——目前没有发现更多违法行为的情况下。 显然，银行的股民要面临股息减少和股价下跌了。而监管当局为了金融稳定和经济增长，一方面要敦促银行抓紧时间大举融资，另一方面要动用种种手段防止银行 紧缩放贷。储户会担心自己存款的安全，这时候新开的银行和外资银行肯定会高兴。

改写历史无助于复兴日本

FT亚洲版主编皮林(David Pilling)认为，安倍晋三首相敢于得罪党内的贸易保护主义势力，推动自由贸易，值得称道。但是，安倍对历史问题态度暧昧，他增加国防支出，试图诉诸民族主义和“爱国主义”的行为，让人不安地联想到几十年前的一些情景。想要复兴日本，正途是想办法复兴经济，而不是试图改写历史。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
summiteer [,sʌmɪ'tɪə] n.峰会成员
revolving door 旋转门
defiance[dɪ'faɪəns] n.藐视，反抗
beggar-thy-neighbour 以邻为壑

Yasukuni shrine 靖国神社
tinged with 带有…色彩的
obfuscate ['ɒbfʌskeɪt] v.使模糊、混乱
mood music 气氛音乐
stand-off 平衡
fan v.作动词时为煽动、刺激的意思
ember['embə] n.火苗，余火
unabashed[ʌnə'bæʃt] adj.不畏惧的，厚脸皮的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分50秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分49秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分44秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分57秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Shinzo Abe will not revive Japan by rewriting history(957 words)

The headlines shout that Japan is back. Shinzo Abe has returned the country to centre stage after more than a decade in the wings. This week’s turbulence aside, the stock market has boomed, consumers have been spending and growth looks like picking up. Abroad, Japan is commanding attention. There are three things to say about this reversal: two are mostly positive and the third seriously negative.

When the Japanese prime minister tips up at next month’s meeting of the Group of Eight advanced industrial nations, it is a fair bet his fellow summiteers will want to get to know him. The same could not have been said of his recent predecessors.

The prime minister’s office has had a fast revolving door. Between 2006 and Mr Abe’s election victory in 2012 there were as many occupants as years. Other world leaders would shake hands with their Japanese counterpart in the near certain knowledge that he would be gone before their next big gathering. America’s Barack Obama was said to be especially irritated by the time wasted in these fleeting encounters.

Mr Abe, of course, was one of those who passed through the revolving door – presiding over a failed administration between 2006 and 2007. His political prospects now, however, are better than any since Junichiro Koizumi(小泉纯一郎)’s premiership in the opening years of the century.

Mr Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic party faces elections to the upper house in July, but if the polls are any guide it is heading for a comfortable majority. Barring any accidents, that would leave Mr Abe with a clear run until the next poll for the lower house in 2017.

The simple fact of having a prime minister likely to be around for some time promises Japan a presence in global affairs that has been sorely missing. Its return coincides with the tense recasting of relationships in east Asia spurred by an assertive China. If Mr Abe has a single message, it is that economic strength at home is vital to defend Japan’s interests abroad.

He intends to spend his political capital. In defiance of his party he wants Japan to join US-led trade talks to create the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The effort could yet falter in the face of the LDP’s fierce attachment to agricultural protectionism, but Mr Abe has understood that trade deals are as much about geopolitics as economics. He is the first Japanese leader in a long time to elevate strategic interest above domestic infighting.

His boldest step has been in the realm of domestic economics – the second of my two positives. Starting with a big fiscal stimulus and a leadership coup at the Bank of Japan, Mr Abe has launched a three-pronged plan to lift the country out of stagnation. If an unprecedented monetary boost, more government spending and promised structural reforms do not breathe life into the world’s third-largest economy, then nothing will.

There are plenty of risks. Thursday’s stock market slide showed that Abenomics is not immune to changing market sentiment. There is deep disquiet among Japan’s neighbours about the tumbling yen. There is a fine line between justified action to kick-start the domestic economy and beggar-thy-neighbour devaluation. These days all central bankers operate in unmapped territory but the BoJ’s Haruhiko Kuroda is out on his own.

After two lost decades, something had to be done to break the pattern of stagnation. There is a decent chance that a return of consumer confidence and spending will be followed by an upswing in exports and investment. Somewhere out there, there may even be a virtuous cycle to replace the vicious one in which Japan has been trapped.

Mr Abe, though, is about more than economics. His energy comes from a deeper determination to restore Japan as a player – and, more particularly, a power to be reckoned with in its own neighbourhood. This Japanese leader does not intend to be pushed around by China – and nor, for that matter, by its vital ally the US. Mr Abe has increased defence spending and intends to revise the constitution to create a military capable of participating in collective defence.

Here we get to the big negative. The prime minister’s appeal to patriotism and national spirit is tinged with a dangerous historical revisionism. He has obfuscated when asked about Japan’s atrocities in Korea and China during the first half of the last century; his senior ministers pay their respects at the Yasukuni shrine, which holds the remains of a dozen Class A war criminals; question marks have been put over Japan’s culpability for the wartime enslavement of Korean women as prostitutes for the occupying soldiers. All in all, the mood music has been of a Japan that has tired of apologising.

The immediate effect has been to derail relations with South Korea, alarm the US and offer ammunition to Beijing when it claims that regional tensions are being stoked by Japanese nationalism rather than Chinese expansionism. Amid a maritime stand-off in the East China Sea, Washington fears that Mr Abe is treating the US-Japan security treaty as a shield from behind which Tokyo can poke China in the eye.

Japan has reason to be frustrated. Chinese incursions have raised the temperature in the territorial dispute over the Japanese-administered Senkaku (in Chinese, Diaoyu) islands. The answer, though, is not the return of unabashed Japanese nationalism. Mr Abe is fanning the glowing embers of old rivalries and hatreds across east Asia. If he wants to restore Japan’s strength, the way to do it is by reviving the economy. There is nothing to be gained, and much to be lost, by the attempt to rewrite the past.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Who is(are) happy about Abe's nationalistic rhetoric?

A. China and South Korea.

B. South-eastern Asian countries.

C. United States.

D. None of above.

答案(1)

2.Obama was said to be especially irritated by what, concerning Japanese prime ministers, can you remember?

A. The revolving door of PM's office building.

B. Japan has too many PMs in recent years.

C. Shinzo Abe's attitude during G8 summits.

D. Abe's second entering into the office.

答案(2)

3.Pilling has two positive things to say about Abe, the first is about TPP, the second is about what?

A. Ambitious efforts to revive the economy.

B. Substitution for Bank of Japan governor.

C. Promises of structural reforms.

D. A roaring Japanese stock market.

答案(3)

4.What do we know about Abenomics?

A. The term was coined by Abe himself.

B. It performed badly in Japanese stock market.

C. Japanese voters like Abenomics.

D. Abenomics is immune to changing market sentiment

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.None of above.
解释：ABC显然都不高兴。

(2) 答案：B.Japan has too many PMs in recent years.
解释：外国领导人在同日本首相握手时，总会想到，他会不会又是干不久就下台？政策总是得一遍又一遍重新谈，据说奥巴马对此尤为不爽。

(3) 答案：A.Ambitious efforts to revive the economy.
解释：这一项是关于本国经济政策的，因此BC都不全面，D也不对。

(4) 答案：C.Japanese voters like Abenomics.
解释：ABD都不正确。BD与事实相反，而C正是安倍大选大胜上台，并且支持率颇高的原因。

统制主义，天降杀机？

法国政府为什么要阻止雅虎对Dailymotion的收购？法国的经济模式与英美有何不同？答案就是历史悠久的“统制主义”，它甚至可以追溯到路易十四的财政大臣柯尔贝尔。FT巴黎社长Hugh Carnegy失望地指出，今天的统制主义不仅不断气，而且还有了些新的内容。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
dirigisme|[法]政府对经济的管制和干预。二战后，法国左右政治派别都赞同，政府应在资本主义经济基础上，兴办一些国有企业（邮政铁路核电等）和通过各种经济手段进行调控和引导，以使缺乏大企业的法国经济复兴。

voluble['vɒljʊb(ə)l] adj.健谈的

La Bastille 巴黎的巴士底狱广场

PSA Peugeot Citroën 标志雪铁龙
irk[ɜːk] v.使烦恼，使厌倦
redundancy [rɪ'dʌnd(ə)nsɪ] n.冗余，裁员
hurl at 投向
megaphone['megəfəʊn] n.扩音器
blast furnace 高炉
right of first refusal 优先购买权

SNCF 法国国营铁路公司
caveat ['kæviæt] n.警告，说明
furtive ['fɜːtɪv] adj.秘密的，鬼鬼祟祟的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分30秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分5秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分12秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分46秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Inside Business: Dirigisme dies hard in France (771 words)

By Hugh Carnegy

Arnaud Montebourg could hardly have chosen a more fitting day to launch his latest public assault on one of the world’s biggest companies. The voluble French industry minister’s boast that he had blocked Yahoo from “devouring” Dailymotion, a French video website that the US group wanted to acquire, came as trade unionists were gathering at La Bastille for their annual May Day parade.

By preserving Dailymotion for the nation, the socialist minister may be attempting to save some face with French workers after his failure to stop the closure of an ArcelorMittal steel furnace at Florange in the north of the country. But the startling implication is that France has added dotcom companies to the list of those to be shielded from foreign takeover. This raises the question of exactly what President François Hollande’s policy is on state ownership and control of companies.

Mr Montebourg, whose spat with Yahoo followed very public clashes with Maurice Taylor, head of US tyremaker Titan International, and the owners of carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroën, irks French business leaders as much as foreign counterparts.

The man in charge of the “Say Oui to France” inward investment campaign is clearly doing little for France’s image with investors. His move against Yahoo followed a week in which Mr Hollande had made overtures to Chinese investors and entrepreneurs at home to show that the country was open for business.

While that message has now been made much less audible, the government has adopted a more pragmatic approach than Mr Montebourg’s megaphone suggests.

Last week, the Florange blast furnaces finally went cold despite the industry minister’s threats of nationalisation and a stream of insults hurled at owner Lakshmi Mittal. The cash-strapped government accepted that a promise by ArcelorMittal to avoid compulsory redundancies and reinvest in the rest of the site was the best that could be achieved. PSA’s big plant closure and redundancy plan now has government backing.

Since the Florange affair, the word nationalisation has scarcely issued from ministers’ lips. In fact, in the past month, the government has raised more than €1.5bn by selling a slice of its stakes in Safran, the aircraft engine maker, and EADS, maker of Airbus airliners.

Furthermore, Mr Montebourg himself signalled in a recent newspaper interview that the government was willing to sell down other state shareholdings. However, this week he rowed back from a suggestion that Paris may sell part of its 85 per cent holding in EDF, the big nuclear power and electricity provider.

There is certainly plenty of scope for privatisations, given the €60bn of state shareholdings in quoted companies, including GDF Suez, the utility; Thales, the defence contractor; Air France-KLM; Renault, the carmaker; Areva, the nuclear power group; and France Telecom. Then there are its 100 per cent holdings in big operations such as the post office and the SNCF railway operator.

But while officials say there are “no taboos” about selling some shareholdings, there are important caveats. We are not talking here of a Thatcherite privatisation programme – even a furtive one.

The government is firmly committed to retaining its influence in defence, energy and transport. The EADS sale, for example, was in the context of a revamped corporate governance deal that left France with a core 12 per cent stake in the company. The state recently negotiated a right of first refusal on EADS’ 46 per cent stake in Dassault Aviation, in case EADS wants to sell out. In addition, Paris still holds a 27 per cent stake in Safran.

As Dailymotion shows, the government is also set on playing a pivotal role in new technology businesses deemed vital to the country’s industrial future – as was its centre-right predecessor.

The French rival to YouTube, founded by two entrepreneurs eight years ago, received €7.5m in funding from FSI (Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement, a state-owned investment agency), the state’s strategic investment agency, in 2009 before it was taken over by France Telecom two years later and before the socialist government came to power last year.

Some €450m raised from the Safran sale has gone into the new Public Investment Bank, which absorbed the FSI and is charged with buying stakes in developing companies, especially in technology.

Under pressure from rising unemployment and stalled growth, the government has shown some flexibility. But this will not be at the price of yielding control over industries regarded as being of national importance – which can be a pretty wide definition.

As Mr Montebourg has amply illustrated in the case of Dailymotion, dirigisme dies hard in France.

Hugh Carnegy is the Financial Times’ Paris bureau chief

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following is not "dirigiste"?

A. Industrty minister Arnaud Montebourg blocked Yahoo's Dailymotion acquisition.

B. Industrty minister Arnaud Montebourg threatened to nationalize ArcelorMittal's factory.

C. Former president Jacques Chirac denounced UK/US economic policy as "Anglo-Saxon ultraliberalism".

D. Former president Nocolas Sarkozy lowered taxes and raised retirement age from 60 to 62.

答案(1)

2.After disputes with business leaders, the socialist government finally reconciliated with whom?

A. Peugeot Citroën.

B. Yahoo.

C. EADS(parent firm of Airbus).

D. Titan International(tyremaker).

答案(2)

3.French government would like to control what kind of industries?

A. Those who are "too big to fail".

B. Those too big for private sector to invest in.

C. Those seen as being of national importance.

D. Those with long investment payoff period.

答案(3)

4.Is there something new about today's French dirigisme?

A. Nothing new.

B. The government also wants to play a pivotal role in new technology businesses.

C. The government plans to reduce its shareholdings in state-owned enterprises.

D. The government is hostile only to foreign capital.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.Former president Nocolas Sarkozy lowered taxes and raised retirement age from 60 to 62.
解释：ABC都是管制主义的政策或姿态。 戴高乐、蓬皮杜、希拉克等右翼总统也都是管制主义的奉行者，法国的私有化远没有英美撒切尔-里根革命那种大规模。这两种经济模式的支持者没少互相吐槽。

(2) 答案：A.Peugeot Citroën.
解释：政府最后与米塔尔和解，并支持了标致雪铁龙的关厂减产计划。
本文中出现了一堆一堆的陌生的公司名称，不需要费时去细读，你只需要知道它们是哪一类的。GDF Suez, the utility; Thales, the defence contractor...看到前面的state shareholdings in quoted companies, including 就可以知道这些“都是国有控股公司”，就可以了。如果问题中问到了细节，再回来找是很快的。

(3) 答案：C.Those seen as being of national importance.
解释：A是英美政府的理念，在金融危机后，作为权宜之计，被迫收购了一些银行和汽车公司，但它们不会长期持有，随着经济好转，这些股份将被全额出售。 法国政府长期控制一些行业，是认为它们具有战略重要性。至于B理由是不成立的，世界上市值最大的公司苹果就是私企。D理由其实也不成立，亚马逊在上市后连亏9年投资者还在不断注资。

(4) 答案：B.The government also wants to play a pivotal role in new technology businesses.
解释：Dailymotion并购案显示了法国政府也想在新科技领域插手，不仅是传统的铁路核电邮政等行业了，France has added dotcom companies to the list.文中提到，政府的策略是，用卖航空制造商Safran赛峰集团股份的钱，注资国有投资公司，然后用来收购高科技公司。

“大卫·斯托克曼现象”

曾担任里根政府预算办公室主任的前众议员大卫·斯托克曼，是美国经济史上的重要人物。他曾坚决支持里根政府的大减税，但在离开政府后，他开始抨击里根和后来共和党人的经济政策。这是什么情况？最近，他出了本长篇巨幅而晦涩的书，批判主流经济学界和政界，经济学家布鲁斯·巴特利特讲述了“斯托克曼现象”的前因后果。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

David Stockman 斯托克曼在1977-81年出任密歇根州联邦众议员，随后在里根的第一个任期（81-85）担任预算办公室主任。他以批评共和党只顾减税不管赤字著称，宣称自己投资黄金、罐头、矿泉水、电池等“所有不能被伯南克毁掉的东西”

whiz-kid 神童

Rep[rep] n.众议员(Representative)名字前的正式头衔。一般通俗称呼Congressman/Congresswoman.

adjunct ['ædʒʌŋ(k)t] n.附属物，助手

Rep Jack Kemp 杰克·肯普众议员，因发起通过了减税高达30%的肯普-罗斯减税法案而著称（signature issue）。在1996年他作为鲍勃·多尔的搭档出任共和党副总统候选人，最终他们输给克林顿-戈尔组合。本文作者Bartlett曾担任肯普的幕僚。

bedevil [bɪ'dev(ə)l] v.使痛苦，使苦恼
screed [skriːd] n.冗长的文章
crank [kræŋk] n.奇想
fiat money 以政府信用为担保的，不以金银为基础的法定货币
blurb [blɜːb] v.大肆宣传
tenet ['tenɪt] n.原则，信仰

Austrian economics 奥地利学派经济学
garner ['gɑːnə] v.把…收入谷仓

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分5秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分24秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分26秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分51秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The David Stockman phenomenon (852 words)

by Bruce Bartlett

This week, a new book, “The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America” by David A. Stockman was published in the US, garnering a great deal of notice. The attention is due not so much to the 742-page book, which is dense with discussions of obscure financial topics, but because of the author, who once played a critical role in American economic policy.

Mr Stockman was the proverbial whiz-kid of American politics. After college, he worked on the staff of the US Congress for Rep John B. Anderson of Illinois, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. In 1976, Mr Stockman returned to his native state of Michigan to run for Congress himself, winning elective office on his first try.

I first met David in early 1977 while working for Rep Jack Kemp of New York, whom Mr Stockman greatly admired. In fact, his office was like an adjunct of Kemp’s. The two staffs working closely together on a variety of issues. Mr Stockman was a strong supporter of Kemp’s signature issue – an across-the-board tax rate reduction of 30 percent that Ronald Reagan adopted and enacted into law in 1981.

Mr Stockman, however, was not a Reagan man. In the 1980 Republican primaries he supported John Connally, the former Texas governor and Treasury secretary . But he quickly recovered after the election, writing a widely discussed memo to president-elect Reagan on “Avoiding a GOP Economic Dunkirk” that outlined various economic crises looming on the horizon that the new administration needed to tackle immediately.

On the strength of this memo, Mr Stockman was named by Reagan to be his White House budget director. By this time, he had become highly skeptical of a big tax cut without offsetting spending cuts. Rather foolishly, he confided his doubts about Reagan’s plan to cut taxes first and spending later to the journalist William Greider, who published them in the December 1981 issue of The Atlantic magazine.

Although Kemp and other Reagan supporters believed that Mr Stockman had betrayed them, Reagan forgave him and he remained budget director until 1985, when he left Washington to join the Wall Street firm Salomon Brothers. In 1986, Mr Stockman published a memoir, “The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed.”

In the years since, Mr Stockman has kept a low political profile, working in the auto industry. Although out of the public eye, he has remained a symbol of what many people believe was a wrong turn on economic policy in the 1980s. That is when fiscal policy, in particular, got on the wrong track, with large budget deficits emerging that have bedeviled policymakers ever since. It is when Republicans abandoned their long-held support for a balanced budget and became fanatical tax cutters under any and all circumstances.

Mr Stockman himself shares these misgivings. Over the years, his concerns about governmental debt have grown to encompass all forms of debt, which he now appears to view as the root of all evil. His new book is really an extended screed against corporate, financial, housing and personal debt.

In this respect, Mr Stockman has aligned himself with monetary cranks who have long denounced “fiat money” and demanded the return to a rigid gold standard.

One tenet of Austrian economics, which Mr Stockman now embraces, is that all economic downturns are caused by government and only government. Inflation breeds indebtedness which breeds overinvestment which inevitably ends in an economic blow-up. Recessions are viewed both as necessary to cleanse economic excesses and as penance for straying from the one true path of gold, balanced budgets, and the night watchman state that does pretty much nothing except enforce contracts.

Believers in this worldview see Keynesian economics as their blood enemy. Mr Stockman spends many pages in his new book denouncing the British economist John Maynard Keynes as being primarily responsible for leading policymakers from the true path of fiscal and monetary righteousness onto the path sin, as exemplified by debt and fiat money.

Had someone other than Mr Stockman written such a tract or if it appeared at a different time, it would be ignored and quickly disappear. But at a time when excessive debt is at the root of many of the world’s economic problems, when nations like Cyprus simply confiscate bank deposits to pay national debts, and countries like Japan are actively attempting to inflate their currencies, many people are attracted to the simplicity and moral certitude of the old time religion that Mr Stockman articulates.

It may well be true that a more financially conservative set of policies would have spared us the current crisis. But it doesn’t follow that an immediate return to such policies will improve the situation. Preventative and curative measures often require different approaches in both medicine and finance. Using the former when the latter is needed can easily make matters worse.

The writer is a former senior economist at the White House, US Congress and Treasury. He is author of ‘The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform – Why We Need It and What It Will Take’.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does the writer trying to say when he introduced a lot about Stockman's relationship with Kemp?

A. That he had a good chance to enter the party's leadership in Congress.

B. That he was a proverbial whiz-kid of American politics.

C. That he once supported Reagan tax cuts.

D. That it was through Kemp that the writer met Stockman.

答案(1)

2.Why Kemp and Reagan supporters believed that Stockman had betrayed them?

A. Because he voted against Reagan.

B. Because he publicly confided his doubts about Reagan’s plan.

C. Because he left the administration as budget director.

D. Because he later became a "fanatical tax cutter".

答案(2)

3.What do we know about Austrian economics?

A. They believe that all economic downturns are caused by government.

B. They favor a strong central bank.

C. They endorse Bush and Obama's bailout and stimulus programs.

D. It is the Republican party's mainstream economics.

答案(3)

4.To sum up, what is "the David Stockman phenomenon"?

A. Writing unimaginably long books denouncing Capitalism in America.

B. Bashing mainstream politics after leaving the Congress.

C. Being too cautious and conservative financially.

D. Proposing preventive measures when curative measures are necessary.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.That he once supported Reagan tax cuts.
解释：A文中未提到，B与问题无关，而D并不需要一大段的话来介绍。显然这是为了讲主角斯托克曼思想变化的一个阶段。
一点速读小技巧：看到很多人名时，可以这样简记：主角曾为Rep JA工作，后来也当了Rep；作者是在为Rep JK工作时认识主角的，主角与JK志同道合。主角没有支持里根选总统，而是支持州长JC。 ——这样，即使都是陌生名字，看到问题后你也可以迅速理清关系。出现次数越多的人越重要，州长JC只出现一次，不需要费时关注。

(2) 答案：B.Because he publicly confided his doubts about Reagan’s plan.
解释：这是文中原话。还可以用上面的小技巧简记：他写建议给里根，入阁，质疑减税，愚蠢地公开发表对总统的怀疑，被认为是背叛，却留任，离开后写书抨击里根政策。
A文中未提到，而且他让里根支持者不满是在担任阁员期间。斯托克曼在总统第一个任期结束后正常离开，因此C不对。至于D，这是他后来对共和党的批评。

(3) 答案：A.They believe that all economic downturns are caused by government.
解释：奥地利学派经济学是一个很有影响的学派。显然他们不赞同美国主流学界和政界的观点。 比如，文中可以看到，他们认为一切经济危机的根源都是政府干预，政府干预--负债和通胀--央行压低利率--overinvestment--资产泡沫破裂。 所以政府最好啥也不做，除了当守夜人，甚至央行不要也行，恢复金本位就好了。

(4) 答案：D.Proposing preventive measures when curative measures are necessary.
解释：在文章最后一段，作者认为保守的经济政策的确可能避免经济危机，但这是预防药，现在需要治疗用的药，用预防药可能会easily make matters worse. A显然不正确，B现象也确实偶尔存在，但不是本文讨论的。文章的题目或第一段意义不明时，需要留心文章是如何解释的。

民粹登场，民主靠边？

幸福的家庭都是相似的，民主的国家则各有各的挑战。从意大利五星运动，到英国独立党，到法国国民阵线，民粹政党正以民族主义、“爱国主义”的旗号粉墨登场，吸引着对现状不满的人们。一些主流政党也被迫迎合这种思潮，有时让人不安地联想到上世纪30年代。代议民主有时因追求合法性而牺牲效率，但这是否说明威权体制更优越？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
enfeeble[ɪn'fiːbl]/debilitate [dɪ'bɪlɪteɪt] v.使衰弱，削弱
authoritarian[ɔː,θɒrɪ'teərɪən] adj.威权主义的，威权主义者。

autocratic[ɔːtə'krætɪk] adj.专权的，专制的
lament[lə'ment] n./v.哀悼，痛惜

Five Star Movement 意大利民粹政党，今年大选竟然成为得票最多的政党，它拒绝与任何党合作造成两个月的政治僵局。其主张之一是，把所有政策放在网上投票，不需要政党和议会了。这正是《黑镜》二季第三集的情节。

Ukip 英国独立党UK Independence party，以强烈的民族主义、反移民和要求退出欧盟著称。领导人是Nigel Farage。

bandwagon['bændwægən] n.流行时尚，乐队花车
oxymoronic [,ɒksɪ'mɔːrɒnɪk] adj.矛盾（修饰法）的
xenophobic[,zenəu'fəubik] adj.仇视外国人的
take a toll on 给…造成伤害
scapegoat ['skeɪpgəʊt] n.替罪羔羊
gerrymandering ['dʒerɪ,mændə] n./v.为政党利益不公正地划分选区
benign [bɪ'naɪn] adj.良性的，和善的
lemming-like v.旅鼠一般的，人云亦云的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分28秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分37秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分35秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分54秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Do not blame democracy for the rise of the populists (906 words)

By Philip Stephens

Democracy is in trouble. Barack Obama has become an “if only” president – he would love to fix America’s finances, tighten controls on gun ownership and close Guantánamo, but disobliging Republicans keep saying No. On the other side of the Atlantic, Europe’s leaders are enfeebled by economic failure. A populist insurgency has exposed deep flaws in the democratic system. What’s needed is a bracing dose of authoritarian efficiency.

I hear this story almost everywhere. It is told by Chinese officials eager to contrast decisive decision-making in autocratic Beijing with debilitating drift in liberal democracies. Elsewhere, the sorry condition of rich nations gives the lie to neocolonialist claims for the universality of western values.

The narrative is more than misleading. It classifies the pressures faced by states everywhere as a challenge unique to democracies. Even so, echoing notes of despair have crept into the discourse of elected politicians. Leaders lament their powerlessness. They are living, they complain, in an age of anti-politics. Doing the “right thing” is an invitation to voters to turn them out. Whether it is Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement in Italy or the UK Independence party in Britain, the wind is behind populists dressed up as patriots.

Nigel Farage’s Ukip is the latest to jump on the bandwagon. A party once derided by David Cameron, as “loonies, fruitcakes and closet racists” picked up more than 20 per cent of the vote in local elections through its anti-immigrant, anti-Europe populism. The British prime minister now feels obliged to legislate to shut out more foreigners.

Elsewhere, the Five Star Movement has all but paralysed Italian politics – oxymoronic though that idea may sound. In Greece and Hungary, there is a thin line between rightwing populism and fascism. France’s anti-Islamic National Front is thriving. Finland has its True Finns. Viktor Orbán,Hungary’s prime minister, tilts towards the xenophobic extremism of that country’s Jobbik party with an agenda uncomfortably reminiscent of the 1930s.

Beyond tapping into grievances stirred by falling living standards, what unites these movements is deep hostility to “the world outside” – to the EU, to the forces of globalisation and/or to immigration. The British don’t want to be bossed about by “Brussels”; the French don’t want to surrender a civilised social model to low-wage competition from China. Immigrants, always a scapegoat during times of stress, are accused of stealing jobs and undermining social and cultural cohesion.

Democracy sometimes does demand short-term trade-offs between legitimacy and efficiency. Constituency gerrymandering, as in the US, and the geographical fragmentation of party allegiances, as in the UK, have also taken a toll on effective government. The Republican leadership runs scared of Tea Party populism, while Mr Cameron fears Ukip’s appeal to an ageing and shrinking Conservative base.

Watching events in Europe these past few years, it is also not hard to imagine that a benign autocrat might have done a better job than 27 elected governments to end the protracted agony of the eurozone. We should not be surprised. The oft-heard description of democracy as the worst form of government except for all the alternatives has it about right. Not many Europeans would exchange the right to vote for a quick fix in the eurozone.

The mistake is to conclude that because democracies are troubled by nationalism, the fault lies with the democratic system. There are more prosaic explanations. Some would start with the original design flaws in the euro; others would put the blame on a lemming-like faith in the economics of austerity, which has turned a post-crash recession into prolonged depression.

Anyone with a passing interest in history might look to the quality, or otherwise, of leadership. Those with grey hairs should be careful about lamenting the passing of the big beasts of yesteryear. Yet comparing today’s leaders with Europe’s postwar giants provides more than half an explanation for the mess.

In one respect, the populists are on to something. The anxiety and anger of Europe’s electorates does reflect a failure of governments. Presidents and prime ministers are discovering that the old levers of power no longer work. Promises are broken not through malign intent but because the capacity of individual nations to act has been constrained.

The connection here is not with the weakness of democracy; nor with the EU or immigrants. The culprit, if you can call it that, is globalisation. The political mega-trend of recent decades has been the diffusion of power – from states to other actors and from old elites to citizens.

Economic interdependence and borderless communications leave governments to compete with multinationals, with a proliferation of non-state organisations, and with religious and ethnic identities that have no respect for national borders. Closer to home, the digital revolution gives a louder voice to those once shut out of political debate.

This is fertile ground for the politics of grievance. It explains the paradox of the rise of nationalism in a world where nations are weaker. The appeal of the populists lies in their dishonest promise to stop the world and jump off.

The pressures, economic and political, are not only felt by democracies – ask the Chinese about the upsurge of street demonstrations, or the Middle East despots praying they will escape the Arab uprisings. As for the future of democracy, I do not see Russians clamouring for Vladimir Putin to tighten further his repression, or Egyptians demanding the return of Hosni Mubarak.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Among the following "stories heard almost everywhere", the writer disbelieves in which one?

A. Obama and the Republicans are in gridlock.

B. Europe’s leaders are enfeebled by economic failure.

C. A populist insurgency is sounding the alarm for the democratic system.

D. What’s needed is a bracing dose of authoritarian efficiency.

答案(1)

2.The narrative (that authoritarianism is superior to democracy) "is more than misleading."

Why?

A. Populism is actually a challenge unique to authoritarian states, not democracies.

B. Every country faces the challenge of populism, regardless of its system of government.

C. Because it's told by people who do not understand the functioning of a democracy.

D. Because we can see decisive decision-making in Beijing and debilitating drift in Europe.

答案(2)

3.What is not something shared by major european populist parties?

A. Anti-big government.

B. Anti-European Integration.

C. Anti-immigration.

D. Anti-Globalisation.

答案(3)

4.What can explain the populist surge in Europe?

A. The quality of leadership is not as good as before.

B. Governments' inability to drag the economy out of recession.

C. Globalisation and the diffusion of power from political elites to NGOs and grassroots.

D. All of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.What’s needed is a bracing dose of authoritarian efficiency.
解释：细心的话你会发现ABC其实都是大家都承认的事实，只有D是观点。 而D这个到处都有人提到的观点，正是作者本文要反驳的。

(2) 答案：B.Every country faces the challenge of populism, regardless of its system of government.
解释：第三段解释了这种说法为什么是坑爹的：It classifies the pressures faced by states everywhere as a challenge unique to democracies. 看似语句复杂，但是意思很清楚，这种观点只看到了一面，忽视了另一面。

(3) 答案：D.Anti-Globalisation.
解释：已经具有全国甚至全欧性影响的意、英、法等国的民粹政党都持有ABC立场。
但是它们只有 英国独立党在经济上是主张小政府的右翼，所以卡梅伦的保守党now feels obliged to legislate to shut out more foreigners，因为担心被它抢去选民。
类似的事情在美国也有，在茶党的声势面前，共和党主流也被迫“右转”。当然，茶党没有欧洲那种强烈的反全球化和反自由贸易立场。

(4) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：文中先后提到了ABC三点。事实上，信息时代、科技革命、全球化、NGO的崛起带来了很多改变和挑战，让“新时代的全球治理”成为一个政经学术界一个热点话题。
有人担忧信息科技可能助力民粹崛起，并威胁甚至毁灭代议制民主（这正是英剧《黑镜》第二季第三集的故事）。你认为呢？

弗爵爷传奇是怎样炼成的

他把一支19年无冠的曼联，带向了长期的竞技、经济双丰收。Simon Kuper指出，弗格森的传奇成就是一砖一瓦盖成的。（尽管有“吹风机”的雅号）爵爷的领导风格是谦逊、冷静和善于学习的，他能够团结人、激励人，也能够坚持己见，目光长远。他的影响远远超过了足球界，他留下了精彩的管理教程，值得各行各业的领导者学习。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Sir 爵士称号。1999年，阿莱克斯·弗格森率领曼联夺得英超、足总杯和欧冠联赛三冠王，获英王室颁发爵士称号(knighted)。

Old Trafford 老特拉福德球场，曼联的主场。注：在英国，俱乐部教练被称作manager，除了负责竞技，也负责经营。

publican['pʌblɪk(ə)n] n.酒店老板
appalled [ə'pɔ:ld] adj.感到惊骇
uprooting [ʌp'ru:tiŋ] n./v.连根拔除
egomaniac [,iːɡəʊ'meɪnjæk] n.极端自我主义者
irascible [i'ræsəbl] adj.易怒的
transfix [træns'fɪks] v.刺穿，使呆住

Kung Fu 中国功夫

Glaswegian [ɡlæs'wi:dʒjən] n./adj.格拉斯哥人

Clydeside 克莱德河畔地区，即大格拉斯哥地区
macho ['mætʃəʊ] n./adj.男子汉气概的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分24秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分35秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分33秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分53秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Alex Ferguson’s managerial lessons stretch far beyond football (897 words)

When Sir Alex Ferguson arrived at Manchester United in 1986, the club was a bit of a drunken mess. It had not won a league title in 19 years. Its players enjoyed long, liquid pub “lunches” at which hardly a bread roll ever got eaten. Sir Alex, a former publican who like many ambitious Scots had come to regard alcohol as the enemy, was appalled.

After his managerial triumphs in Scotland, he could have decided that Man Utd’s club culture was rotten and in need of uprooting. He could have stormed in like a bullying egomaniac chief executive. But he didn’t. Instead he spent his early months at Old Trafford interviewing people, from window cleaners and supporters to legendary former players, trying to understand the club’s values.

He then set out to personify those values, such as: “United plays attacking football”, and “The world is against United”. Sir Alex always managed with the grain of a football club’s culture. The Scot, explained Jorge Valdano, the Argentine player-turned-football thinker, “bleeds the club’s history, can interpret the sentiment of the support”.

Sir Alex retires from Man Utd this month aged 71, as the most trophy-laden manager in English football history. His career contains lessons for managers in all sectors. But despite his reputation as an irascible dictator, many of those lessons have to do with humility, calm and learning from others.

Despite his success, Sir Alex never kidded himself that he knew everything. He always kept learning. From the French player Eric Cantona, who joined the club in 1992, Sir Alex learnt that British footballers did not take their jobs seriously enough. From Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 900-page biography of Abraham Lincoln, Team of Rivals, he learnt how to manage clashing personalities within an organisation.

Sir Alex spent hours each day on the phone, sucking information from ex-players and fellow managers. His enormous network extended far beyond football. Each contact was nurtured till death. (Possibly nobody attended more funerals, wrote his biographer Patrick Barclay.) When the UK’s minister of sport offended him in a meeting, Sir Alex simply picked up the phone and rang then-prime minister Tony Blair on his direct line to complain.

For Sir Alex, knowledge was power. Nothing moved inside Old Trafford without his knowing it. He knew his players’ pre-match toilet habits (and checked if they were going more than usual). He had long phone calls with fan leaders.

In 2004, one of them told him about a group of Iraqi Kurd refugees living around Manchester. Fans, who kept match tickets and photographs of the stadium as souvenirs, they had been wrongly arrested by police on suspicion of plotting to blow up Old Trafford. Sir Alex quietly arranged for the Kurds to attend a closed team practice. After all, they were club stakeholders, and stakeholders had to be kept happy (or in this case ecstatic).

He was a calm manager, too. Even when a crisis transfixed the nation – Cantona’s Kung Fu kick at a Crystal Palace fan’s head, the boot Sir Alex kicked into the face of his star player David Beckham – he never changed policy. Sir Alex knew that fusses blow over. His eye was on the long term.

He often sold players in their prime, looking ahead. In 2003, for instance, he sold Beckham for £24.5m and bought the unknown Portuguese teenager Cristiano Ronaldo for half that sum. The exchange looked risky; it proved brilliant. Ronaldo, now at Real Madrid, has matured into one of the world’s best players.

In 2004, Sir Alex blew two years’ of transfer budget on the teenaged Wayne Rooney, despite knowing the striker was not yet ready. While nurturing the Rooney-Ronaldo team, Sir Alex went three seasons without winning the league. He knew he was unsackable. His prior success had bought him freedom to think long term.

Being a long-termist, he will have planned his succession. It is no coincidence that Everton’s David Moyes, bookmakers’ favourite to get the job, is a fellow Glaswegian. Sir Alex was born in Glasgow’s Govan district on the last day of 1941, when most Govan men were building warships.

A working-class childhood in the west of Scotland is almost the norm for great British football managers. The three considered the holy trinity before Sir Alex – Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Sir Alex’s hero Jock Stein – shared it too. “Any success I have had in handling men . . . owes much to my upbringing among the working men of Clydeside,” Sir Alex has written. Industrial Glasgow provided Sir Alex with his core values: group solidarity and macho leadership. To Sir Alex as to Moyes, these values translate into leftwing politics: both men are active Labour party supporters.

But nobody can replace Sir Alex. Stefan Szymanski, economics professor at the University of Michigan, has compiled a “Soccernomics index” of overachieving managers in England: the men who reached the highest league positions relative to their clubs’ wage budgets from 1974 to 2010. Sir Alex ranks second in the index, after Liverpool’s Bob Paisley.

In short, the Scot adds exceptional value to his teams. This became most apparent from 2003, when first Chelsea and then Manchester City began outspending Man Utd on wages. Sir Alex’s team have still won five of the past seven Premier League titles. No successor is likely to match that. Man Utd must now expect decline.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What do we know about Fergusen's early years at Man Utd?

A. He was an alcoholic back then.

B. He found the club culture rottten and had it uprooted.

C. The club had not won a league in 19 years.

D. The club had a bullying egomaniac chief executive.

答案(1)

2."He always kept learning."

Which of the following is not one of the examples?

A. former players and fans--club values

B. Tony Blair--how to build a network of information

C. his French player Cantona--footballer professionalism

D. Goodwin's Team of Rivals--managing clashing personalities

答案(2)

3.What are the similarities between Ferguson and David Moyes, his likely successor?

A. Both are from Manchester, England.

B. Both are active Labour party supporters.

C. Both have won countless trophies.

D. All of above.

答案(3)

4.What best reveals his style of thinking long term?

A. He sold David Beckham at his prime time.

B. His achievement/wage budget ratio is very high.

C. He invited some Kurd-refugee-fans to attend a closed team practice.

D. He nurtured young Rooney and Ronaldo for 3 years without winning the League.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.The club had not won a league in 19 years.
解释：A说的是曼联当时的球员，整天去酒吧喝酒连饭都不吃。B正确了一半，弗格森是循序渐进地改变球队。D文中并未提到，原意是他并没有像一个自大而独裁的执行官一样暴风骤雨式地开始干。

(2) 答案：B.Tony Blair--how to build a network of information
解释：ACD都是他善于学习的例子。文中可没说打造情报网是不是跟布莱尔学的，也没说是不是跟福尔摩斯学的。

(3) 答案：B. Both are active Labour party supporters.
解释：他们都是苏格兰格拉斯哥人，都具有格拉斯哥戈文区工人阶级的那种精神面貌和作风，都是工党铁杆。 还记得文中他直接打布莱尔的专线抱怨的事情吗？

(4) 答案：A.He nurtured young Rooney and Ronaldo for 3 years without winning the League.
解释：他宁愿用眼前的成绩为代价来进行球队的更新换代，来为长远考虑。His prior success had bought him freedom to think long term.
卖贝克汉姆与买C罗纳尔多两件事加起来才能说明他目光长远。B准确说是说明他精打细算和执教能力高。

百岁老人的投资智慧

华尔街的百岁老人经历过大风大浪,他们有什么秘诀要向我们分享呢？

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分5秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分50秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分2秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分42秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

On Wall Street: Age old wisdom (712 words)

By Spencer Jakab

In uncertain times, any American money manager worth his salt understands that potential clients are comforted by a long-term track-record and patrician solidity. Consider a successful 1990 TV commercial showing grainy black and white footage of Dean Witter sagely advising money managers at his eponymous brokerage firm, presumably around the time of its founding in 1924, to find each client’s comfort level.

The man was an actor, the footage and the crackling audio fake and Dean Witter already a large, impersonal firm owned by retailer Sears. The image of having seen decades of bull and bear markets struck a chord with investors though.

Such perspective is suddenly back in vogue on Wall Street, but how many active fund managers can speak from personal experience when comparing recent events to historic downturns like 1987, much less 1974? Even those few who can mostly survived by sticking with the panicked herd.

No phony newsreel footage is necessary to convey the wisdom of two living legends who thrived through the granddaddy of them all, the Great Crash of 1929. Both Irving Kahn, the oldest active money manager on Wall Street at 103, and 106 year-old Roy Neuberger, saw the recent shakeout in global markets as just another opportunity to buy good companies cheaply while competitors a third their age rushed for the exits.

Irving Kahn in his Madison Avenue office

Kahn says he ignores market gyrations and typically holds stocks for at least three years, sometimes as much as 15, until value is realised. His firm, Kahn Brothers, compares its philosophy to tending an orchard with different types of fruit, some of which ripen more slowly than others. If that sounds suspiciously like the father of value investing, Benjamin Graham, it is no accident – Kahn was Graham’s first teaching assistant and helped him with his 1934 classic Security Analysis. Like Graham, Kahn seeks out unloved and obscure stocks, eschewing highfliers.

“Never buy popular stocks, except maybe in a depression,” he warns.

Neuberger, and the firm he founded, Neuberger Berman, hew to similar principles. He retired at age 99 and is now too frail to be interviewed. His 68-year-old protégé Marvin Schwartz, who joined the firm in 1961, consults with him regularly though and credits Neuberger with providing appropriate perspective in hard times such as these.

“In almost each and every instance, he advised us to buy in what would be a passing negative period,” says Schwartz.

Both men have benefited from healthy scepticism and extraordinary timing. Kahn’s first trade upon arriving on Wall Street in 1928 was to sell short 50 shares of red-hot Magma Copper. Informed that it was a bull market and that he would lose his money, he instead doubled it in the crash.

Roy Neuberger at home in NY

Similarly, Neuberger kicked off his career by shorting the hottest stock of the decade, Radio Corporation of America, in 1929. Predictions that almost everyone would one day own a radio proved true but failed to justify its bloated price.

Do such experiences better prepare you for future calamities? Kahn’s answer is a qualified yes.

“History mostly repeats itself, but it’s never exact.”

Neuberger wrote in his autobiography that living though 1929 helped him trounce competitors in 1987. He broke even during both crashes.

Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway hoping that the 79-year-old Oracle of Omaha will achieve longevity on par with Messrs Kahn and Neuberger have cause for cheer. Optimistic value-seekers have remarkable staying-power. Philip Carret and Philip Fisher, two of Buffett’s key influences aside from Graham and among the most successful investors of all-time, died at age 101 and 96, respectively. Another legendary investor, Sir John Templeton, remained active until his death last summer at age 95 and is credited with two of the great contrarian investing quotes: “Invest at the point of maximum pessimism” and “the four most dangerous words in investing are ‘it’s different this time.’”

Kahn minces no words about the advantage of being a centenarian.

“I think people my age are brighter than people your age. You don’t make the same mistakes and that by itself gives you an enormous edge. So how old are you?”

Er, 40 this month.

“You lack certainty in your convictions,” he sniffs.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What's the main purpose of this article?

A. Shed light on the origin of value investing

B. Sound alarm of a major market collapse

C. Explain why Warren Buffet lives so long

D. Share the wisdom of the really experienced investors

答案(1)

2.Kahn Brothers' investing philosophy can be categorized as?

A. Value investing

B. Insider trading

C. Day Trading

D. Gambling

答案(2)

3.What would Neuberger Berman most likely buy?

A. Twitter, the miniblog web site which is very popular among young people

B. ICBC, the biggest bank by market value

C. BYD, for the "green car" concept

D. None of the above

答案(3)

4.If history repeats itself like the old men said, which the following is mostly likely to happen?

A. Almost everybody has access to Internet, but those who invest in Internet companies lose their money.

B. Obama is shot dead in Dalas.

C. China becomes the super power over U.S.

D. Word War III started by Germany.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.Share the wisdom of the really experienced investors
解释：check out the full text

(2) 答案：A.Value investing
解释："His firm, Kahn Brothers, compares its philosophy to tending an orchard with different types of fruit, some of which ripen more slowly than others. If that sounds suspiciously like the father of value investing, Benjamin Graham, it is no accident..."

(3) 答案：D.None of the above
解释：“Never buy popular stocks, except maybe in a depression,” he warns. Neuberger, and the firm he founded, Neuberger Berman, hew to similar principles.

(4) 答案：A.Almost everybody has access to Internet, but those who invest in Internet companies lose their money.
解释："His firm, Kahn Brothers, compares its philosophy to tending an orchard with different types of fruit, some of which ripen more slowly than others. If that sounds suspiciously like the father of value investing, Benjamin Graham, it is no accident..."

撒切尔是对的

“世上有个体的男人和女人、有家庭。人们应当自立并照顾家庭和邻里。但从来就没有什么抽象的、可以帮我们解决一切难题的‘社会’”。——FT专栏作家塞缪尔·布里坦说，这是体现铁娘子哲学的最棒的演说。经验主义思想家都赞同她，而黑格尔的国家主义哲学则针锋相对。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Samuel Brittan 本文作者，FT专栏作家塞缪尔·布里坦。其兄里昂·布里坦(Leon Brittan)曾是撒切尔政府的内政大臣和贸易与工业大臣。

obsequies ['ɒbsɪkwɪz] n.葬礼
verbiage['vɜːbɪɪdʒ] n.冗词；废话

Keith Joseph 基思·约瑟夫，撒切尔夫人的高参和好友，“撒切尔主义”的重要人物，最重要的作用之一就是说服铁娘子采用米尔顿·弗里德曼的货币主义。他曾在麦克米兰、希斯、和撒切尔三位首相的内阁中担任多个部长职务。

methodological individualism 方法论的个人主义，认为“集体是个体的总和”，反对以社会阶级、性别、以及族群作为研究实体。经济学中的“理性经济人假设”就是来自方法论的个人主义。

empiricist [em'pirisist] n./adj.经验主义者。经验主义重视观察和研究实验，其代表人物有弗兰西斯·培根，大卫·休谟和约翰·洛克等。它与“理性主义”重视抽象的思考和推理针锋相对。英美法和大陆法的不同特点可见两者的区别。

G.W.F. Hegel 德国哲学家黑格尔。文中引用了他的一句名言：“人具有的全部精神现实性，都是通过国家才具有的”。其强调国家至上、民族至上，贬斥个人自由和权利的国家主义哲学对法西斯主义影响巨大。

reductionist [ri'dʌkʃənist] n./adj.还原论、化约论的，Reductionism是一种哲学思想，认为复杂的系统和事物可以简化为各部分之组合的方法来理解。与整体论相对。

copse [kɒps] n.杂树林；小灌木丛

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分13秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分29秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分29秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分52秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Thatcher was right – there is no ‘society’ (871 words)

By Samuel Brittan

Now that both the obsequies and the ritual condemnations of Margaret Thatcher are over, the time has begun for a more analytical look at her legacy. I am not a bad person to start this off as I was neither a passionate anti-Thatcherite nor regarded by her inner circle as “really one of us”.

A point that has been missed in all the verbiage of recent days is how much her thinking owed to Keith Joseph, the Conservative who helped to put the idea of a genuine free market back on the political agenda.

In saying this I am far from trying to detract from her legacy. On the contrary, she often said: “One day people will realise what they owe to Keith Joseph.” Anyone can confirm this by looking at her Joseph Memorial Lecture of 1996 given to the Centre for Policy Studies. The first part of the lecture, on the connection between a free economy and a free society, and the last part, on the perils of the euro currency project, are still fresh and relevant.

I should like to start with a comment she made that has defined her – it was even raised at her funeral. Some see it as one of the worst things that she said; I regard it as one of the best.

“I think we have been through a period when too many people have been given to understand that when they have a problem it is government’s job to cope with it. ‘I have a problem, I’ll get a grant. I’m homeless, the government must house me.’ They are casting their problems on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no governments can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbours. People have got their entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There is no such thing as an entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation.”

Thatcher meant, I believe, that people should first try to solve their own problems and those of their families and friends, and only as a last resort rely on government. The government is simply a mechanism with which people can help each other and force would-be free riders to make a contribution. I interpreted her remarks as an expression of methodological individualism (although I pity any speech writer who sought to persuade her to say those words).

I have tried to explain all this in my book Capitalism With a Human Face. Very briefly it means that the workings of complex wholes must be capable of being expressed in terms of individual components – chemical elements in terms of atoms, atoms in terms of subatomic particles and nations in terms of their citizens. Methodological individualism has been espoused by a long line of empiricist thinkers, some of very different politics to Thatcher.

The classical liberal philosopher Karl Popper, for instance, looked at the abstract concept of war. “What is concrete is the many who are killed, or the men and women in uniform.” The 18th-century Scottish philosopher David Hume remarked that a nation was a collection of individuals. This doctrine has also been denied by many supposedly eminent philosophers, such as the overrated G.W.F. Hegel, who said: “All the worth which the human being possesses in all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the state.”

Thatcher was well aware that the support she has been accused of withholding from declining industries in the north of the UK would have come not from a mysterious entity known as the state. It would have come from fellow citizens. She may have been right or wrong. But it was not a matter of her personal generosity. Nit-picking political philosophers have said that if she wanted to be a true methodological individualist she would not have added “and there are families” in her famous statement. It was like saying: “There are no forests, only trees and copses.” She was not so stupid as to fail to see this. But she was not teaching a political philosophy class. She was pointing out that aid for the poor, or distressed regions, had to come from somewhere – namely the inhabitants of the country concerned.

It was a pity that she was incapable of applying this reductionist thinking to foreign affairs. There are no beings such as Germany, Britain or Argentina – only complex entities composed of individuals. It is reasonable for a British citizen to value a British life more than an Argentine life, but it is unreasonable to put a zero value on the latter. It must be admitted that even if people habitually thought in these terms they might still support death as a necessary evil to avoid territorial losses and the like. But if this translation were always made it might sometimes lead to less nationalist policies. Even Thatcher must have been intuitively aware of this when she wept for 40 minutes at the loss of life when a battleship went down near the Falklands.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What part of Thatcher's speech is "still fresh and relevant"?

A. That one day people will realise what they owe to Keith Joseph.

B. That the euro currency project was dangerous.

C. A strong connection between a free economy and a free society.

D. That there is no such thing as society.

答案(1)

2.Thatcher would deny that...

A. families are very important.

B. the government should not help homeless people.

C. low-rent housing provided by the government is a good project.

D. the people should earn his own living and help his families and friends.

答案(2)

3.The writer agrees to which of the following saying?

A. “There are no forests, only trees and copses.”

B. “What is concrete is the many who are killed, or the men and women in uniform”

C. “I have a problem, I’ll get a grant. I’m homeless, the government must house me.”

D. “All the worth which the human being possesses in all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the state.”

答案(3)

4.Why does the writer mention "she wept for 40 minutes at the loss of life when a battleship went down near the Falklands"?

A. To provide a vivid historical anecdote.

B. To show Iron Lady's humane face.

C. To express her belief that casualties are a necessary evil to avoid territorial losses.

D. To illustrate That she was neither strongly nationalistic nor extremely individualist.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.That the euro currency project was dangerous.
解释：第三段中说，在关于基思·约瑟夫的纪念讲话上，她讲的第一部分是关于C，第二部分是关于B。值得一提的是，导致铁娘子被迫辞职的主要原因，就是其党内同僚对欧盟一体化和英国加入欧元区的热情，与她的欧洲怀疑主义发生冲突。

(2) 答案：B.the government should not help homeless people.
解释：ACD是正确的。撒切尔不是反对所有的社会福利，而是认为人们应当自立和帮助家人与朋友，当走投无路时才依赖政府(as a last resort)。 在撒切尔著名的一段话中，她批评了一种心态：‘I have a problem, I’ll get a grant. I’m homeless, the government must house me.’ 事实上，她在执政时将廉租房低价出售给穷人，此举与国企民营化一样，甩掉了政府亏损的包袱，筹集了大量的资金，并提升了经济效益。

(3) 答案：B.“What is concrete is the many who are killed, or the men and women in uniform”
解释：A的意思是说，撒切尔夫人不会蠢到说这种颇为极端个人主义的话，因为她是一个非常注重家庭价值的人。 B是哲学家卡尔·波普尔的名言，这与之前引用的撒切尔夫人的讲话观点一致，作者本人显然赞同之。 C是撒切尔批判的一种福利社会下早就的“懒汉心态”。D作者认为黑格尔是被overrated，显然更不赞同这句国家主义色彩浓厚的话。

(4) 答案：D.To illustrate That she was neither strongly nationalistic nor extremely individualist.
解释：最后一段结合全文可知：撒切尔夫人既认同战争的伤亡是避免领土丢失等等的“必要之恶”，也从个人主义的角度怜悯他们，而不是高举民族主义大旗忽略个体。 最后一段看似复杂，每句话的主语，每个观点的持有者看似都不一样，但其实思路还是很清晰的。推演到极端的观点都不是撒切尔持有的。

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.55

“科技城市”：颠覆创新还是痴人说梦？

谷歌的母公司Alphabet将一个全新的议案提上了日程：创立并运营自己的城市。根据其子公司Sidewalk Labs的计划，这座城市将会是一个前所未有的科技试验场，最尖端的新技术将会应用于交通、公共政策、环境治理和基础设施等各个方面。这样一个宏大的计划具有可行性吗？颠覆性的“科技城市”将会是什么样子？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
grapple['ɡræpl] vt.抓住
integrated ['ɪntɪɡreɪtɪd] adj.完整的；整体的
explicit[ɪk'splɪsɪt] adj. 明确的，详述的
incentive[ɪn'sentɪv] n. 刺激，鼓励
neutrality [nuː'træləti] n. 中立

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

3分51秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分9秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分32秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分32秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Alphabet looks for land to build experimental city(541 words)

By Leslie Hook

Alphabet’s far-reaching ambitions are forcing it to grapple with an unusual challenge for a private company: how to run its own city.

Google’s parent company was working on a sweeping plan to build a city from the ground up, the executive in charge of its urban innovation business said on Tuesday, in an attempt to prove that a technologically-enabled urban environment can improve quality of life and reduce cities’ impact on the environment.

That would raise profound questions about the rules that govern such tech-centric places, particularly regarding how citizens’ data are collected, protected and used, conceded the head of Sidewalk Labs, the Alphabet subsidiary running the project.

“We actually want to build a new city, it is a district of the city, but one that is of sufficient size and scale that it can be a laboratory for innovation on an integrated basis,” said Dan Doctoroff, head of Sidewalk Labs, at a talk to the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association.

Sidewalk was “quite far along” in its search for a city with which to partner to build a testing ground for new approaches to transport, infrastructure and possibly even governance and social policy, he said.

Mr Doctoroff said he hoped the city could pioneer new approaches to data policies and even “set an example” for other places. “I think the real issues, which we have to confront as a society anyway, involve the use of data.”

“Having a place in which we actually aggressively wrestle with those issues, and we aggressively develop policies — that are the result of a really thoughtful conversation amongst privacy advocates, and members of the community, and the government as well as us, as sort of a sponsor of the place — I think that could set an example,” he said, in his most explicit comments to date on the planned project.

When Alphabet co-founder Larry Page first suggested the idea of building a new city, his comments sparked a strong public pushback — but since then the company has quietly continued to advance its ambitious plan.

Sidewalk’s search for a location for its new city coincides with Amazon’s hunt for a new, second headquarters that would house 50,000 employees, as it expects to outgrow its big campus in downtown Seattle.

Mr Doctoroff criticised Amazon’s request for tax incentives, saying that such incentives could hurt cities in the long term by undermining their tax base. He said that unlike Amazon, Sidewalk Labs was “not looking for huge handouts”.

Mr Doctoroff, who was previously deputy mayor of New York City under Michael Bloomberg, cited more affordable living costs and carbon neutrality as two examples of making improvements in quality of life.

Founded in 2015, New York-based Sidewalk Labs is working on urban technologies, including projects such as software for public transit, or bringing free, fast wifi to cities like New York and London.

While Mr Doctoroff declined to name specific locations under consideration, he said that the effort was looking for “a fair amount of land” that had “not a whole lot on it” because existing structures would just get in the way and “there is an inverse relationship between your capacity to innovate, and the actual existence of people and buildings”.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following statements about the tech-centric experimental city is true?

A. The technologically-enabled city can bring down living costs.

B. The city is designed to become an enterprise incubator center.

C. The city is expected to be a laboratory for electronic government.

D. The tech-centric urban environment can eliminate carbon emission.

答案(1)

2.According to head of Sidewalk Labs, which issue should be of particular concern in the experimental city?

A. New approaches to data policies.

B. Achieving carbon neutrality.

C. Citizens’ data utilization.

D. New approaches to transport.

答案(2)

3.According to the passage, Mr Doctoroff is ____.

A. head of Urban Research Association.

B. a former government official in New York.

C. former mayor of New York City.

D. former deputy manager of Bloomberg Institute.

答案(3)

4.Mr Doctoroff believes tax incentives is harmful in the long term because ____.

A. urban technologies require continuous investment.

B. tax income is the basis of public transit.

C. insufficient funding will encumber innovation.

D. it will undermine the city's tax base.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.The technologically-enabled city can bring down living costs.
解释：Doctoroff称在新建的城市将会提高人们的生活质量，生活成本将会更加平易近人，碳排放量可以达到中和。

(2) 答案：C.Citizens’ data utilization.
解释：Sidewalk Labs的负责人承认，为这样一个以科技为中心的城市制定规则会面临一系列深刻的问题，尤其值得关心的是如何收集、保护和使用公民的数据。

(3) 答案：B.a former government official in New York.
解释：Doctoroff先生是布隆伯格手下的前纽约市副市长。

(4) 答案：D.it will undermine the city's tax base.
解释：Doctoroff先生批评了亚马逊要求的税收优惠。他表示，这种优惠会削弱城市的税收基础，长远来看对城市的发展不利。

苹果需要重新定义数字经济

当乔布斯在2007年发布第一代iPhone时，他宣布苹果“重新发明了手机”，但事实上，真正对每个人的生活产生重大影响的并不是手机本身，而是手机中的App。琳琅满目的App代表着新一代硅谷巨头，也代表着数字经济的新纪元。但同时，它催生了数据主权的问题。怎样才能让用户控制自己的数据？这是一个迫在眉睫的难题。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
envisage[ɪn'vɪzɪdʒ] vt.想象，设想
prevail[prɪ'veɪl] vi.获胜, 盛行，主导
fodder ['fɒdə(r)] n.饲料，草料
litter ['lɪtə(r)] v.乱丢垃圾，弄乱
corpse [kɔːps] n.尸体
grandiose['ɡrændiəʊs] adj.宏伟的，堂皇的
steamroller['stiːmroʊlər] n. 压路机
catalyse ['kætəˌlaɪz] v. 催化

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分12秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分54秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分4秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分43秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Now Apple needs to reinvent the digital economy(728 words)

By John Thornhill

When Steve Jobs launched the iPhone in 2007 he claimed it was a revolutionary product that would change everything. Hyperbole was, of course, his second tongue. But a decade on, it could be argued that Jobs was largely right, even if not in the way he imagined.

The launch of Apple’s latest iPhone X in Cupertino last week once again highlighted what a phenomenon the smartphone has become. With more than 1bn devices sold, the iPhone probably ranks as the most profitable product in history, helping to turn Apple into the most valuable public company in the world.

But, as Brian Merchant explains in his snappy book The One Device, The Secret History of the iPhone, the smartphone has evolved in ways that Jobs did not envisage. His primary purpose was to reinvent the telephone by throwing in an iPod and a web browser. But it was the subsequent launch of the App Store that super-charged the iPhone’s growth and created a whole new branch of economic activity. The iPhone’s killer app was as a store for others’ apps.

Apple’s achievement was to put a supercomputer in everyone’s pocket and allow others to figure out how to use it. The Apollo Guidance Computer, which helped man land on the moon in 1969, contained 12,300 transistors. The iPhone 7 contains 3.3bn. In Mr Merchant’s words, this iPhone supercomputer has become the “foundational instrument of modern life”.

That app economy has spawned a new generation of Silicon Valley companies such as Uber, Instagram, Snapchat, and Airbnb and weaponised social media businesses such as Facebook. Adding in rival app ecosystems, such as Google-Android and China’s super-app communities, the AppAnnie data company estimates that consumers will download a total of 197bn apps this year, rising to 353bn by 2021.

That explosion of app usage has led to a surge of personal communication, consumer convenience, and on-demand entertainment. No longer can a teenager in possession of a smartphone ever again complain of being bored.

But this technological revolution has also come at a cost in terms of economic disruption, mass distraction and the erosion of privacy. In Europe, where citizens’ rights tend to trump consumer convenience, a different sensibility prevails. Here, US tech companies are sometimes portrayed as vampirical colonialists, sucking all the data out of European consumers, reducing them to bloodless advertising fodder.

The EU has responded by tackling some of the US tech giants on competition grounds and adopting a far-reaching General Data Privacy Regulation that comes into force next year. The European Commission has estimated that by 2020 the value of citizens’ personal data will reach €1tn, almost 8 per cent of EU gross domestic product. It is determined that this valuable resource should be utilised more responsibly.

An EU-funded report published on Monday sketches out a plan for reclaiming digital sovereignty by creating an alternative data ecosystem. The Decode (Decentralised Citizens Owned Data Ecosystem) plan describes how individual users, businesses and communities could benefit from the creation of a true sharing economy, a data commons.

Decode will test its methodology in pilot projects in Amsterdam and Barcelona in the next two years. To take one example, Decode will help the Amsterdam municipality work with the FairBnB community platform to provide short-term accommodation for visitors, reinvesting profits in local initiatives. This is a response to Airbnb, which stands accused of pushing up rents and failing to provide data about hosts who violate local laws.

It would be a wonderful thing if such projects flourished and Europe could pioneer a more plural form of data capitalism. Users around the world, including the US, would cheer them on.

But Europe’s landscape is littered with the corpses of grandiose tech projects that perished in the marketplace. Remember how France’s former president Jacques Chirac wanted to create Quaero to take on Google? Sadly, the state-backed search engine got lost somewhere along the way. In some respects, this latest Decode initiative feels like an attempt to pick up digital pennies in the path of an advancing steamroller.

What would catalyse a true transition is if a leading tech company were to help redesign the digital economy by enabling users to control their own data. What is needed is another revolutionary product that could change everything. Apple, which uses the data it amasses to build better products rather than to sell on to advertisers, seems most attuned to this philosophy. Over to you, Cupertino?

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is Apple's most influential invention in terms of innovation economy?

A. A new generation of tech companies.

B. A super-app community.

C. A store for others’ apps.

D. A a supercomputer in everyone’s pocket.

答案(1)

2.Why do US tech giants meet with opposition in Europe?

A. Because European citizens want to control their own property instead of leaving them to US companies.

B. Because US tech companies caused the mass economic disruption in European countries.

C. Because US tech companies profit from sucking all the data out of European consumers.

D. Because citizens’ rights are highly valued in Europe, which often goes against US tech companies.

答案(2)

3.The EU plans to create an alternative data ecosystem in order to ____.

A. provide short-term accommodation for visitors.

B. increase digital sovereignty of European citizens.

C. provide data about landlords who violate local laws.

D. pioneer a more plural form of data capitalism.

答案(3)

4.The author's attitude towards the Decode Project?

A. Optimistic.

B. Critical.

C. Indifferent.

D. Cautious.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.A store for others’ apps.
解释：乔布斯做出的愿望是重新发明手机。然而是后来App Store的推出大幅推动了iPhone的增长，并创造出了一种全新的经济活动。

(2) 答案：D.Because citizens’ rights are highly valued in Europe, which often goes against US tech companies.
解释：在欧洲，人们把公民权利看得比用户的方便更重要，这种不同的理念占据了主流。在这里，美国科技公司常常被视作嗜血的殖民者，吸走欧洲用户的数据以喂饱广告商。

(3) 答案：B.increase digital sovereignty of European citizens.
解释：周一，一个由欧盟支持的研究报告介绍了Decode计划，该计划将创造一个替代数据生态系统来回收数据主权。

(4) 答案：D.Cautious.
解释：作者认为，Decode计划一旦成功，欧洲将会开创更多元的数据资本主义形式，全世界的用户都将因此受益。但也有一些先例预示着欧洲的宏伟科技项目可能会失败。

在洪水中消弭的仇恨

在经历了骇人听闻的夏洛特维尔暴力事件后，美国国内反极端主义的声浪正在增强。在休斯敦洪水事件中，人们能够放下种族和政治隔阂，毫无芥蒂地相互帮助，这让因频发的仇恨事件而感到精疲力竭的人们看到了希望。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
wince[wɪns] v.畏缩，退缩
amorphous[ə'mɔːfəs] adj.无组织的
pseudonym['suːdənɪm] n.匿名，假名
anarchic[ə'nɑːkɪk] adj.无政府的
heretical [hə'retɪkl] adj.异教的，异端的
caveat['kæviæt] n.说明，警告
pious ['paɪəs] adj.虔诚的，尽责的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分18秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分58秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分7秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分44秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Love, puppies and community: the American backlash(742 words)

By Gillian Tett

In recent years, the word “Reddit” has made some people wince. The reason? Since the website was launched 15 years ago, Reddit has built a business by enabling users to freely exchange views and share links on forums themed around different subjects — from news to gaming, science, sport and more amorphous topics such as NSFW (“Not Safe For Work”). Redditors use pseudonyms, and can vote up (or down) their peers’ contributions.

In many ways, Reddit is just another social platform, though one with significant reach — the site had 48 million US unique monthly visitors in May this year, according to analytics company comScore. But inevitably, at a certain point, a host of message boards for alt-right, nationalist, anarchic and anti-establishment groups sprung up, with some launching vicious attacks against women, minorities and gay people.

Some threads became so dark that earlier this year Reddit suspended the /r/altright message board, provoking furious complaints that “heretical views and opinions are being stifled”.

“There’s a backlash going on,” the youthful-looking Huffman told the FT last week from a warehouse-style office in San Francisco. For proof, he points to a message group called Wholesome Memes, whose 850,000 followers exchange positive, inclusive news in order to build a climate of peace.

This week’s headlines include “Puppies are best!”, “Hug me, brotha!”, “There are good people everywhere when it matters most” and, most recently, “The ‘Cajun Navy’ heads to Texas to aid with Hurricane Harvey Rescues”.

“There is a lot of ugly stuff happening today. But we rarely talk about the resistance communities that are also arising, or the self-healing that is going on,” said Huffman. “There’s a whole new network of wholesome pages which were created after the election for people who are tired of being angry all the time. They have more followers than the Donald group.”

Huffman even thinks that future historians will end up writing almost as much about this resistance movement as anything else. “I think in five to 10 years we will be better off because we have had to renew our vows with human decency,” he said. “It is easy to say that I wish America was not in this situation [of anger]. But because of this we are all having to confront our values and think about things we haven’t had to think about for a long time.”

I believe that Huffman’s argument has at least a grain of truth and deserves wider debate. If you look across the US today, it is clear that the events of the past year have forced more people to question the assumptions they held and, in some cases, this is creating a new mood of political activism, as people try to defend American values and institutions with passion.

Witness the anti-racism demonstrations that have taken place in Boston and elsewhere in recent weeks following the tragic events in Charlottesville. More evidence appears in the social media commentary around the Houston flooding: commentators have seized on the many instances of civilians rescuing others as a sign that Americans retain values of colour-blind decency and self-sacrifice, a counterpoint to the racial hatred seen in Charlottesville.

If you want to see more signs of rising politicisation, look at the Instagram accounts of teenagers or the outpourings of some of the most popular YouTube stars. As I wrote earlier this year, I am struck by how much political discussion is now occurring amid the teenage celebrity news media. Just last week, I was given another tiny example of this backlash as I hopped on to the E-line subway in Manhattan where, on one wall, someone had stuck a poster billed as “A love letter to New Yorkers”.

“Every day we ride the train together, representing the world’s nations,” the missive declared. “In these times of uncertainty and divisiveness may we always remember that inclusiveness [and] diversity is our strength . . . and may we remain the city where you can see the world’s nations represented on these subway cars.”

Perhaps these tiny, anecdotal examples of resistance to the dark mood of today are too scattered to really matter. And I suspect that most of this backlash is concentrated in the liberal coastal areas, not the Trump-loving heartlands. But the key point is this: the tussles that are taking place in cyber space and on sites such as Reddit are just one illustration of a wider clash of values and identity that is unfolding in America. After eight months of Trump, it is still anybody’s guess how the struggle will end.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目

1.Why does the social platform Reddit has made some people wince over the past few years?

A. Because it enables people to anonymously post things they wouldn't be allowed to post on other websites.

B. Because Reddit suspended the /r/altright message board to stifle heretical views and opinions.

C. Because it enables users to freely exchange views and share links on forums themed around different subjects.

D. Because it has became a message board for alt-right, nationalist, anarchic and anti-establishment groups.

答案(1)

2.According to the article, which of the following statements about Wholesome Memes is true?

A. It is a showcase for anti-extremist groups who want to build a climate of peace.

B. Its 850,000 followers exchange positive, inclusive news about climate change.

C. It is a message group where the community of participants discuss puppies.

D. It was set up by Steve Huffman in order to to counter extremist voices on Reddit.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is NOT a sign of rising politicisation according to the author ?

A. Anti-racism demonstrations that took place in Boston.

B. The racial hatred seen in the tragic events in Charlottesville.

C. Political discussions amid the teenage celebrity news media.

D. A poster billed as “A love letter to New Yorkers” on E-line subway.

答案(3)

4.The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements?

A. It is the Houston flooding that stimulated the anti-extremist backlash.

B. Anti-extremist backlash is concentrated only in the liberal coastal areas.

C. Reddit has became a “self-healing” place for anti-extremist groups.

D. The resistance to the dark mood only takes place in cyber space.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.Because it has became a message board for alt-right, nationalist, anarchic and anti-establishment groups.
解释：论坛Reddit让很多人敬而远之，因为在某种意义上它成了另类右派、民族主义者、无政府主义者和反建制派群体的留言板。

(2) 答案：A.It is a showcase for anti-extremist groups who want to build a climate of peace.
解释：Reddit CEO Steve Huffman表示，有很多反极端主义群体开始在Reddit上发声，以对抗极端主义者的言论，Wholesome Memes就是一个例子。

(3) 答案：B.The racial hatred seen in the tragic events in Charlottesville.
解释：夏洛特维尔事件后的反种族主义游行和人们对休斯顿洪水的反应体现了人们不断提高的政治意识。我们还可以从青少年社交媒体上的政治讨论和曼哈顿地铁上的“写给纽约人的情书”看到相同的迹象。

(4) 答案：B.Anti-extremist backlash is concentrated only in the liberal coastal areas.
解释：我怀疑这种反弹仅仅出现在自由主义的沿海地区，而非拥护特朗普的核心地带。

印度遭遇“唐顿效应”

英剧《唐顿庄园》中的一些情节正在印度上演：仆人们越来越想为自己工作、拥有自己的生活。主人们抱怨合格的长期住家式仆人越来越难雇到。旧式的身份鲜明的主仆关系在悄然发生着改变，印度人的生活方式和思维方式同样如此。那么其背后的经济原因是什么？社会影响怎样？印度女作家Ranjani Iyer Mohanty进行了解释。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
reminiscent [remɪ'nɪs(ə)nt] adj.怀旧的，回忆往事的；回忆录作者
magnanimously [mæg'næniməsli] adv.大度宽宏地

Dowager Countess 伯爵夫人，dowager意为贵族遗孀。在《唐顿庄园》里，由两届奥斯卡金像奖得主Maggie Smith扮演

Dalit[ˈdɑːlɪt] n.印度的贱民阶级。 随后提到的库马里·玛雅瓦提Kumari Mayawati是出身贱民家庭的印度女国会议员
caste [kɑːst] n.种姓
inverters and generators 逆变器和发电机，电力设备
refuse pick-up 垃圾收集

Cora Crawley 科拉·克劳利，格兰瑟姆伯爵Robert Crawley的美国妻子，老伯爵夫人Violet Crawley的儿媳
conspicuous [kən'spɪkjʊəs] adj.显著的；显而易见的
princely ['prɪnslɪ] adj.高贵的，王子的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分26秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分2秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分10秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分45秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

India’s masters suffer the ‘Downton’ effect (762 words)

Ranjani Iyer Mohanty

On a recent overseas flight, I had the chance to see several episodes of the famed British television series Downton Abbey. As I watched pre-dinner drinks being served, I realised that the English 1910s master-servant relationship portrayed on the show is reminiscent of 1990s India. Both seemed to be eras when masters and servants still lived together peacefully – with masters magnanimously waiting to be served and servants grateful for the chance to do so.

In 1990s India, for a monthly salary of Rs2000 ($36) plus room and board, one could get a live-in maid who was basically on call 24/7. Like the Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey, the Indian maid too may well have asked, “What is a weekend?”

Today, however, the Indian domestic labour market is undergoing a quiet but noticeable change: the servants no longer want to serve. First, they would rather work part-time than live-in. Second, they are asking for more money. Third, even when offered four times what they were making in the 1990s, they soon want to leave.

The reason seems obvious. Due to the past 20 years of economic reform and growth in India, people who work as servants now have other opportunities. They can work at the multitude of offices, shopping malls, hair salons and restaurants that have sprung up across the country, even if just as cleaning staff. They can work a limited number of hours and therefore have a personal life. They can earn more money and afford better things for their families. And, most importantly, they can have a sense of professionalism and self-respect. Of course, the rise of Dalit politicians – led by Kumari Mayawati and arguing the rights of the “backward classes” – may also be supplying inspiration.

With India’s ancient caste system, there has always been a ready-made servant’s class just waiting to be used. Accustomed to unquestioning and long-lasting loyalty from their domestic help over the ages, many people (OK, the masters) now complain that servants don’t know their place any more. In fact, the trouble may be that servants are just beginning to realise what their place – or places – could be.

From their point of view, servants have heard of India’s tremendous growth, they have watched their masters’ increasing and often conspicuous wealth, and they have seen shiny new products advertised on TV. They too have dreams for their children, and these do not involve washing someone else’s dishes. And so, in most instances, they quietly leave the domestic labour market for greener pastures. But sometimes, the departure is violent: there are cases reported in the newspapers daily of live-in housekeepers who have killed their employers (usually elderly), stolen their money and run away.

We’re now in the middle of the transition. But while the servants may be ready for the change, the masters are not. We need them more than they need us.

India still does not have all the modern conveniences of the west or a reliable working infrastructure. Milk has to be boiled to ensure that it is safe to drink. Water has to be purified before it can be drunk. There is no formal refuse pick-up system. Electricity outages are common so inverters and generators need to be managed. Water supply is not consistent so water needs to be stored, pumps need to be turned on and sometimes water tankers called. And something is always in need of repair. On top of all that, of course, there are the factors of laziness and superiority. How nice – and princely – to be handed that drink without having to get out of your chair.

Some masters, though, sensing the winds of change, are increasing the salaries of their servants and helping them do things they could not manage by themselves – such as getting their children into good schools, providing them with healthcare and filling out forms to open their bank accounts and get identity cards.

At last, masters are trying to please the servants and their relationship is less top-down. Cora Crawley asks her mother-in-law: “Are we friends, then?” The Dowager Countess replies: “We are allies, my dear, which can be a good deal more effective.” In the same way, masters and servants work better together.

While Downton Abbey’s future lies in maintaining that old world for its audiences, ours lies in moving ahead. Not being able to find a full-time live-in servant is a sign of upward social mobility of the lower classes and therefore a good thing. Even if we have to get our own drink.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is the main topic of this article?

A. The master-servant relationship in India is less top-down.

B. Downton Abbey has brought about nostalgia about the 1910s.

C. India's labour market is experiencing noticeable rise in wages.

D. Live-in servants are hard to find these days.

答案(1)

2.What are the changes in Indian labour market?

A. Domestic servants are less willing to work as live-ins.

B. Wages are rising.

C. Fewer people are working as long-term servants.

D. All of above.

答案(2)

3.What do those changes in labour market imply?

A. Household servants enjoy a strong sense of professionalism.

B. India's poor infrastructure is a reason why servants want other jobs.

C. India's economic reform and growth are reshaping the society.

D. Servants-turned-labourers will lose good education and healthcare.

答案(3)

4.What does the writer think of the ‘Downton’ effect?

A. Downton Abbey is very popular and influential in India.

B. India’s ancient caste system is bad for its economy.

C. Masters and servants are more like allies rather than friends.

D. It's a sign of upward social mobility and should be welcomed.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.The master-servant relationship in India is less top-down.
解释：文章开头提到《庄园》里那种主仆身份鲜明的人际关系，是为了介绍印度正在发生变化的主仆关系，其经济原因以及社会影响。 显然整篇文章都是围绕它展开。
选择正确答案

(2) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC三项都是文章中提到的，从三个侧面反映了印度劳动力市场的变化。 尽管包吃包住且工资还在上涨（offered four times what they were making in the 1990s），但住家的、长期服务的仆人还是越来越少。

(3) 答案：C.India's economic reform and growth are reshaping the society.
解释：与《唐顿》时期的英国和最近30年的中国类似，经济增长让人们择业的机会增多，工作流动性加大。 增长了见识的普通劳工越来越不愿长期待在一个岗位上，收入增加后也更追求sense of professionalism and self-respect。 而一些旧有的生活方式、思维方式不断遭遇冲击。你能想起《唐顿》里相关的情节吗？ B的意思是，印度的水电等基础设施落后，常常需要人工烧水或煮牛奶，这是主人们需要雇用仆人的动力。

(4) 答案：D.It's a sign of upward social mobility and should be welcomed.
解释：作者在最后一句说：很难找全职住家仆人，意味着社会下层的成员有了更大的向中上层流动的机会，这是件好事。 即使这意味着我们再有钱也（雇不到仆人）得自己拿喝的。

被咬的苹果

批苹果事件以苹果的道歉告一段落。FT社论认为，苹果当然不是无可指摘，但这让人想到谷歌当年被迫退出大陆的一幕，这是种WTO很难介入的保护主义。市场经济需要公正和平衡的媒体，否则难以建立信誉。苹果在中国一如既往的受欢迎，而公众更加关注国内的消费者权益问题，就说明了这一点。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
warranty['wɒr(ə)ntɪ] n.产品的担保条款
circumvent [sɜːkəm'vent] v.包围，陷害
the letter of the law 法律的字面意思；同理，the spirit of the law就是法律的精神。

stringent['strɪn(d)ʒ(ə)nt] adj.严厉的
beware of|对…小心，谨防…

placate[plə'keɪt] v.怀柔，和解，招安
abhorrent[əb'hɒr(ə)nt] adj.可恶的，格格不入的
broadside ['brɔːdsaɪd] v.猛烈抨击
egregious[ɪ'griːdʒəs] adj.惊人的，臭名昭著的
scapegoat ['skeɪpgəʊt] n.替罪羊

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

3分1秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分41秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分12秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分25秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Apple in China (424 words)

Apple’s apology to Chinese consumers this week for the quality of its after-sales service should have marked the end of a month of attacks by state media. Instead, its decision to drop an online bookstore linked to human rights protesters from its China App Store suggests that this is just a small part of a state-orchestrated strategy to tighten government control not just over information but over influential foreign companies as well.

Apple was not entirely blameless in the warranties row. Its attempt to circumvent tough consumer-protection rules may have followed the letter of the law but there is justification for claims that its practices violated the spirit. Worse, it was slow to act when authorities demanded changes.

But the prolonged assault on Apple’s reputation is remarkably similar to the pattern of criticism directed against Google three years ago. Like Apple, which now offers its most generous customer-service policy in China, Google began by trying to be accommodating. It introduced a self-censored search engine. The reputational damage this caused, and the continued pressure to submit to Beijing’s stringent online censorship regime, eventually prompted it to withdraw its Chinese-based search facility in 2010. China’s web is now dominated by homegrown, officially monitored engines.

Apple should beware of thinking that its attempt to placate authorities – whether with an apology or self-censorship – is the end of the affair. Censorship is not only abhorrent to the principle of human rights. It can be used as cover to favour local competitors over outsiders. There is little evidence that international bodies such as the World Trade Organisation have either the will or power to tackle such protectionism.

Beijing may feel justified in targeting foreign groups, given the suspicion that often greets Chinese companies such as Huawei when they try to sell their products abroad. But public support for Apple, which still rates highly for customer service despite the attacks, was noticeable. Far from reducing appetite for Apple’s products, the broadsides drew attention to government failures in tackling more egregious consumer violations by state-owned monopolies.

Xi Jinping, China’s new leader, has acknowledged that political corruption is one of the biggest threats to the Communist party’s survival. But its credibility could also be undermined if foreign companies are made scapegoats while domestic groups escape censure for polluting or selling contaminated food. Criticism must be fair and proportionate. That is the best way to build trust not only between party and people, but between markets. A level playing field should be the goal for everyone, whether Chinese or foreign.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is true about the incident?

A. It was a fight between Apple and Google behind the stage.

B. Apple did violate the spirit of consumer-protection rules.

C. Apple reacted quickly when authorities demanded changes.

答案(1)

2.What happened to Google in 2010?

A. Google did not suffer long time state media attack.

B. Google never tried to be accommodating.

C. Google's self-censorship damaged the reputation of itself.

D. Google finally withdrew from Chinese market completely.

答案(2)

3.How does the writer see Apple's self-censorship?

A. The afair is finally finished by self-censorship.

B. It accords with the principle of human rights.

C. It can be used as cover for protectionism.

D. Only WTO has the power to tackle this kind of trade barrier.

答案(3)

4.Why fair and proportionate criticism is important?

A. This is the best way to build trust between government and people.

B. This is essential for building a fair playing field for market economy.

C. Pollution and contaminated food need more public attention and government regulation.

D. All of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.Apple did violate the spirit of consumer-protection rules.
解释：Apple···may have followed the letter of the law but···its practices violated the spirit就是这个意思，苹果的中国售后服务的确有不足。A是不存在的。C也是不对的，第二段最后一句说it was slow to act when authorities demanded changes.或者，我们也可以从第一段的这一句中推断出来：苹果CEO的道歉 marked the end of a month of attacks by state media.

(2) 答案：C.Google's self-censorship damaged the reputation of itself.
解释：文章第三段说这两个公司的遭遇is remarkably similar.而与苹果一样，谷歌最初也选择了妥协， 第一次搞了猜当局意图式的自我审查（而不是白纸黑字的电影分级制式审查）——这一方面损害了谷歌一贯宣称的企业文化，另一方面仍然没有使当局满意，于是最终被迫退出中国大陆。

(3) 答案：C.It can be used as cover for protectionism.
解释：文章认为苹果不应该认为道歉和自我审查就完事了。abhorrent to是与···不相容的意思。 文章认为如此打击一家外国企业是一种保护主义行为。并且，There is little evidence that·· WTO have either the will or power to tackle such protectionism.

(4) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC都正确。在最后一段，FT社论指出：坚守职业操守的媒体，对公平的市场经济和有信誉的政治是非常关键的。Without fear, and without favour是FT一贯的口号。

装备良好的养老基金？

欧洲国家正在不断削减防御力量，英陆军人数将创下拿破仑战争以来的最低。当美国“重返亚太”，欧洲这个"拥有不错装备的养老基金"还有能力应对非洲和中东等地的安全威胁吗？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Mogens Glistrup|丹麦国会议员。他曾说偷税漏税者是"自由战士"，也曾被自己创立的丹麦进步党开除，不过他最著名的言论是说，干脆不要国防部和外交部，只需要一个会用俄语说“我们投降”的自动电话应答机就行了。

destroyers and frigates 驱逐舰和护卫舰
ballistic[bə'lɪstɪk] adj.弹道的；射击的
the Nato(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) 北约
vaunted['vɔ:ntid] adj.自夸的；大肆吹嘘的
failed state将“失败国家”定义为：失去对其领土的控制，正当地作出集体决定的权力受到侵蚀，未能够提供公共服务，以及未能够以一个全权国际社会成员的身份与其他国家打交道。失败国家常常是世界和平的威胁。

Fund for Peace和平基金会

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分35秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分41秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分38秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分55秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Disarmed Europe will face the world alone (922 words)

By Gideon Rachman

In the 1970s, Mogens Glistrup, a prominent Danish politician, became famous for suggesting that his country replace its armed forces with a recorded message saying “we surrender” in Russian.

Glistrup is no longer with us but his approach to defence seems to be gaining ground. Europe’s ability to use military force is dwindling fast, and with it the power of Europeans to defend their interests around the world. It is true that there are many troops from European countries deployed in Afghanistan, and the French are in Mali. But, behind the headlines, military capacity is shrinking.

Since 2008, in response to the economic downturn, most big European countries have cut defence spending by 10-15 per cent. The longer-term trends are even more striking. Britain’s Royal Air Force now has just a quarter of the number of combat aircraft it had in the 1970s. The Royal Navy has 19 destroyers and frigates, compared with 69 in 1977. The British army is scheduled to shrink to 82,000 soldiers, its smallest size since the Napoleonic wars. In 1990 Britain had 27 submarines (excluding those that carry ballistic missiles) and France had 17. The two countries now have seven and six respectively.

And yet Britain and France are commonly regarded as the only two European countries that still take defence seriously. The British point out that, even after the current round of cuts, the UK will have the fourth-largest military budget in the world. Britain is also, for the moment, one of only two European nations to meet the Nato target of devoting 2 per cent of gross domestic product to defence – the other is Greece.

The situation in most other European countries is worse – Spain devotes less than 1 per cent of GDP to military spending. And much European military spending goes on pensions or pay, not equipment. The Belgians distinguished themselves in the Libyan campaign of 2011. But about 75 per cent of Belgian military spending now goes on personnel – causing one critic to call the Belgian military “an unusually well-armed pension fund”.

None of this might matter much if the US was still willing to step in whenever the Europeans fell short. In fact, America is losing patience with Europe’s inability to act on its own. The Obama administration was clearly reluctant to get involved in Libya. And when the French found that they needed American help on air-to-air refuelling for the Mali operation, they were aghast to discover that the Americans initially wanted to charge them.

In the end, the US agreed to provide its facilities for free. But the point was made. The US is fed up with a situation in which America alone now accounts for about three-quarters of Nato defence spending. One day, perhaps soon, the Europeans may wake up and find that the US military is simply not there to deal with whatever threat is lapping at the frontiers of Europe.

For the fact is that America itself is preparing for a new age of military austerity. If automatic budget cuts kick in next month, the Pentagon could have to cut $1tn in defence spending over the course of the next decade. Even if the US avoids such drastic measures, the long-term trend is clearly down.

The US is also determined to concentrate more of its military might in the Pacific. The US Navy currently devotes 50 per cent of resources to the Pacific and 50 per cent to Europe and the Middle East – but in future, Asia will get 60 per cent. For the Americans, this makes sense. While European defence spending has gone down by roughly 20 per cent over the past decade, Chinese defence spending has risen by almost 200 per cent. Last year, for the first time in centuries, Asian nations spent more on military force than European countries.

If the US is going to devote more of a declining military budget towards Asia-Pacific, Uncle Sam’s presence in Europe and the Middle East must clearly diminish.

Perhaps it doesn’t matter? The threat of a land invasion of continental Europe seems to have more or less disappeared with the Soviet Union. The menace that seems to worry Europeans most is the damage austerity could do to the continent’s vaunted social model rather than any military threat. Politicians are responding to public demand by trying to protect health and social budgets ahead of defence spending. Even new security threats such as terrorism are not obviously susceptible to conventional military power. A decade of bitter experience in Afghanistan has been an object lesson in the difficulty of using the military to tackle a “failed state”.

So it is certainly possible that Europeans will get away with a modern version of the Glistrup strategy in which we disband our armed forces, order a takeaway and turn on the answering machine.

Yet you do not have to look very far beyond Europe’s borders to see an array of potential threats massing over the next decade. The Middle East is in turmoil and thousands are dying in Syria, threatening the stability of the whole region. Iran’s nuclear programme could well lead to confrontation and threaten European energy supplies. Russian military spending is rising. And growing tensions between China and its neighbours could one day menace the freedom of navigation on which European trade depends.

The risk is that Europeans may suddenly find that they need armed forces, after all – only to discover that they are not there any more.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which country' army was criticized as “an unusually well-armed pension fund”?

A. Spanish Army

B. French Army.

C. Belgian Army.

D. Greek Army.

答案(1)

2.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Growing tensions between China and its neighbours threatens Europe's economy.

B. In the eyes of the EU, Russia is no longer a potential manace.

C. Only France and Britain sent ground forces to Mali to deal with the jihadists.

D. All of above.

答案(2)

3.Why it is worrying, according to the article, about Europe's shrinking military power?

A. The threat of a land invasion of continental Europe still exists.

B. Intervention in Afghanistan is a bitter experience.

C. The US is deploying less and less in Europe and the Middle East.

D. European politicians prefer cutting defence spending to social welfare.

答案(3)

4.The writer mentions "Royal Air Force", "the Royal Navy", and "British Army", why the British Army is not "Royal"?

A. It's just a clerical error.

B. Either name, with or without "Royal", is ok.

C. Because the Army once chopped off a King's head.

D. British Army swear allegiance to the Parliament, not the throne.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C. Belgian Army.
解释：比利时75%的国防预算都用在人员费用上，因此被讥讽为一个“装备不错的养老基金”。

(2) 答案：A.Growing tensions between China and its neighbours threatens Europe's economy.
解释：B不正确，俄罗斯对叙利亚和伊朗等政权的支持和默许威胁了欧洲的安全。C也不正确，只有法国派兵进入马里。

(3) 答案：C.The US is deploying less and less in Europe and the Middle East.
解释：美国的“重返亚太战略”将把60%的海军部署在亚太。因此，欧洲对来自非洲和中东等地的安全威胁得到的美国保护，将减少。 A不正确，苏联解体后欧洲已经不再受到地面进攻的威胁了。B是要说明the difficulty of using the military to tackle a “failed state”。D是欧洲防务力量削弱的让人担忧的原因，而不是让人担忧的结果。

(4) 答案：C.Because the Army once chopped off a King's head.
解释：1689年英国《权利法案》规定王室需要国会的许可才能维持常备军，而此前克伦威尔的国会军推翻并处死了英王查理一世。 所以尽管在礼仪上英国陆军仍然向英王效忠，尽管陆军的众多军团拥有皇家头衔，而且不少王室成员也在军中服役，陆军却一直未被颁授Royal头衔。

金钱能买什么？

卖"黄牛票"合理吗？黑帮老大冠名赞助阶梯教室可以吗？为什么即使自愿的奴隶制也不可接受呢？FT评论员约翰·凯(John Kay)从桑德尔的《金钱不能买什么》出发，解释“金钱可以买什么”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

EasyJet 易捷航空
surrogate motherhoodv代孕母亲

Al Capone 艾尔·卡彭，上世纪20年代的芝加哥黑手党教父。其党徒以黑风衣下藏冲锋枪的形象著称，他火并了无数黑帮，打通政界和司法界，控制芝加哥的黄赌毒产业，禁酒法让他大发横财，联邦政府直到1931年才以逃税指控将其逮捕。由于其"劫富济贫"行为和智慧的犯罪方式，至今仍有人崇敬。有多部影片讲述卡彭的故事。

ticket scalping 黄牛党，黄牛票
aesthetically[iːs'θetɪkəlɪ] adj.审美地，美学观点上地
toddler ['tɒdlə] n.学步的小孩
polymath ['pɒlɪmæθ] n.博学的人

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分10秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分54秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分4秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分43秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The limits of what money can buy (725 words)

The easyJet flight to London was only slightly delayed by snow. Still, I took advantage of the opportunity to push ahead of other impatient passengers and settle down to read the recent book by American philosopher Michael Sandel, What Money Can’t Buy. I had paid easyJet €12 for the privilege of speedy boarding.

Sandel queries the legitimacy of such transactions. In a market economy, should there be things that money just cannot buy? Should there be markets for sperm, surrogate motherhood or transplant organs? Should lobbyists be able to pay people to stand in line for them to secure admission to popular congressional hearings? Should we try to outlaw prostitution? Is it proper to require students to attend classes in the Al Capone lecture theatre if Capone paid generously for the naming rights? Should these students be allowed to tattoo their forehead with “Visit New Zealand” in return for a contribution to their tuition fees?

Even the most committed believer in the free market is reluctant to agree that contracts of slavery should be legally enforceable. But the purchase of a human kidney from a poor donor is presumptively advantageous to both parties and harmful to no one else. Where, and why, does the argument that voluntary transactions are mutually beneficial break down?

Sandel offers an answer. “When we decide that certain goods may be bought and sold, we decide, at least implicitly, that it is appropriate to treat them as commodities, as instruments of profit and use. But not all goods are properly valued in this way.”

While most people would agree with that proposition, it does not take us very far. What criteria determine which goods are properly valued in this way and which not? Sandel provides an intriguing list of the many kinds of transaction that most people find distasteful, but not a principled rationale against which to test our intuitions. Should easyJet offer me speedy boarding, and should I take advantage of it?

The reasons for distaste seem to fall into a few broad categories. Probably we do not believe the contract of enslavement is truly voluntary. The prospective slave is bemused, or in a hurry, or a state of desperation. But similar arguments would strike down a lot of transactions. Many widely distributed financial products would not be bought by anyone who understood them. And how often have you read the licence conditions on your new software?

The slave contract is unacceptable for the more fundamental reason that it affronts human dignity. So does the sale of transplant organs and the forehead tattoo. These deals violate Immanuel Kant’s maxim that we treat individuals as ends not instruments. But there are obvious grey areas. What of the paid queue standers? And why do we think ticket scalping is more offensive when the tickets provide free entry to a papal mass than paid admission to a Bruce Springsteen concert?

Other transactions disturb social solidarity. The popularity of Britain’s National Health Service seems to rest on a perception that in illness “we are all in this together”. So it is best if we do not see paying patients being wheeled ahead of us into the operating theatre from their private rooms.

Other transactions are aesthetically unpleasant. We might be able to stomach the Al Capone lecture theatre but draw the line at placing a large illuminated statue of Capone in the foyer. We would prefer not to have our fire attended by an engine that says Kentucky Fried Chicken on the side, even if the hoses it brings extinguish our fire. For the same reasons, we do not want to see billboards beside country roads or have the street where we live renamed Coca-Cola Boulevard.

Sadly, my transaction with easyJet does not even meet the criterion of doing no harm to other people. I strode past more than one harassed family, toddlers in tow, who would experience slower boarding as a result of my €12 investment. But a family weekending in Nice does not really have a strong claim on my sympathy. I consoled myself with an observation from American founding father and polymath Benjamin Franklin: “So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is the writer's attitude towards Prof. Sandel's book?

A. The book was just brilliant.

B. No one can answer the queries he posed about money and transactions.

C. He failed to provide principled rationale.

D. The book cannot be properly valued by money.

答案(1)

2.What is the fundamental reason that the slave contract is unacceptable?

A. It is not enforceable.

B. It could not be really voluntary.

C. It affronts human dignity.

D. Its signee must have signed it in desperation.

答案(2)

3.The writer aprroves which of the following?

A. Britain's National Health Service.

B. "Al Capone lecture theatre".

C. The street where he lives renamed Coca-Cola Boulevard.

D. Many widely distributed financial products.

答案(3)

4.What does the citation of Benjamin Franklin in the end imply?

A. The writer was reading about him on the flight.

B. Franklin would be happy to see speedy boarding service.

C. Speedy boarding met the criterion of doing no harm to others.

D. The writer was actually feeling a little bit guilty about it.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.He failed to provide principled rationale.
解释：作者认为他提出的问题很有意义，但是他给出的解答“不是所有商品都可以被合理地定价”缺乏严谨的推理。ABD作者并未表达。

(2) 答案：C.It affronts human dignity.
解释：A不正确。BD都可算是“自卖为奴的契约无效”的理由，但是作者说了，如果以B为理由反对 这种交易，那么一些金融交易（投资者后来发现自己被误导了）也可算作无效了，因此这个理由不是最有力的，不是最根本的。 C才是根本理由。斯皮尔伯格的《林肯》着重讲的就是林肯推动众议院通过宪法第十三修正案废除奴隶制的故事。
第十三修正案：“第一款：在合众国境内或属合众国管辖的任何地方，不准有奴隶制或强制劳役存在，惟用于业经定罪的罪犯作为惩罚除外。第二款：国会有权以适当立法实施本条规定。”

(3) 答案：A.Britain's National Health Service.
解释：2012伦敦奥运开幕式上，600位医生和护士走上运动场，接受全场观众的欢呼。 二战后开始实施的英国全民医疗服务制度，被英国人认为“如同工业革命、莎士比亚、哈利·波特一样，成为国家软实力的象征”。 BC是作者明确表示不会喜欢的。对于D，作者说would not be bought by anyone who understood them.

(4) 答案：D.The writer was actually feeling a little bit guilty about it.
解释：AB不正确，C与事实相反。作者说，他多交了12块钱从而可以“插队”，比很多家庭和学步的小孩早上飞机， 他只好借用富兰克林的名言console自己： “做一个有理性的生物原是这样方便，因为理性能使人找到或是制造理由去干人心里想干的事。”
你觉得富兰克林会不会喜欢快捷登机服务？

《林肯》载入史册

FT影评作家Nigel Andrews解释为什么《林肯》是载入影史的伟大作品。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
plinth[plɪnθ] n.雕像底座

Lilliputian[,lili'pju:ʃjən]《格列佛游记》中的小人国人；
scaffolding['skæfəʊldɪŋ] n.脚手架
the 13th Amendment 影片主要讲的是林肯推动第13修正案在众院通过的台前幕后。法案内容：“第一款：在合众国境内或属合众国管辖的任何地方，不准有奴隶制或强制劳役，惟用于业经定罪的罪犯作为惩罚除外。第二款：国会有权以适当立法实施本条。”

"whipping" 原意是鞭打，这里是“软硬兼施迫使本党议员投票”，今天的英美等国议会党团中都有“党鞭”party whip来督导本党议员投票。

browbeat ['braʊbiːt] v.恫吓，吓唬
intimism ['intimizəm] n.(文艺作品)描绘内心感情的风格
grandstanding ['grændstændiŋ] n.哗众取宠；炫耀
chicanery [ʃɪ'keɪnərɪ] n.狡辩；欺骗

Thaddeus Stevens 权力巨大的激进派共和党众议员，是战争筹款、通过第13修正案，以及战后重建的领袖，是影片着重刻画的人物。

spellbind['spelbaɪnd] v.用符咒迷惑

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

3分16秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分49秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分18秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分27秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Cinema review: Lincoln(excerpts) (458 words)

History sets a man on a plinth. Biography’s job, on page or screen, is to take him off it and render him human. In Lincoln director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner – reluctant to lose the myth while chasing the man – achieve what may be cinema’s most accomplished bid to have it both ways. One moment the makers are like Lilliputians running around their Gulliver: ambitious painterly compositions, sculptural gestures, inspirational music, all the aesthetic scaffolding required to portray Daniel Day-Lewis’s president as a giant among immortals. The next moment – or often the same moment – they give him a human nearness, a warmth of idiom and a touching, believable vulnerability.

Their snapshot of history, boldly miniature, is taken during Lincoln’s last but enduring major political initiative: the bid to pass the 13th Amendment decreeing the abolition of slavery. Anyone who believes that “whipping” is a modern political phenomenon needs to study it in action here. Basing their scenes on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Lincoln tome Team of Rivals, Spielberg and Kushner depict the often frantic, frequently borderline-corrupt lobbying, bribing and browbeating that preceded the passage of the emancipation bill.

It proves a miraculous match between movie and subject. On screen, grand cinema gets into bed with a busy, breathless intimism and scurries of promiscuous interaction between co-stars distinguished enough, normally, to be granted their own moments of sovereign grandstanding. In history Lincoln tried to preserve his outward honour and high gravitas while licensing, if not practising, weeks of low political chicanery and backroom brokering. The end justifies the means? Try to argue that it didn’t, in Washington back in January 1865.

The cast is a surge of top Hollywood character actors determined to transcend their beards, hairpieces and funny costumes. It is amazing that we soon know who all these people are historically, not simply that they are Tommy Lee Jones in a curly wig (Thaddeus Stevens), Sally Field in a mob cap (Mrs Lincoln) or James Spader with a paunch and spade beard (chief bully of reluctant yea-voters). It is more amazing that we come to care who they are.

Daniel Day-Lewis is now an official screen phenomenon. He played a scheming, grandiloquent American power broker in There Will Be Blood. Here he plays another and the actor is unrecognisable. Reedy, husky, high-voiced – as sources insist Lincoln was – this Abe still makes a table shake with his passionate conviction and can still spellbind a listener (a cobra transfixing its victim) with a seemingly trivial anecdote that subtly identifies and impales the point he wants to persuade us with. By stepping into history without fear, favour or any overfamiliar biopic folly, Lincoln, handsome, often thrilling, and movingly human, goes into history as a major movie achievement.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is true about Abraham Lincoln?

A. He was once a general before elected as president.

B. He was the first Republican president of US.

C. His Emancipation Proclamation finally ended slavery.

D. He received the highest electoral college votes possible and won the presidency.

答案(1)

2.What can we learn from the movie?

A. “Whipping” is quite normal in modern-day politics.

B. Doris Goodwin’s Team of Rivals tells lot about internal political battles of Lincoln.

C. Borderline-corrupt lobbying, bribing and browbeating were used to get the amendment passed.

D. All of above.

答案(2)

3.What does this mean:

Try to argue that it didn’t, in Washington back in January 1865.

A. Lincoln allowed political chicanery and backroom brokering to get the bill passed.

B. "The end justifies the means" was a famous saying in 1865.

C. "The end justifies the means" was at least OK under this circumstance.

D. Many people argued that "The end justifies the means" is not correct in 1865.

答案(3)

4.According to the writer, why does the movie Lincoln "go into history as a major movie achievement"?

A. reluctant to lose the myth while chasing the man···

B. all the aesthetic scaffolding required to portray Lewis’s president as a giant among immortals···

C. they give him a human nearness, a touching, believable vulnerability···

D. the snapshot is taken during Lincoln’s last but enduring major political initiative···

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.He was the first Republican president of US.
解释：他也是现代共和党的创始人之一。ACD都不正确。在当选之前，他没有任何军事指挥经验。《解放黑奴宣言》只是一个军事措施，直到1865年第13修正案通过才真正在法律上终结了奴隶制。 林肯连任的得票是212:11，是史上最大的总统选举胜利之一，不过乔治·华盛顿的两次全票当选是前无古人后无来者。

(2) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC三项都是正确的。女历史学家古德温这本书全名叫做Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln，汉语译做《林肯与劲敌幕僚》。 主要讲的是林肯和他内阁的故事，内阁中有多位比他更资深、更知名的、最初都不服他的党内大佬。但是最后他凭借自己的战略眼光和人格魅力化敌为友。

(3) 答案：C."The end justifies the means" was at least OK under this circumstance.
解释：显然，“目的可以为手段辩护”，或说“为了一定的目的可以不择手段”，是很有争议的说法。 作者这句反问式的话，意思就是，在1865这种战争年代、特殊时期，林肯打法律的擦边球、用些不太光明正大的手段，是没啥问题的。A正确但不能解释这句话。

(4) 答案：A.reluctant to lose the myth while chasing the man…
解释：作者在本文开头和结尾都强调了斯皮尔伯格是塑造了一个既有光辉形象，又有着人性（尤其是弱点）一面的林肯。BCD都只是提到了其中一面。作者在第一段中说，这一刻，电影刻画了A，另外一刻或是同一刻，又展示了C。

爱枪者，美国选民

爱枪的是美国选民，而且他们越来越爱枪，即使康州惨案发生后，控枪也是最不受欢迎的措施之一。FT专栏作家考德威尔(Christopher Caldwell)指出，是美国选民，而不是NRA，阻止政客控枪。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
carnage ['kɑːnɪdʒ] n.大屠杀

Seung-Hui Cho 韩国学生赵承熙，由于精神不稳定，于2007年4月16日在弗吉尼亚理工大学枪杀了包括自己在内的33人。

foie gras ['fwɑ:'ɡrɑ:] n.鹅肝酱
constituency[kən'stɪtjʊənsɪ] n.选民
disgruntled [dɪs'grʌnt(ə)ld] adj.不满的；不高兴的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分53秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分17秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分21秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分49秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

It’s US voters who really love weapons (824 words)

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told a reporter at the National Journal: “This level of carnage is something that the elected officials aren’t going to be able to ignore.”

Mr Helmke’s words sound correct, as the US continues to reel from the murder of 20 six and seven-year-olds in a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in mid-December. Then again, his words also seemed correct when he first uttered them, which was back in April 2007, just after a disturbed undergraduate, Seung-Hui Cho, massacred 32 people on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic University before turning his weapons on himself. Elected officials have proved quite capable of ignoring Cho’s rampage, not to mention several more since then. There is no guarantee the outrage over Newtown will spur them to action, either.

In seeking to prevent the next massacre, it is natural and right to focus on mass gun ownership, American’s modern-day peculiar institution. There may be a quarter of a billion guns in private hands in the US, and yet the government regulates them less stringently than it does foie gras, tobacco or office humour.

President Barack Obama has called for the revival of a ban on so-called assault weapons that was in place for a decade after 1994. On Wednesday he put Vice-President Joe Biden in charge of a task force on gun violence. But Mr Biden will have little scope for action. The lobbying power of the National Rifle Association is part of the problem, but only a small part. The constituency for serious gun control in the US is shrinking.

We know where Mr Obama’s heart is on guns. He doesn’t like them. He would sincerely like to regulate them. To a roomful of rich San Francisco donors in 2008 he described disgruntled workers who “cling to guns and religion”. And yet it is hardly an exaggeration to say that gun control is a topic that the president has, until now, never discussed in public, except to describe himself as a defender of the second amendment, which protects “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”.

The problem for Mr Obama is that his party’s smartest political consultants decided several elections ago that hostility to guns was killing the Democratic party, and they have been proved right in almost every election since. Forty-seven per cent of Americans have guns in their homes.

After Bill Clinton signed his ban on assault weapons, Democrats lost the congressional majority they had held for four decades. Al Gore might have been elected president in 2000 had he not sought to paint himself as more liberal on guns than Bill Bradley, his Democratic primary challenger. Democrats won the Senate back in 2006 when they recruited gun-enthusiasts as candidates (Jim Webb in Virginia, Jon Tester in Montana, Bob Casey Jr in Pennsylvania), enforced a candidates’ vow of silence on gun control and then put the chamber under the control of a gun-friendly majority leader, Harry Reid.

This alliance has had consequences. Senators reportedly agreed to alter their landmark 2010 health reform to prevent insurers from charging higher premiums to gun owners.

It is voters, not the NRA, who are intimidating Democrats. For reasons no one has fully explained, Americans are getting fonder and fonder of firearms. In the 1950s, 60 per cent of Americans said they would support a ban on handguns, according to Gallup; in 2011, 73 per cent said they would oppose one. Even in the immediate aftermath of the Connecticut shootings, gun control strikes voters as among the least appealing remedies. This week Gallup showed 42 per cent felt gun bans would be effective, well behind beefing up the police (53 per cent), doing better mental-health screening (50 per cent) and cracking down on violent video games (47 per cent). After mass shootings, gun purchases soar as potential gun buyers decide to act before the law changes to stop them. After last summer’s slaughter (12 dead, 58 wounded) at a cinema complex in Aurora, Colorado, the state saw a 41 per cent rise in firearms background checks from one weekend to the next.

The anti-gun lobby is as well organised as the pro-gun lobby, even if it is not quite so big. It will not need much thinking or study to produce a programme of legislation. A likely purpose of the Biden “task force” will be to plot political strategy and to protect the president against accusations that he is exploiting a tragedy to pass the wish list of his political allies.

One unusual factor, though, is working in favour of fresh gun laws: never has there been a mass killing this far from the next congressional election. Representatives casting votes now will have 22 or 23 months to make gun owners forget. Any legislation they get through will probably be limited, partisan and resented. The alternative is no legislation at all.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1."There is no guarantee the outrage over Newtown will spur them to action···"

Who is them?

A. Schools and universities.

B. Elected officials.

C. Pro-gun organizations.

D. National media.

答案(1)

2.What about President Obama?

A. He doesn't like guns.

B. He likes the disgruntled workers who favor guns.

C. He paints himself as a gun-enthusiast.

D. He believes that being friendly to guns is killing Democrats.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following can support this argument:

"It is voters, not the NRA, who are intimidating Democrats."

A. Even immediately after the Connecticut shootings, gun control is among the least appealing.

B. Democrats chose a gun-friendly Senate leader Harry Reid.

C. After Clinton signed his ban on assault weapons, his party lost congressional majority.

D. All of above.

答案(3)

4.What can we learn from this article, about US society and politics?

A. US government regulates foei gras, tobacco and office humour.

B. "Liberal on guns" means "pro-gun".

C. You can buy guns without being background-checked in Colorado.

D. US Representatives are being elected every 4 years.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.Elected officials.
解释：文章开头，控枪团体人士认为：这个级别的惨案，是民选官员们无法忽视的。但是在第二段中，作者说，Elected officials have proved quite capable of ignoring Cho’s rampage··.因为反对控枪甚至禁枪的是美国的选民，所以，人们不能保证这一次能通过什么重要的立法。

(2) 答案：A.He doesn't like guns.
解释：A是正确的。奥巴马本人是不喜欢枪，并希望控枪的，甚至公开抱怨过热爱枪支和宗教的工人。但是，民主党的高参们早就敏锐地发现，对枪有敌意的话会让选民抛弃民主党，于是奥巴马在这个问题上一直低调地将自己描述为a defender of the second amendment.

(3) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC都是正确答案。正反两方面的经验教训让民主党不愿控枪，而且越来越不愿。

(4) 答案：A.US government regulates foei gras, tobacco and office humour.
解释：A是正确答案。美国政府对枪支的管控还不如对鹅肝酱（不符合健康饮食）、烟草，和办公室幽默（不能有歧视色彩或性骚扰）的力度大。 BC与事实相反，liberal在美国的语境下常不是字面意思，它往往与倾向民主党、倾向政府干预是同义词，其反义词conservative才是pro-gun的。
在科罗拉多州枪击惨案发生后，购枪者背景调查数猛增，这说明这个经常出现在西部片中的州也有背景调查要求，有犯罪前科和精神疾病的人不能随便买枪。“众议员们有22到23个月的时间让人来淡忘他们的所为”，也就是说众议员每两年改选一次，下一次是2014的“中期选举”。

“法国黑”，高级黑？

美国企业高管抨击法国工人低效懒惰，一天只干三小时，法国人说这是“反法情绪”。巴黎政治学院教授、前LSE院长霍华德·戴维斯令人信服地指出：他这么黑不对，法国经济的优势和劣势都很突出。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

19th-hole 高尔夫俚语，标准的高尔夫赛只有18洞，19洞指的是球场的酒吧或饭馆，球手们进行社交活动的地方。或指18洞打平后的加赛。

tirade [taɪ'reɪd] n.激烈的长篇演说
the hexagon 六边形，六角形，指法国

Légion d’honneur Legion of Honor 荣誉军团勋章，是法国政府对有杰出贡献者颁发的荣誉称号，1802年拿破仑设立。巴金、金庸、李嘉诚等华人曾获颁。

shoehorn|n. 鞋拔；vt. 硬塞进
addressee[,ædre'siː] n.收件人
grandiloquent[græn'dɪləkwənt] adj.大言不惭的
chalice['tʃælɪs] n.圣餐杯；酒杯
diatribe['daɪətraɪb] n.诽谤；恶骂

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

7分15秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

4分4秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分54秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

1分1秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

‘Le French-bashing’ misses the mark (1017 words)

By Howard Davies

Maurice Taylor, chief executive of the Titan tyre company, first came to public attention in the US in 1996 when he ran, or rather stumbled, for the presidency. He spent a lot of his own money to earn about 1 per cent of the vote in the Republican primaries he entered, and published a manifesto of sorts entitled Kill All the Lawyers and Other Ways to Fix the Government. It is clear that he has a 19th-hole ideology, and a sense of humour to match.

The French have, perhaps to their credit, failed to see the joke in his tirade against their workers, trade unions, government and pretty much everyone else in the hexagon. “Titan is going to buy a Chinese tyre company or an Indian one, pay less than one euro per hour and ship all the tyres France needs. You can keep the so-called workers,” he wrote in a letter, a copy of which was published this week in Les Echos. “Outraged of Paris” has been loud in his condemnation. We may take it that Mr Taylor will not be a candidate for the Légion d’honneur in the Socialist Republic of Hollande.

The French are rather sensitive these days to what they see as “le French-bashing”. They think nobody loves them. They are inclined to see signs of an Anglo-Saxon conspiracy involving credit rating agencies (why did they downgrade France but not, until Friday night, the UK?), the British press (led by The Economist), prime minister David Cameron with his proffered red carpet for exiled entrepreneurs, and now multinationals such as Titan and ArcelorMittal. It may be tough to shoehorn Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal into the Anglo-Saxon box, but needs must. Even their formerly reliable allies across the Rhine have been joining in. It just isn’t fair.

The lightning rod for these attacks, and addressee of Mr Taylor’s letter, is Arnaud Montebourg, the minister for redressement productif or industrial renewal – a grandiloquent title that might be thought to be asking for trouble in recessionary times. Mr Montebourg was a threat to President François Hollande in the Socialist party primaries, attacking him from the left. In an earlier manifestation, he was spokesman for Ségolène Royal’s presidential campaign in 2007, remarking that she had only one fault: her partner, at that time Mr Hollande. There may be quiet satisfaction in the Elysée that the chalice offered to Mr Montebourg has proved quite as poisoned as it has.

The notion, encouraged by Mr Montebourg, that the government is the victim of a co-ordinated attack by these disparate forces is absurd, but just because the French are paranoid doesn’t mean people are not out to get them. There is a narrative that says France is becoming the sick man of Europe, with a stagnant economy, stubbornly high unemployment, a persistent trade deficit and a budget deficit highly likely to exceed the 3 per cent target to which the government is committed through the Maastricht treaty, exposing it to the threat of EU criticism and possibly sanctions. That critique is not heard only in London or Washington: many French economists are anxious, too. There is no shortage of dissent in Paris itself.

Therefore, despite Mr Taylor’s eccentric phraseology – “How stupid do you think we are?” – his letter to Mr Montebourg fell on fertile ground. The problem is that he has taken aim at the wrong target, and attacked the French at their strongest point. With enemies such as Mr Taylor, the French have no need of friends. Indeed, his attack on feckless workers suggests he may be a few treads short of a radial.

Because the truth is that the productivity of French workers is not at all bad. The French do work fewer hours than most comparable nations. They work, on average, 16 per cent fewer hours than the OECD average, and 25 per cent fewer than the industrialised Asian nations. Yet their output per hour compares very well. A UBS study from 2009 showed that annual French output was $36,500 per head, compared with $44,150 in the US. But on average the French work 1,453 hours a year, while their American counterparts are clocked in for 1,792 hours. So on a per hour basis the French produce $25, and the Americans $24.60. Not a huge difference, perhaps, but it certainly does not suggest that French workers – while they are on site – are on a permanent coffee break, or drinking a ballon de rouge behind the bike sheds.

Figures from the UK’s Office for National Statistics tell a similar story. Productivity per hour in France is about 15 per cent higher than in the UK, and almost on a par with Germany’s. The French are able to produce a remarkable amount in their short working week. We should not be astonished by these numbers. They reflect, in part, higher investment per head in France, compared with the US and the UK. Last month’s report from the LSE Growth Commission showed that in the past 35 years, investment in France has been higher than that in Anglo-Saxon economies by about 3-4 per cent of gross domestic product.

France’s primary problem is not the productivity of those in work. It is that restrictive labour laws penalise hiring, which leads in turn to higher unemployment. The “ins” are protected from the “outs”, which tends to increase labour costs. France’s costs have been rising more rapidly than Germany’s, so its competitiveness has deteriorated. Unemployment contributes to the budget problem through increased welfare payments, and makes cutting public-sector jobs more difficult.

Mr Taylor has, therefore, missed the point entirely in his intemperate diatribe. Guy Mollet, the former French trade union leader, once said that France had the most stupid rightwing politicians in the world. The recent comic opera antics of François Fillon and Jean-François Copé, who both seek to succeed Nicolas Sarkozy as head of the centre-right UMP party, have lent support to his point of view. But Mr Taylor has shown that the French right have no monopoly on back-to-front arguments.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is correct about “le French-bashing”?

A. The French think nobody loves them.

B. It is a term coined by British press.

C. Anglo-Saxon credit rating firms downgraded France but not the UK.

D. None of above.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is not one of France's economic problems?

A. High unemployment.

B. High inflation.

C. A persistent trade deficit.

D. A budget deficit.

答案(2)

3.Why Mr. Taylor "attacked the French at their strongest point"?

A. French workers are not at all lazy, they work as many hours as workers in US or UK.

B. Frenchmen's hourly productivity is higher than Anglo-Saxons'.

C. Workers are better protected and taken care of by the state.

D. Investment in France has been higher than in Anglo-Saxon economies.

答案(3)

4.What's the writer's opinion toward Minister Montebourg?

A. He should not have helped Ségolène Royal and attacked Hollande.

B. He was a threat to Hollande in the Socialist party primaries.

C. The Elysée is satisfied about his work, even he's having a hard time.

D. He may not be able to push forward "industrial renewal".

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.The French think nobody loves them.
解释：“反法情绪”显然是自恋而敏感的法国人发明的词汇。他们对于美国评级机构早早降级法国却只在上周才降级英国感到不满，而 以《经济学人》为首的英国媒体又连篇累牍的把法国描述为“欧元区中心的一颗定时炸弹”。

(2) 答案：B.High inflation.
解释：ACD都是法国的问题，但还没有高通胀率。高失业和a stagnant economy说明经济活力和信心不足， 持续的贸易赤字说明经济竞争力不足（同样没有汇率的问题的德国长期保持贸易盈余），而长期的财政赤字说明有结构性财政问题。 衡量公众对经济状况不满程度，可以用痛苦指数Misery index。

(3) 答案：B.Frenchmen's hourly productivity is higher than Anglo-Saxons'.
解释：你需要在好几个数字中迅速归纳出关键信息。作者列举数据说明对法国工人“低效”的抨击是错的，虽然他们的工时短，但是小时生产率比英美都高。
为什么？作者认为，部分归功于法国长期的投资占GDP比，比英美高3-4%。更高的资本积累，意味着更好的设施（固定资本）和更高的受教育水平（人力资本）。
至于C，作者指出，The “ins” are protected from the “outs”是造成失业的原因之一，而失业带来的福利开支让政府减赤困难，且更不敢削减公共部门雇员，这才是症结。

(4) 答案：D.He may not be able to push forward "industrial renewal".
解释：作者说，industrial renewal这个夸大其词的头衔，听起来就像是到处找麻烦的。作者并未表露出A观点，B是事实而非观点，C我们并不知道。而作者揶揄到，奥朗德给自己曾经的对手一个酒杯——部长职位，可这是给他下毒啊。

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.56

“行万里路”不会让你变成更好的人

当我徜徉在里斯本的古城中，漫步在美丽的海岸时，我突然问自己：这一趟旅行让我悟到了什么吗？它让我成了更好的人吗？答案是没有。不仅仅是我，即使是身边那些最资深的旅行家，看起来也并没有比别人更睿智。“行万里路”的教诲曾经很有意义，但已经过时了。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
prolific[prə'lɪfɪk] adj.多产的，丰富的
correlation[ˌkɒrə'leɪʃn] n.相互关系，相关
causation[kɔː'zeɪʃn] n.因果关系
complacent[kəm'pleɪsnt] adj.满足的，自满的
bereavement[bɪ'riːvmənt] n.丧亲
pretension[prɪ'tenʃn] n.自命不凡；虚荣
snide[snaɪd] adj.讽刺的，嘲弄的
intrepid[ɪn'trepɪd] adj.无畏的，刚毅的
erudition[ˌeru'dɪʃn] n.博学
oneness['wʌnnəs] n.单一性，同一性

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分27秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分3秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分10秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分45秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

No, travelling isn’t character-building — it’s just fun(764 words)

By Janan Ganesh

A long weekend in Lisbon, for the southern European weather and northern European dynamism. From a base in the old town, I test my calves on uphill walks to districts that qualify the Portuguese capital as Europe’s “in” city, according to the people who decide these things. I eat poorly in tourist traps and exquisitely at the hands of genius chefs. I take in the central monuments and the hidden wonders at the industrial end of the Lisbon shoreline. I put in the hard yards.

Lisbon is a great city that became more not less open to outsiders after the crash. I like it enough to return soon. But did I learn much or emerge an improved person? No. On my travels, I seldom do, and I am not sure that anyone does.

The more of the world I see, the less confident I am that there is anything innately or even generally educational about travel. It is worth doing because it is fun. Travel is for the senses, not the character. Fun is a good enough reason to do anything, as long as we do not kid ourselves that something more profound is at work.

The most prolific travellers I know are not deeper or smarter than anyone else and, if they are, there is more of correlation than of causation in the fact. At worst, travel can make them complacent. They tend to fall on personal anecdote: whatever they saw of a place constitutes the truth. They tend to under-rate the character formation that takes place at home: the break-ups, the bereavements, the mistakes. And our culture tends to flatter their pretensions.

Imagine you are an employer staring at two job applications that are identical in all respects save one. Candidate A spent a year between school and university seeing the world, like a Regency fop on his Grand Tour. Candidate B spent the same year stacking shelves in a local supermarket. One of the hopefuls showed self-reliance, practical nous and a certain grown-upness. The other is Candidate A. Yet ours is still a world that rewards the gap-year itinerant — often funded or backstopped by parents — with the job, where “well-travelled” is still a synonym for “clever”, where sophisticates still cite that snide statistic about the percentage of Americans who have no passport, as though nothing could damn the global superpower more.

Travel has intellectual associations it no longer deserves. It is a hangover from a time when so few went abroad, and so little knowledge about the outside world was accessible to those who did not, that people with a few international excursions under their belt could claim a genuine cultural edge. That innocent time ended when the internet was born. We can now not just read in granular detail about anywhere on earth, but see videos of it in 1,080-pixel definition. Our potential to be surprised — to be educated — by a visit to a place has diminished. I would go as far as to say that anyone who is consistently “discovering” things on their travels is uncurious when at home, not perceptive when abroad.

In the modern world, the only way to learn much more about a place than you could remotely is to live there for a sustained period, paying taxes and using local services. Mere travel is no great source of insight, which leaves just one reason to do it: fun. It is more than enough.

The writer Matthew Parris once told Margaret Thatcher that he planned to visit an island in the Southern Ocean to see the moon and the stars. “Don’t bother, dear,” she said. “You can see the moon and the stars from Spalding.” That stick-in-the-mud line, however funny, is not my argument here. I enjoy travel, including the bits you are meant to hate. I savour the clinical atmosphere of airports, the anonymity of hotels, the productive isolation of long-haul flights. If money were no object, I would go on regular London-to-Sydney trips just to nail big books in one sitting. As my British passport did not come through until my late teens, I could not venture abroad much as a child. I make up for it now.

But precisely because I take so much pleasure from travel, I can see through any attempt to cloak it in virtue. It would be like passing off an enthusiasm for casual sex as an anthropological research project to prove the essential oneness of all strangers. If I tried that line on you, you would laugh me out of town. But if I told you that my Lisbon weekend, a sensory joy, was something deeper, you might entertain the spurious idea.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.The author believes travel can make people ____.

A. intelligent.

B. conceited.

C. relieved.

D. humble.

答案(1)

2.Why do a lot of employers favour a candidate with rich experience in travelling？

A. Because they believe traveling can help people build a good character.

B. Because they believe traveling can enhance people's problem-solving ability.

C. Because they believe an experienced traveler is more intelligent than average.

D. Because they believe people can take so much pleasure from travel.

答案(2)

3.According to the author, the only way to gain a full understanding of a place is to ____.

A. travel to the place several times in different stages of life.

B. stay there for a while and experience the native ways of life.

C. to see videos of the place in 1,080-pixel definition on the internet.

D. to do research on the tax policy and local services in advance.

答案(3)

4.The author of the passage would be most likely to approve of which of the following?

A. Prolific travellers usually know how to learn much more about a place.

B. Americans who have no passport are considered to be unintelligent.

C. The invention of internet has made travel unnecessary and meaningless.

D. Travelling is not so educational as before but it is still very fascinating.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.conceited.
解释：往坏里说，旅行会让人变得傲慢，我们的文化却常常奉承他们的自命不凡。

(2) 答案：C.Because they believe an experienced traveler is more intelligent than average.
解释：我们仍然处于一个赞赏利用间隔年外出旅行的世界，在职场上，“旅行经验丰富”仍然是“聪明”的代名词。

(3) 答案：B.stay there for a while and experience the native ways of life.
解释：如今，想要深入地了解一个遥远的地方，你需要在那里住一段时间，交税、利用公共设施。仅仅旅游是不够深入的。

(4) 答案：D.Travelling is not so educational as before but it is still very fascinating.
解释：仅仅是旅游无法深刻地了解一个地方，它只有一个意义——快乐。

“粉丝团”成政坛新兴力量

“不同党派的人们在社交媒体上各自站队，为他们的候选人欢呼喝彩，如同在看一场激烈的拳击比赛。难怪在去年秋天的‘美国总统大赛’期间，连最受欢迎的NFL也遭遇了收视率下跌。美国人爱上了一种新的比赛。政客‘粉丝团’并非是新生事物，但却在近几年迅速发展壮大。狂热的粉丝和一般的支持者有何不同？”

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
collusion[kə'luːʒn] n. 共谋，勾结
gridiron['ɡrɪdaɪən] n. 橄榄球场
pummel['pʌml] v. 接连地打
libidinal[lɪ'bɪdənl] adj. 性欲的
impromptu[ɪm'prɒmptjuː] adj. 即兴的
frigging[lɪ'bɪdənl] adj. 该死的
entail[ɪn'teɪl] vt. 使必需，使蒙受
aviation[ˌeɪvi'eɪʃn] n. 航空
adversity[əd'vɜːsəti] n. 逆境，灾难

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分23秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分0秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分9秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分45秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Trumpsters, Corbynistas and the rise of the political fan(754 words)

By Simon Kuper

When will Donald Trump’s supporters finally peel off? Liberals are now hoping his campaign’s apparent collusion with Russia in last year’s election will do the trick. But many Trump voters are more than just voters. They are political fans — a poorly understood modern phenomenon. Political fans reason a lot like sports or music fans, explains Cornel Sandvoss, professor of media and journalism at the UK’s Huddersfield University.

Political fandom isn’t entirely new. Margaret Thatcher had her fan base and, in 1994, Silvio Berlusconi in Italy created a party, Forza Italia, named after a football supporters’ chant. His candidates even wore Italy’s blue football shirts.

But social media gave political fandom a lift. Now supporters have spaces to express themselves, away from old po-faced wannabe-neutral political media. Partisans gather on social media to root for their candidate in a debate, almost as if it were a boxing match. Elections look ever more like sporting spectacles. No wonder that during last autumn’s US presidential “horse race”, viewing figures for gridiron’s National Football League fell: many fans had found a new sport. Trump, who is steeped in American sports, understands the crossover with politics. Recall the video he tweeted in which he appears as a wrestler pummelling the CNN logo.

Fandom works best in two-party political systems such as the US or UK, because these mimic the us-versus-them format of sports. (Coalition politics discourages fandom, because teams don’t really play against each other.) In an us-versus-them game, you can be not just a fan but an “anti-fan”, who roots against a candidate. Most voters in the US presidential election were above all anti-fans of the other party’s candidate.

American phenomena usually spread to the UK first. In a YouGov poll of Conservative voters in June’s British elections, a combined 30 per cent described their prime motivation as “anti-Labour” or against Labour’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Only 5 per cent said they had made a positive choice for Conservative leader Theresa May. Meanwhile, Corbynistas have a unique form of anti-fandom: their enemy-in-chief is their own party’s ex-leader Tony Blair.

Fandom gives people an identity. Sandvoss says this matters particularly as traditional sources of identity are fading: more and more adults aren’t married, don’t identify with their job, and don’t have a clear economic class, religion or trade union. Many fill that vacuum by being fans, whether it’s of Trump, the Yankees or Apple.

A child uses a teddy bear as a “transitional space” between himself and the world, said the psychoanalyst DW Winnicott. For political fans, says Sandvoss, the candidate is their teddy bear — the object that links them to the world. Sandvoss calls their fandom “libidinal-narcissistic”. The candidate’s job is to express the fans’ identity.

Like music fans, political fans prefer heroes with star quality. They rarely respond to parties, or to uncharismatic politicians such as Hillary Clinton, François Hollande and May. Someone like George HW Bush probably couldn’t get elected today.

Some Trumpsters and Corbynistas care about changing government policy: about building Trump’s wall, or nationalising British industries. But for most political fans, policy is secondary. Joan C Williams, author of White Working Class, explains: “You don’t go, ‘I like the Giants because I think Timmy’s pitch is awesome.’ You go, ‘I like the Giants because I frigging love the Giants!’”

That’s why many Corbynistas waved away the question of his electability. What they cared about most was not remaking Britain, but finding an identity as fans. For similar reasons, last year’s referendum on Brexit largely ignored boring policy issues. Most voters simply chose a team. Only now are many Leave voters discovering that their vote probably entails leaving the single market, not to mention such obscure organisations as Euratom or Europe’s single aviation market.

The traditional rhetoric of fandom is life-long loyalty: “We’ll support you evermore.” Hardcore fans proudly stick with their team in adversity. When diehard Trumpsters are goaded to drop their man over mounting evidence of collusion with Russia, they think: not now when my team needs me most. Diehard fans perceive the world as fans. They cannot see their own team’s fouls, and so presume that referees are biased against them.

However, Sandvoss cautions, most fans are in fact casual supporters. The majority don’t go to games (or rallies), don’t buy the merchandise, and switch on only when their team is winning. Corbyn is now enjoying that effect, soaring in polls after beating expectations in the election.

But if their hero disappoints, casual fans will switch off (see Trump’s approval ratings) and find something else to support. The NFL football season starts in September.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Political fandom has became exceedingly popular in recent years with the help of ____.

A. social media.

B. policy debate.

C. two-party political system.

D. political media.

答案(1)

2.Fandom works best in two-party political systems because ____.

A. the adversarial system of two party mimics the confrontation between fan and anti-fan.

B. the rivalry between two parties is very much like the us-versus-them binary in sports.

C. coalition politics in the multi-party system discourages the us-versus-them mentality.

D. in two-party political people acquire a clear identity by supporting a candidate.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is a charismatic politician according to the author?

A. Jeremy Corbyn.

B. Hillary Clinton.

C. Theresa May.

D. George HW Bush.

答案(3)

4.Joan C Williams’ words in the tenth paragraph indicates that political fans ____.

A. are very informed, attentive and less enthusiastic about policy issues.

B. are hardcore political fans who only care about government policy.

C. are irrational and largely indifferent to changing government policy.

D. are passionate people who make decisions based on their emotion.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.social media.
解释：政治粉丝并不是新鲜事，但社交媒体的出现让它变得非常流行。

(2) 答案：B.the rivalry between two parties is very much like the us-versus-them binary in sports.
解释：粉丝模式在两党制国家最为流行，因为两党制的模式模仿了“我们对他们”的体育比赛模式。

(3) 答案：A.Jeremy Corbyn.
解释：工党领袖科尔宾在英国有大量的粉丝基础。政治粉丝很少会热衷于党派，或是缺乏个人魅力的政客，比如希拉里、奥朗德和梅。老布什这样的人放在今天绝不会当选。

(4) 答案：C.are irrational and largely indifferent to changing government policy.
解释：Joan C Williams解释称，（粉丝们）不会说“我爱巨人队因为Timmy的投球棒极了”，他们只会说：“我爱巨人队因为我对他们爱到疯狂”。

小可乐难倒大市长

为控制肥胖现象，纽约市长布隆伯格绕过市议会，雄心勃勃推动了“大可乐禁令”，但无情地被州最高院驳回。FT社论说，为何不试试禁止小可乐呢？如果规定苏打水最小杯至少15升，那么即使最贪吃的家伙也会放弃可乐的。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
pugnacious[pʌg'neɪʃəs] adj.好斗的，好战
libertarian[,lɪbə'teərɪən] v./n.自由意志论的。主张政府对个人生活的干预应尽可能小，个人应当不受限制地决定自己的事务。自由意志主义者构成了美国共和党的一个派别。

bulge[bʌldʒ] n.肿胀、赘肉
girth [gɜːθ] n.腰围
deli ['delɪ] 熟食店，即delicatessen
city council 市议会，纽约市议会共有51名议员，民主党和共和党人的比例为47:4 Leviathan|海怪。英国哲学家霍布斯创作了影响深远的政治哲学著作《利维坦》，认为人类的自然状态是“所有人对所有人的战争”，因此需要创造一个有权威、有暴力手段的国家（利维坦）。

evisceration [i,visə'reiʃən] n.去除内脏
fructose ['frʌktəʊz; -s] n.果糖
ravenous ['ræv(ə)nəs] adj.贪婪的，狼吞虎咽的
thimble ['θɪmb(ə)l] n.顶针
gallon ['gælən] n.加仑，1英制加仑等于4.55升，1美制加仑等于3.79升。一般的桶装纯净水为5(美)加仑。

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

2分18秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分17秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

0分55秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分19秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Microsize me (323 words)

Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s pugnacious mayor, never lets libertarian compunctions get in the way of bettering New Yorkers’ health. But his latest battle against the bulge has been put on the defensive by a state judge who struck down a ban on selling sugary drinks in large containers.

Sadly for the “keep off my girth” squad – a strange alliance of beverage makers, the Teamsters transport union, cinemas, and Hispanic and Korean-American deli owners – the judge’s main objection was procedural. By passing over the city council’s head, Mr Bloomberg had created a “Leviathan” (presumably a reference to Hobbes’ analysis of sovereign power, not to an excessive body mass index). In rhetoric that can only called supersized, the judge reasoned that such “evisceration” of the separation of powers might “be more troubling than sugar-sweetened beverages.”

Opponents’ concerns are more substantive. Their economic interest is the same whether a “portion cap rule” is passed by legislative or executive bodies. Some Americans object to the very idea of bans on things people want to consume, obesity notwithstanding. Fears of government overreach – Leviathan – are not altogether unfounded. In 2008, a Republican (!) state legislator in Mississippi introduced a bill that would have prohibited restaurants from serving obese diners.

Surely the only serious objection to limiting servings to 16oz is that it may not produce the desired effect. The ban is riddled with exceptions. Supersized sugar water is fine if sold in supermarkets; and if mixed with enough milk (or, this being New York, soy milk).

Nor would refills be banned. You want 32oz of flavoured, carbonated high-fructose corn syrup? Have two legal 16oz cups. With council approval, the mayor should set the limit at thimble size: 64 minicups can hardly replicate a Big Gulp. Or why not take the inalienable right to supersize to its logical extreme? Even the most ravenous might go off the soda habit if the smallest legal size was four-gallon buckets.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why does the writer say "sadly for the 'keep off my girth' squad···"?

A. The opposition force was a quite strange alliance.

B. They failed to persuade and mobilize enough people.

C. The judge’s main objection was merely procedural.

D. These people did not take their health seriously.

答案(1)

2.What is correct about Mr Bloomberg and his “Leviathan”?

A. He created a supersized city Department of Health.

B. The ban might be an infringement to the separation of powers.

C. To implement the regulation, he would use force if necessary.

D. He made the city council his rubber stamp.

答案(2)

3.The only serious objection to limiting servings to 16oz, is what?

A. It may not produce the desired effect.

B. A Republican state legislator in Mississippi introduced a similar ban.

C. The opponents' economic interest would be preserved if the ban is passed by legislature.

D. Supersized sugar water is fine if sold in supermarkets.

答案(3)

4.What's the editorial's advice?

A. Try not drink flavoured, carbonated high-fructose corn syrup.

B. With council approval, mayor Bloomberg should set the limit at thimble size.

C. Set the smallest legal size of coke to four-gallon.

D. Just abandon the idea of "soda ban", it's silly.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.The judge’s main objection was merely procedural.
解释：法官判决市长的法令无效，但并未支持反对者们“吃的再胖也是个人自由”的观点。 BD是无中生有。A正确但与答案无关。

(2) 答案：B.The ban might be an infringement to the separation of powers.
解释：布隆伯格的禁令绕过了市议会，直接以卫生局条例的形式发布，州法官认为，这是对三权分立原则的侵犯： "more troubling than sugar-sweetened beverages"。

(3) 答案：A.It may not produce the desired effect.
解释：这是倒数第二段的原话。法官在判决中说，这arbitrary and capricious。BD正确但并非回答。
C是错误的，“行政权力越位了”并不是最有力的反对论点，因为民主党人占据压倒性优势的市议会(47:4)完全可以轻松通过这一禁令。 而对那些反对者(货车司机、电影院和熟食店)来说，不管谁发布禁令，经济利益受损都是同样的。

(4) 答案：A.Just abandon the idea of "soda ban", it's silly.
解释：这一禁令为何会无效呢？首先，含糖饮料在超市买仍是可以的（州际贸易由联邦政府管理），加牛奶了也可以买。 其次，续杯无法禁止，想喝32盎司的玉米浆，但市政府限制16盎司？那就买两杯。
最后几句话显然是讽刺：“市长先生可以在得到市议会批准之后把容量限制搞得很小，让64杯也顶不了一大筒的可乐。 或者，为什么不把限制搞得超级大，大到逻辑上的极限呢？这样的话，即使最贪吃的家伙也会放弃可乐的。”

老兵不死

埃瓦德-海因里希·冯·克莱斯特，世界上最后一位参与刺杀希特勒的德国军官，于2013年3月8日逝世，享年90岁。冯·克莱斯特在战后成为防务和国际关系专家，发起创办了著名的慕尼黑安全会议。FT副总编昆丁·皮尔回顾了他的一生。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
lieutenant [lef'tenənt] n.中尉；副官

Führer['fjurə] n.元首，特指阿道夫·希特勒

Claus von Stauffenberg 施陶芬伯格上校，1944年刺杀希特勒计划的领导人。计划失败后，盖世太保处决了包括他在内的4,980人。汤姆·克鲁斯在影片Valkyrie中扮演了他。

Atlanticist[ət'læntisist] n.大西洋主义,主张西欧和北美在政治、经济、军事防卫等议题上紧密合作，维护共同价值观，与大陆主义相对。北约就是大西洋主义组织。

Pomerania[,pɔmə'reinjə] n.波美拉尼亚，波罗的海南岸的中欧地区
monarchist['mɔnəkist] n./v.君主主义者

Infantry Regimentv步兵团

Gestapo[ɡes'tɑ:pəu] n.盖世太保
unashamed[ʌnə'ʃeɪmd] adj.问心无愧的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分51秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分17秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分20秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分49秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist, plotter against Hitler (821 words)

By Quentin Peel

Anti-Nazi and founder of elite security forum 1922-2013

Though hailed as the last survivor of the group of conspirators who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler on July 20 1944, Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist might have achieved far greater fame if an earlier plot had succeeded.

The previous year, as a 21-year-old lieutenant in the German army from a deeply conservative Prussian aristocratic family, he undertook to wear a suicide vest underneath the army uniform he was to model for the Führer. He was supposed to detonate the explosives when Hitler stood in front of him.

In the event, the parade did not take place. But Kleist, who has died in Munich aged 90, was again willing to lay down his life by being part of the 1944 assassination attempt led by Claus von Stauffenberg. The plan behind the detonation of a bomb in the Wolf’s Lair, the East Prussian military headquarters (Hitler was saved from serious injury by a table leg), has become an essential part of Germany’s postwar national narrative.

“It showed that at least there was a group that took action, and took it upon themselves to try to ensure that things could not go on,” says Gebhardt von Moltke, former ambassador to the UK. “It is always said it was too little, too late, but at least they tried.”

Kleist was one of the very few plotters who survived interrogation and imprisonment. Almost 5,000 were executed after July 20, including his father Ewald.

His enduring accomplishment came later. After launching a publishing company specialising in defence, in 1963 he founded the Munich Wehrkunde, named after his magazine, as a conference for US and European politicians to discuss security. By attracting top-level American participants such as Henry Kissinger, who went on to become secretary of state, and Edward Teller, “father of the hydrogen bomb”, as well as leading senators, he succeeded in turning the event into an exclusive annual debate for which invitations were eagerly sought. Now called the Munich Security Conference, it has expanded well beyond Nato, although the core remains firmly Atlanticist.

Kleist’s reputation as a member of the anti-Nazi resistance undoubtedly helped gain credibility for his conference, especially in the US. But he always admitted that he was not an instant hero during the war.

He hesitated before accepting the 1943 suicide mission. “When you are young, you don’t want to die,” he said in an interview shortly before his 90th birthday. When the plan was proposed by Stauffenberg, Kleist asked for a day to consult his father on the family estate in Pomerania (now part of Poland). “My thinking was that parents love their children, so I would ask my father, and he would surely say: ‘Don’t do it’.”

But he had underestimated the old man, a passionate monarchist and anti-Nazi. “The answer came in seconds: ‘You must do it,’ he said. ‘If you refuse at a moment like this, you will never be happy again in your lifetime’.”

Born on July 10 1922, Kleist was a member of Infantry Regiment 9, descended from the 1st Prussian Regiment of Foot Guards. Graf Neun (“Count Nine”), as it was known because of its many titled officers, contained no fewer than 19 resistance plotters in its upper ranks.

His 1944 role was modest. Charged with helping to disarm pro-Hitler forces in Berlin, he was arrested as soon as it became clear the Führer had not died. Imprisoned and interrogated, he was then surprisingly released that December. He speculated later that the Gestapo hoped he would lead them to other plotters who had not been identified.

Kleist is survived by his wife Gundula, a son and a daughter. In 1998 he handed over the running of the security conference, which as a result of being an initially intimate event had won a reputation as a forum for outspoken views, even though the debates were in public.

It was the scene in 2003 of an extraordinary confrontation between Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, and Joschka Fischer, when the German foreign minister declared “I am not convinced” about the US arguments for waging war on Iraq.

In 2007, Vladimir Putin was the first Russian leader to attend. He used the occasion to launch a furious attack on US foreign policy, to the organisers’ acute embarrassment.

An unashamed conservative, Kleist nonetheless ensured that Social Democrats were present, although while he was in charge he never invited members of the pacifist Green party such as Mr Fischer.

Kleist, whose family traced its roots back to 1289, always paid tribute to the views of his parents in convincing him that the Hitler regime was evil. Both parents and grandparents, he said, “possessed above all a clear moral compass”. What made him act was experiencing the bombing raids on Berlin. “I saw the misery, the deaths – and it moved me to do something about it.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which event happened first?

A. He planned to wear a suicide vest and detonate it in front of Hitler.

B. He participated in Stauffenberg's plot of assasination in 1944.

C. His father was killed as a member of anti-Nazi resistance.

D. He helped to disarm pro-Hitler forces in Berlin.

答案(1)

2.What made him decide "to do something about it"?

A. His father's encouragement.

B. His aristocratic family.

C. His experiencing the bombing raids on Berlin.

D. Stauffenberg's proposal.

答案(2)

3.What is correct about the Munich Security Conference?

A. It is a closed-door conference.

B. Kleist's reputation helped gain credibility for the conference.

C. The conference invited only european piliticians at first.

D. It is exclusively open for NATO country politicians.

答案(3)

4.What do we know about Mr.Kleist's view of defence?

A. He was firmly Atlanticist.

B. As a conservative, he shared the view with Social Democrats.

C. He never liked Hawkish politicians.

D. All of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.He planned to wear a suicide vest and detonate it in front of Hitler.
解释：从第一段1944年施陶芬伯格计划，以及第二段的The previous year可以看出，克莱斯特先生在1943年就计划过一次刺杀计划，虽未成功，但也未泄露。
第二次参与的刺杀计划失败了，随后包括他父亲在内的抵抗人士被害。而他自己被关押了一段时间后只被轻罪处理。

(2) 答案：C.His experiencing the bombing raids on Berlin.
解释：这是文章最后一段中提到的，他的家族出身高贵，父母和祖父母一直认为希特勒政权是邪恶的， 而目睹柏林在战争中所受的灾难使他决心做些什么（还不是刺杀计划）。When the plan was proposed by Stauffenberg, Kleist asked for a day to consult his father...这时才决心以自杀袭击的形式刺杀希特勒

(3) 答案：A.Kleist's reputation helped gain credibility for the conference.
解释：the debates were in public，所以A不对。安全会议一经创办就邀请美国高官和科学家参加，获得了巨大影响，所以C不对。D也不对，普京在2007年的会议上猛烈抨击美国这一著名事件就很让会议组织者尴尬。

(4) 答案：A.He was firmly Atlanticist.
解释：慕尼黑安全会议自他创办以来，一直是坚定的大西洋主义：the core remains firmly Atlanticist. BC与事实相反，An unashamed conservative倾向于鹰派，与社民党和绿党的鸽派(Dovish)相对。倒数第二段中说， 他主持会议的时候总是邀请社民党但是不邀请绿党。

经济预测，欲望永不眠

辞旧迎新的时候，人们为何总期望经济学家做预测呢？预测成绩怎样？这是FT“卧底经济学家”蒂姆·哈福德有趣的解答。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
insatiable[ɪn'seɪʃəb(ə)l] adj.贪得无厌的；不知足的
impunity [ɪm'pjuːnɪtɪ] n.不受惩罚，免责
dissenter[dɪ'sentə] n.持异见者

“25 standard deviation” 高盛公司的首席财务官大卫·维尼亚在2007年8月对FT说，他的员工看到市场上出现了“好几天25个标准差”的现象。伦敦商学院教授丹尼尔森估测高盛公司已经好几天遭到了史无前例的惨重损失。这大概每多少年才出现一次呢？文章中给出了数字。

bloviation n.长篇大论
psephology [se'fɒlədʒɪ] n.选举学

Exhibit A 【法律】证据甲（当庭首先出示的或主要的证据，也指重要的人证或物证）

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分11秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分28秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分28秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分52秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

An insatiable desire to peer into the future(867 words)

It’s that time of year again. Time for you to make your predictions for 2013.

You’re kidding, right? You’re asking an economist for predictions?

Just my little joke. But surely you’re not a proper economist if you can’t make a few predictions. Isn’t that the whole point of the economic profession – to make dozens of mutually contradictory forecasts with impunity?

Well, the impunity is a topic worth discussing. But the economics profession could do with a few more disagreements, I think. In 1995, FT columnist John Kay examined the record of British economic forecasters from 1987 to 1994. He discovered that they tended to all say much the same thing. The only dissenter was reality: economic growth often fell outside the range of all 34 forecasts.

So economists are terrible forecasters. What else is new?

It isn’t just economists who are terrible forecasters. Take the quantitative analysts responsible for Goldman Sachs’s notorious “

25 standard deviation” episode – presumably physicists or mathematicians.

25 standard deviation?

At the beginning of the financial crisis, the chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs explained that the firm was seeing “25 standard deviation moves, several days in a row” – a statement that, translated into English, means “according to our models, what we’re seeing is very unlucky”.

How unlucky?

Oh, the sort of bad luck you see once every 28, 900, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 years, given certain assumptions about what Goldman might have meant. For reference the universe is about 14,000,000,000 years old. The alternative to the “very unlucky” hypothesis, of course, is that the quantitative models didn’t produce very good forecasts.

Well, that’s a forecast so bad that I can’t believe an economist wasn’t involved somewhere.

You may be right. But I can give you another example: the 300-odd experts recruited by Philip Tetlock, the psychologist, for his epic study of forecasting in political science. Prof Tetlock’s conclusions are wide-ranging and painstaking, but if I can be forgiven an excessively brief summary, he finds that all sorts of people with plausible claims to expertise – diplomats, political advisers, journalists and academics – produce lame forecasts of political and economic events.

Nate Silver seems to be able to forecast just fine.

Well, yes, notwithstanding the politically motivated “Nate Silver can’t add up” school of criticism, Mr Silver, and other statisticians such as Drew Linzer and Sam Wang, successfully forecast the outcome of the US elections in some detail. Contrasted against a background of bloviation, it was impressive. But if psephology is Exhibit A in the Museum of Successful Social Science Forecasts, let’s reflect on how modest our ambitions must have become: US elections are frequently repeated, with behaviour that shows considerable historical persistence, and an astonishing amount of detailed quantitative data are available. The elections take place at a fixed date, according to well-understood rules, and with a narrowly defined space of possible outcomes. It’s easy to see that forecasting a win for Barack Obama, while better than forecasting a win for Mitt Romney, is not quite as hard as successfully predicting if and when Greece will leave the eurozone.

You’re pretty quick with the excuses.

No excuses. We just can’t see into the future. I don’t think that’s any surprise, nor an embarrassment. The question is why there’s such a hunger for social science predictions, when the practice is so transparently pointless.

It’s a test of expertise.

If so, then monkeys are as expert as professors of political economy. I wouldn’t want to be quite so cynical. I think forecasting in a complex world is a poor test of expertise because luck is the overwhelming success factor.

So why do we love predictions?

No idea. Here’s one guess: saying “the UK economy will recover strongly in 2012” or “President Assad will be out of office by June” compresses a vast amount of expertise and analysis into a few words.

But the words are probably meaningless.

Yes. But it’s Christmas. Actually studying the situation in detail is far too much like hard work. The wonderful thing about a forecast is that both the forecaster and his audience feel that something profound has been expressed. And nobody will remember the forecast anyway.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is true, about economists and their forcasts, according to the writer?

A. Economists usually have a good record of predicting the future.

B. FT columnist John Kay is famous for his accurate predictions.

C. Economists are often very pessimistic about the future.

D. People often expect economists to make forcasts.

答案(1)

2.Why the writer use the example of Goldman Sachs’s notorious "25 standard deviation"?

A. To show how catastrophic the losses were for the company.

B. To blame GS's poor predictions that lead to the financial crisis.

C. Quantitative analysts should take some of the blame for bad economic forecasts.

D. To show that quantitative models are ridiculous.

答案(2)

3.Why Nate Silver seems to be able to forecast "just fine"?

A. He is a good statistician.

B. There's an astonishing amount of detailed quantitative data available

C. He has got help from Museum of Successful Social Science Forecasts.

D. Predicting US elections is much easier, for there's not much possibilities.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following forecast is the best example of "something profound has been expressed"?

A. “the UK economy will recover strongly in 2012”

B. “the whole point of the economic profession is to make dozens of mutually contradictory forecasts with impunity”

C. “25 standard deviation moves, several days in a row”

D. “according to our models, what we’re seeing is very unlucky”

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.People often expect economists to make forcasts.
解释：D是正确的。“卧底经济学家”哈福德用自问自答的形式先自黑了一番，不过，关于经济学家糟糕的预测未来的成绩的笑话，是有事实依据的。不管适不适合，人们总是期望经济学家们做上一番预测。

(2) 答案：C.Quantitative analysts should take some of the blame for bad economic forecasts.
解释：C是正确的。作者在原文中说：It isn’t just economists who are terrible forecasters. Take the quantitative analysts responsible for Goldman Sachs’s

(3) 答案：D.Predicting US elections is much easier, for there's not much possibilities.
解释：Nate Silver准确预测了美国大选，还能预测一些细节，这让人印象深刻。但是，预测美国是一件容易得多的事情，它是有规律可循的、规则和时间确定的、有大量历史数据的，更重要的是，结果没有无限种可能：要么民主党胜，要么共和党胜。
B并不全面，而C中的“博物馆”是作者臆造出来的。

(4) 答案：A.“the UK economy will recover strongly in 2012”
解释：作者说，关于预测的最棒的一件事是：对预测者和他的听众来说，预测结果怎样并不重要，重要的是一种“虽不明，但觉厉”的感觉。B是作者对经济学家这一职业的自嘲，D是对C预测的通俗解释。

同性婚姻的真实影响

左翼人士认为同性婚姻不会对社会有什么影响，而右翼则认为它对社会有破坏性。在阿姆斯特丹举办的史上第一例同性婚礼至今已有12年，在荷兰这个“试验田”上，我们已经可以看到一些影响。本文作者FT专栏作家西蒙·库柏。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
hetero['het(ə)rəʊ] n./adj.异性恋的，异性恋者；也称straight；反义词为bent
bourgeois style 小资情调的；
bourgeois['bʊəʒwɑː] n.资产阶级，中产阶级
stolid ['stɒlɪd] adj.迟钝的，冷漠的
burgher ['bɜːgə] n.市民

Christian Democrats 西欧等国的基督教民主党，是社会议题上较保守的政党 banal|陈腐的；平庸的
liberal['lɪb(ə)r(ə)l] n./adj.一般翻译成“自由派”，在社会议题上比较开放的（西方）左翼人士
euthanasia[,juːθə'neɪzɪə] n.安乐死

Open Society Foundations 开放社会基金会，乔治·索罗斯创建的基金会，得名于他的老师卡尔·波普尔的名作《开放社会及其敌人》

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分59秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分21秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分23秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分50秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Gay marriage: telling it straight (839 words)

A few seconds after midnight on April 1 2001, the first gay weddings on earth took place in Amsterdam town hall. Four couples were simultaneously married by the city’s mayor, Job Cohen. I grew up in the Netherlands, and re-watching the scenes, I found them that typically Dutch thing: sexual revolution, bourgeois style. The newlyweds exchanged the traditional kisses while ageing fathers in suits and ties beamed from the town hall’s benches. When the couples signed the register, they looked just like the stolid burghers of 17th-century Dutch paintings, except gay.

Nobody suspected then that by 2013, half the western world would be following them. Already one in five Americans lives in a state with gay marriage, and now Barack Obama’s government is asking the US Supreme Court to overturn a federal law banning the practice. The British and French parliaments voted for gay marriage in February. Yet in these countries, gay marriage is often debated as a leap into the unknown. It isn’t. As with so many social issues, the Netherlands is a laboratory. Twelve years on from Amsterdam town hall, we have a pretty good idea of how gay marriage changes a society.

The first thing to note: it doesn’t change much. Almost as soon as gay marriage was introduced, it faded from Dutch political debate. The unprecedentedly angry political arguments in the Netherlands since September 11 2001 have been about Muslims, Brussels and social class. Even when the Christian Democrats re-entered government in 2002, they never tried to ban gay marriage. Only one in nine Dutch people now opposes the institution, says the state’s Social and Cultural Planning Bureau.

Gay marriage has become so banal that Boris Dittrich, a politician who helped introduce it, reports hearing a woman on the bus tell a friend that she’s just got married. The friend shouts across the packed bus: “To a man or a woman?”

Nor does gay marriage seem to affect heterosexual marriage. The conservative American pundit Stanley Kurtz has long claimed that Dutch and Scandinavian straights began abandoning marriage after gays “devalued” the institution. But this is plain wrong. Kurtz correctly notes that since gay civil partnerships and then marriage came in, the rate of Dutch out-of-wedlock births has soared. However, he fails to note that Dutch out-of-wedlock births have been soaring since the 1970s – long before anyone ever thought of gay marriage. In 1970, 124,000 Dutch couples married. By 1983 fewer than 80,000 did. Since 1983 the decline in Dutch marriages has been far more modest: 71,000 couples married in 2011. Most European countries have experienced similar trends, with gay marriage or without.

Kurtz seems to be operating on the familiar presumption that you can say what you like about the Netherlands because nobody knows what happens there anyway. In a similar vein, the US Republican Rick Santorum claimed last year that half of all cases of Dutch euthanasia were “involuntary”: old people were being massacred.

The liberal temptation, then, is to say that gay marriage doesn’t affect national life. But that would be wrong. Mark Gevisser, an Open Society Foundations fellow researching “the new global struggle for the rights of sexual minorities”, has convinced me over large lunches in Paris that gay marriage makes two big changes. Firstly, it slaps the churches in the face. When a country introduces gay marriage, it’s in effect telling its churches, “What you say about moral issues isn’t that important any more.” That’s partly why British and American churches have fought so hard against gay marriage. They’re not just losing a battle. Their national relevance is in question.

. . .

The other impact of gay marriage is on gay life. Recently I visited Gert Hekma, historian of homosexuality, in his apartment overlooking Amsterdam’s dinky city centre. This was long a classic gay habitat: the homosexual left his hometown, and his often uneasy relationship with his family, for Amsterdam’s “gay scene”. He didn’t have kids, and often drifted apart from heterosexual friends after they did. Gradually, many gays came to inhabit a mostly gay world.

But that is changing. Amsterdam’s gay scene – the cafés, nightclubs and bookshops – was “collapsing”, said Hekma. That was partly because of the internet but also because gays were increasingly integrating with straights. Young gay men now hang out with their parents, or go clubbing with heterosexual friends, said Hekma. “Lots of straights come to a gay parade – sometimes too many.”

Many gay teenagers are still persecuted at school, Hekma added. But gay marriage had improved integration by sending a clear message: “Society accepts homosexuals.” Nowadays, said Hekma, some parents nag their gay children to marry. “I think the wedding itself is a means of integration,” he mused.

So far, relatively few Dutch homosexuals have had children. But as more do, and gay families retreat to suburbia, they will enter a hetero world of kids’ playdates and freezing parents watching Saturday-morning hockey games. It’s an unglamorous life. But as most straight parents will testify, that’s what marriage does to you.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why does the writer specifically describe the gay weddings in Amsterdam on April 1, 2001?

A. The issue was quite unusual in countries like Holland.

B. Because the author grew up there.

C. Those weddings were the first gay weddings on earth.

D. To provide a depiction of bourgeois style.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following institution is not supportive of gay marriage?

A. The Obama administration.

B. US Supreme Court.

C. The British Parliament.

D. The French Parliament.

答案(2)

3.What does the writer imply by citing a story that someone shouted to her friend on a bus “To a man or a woman?”

A. Gay marriage is devaluing the institution.

B. Churches are losing the battle.

C. Gay marriage is becoming ordinary.

D. Gay marriage doesn’t affect national life.

答案(3)

4.Amsterdam’s gay scene – the cafés, nightclubs and bookshops – was “collapsing”.

This is not because?

A. Homosexuals often have uneasy relationships with their families.

B. The spread of internet access.

C. Gays are increasingly integrating with straights.

D. The society is accepting homosexuals.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.Those weddings were the first gay weddings on earth.
解释：着墨讲述这场集体婚礼，是因为这是世界上前无古人的事。作者说，荷兰以sexual revolution和bourgeois style著称。

(2) 答案：B.US Supreme Court.
解释：作者在第二段中说，在2013年，半数西方国家会允许同性婚姻。目前已经有1/5的美国人住在将其合法化的州里。 奥巴马政府正在要求美国最高法院推翻此前的一项禁止同性婚姻的联邦法案，而英法两国在今年二月均投票通过了相关法案。

(3) 答案：C.Gay marriage is becoming ordinary.
解释：Gay marriage has become so banal that...也就是说荷兰人已经不介意在公开场合讨论这个问题了，他们已经觉得习以为常了。 A是美国保守人士Stanley Kurtz的观点。D是liberal人士的观点，而作者表示这是错误的，一是教会在道德教化上不再重要，二是阿姆斯特丹这样的城市会出现同性恋人士聚居区。
B正确但并未回答问题。

(4) 答案：A.Homosexuals often have uneasy relationships with their families.
解释：这恰是gay scene诞生的原因，而BCD则是这种景观慢慢消失的原因。

仇富潮流全球化？

本文作者为英国《金融时报》专栏作家吉迪恩·拉赫曼(Gideon Rachman)

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
backlash ['bæklæʃ] n./v.后座；后冲
antagonism [æn'tæg(ə)nɪz(ə)m] n.对抗，敌对
eschew [ɪs'tʃu] v.避免；避开

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分51秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分50秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分44秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分57秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The backlash against the rich has gone global (960 words)

It is never a great sign when politicians start appealing to taxpayers’ patriotism. Defending the French government’s recent decision to raise the top rate of income tax to 75 per cent, Pierre Moscovici, the country’s finance minister, told Le Monde: “This is not a punitive measure, but a patriotic measure.” The rich, he explained, are being given an opportunity to make “an exceptional contribution” to solving France’s financial problems. I am sure they are very grateful.

France is clearly taking a big risk by raising its tax rates so much higher than those of its neighbours. But it is a mistake to portray the Hollande administration as Socialist dinosaurs. The truth is that the new French government is at the extreme end of a new global trend: an international backlash against the wealthy that is reshaping politics from Europe to the US to China.

David Cameron, the British prime minister, has offered to roll out the red carpet for French tax exiles. But even in Britain, where the top tax rate is 45 per cent, there is a new mood of antagonism towards the rich. Even conservative politicians dare not defend bankers’ pay.

In the US, meanwhile, Barack Obama is campaigning to increase taxes on “millionaires and billionaires”. It is true that the tax rises that the US president wants would be laughably small by French standards. Mr Obama merely wants to raise the top rate from 35 per cent to 39.6 per cent, as well as increasing taxes on capital gains and dividends.

But some of the president’s rhetoric has distinct echoes of the successful Hollande campaign in France. The French socialists made great play of Nicolas Sarkozy’s allegedly “bling” lifestyle and friendships with the super-rich. In similar vein, the Obama campaign has attacked Mitt Romney as a tax-dodging representative of “the 1 per cent” – and mocked his wife’s ownership of a dressage horse. These tactics sound risky because Americans are traditionally said to admire the wealthy, rather than to envy them. But the Obama camp can read polls. By a margin of 64 per cent to 33 per cent, Americans are in favour of higher taxes on those earning more than $250,000.

Political sensitivities about the gap between the wealthy and the rest are not confined to the west. The lifestyles of the rich and powerful is now the most sensitive and dangerous topic in Chinese politics. The website of Bloomberg News was recently shut down in China, apparently as punishment for the publication of an article on the family wealth of Xi Jinping, soon to be China’s new president.

In one incident a couple of weeks ago, riots over pollution in the city of Qindong took a nasty turn when demonstrators demanded to know what brand of clothing the local party secretary was wearing. The BBC reports: “On discovering it was an expensive Italian brand, they are said to have stripped him to the waist.”

Why is all this happening? As Zanny Minton Beddoes of The Economist writes in a recent essay, “a majority of the world’s citizens now live in countries where the gap between the rich and the rest is a lot bigger than it was a generation ago”. The trend has been most extreme in the west. As Ms Minton Beddoes points out, in the US “the portion of national income going to the richest 1 per cent tripled from 8 per cent in the 1970s to 24 per cent in 2007”.

Eventually that kind of shift is liable to spark a political backlash. The trigger for that reaction has been the Great Recession, which has increased the pressure on the living standards of ordinary people, while exposing misbehaviour at the top. Western politicians, from Barack Obama to François Hollande are seeking to capture and channel this new mood. In Asia, where the Great Recession has hit less hard, other factors may be at work. The internet and the rise of microblogging have made it easier to spread information and to whip up indignation about the gap between the hard-pressed worker and the super-rich.

If this new mood hardens, it could mark the end of an era of lower taxes, deregulation and rising inequality that began in the late 1970s, with the rise of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the west and of Deng Xiaoping in China When Lady Thatcher came to office in 1979, Britain’s top tax rate was 83 per cent. She cut it, first to 60 per cent and then to 40 per cent – where it stayed until the financial crisis. Reagan inherited a top income tax rate of 70 per cent and cut it to 50 per cent and finally to 28 per cent. In China, Deng Xiaoping captured the spirit of the times when he remarked: “To get rich is glorious.”

Now a new global mood has taken hold. In China, political leaders have eschewed the frank celebration of wealth. In the western world, cash-strapped politicians are eager to raise taxes on the newly unpopular rich. The big question is whether this is still possible in a globalised world. As Mr Cameron’s tactless remarks about red carpets have underlined, any government that raises taxes too far and fast is in danger of sparking a flight of capital and business. The super-rich are mobile and well-advised.

The merely well-off, however, are likely to find it harder to evade a new push for higher taxes across the west. James Callaghan, the prime minister Mrs Thatcher defeated in 1979, remarked perceptively: “There are times, perhaps once every 30 years, when there is a sea change in politics.” Roughly 30 years after the beginning of the Thatcher-Reagan era, another sea change is upon us.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does the writer mean by “it is a mistake to portray the Hollande administration as Socialist dinosaurs”?

A. Hollande is not a socialist.

B. Hollande administration is not actually raising too much taxes.

C. Around the world, not just French socialists are proposing tax rise for the rich.

D. French government is not very big.

答案(1)

2.''David Cameron has offered to roll out the red carpet for French tax exiles.'' What can we learn from this saying?

A. There's little mood of antagonism towards the rich in Britain.

B. Britain's overall tax rates are lower than France's.

C. In the past there were a lot of British people fleeing to France.

D. France usually has a lot of tax exiles.

答案(2)

3.Historically speaking, popular mood against the rich happens in different times.

According to the passage, which of the follwing is correct?

A. It could be because the gap between the rich and the rest is a lot bigger today.

B. It could be triggered in recession times.

C. It is not unusual that politicians seek to capture this mood.

D. All of the above is correct.

答案(3)

4.The writer mentioned the rise of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and Deng Xiaoping in the late 70s, what are their similarities according to him?

A. They were all from the conservative right wing.

B. They all reduced tax rates by significant standards.

C. The trend they represented is still ongoing.

D. They are more in favor of wealth pursuit compared to their predecessors.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.Around the world, not just French socialists are proposing tax rise for the rich.
解释：C项是正确的。ABD的说法都与事实相反。奥朗德是社会党人，法国也素以“大政府”著称，另外，原文第二段中说''France is···raising its tax rates so much higher than those of its neighbours.''

(2) 答案：B.Britain's overall tax rates are lower than France's.
解释：B项是正确的，尤其是奥朗德政府对富人进一步提高税收之后。A项是错误的，原文第三段说，''···in Britain···there is a new mood of antagonism towards the rich''。C、D选项在原文中并未提及。

(3) 答案：D.All of the above is correct.
解释：ABC三项都是正确的。在原文第八、第九段可以找到。

(4) 答案：D.They are more in favor of wealth pursuit compared to their predecessors.
解释：D项是正确的，作者认为这些领导人引领了一个降税收、去管制和收入差距加大的时代。AB两项与事实不符，计划经济体没有通常出现在市场经济国家的税收制度。C项与作者观点相反，作者认为在全文最后一句说：another sea change is upon us.

中土世界的主宰

影片《霍比特人I》中，马丁·弗里曼出演的毕尔博充满喜剧轻松气息，全明星阵容的瑞文戴尔（林谷）展现了前拉斐尔风格。作者Nigel Andrews本不打算看这部片的，当看到瓦格纳式的结尾时，他已经迫不及待第二部了。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
ineluctable [,ɪnɪ'lʌktəb(ə)l]| adj.不可避免的；无法逃避的
elvedom n.精灵王国
fast-frame 一般电影标准制式是每秒24帧，而该片是每秒48帧。彼得·杰克逊和詹姆斯·卡梅隆等导演都认为3D电影需要后者
tremolo['trem(ə)ləʊ] n.颤音
pièce de résistance n.（法语）一餐中的主菜
scintillating['sintileitiŋ] adj.闪烁的；才气横溢的
spooky['spu:ki] adj.幽灵般的
montage [mɒn'tɑːʒ] n.蒙太奇，将一系列在不同地点，从不同角度拍摄的镜头排列组合的手法

Wagnerian[vɑ:ɡ'niəriən] adj.（德国浪漫主义作曲家）瓦格纳风格的，这是歌剧或一般艺术中“先进”及非传统的代义词
scaly tail 有鳞的尾巴，这是影片结尾的镜头

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

2分59秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分40秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分11秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分25秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

A juggernaut in Middle-earth (419 words)

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”, announces the poster. Unexpected? By whom? Among the great certainties of earthly existence, death and taxes were long ago overtaken by the ineluctable box office march and stamina of Peter Jackson’s Tolkien film saga. Halt its progress? Curtail its hobbit-forming momentum? You could as easily flag down a juggernaut with a paper hankie.

Professor Tolkien’s slim preludial volume to The Lord of the Rings now stands release-ready as an equal-length trilogy of movies slated to march on into earths and elvedoms infinite. Don’t expect me to cast the first slate. The Hobbit may be long and certifiably whimsical. But it is dashingly spectacular and, in its headlong, obsessive-compulsive way – you have to like looking at folkloric weirdos in beards, hats and bulbous noses – a sort of masterwork.

Don’t be deterred by the slow start or already controversial fast-frame screen process. Somewhere in the Shire, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) leaps from the flashbacking imagination of his older self (Ian Holm) to begin a trek through Middle Earth with an army of Dwarves wanting to reclaim a dragon-seized kingdom. Played by Freeman with a lightness of comic touch for which Jackson’s sometimes unwieldy franchise should weep with gratitude, this Bilbo makes a good contrasty double act with Ian McKellen’s Gandalf. Supposedly younger, the latter is as plummy and quavering as ever. Clearly youth cannot stale nor flashbacks wither that pop-eyed, purse-mouthed yet vocally empurpled, theatrical tremolo.

For a while little happens except walkies and fighties. The landscapes are lovely; the music soars; the dialogue is built around exclamatory one-worders cuing the next battle. “Orcs!” “Elves!” “Trolls!” An all-star interlude in Rivendell, with Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee and Hugo Weaving, threatens to freeze the movie into a permanent pre-Raphaelite stasis. Then comes the first true pièce de résistance and all resistance ends.

Gollum and Bilbo meet in a cave and for half an hour the riddling cut-and-thrust of their dialogue is scintillating. Voiced and motion-capture-performed again by Andy Serkis, this film’s Gollum is better even than in TLOTR. His eyes are huge and spooky pools; his naked body scrambles arachno-humanly; his husking, wheedling baby talk (“precious”, “hobbitses”) is at times scary, at others funny.

The film rolls away like departing thunder with another massed battle, the best. The final sequence is an inspired little montage, with a Wagnerian flick in its scaly tail, setting up Hobbit 2. I can’t wait. And I’m the one who didn’t even want to go into Hobbit 1.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1."You could as easily flag down a juggernaut with a paper hankie."

What does this mean?

A. Juggernauts are imaginary figures after all.

B. Jackson's film sagas and its box office performance are unstoppable.

C. Tolkien's stories were originally written down on a paper handkerchief.

D. Only the heroes can flag down a juggernaut, not everyone.

答案(1)

2.What can we learn about The Hobbit?

A. It is the finale of The Lord of The Rings stories.

B. It is scheduled to be realized into a series of 3 movies.

C. It is Tolkien's first fantasy story.

D. It is a very long story.

答案(2)

3.In the movie, which of the following event happens first?

A. Old Bilbo Baggins recalls his past adventures.

B. Gollum and Bilbo meet in a cave.

C. An army of Dwarves is assembled to reclaim a dragon-seized kingdom.

D. Gandalf and his friends arrives in Rivendell.

答案(3)

4.The writer criticizes which character?

A. Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freeman, with a lightness of comic touch.

B. Ian McKellen’s Gandalf, as plummy and quavering as ever.

C. Gollum, Voiced and motion-capture-performed again by Andy Serkis.

D. None of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.Jackson's film sagas and its box office performance are unstoppable.
解释：这句话实际上是反话，上文是：停下杰克逊的托尔金电影的发展？压制他制造霍比特人的势头？这就像flag down a juggernaut with a paper hankie一样不可能啊。

(2) 答案：B.It is scheduled to be realized into a series of 3 movies.
解释：第二段中说，托尔金教授薄薄的《霍比特人》是preludial volume to The Lord of the Rings，这将拍成个trilogy。C文中并未提及。D与事实相反，这是很薄slim的一本书。

(3) 答案：A.Old Bilbo Baggins recalls his past adventures.
解释：影片从Somewhere in the Shire老比尔博回忆他年轻时的冒险经历开始……

(4) 答案：D.None of above.
解释：可以看出，作者认为这三个角色的扮演者非常出色。

不可思议的漂流

《少年派》荣获第85届奥斯卡最佳视觉效果奖，FT专栏影评家Nigel Andrews认为，这是一部用诗意的创造力将“不可能被影像化的故事”展现出来的影片，一部能让观众们重新回到童年的影片。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
virtuosity [,vɜːtʃʊ'ɒsɪtɪ] n.精湛技巧；对艺术品的爱好

Anno Digitale 数字年

Yann Martel 加拿大作家马特尔，英语小说界重要奖项布克奖（Booker Prize）得主
diluvian[dai'lju:vjən] adj.大洪水的
fusillade[,fjuːzɪ'leɪd] n./v.猛射；枪炮的齐射
bestiary['bestɪərɪ] n.动物寓言集
orang-utan[ɔ:,ræŋu:'tæn] and hyena[haɪ'iːnə] 猩猩，和鬣狗；
equine ['ikwaɪn] n./adj.马，马的
tour de force 绝技；精心杰作

Davy Jones’s locker 深海阎王戴维琼斯的锁柜，即葬身海底的意思，戴维琼斯的头是个大章鱼的形象
ensorcelling[in'sɔ:səlɪŋ] adj.着迷

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

2分20秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分18秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

0分56秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分19秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Afloat on an ocean of possibilities (328 words)

December 20, 2012 5:13 pm

Ang Lee’s Life of Pi is an eye-boggling demonstration of the virtuosities available to the poetically inventive film-maker in 2012 AD (Anno Digitale). I kept thinking of the TV Superman series and its famous old voice intro. Is Lee’s film a fable? Is it an adventure? No, it’s a super-movie. Faster than a speeding ballet, leaping tall decades at a single bound, this action fantasy from Yann Martel’s 2001 Booker Prize-winning novel says a final goodbye to pre-digital, pre-diluvian 3D.

Every filmgoer will re-become a child as he/she watches the shipwrecked Indian boy (played by vivid newcomer Suraj Sharma) grapple with adversity – storms, sharks, a fusillade of flying fish – as he is cast away at sea accompanied by a tiger from his dad’s zoo-in-transit. The other human characters, including a blink-and-you-miss-him Gérard Depardieu as the ship’s cook, are swiftly dispatched to Davy Jones’s locker; we don’t need them.

Though the worst of Martel’s book survives along with the best – the arguments for God’s existence which bookend the screenplay would barely stand up in a kindergarten – the best occupies most of the screen time. The lifeboat’s initial bestiary includes a zebra, orang-utan and hyena (terrifying), all digitised in part or whole, all in our faces or at our throats whenever Lee commands and the 3D specs obey.

The digi-tiger is a dazzler, expert, seamless, all-expressive: a screen tour de force as captivating in its virtuosity as the puppeteered stage equine in War Horse. Lee and his team also conjure high seas and mighty squalls and, for contrast, a night of phosphorescent jellyfish glowing back at the moon and a sunrise seascape golden, mirror-placid, horizonless. Sometimes boat and boy seem suspended in a vacancy between transparent infinities. This is picture-book picture-making as ensorcelling as any we have seen since Powell’s The Thief of Baghdad, another tale of an Indian boy, a world of magic, and showdowns with the elemental.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does the writer tell us about 3D?

A. It is poetically inventive.

B. There's a pre-digital 3D, and a modern 3D.

C. It was first introduced in the TV Superman series.

D. None of above.

答案(1)

2."Every filmgoer will re-become a child", why?

A. Because the characters are mostly non-human.

B. Because the shipwrecked boy grapples with all kinds of adversity.

C. Because the Indian boy is vividly played by young Suraj Sharma.

D. Because of Gérard Depardieu, a blink-and-you-miss-him actor.

答案(2)

3."The worst of Martel’s book survives along with the best", what is the worst?

A. The arguments for God’s existence.

B. The terryifying hyena.

C. Human characters who are swiftly dispatched to Davy Jones’s locker.

答案(3)

4.About War Horse and The Thief of Baghdad, which of the following is correct?

A. The tiger in Life of Pi and the horse in War Horse are both digitally designed.

B. In War Horse, high seas and mighty squalls were conjured.

C. The Thief of Baghdad was another tale of an Indian boy, a world of magic.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.None of above.
解释：ABC都是不正确的。poetically inventive是用来形容film-maker李安的。作者说这部影片leaping tall decades，一举告别了前数码时代——也就是经典的《超人》电视剧的那个时代，进入了3D时代。

(2) 答案：B.Because the shipwrecked boy grapples with all kinds of adversity.
解释：这是第二段的原话。主人公不可思议的遭遇让观众们仿佛回到了童话时代，与他的经历产生共鸣。

(3) 答案：A.The arguments for God’s existence.
解释：作者认为，对于上帝是否存在的争论是书中的败笔，would barely stand up in a kindergarten.

(4) 答案：A.The tiger in Life of Pi and the horse in War Horse are both digitally designed.
解释：小说家马特尔在写作就知道这是一个“不可能被影像化的故事”， 而《少年派》获得奥斯卡最佳视觉特效奖可谓是众望所归，老虎、海浪、神秘岛等等都是数字化制作。而战马中的马是用stage equine真马拍摄的。

住巴黎，毁三观

FT专栏作家Simon Kuper显然不喜欢巴黎，他用幽默的文笔把巴黎人引以为豪的东西差不多挨个黑了一遍，而最后的结尾却出人意料。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
hoot[huːt] n./v.喊叫；鸣响
snooty ['snuːtɪ];haughty haughty adj.傲慢自大的；目中无人的
city proper 城市市区部分

“Hell is other people.” “他人即地狱。”是让-保尔·萨特在剧作《间隔》中广为人知的一句台词。其原意简单来说：萨特的存在主义哲学认为“存在先于本质”，而人如何存在决定于自己的行为，也就是说人通过选择自己的行为定义自己的本质。而现实生活中，我们常常身不由己地被“他人”的目光所左右，甚至做出本不希望的选择，剧中主人公就在这种情况下喊出了这句话。

aghast[ə'gɑːst] adj.吃惊的，惊骇的
all-encompassing adj.无所不包的
faux pas['fəu'pɑ:] n.（法）失礼，失态
bona fide[,bəunə'faidi] adj.善意的，真诚的
cantankerous [kæn'tæŋk(ə)rəs] adj.脾气坏的；难相处的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分0秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分21秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分24秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分50秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

When a man is tired of Paris … (840 words)

As we all climbed off the Eurostar on to the platform at the Gare du Nord the other evening, an electric luggage-truck rattled straight at us, hooting angrily. Welcome to Paris.

It’s the eternal paradox of Paris: why is the world’s most charming metropolis also the most unfriendly? As the universal phrase goes, “I love Paris. I just hate Parisians.”

When I moved here in 2002, I rejected that view. I was determined to learn Parisian codes. I knew this city has a complex etiquette. I thought that once I’d learnt the importance of saying bonjour at every encounter, or of not walking into a restaurant demanding dinner at 6pm while wearing shorts, I would gradually break through Parisian rudeness.

It was my mission. More than a decade later, I can say: beneath the snooty unfriendly façade, Paris is a snooty, unfriendly city. I can even explain why.

A good chunk of Parisian service-worker rudeness – exemplified by the luggage-truck driver – comes from the French Revolution. The storming of the Bastille culminated in a national motto of liberté, égalité, fraternité, which is understood by many French service staff to mean that they should never be friendly to a customer lest that be fatally misinterpreted as submission.

Overcrowding must take some blame too. More than two million people live in Paris proper, the bit inside the périphérique ringroad. The abyss beyond the périph is vaguely imagined by haughty Parisians as either hell or the void or both, and dismissed as “the suburbs”. Every day, hordes of suburbanites and tourists (Paris is on some measures the most visited city on earth) feed the throng inside the city proper. That was probably what the Parisian Jean-Paul Sartre meant by, “Hell is other people.”

In Paris, the only response is to fight them. Neighbours here seldom regard you as potential members of their circle. You are just people who happen to live in their building, and therefore potential sources of noise and hassle.

But the strongest explanatory variable for Parisian rudeness (and I’m aghast it’s taken me a decade to work this out) is Paris’s very perfection. If you overlay an intellectual capital on an artistic and fashion capital in a former royal capital, all of it in the country that invented how to eat, there are so many codes governing so many behaviours that the demands of sophistication become all-encompassing. No other city makes so many requirements. Every moment of their lives, even at family breakfast or in bed, Parisians must observe the rules that govern eating, talking, thinking, dressing, making love et cetera. There’s even a generally approved life-long pose: never seem surprised; bored is much better.

In Paris, Big Brother (often in the form of oneself or one’s spouse) is always watching to see if you commit a faux pas. Whenever you do, he’ll let you know – perhaps with a silence, or a pained glance away. There is no intimate Paris where you can slob out in old underpants. (Admittedly, Parisian dress codes are less strict than in, say, Italy. Most of the time here it’s OK to look dowdy – though never weird.) In all, Paris is a nightmare of sophistication. Only in one field of local endeavour do no rules apply: driving.

Nor are Parisians allowed to laugh off their codes. My native informant Sophie-Caroline de Margerie – top civil servant, writer, fashionable Parisienne et cetera – says: “I’ve never met a bona fide French eccentric.” There is a right way to do everything in Paris, and it was probably decided before you were born. All the French provincials, Africans and romantics from everywhere who land here battle to adapt, sometimes forever. You try to be Parisian, to meet all the standards of perfection that mark this city, and so you sneer at anyone who falls short – for instance, by sitting down at the next restaurant table wearing the wrong jacket. Paris is a sneer. This attitude was summed up by the definitive Parisian film, Dîner de Cons (“Dinner of Fools”, 1998): a bunch of stylish Parisians hold a weekly dinner to which they each invite an unknowing con, “a fool”, in order to crow over their cons’ appearance, tastes, conversation etc. Parisian life is like a dîner de cons except that nobody would ever really invite the poor cons to dinner.

Especially in this most miserable month, when everyone has flu and you walk the children to school in the dark, you think: well, where else to go? Every city I’ve spent longer periods in has drawbacks. In New York it’s the battle for status that ceases only while you (briefly) sleep.

In Miami it’s the near absence of sentient conversation. Boston’s climate is uninhabitable. London is so big, grimy and unwieldy you often end the day feeling you have just paid a fortune to run a marathon in a coal mine. And so on. So I stay here (Paris has certain redeeming features), and every day I become older, ruder and more cantankerous.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.The columnist describes "the eternal paradox of Paris", what is it?

A. Paris is the world’s most charming metropolis, also the most unfriendly.

B. "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" is understood by many service staff as "never be friendly to a customer".

C. Beneath the snooty unfriendly façade, Paris is actually very charming.

D. Parisians living inside the ringroad believe that "Hell is other people".

答案(1)

2.Why in Paris, are there so many codes governing so many behaviours?

A. Paris is a capital filled with intellectuals.

B. Paris is a capital of artistic lifestyles and fashions.

C. Paris is a former royal capital.

D. All of above combined.

答案(2)

3.What can we learn from the movie "Dinner of Fools" and "the country that invented how to eat"?

A. France is the country that invented cooking.

B. Parisians enjoy provicial cuisine.

C. Parisians have a tradition of inviting the poor to dinner.

D. French people enjoy mocking English food.

答案(3)

4.The columnist describes drawbacks about some cities he has lived in.

Which of the following is correct?

A. Miami's weather is too hot.

B. People in Boston are indifferent.

C. In New York people battle for status everyday.

D. London's price level is high but the air is cleaner.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.Paris is the world’s most charming metropolis, also the most unfriendly.
解释：作者在第二段提出了这个看法，随后的文章由此展开。B是作者的一句半严肃半玩笑的话，用来嘲笑那些态度恶劣的服务业人员。C与作者观点相反，他说他花了10年才搞懂，原来巴黎的傲慢和冷漠的外表下，藏着的确实是一颗傲慢冷漠的心。D是没有根据的。作者原意是：巴黎市中心的人，本来就自命清高，对住市郊的人和外地游客每天成群的涌入市区更是感到不爽，这也许可以用“他人即地狱”的字面意来描述吧。

(2) 答案：D.All of above combined.
解释：ABC都是正确的。Paris is a nightmare of sophistication.因为它同时是三种首都，并且是一个"自认为发明了如何吃饭"的国家首都。巴黎人每分每秒的生活都要被一些规矩所支配，eating, talking, thinking, dressing，只有一个例外，那就是如何开车。 作者顺便吐槽了巴黎的交通。

(3) 答案：D.French people enjoy mocking English food.
解释：A显然是夸张的说法，是作者为了嘲笑法国人的自恋——尤其是在美食上的自恋。——因此D也就可想而知。B在文中并未出现，不过根据上下文推断，巴黎人估计是只许“外省人”喜欢巴黎的美食，而不大愿意曲下身段去欣赏外地的美食.C也是不存在的，这只是一部电影中描述巴黎人的情景，说他们爱嘲笑各种“没有巴黎范儿”的人。

(4) 答案：C.In New York people battle for status everyday.
解释：AB文中未提到。作者原意是迈阿密人给人一副事不关己高高挂起的姿态，波士顿的天气太差了（亏他还是英国人）， 纽约人简直是《金钱永不眠》，而住在伦敦，就像是倾家荡产来参加煤矿中的马拉松一样。
在这里作者笔锋一转，So I stay here (in Paris)…

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.57

“苹果神教”的十年浮沉

虽然新品信息早已泄露，但苹果的发布会还是吸引了全球的目光。2007年，在首款iPhone的发布会上，乔布斯向世界宣称苹果“重新发明了手机”，十年后的今天，iPhone所代表的意义已经远远超出一部手机，成了让人们爱恨交加的流行文化符号。苹果是怎样培养出了如同教徒般虔诚的果粉群体？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
crude[kruːd] adj.简陋的，天然的
cortical['kɔːtɪkl] adj.皮层的，皮质的
synapse['saɪnæps] n.突触
raving['reɪvɪŋ] n.胡说，疯话
pomp[pɒmp] n.壮丽，盛观
smite [smaɪt] vt.重击，迷住
drooling[smaɪt]v.流口水，胡说
rampant['ræmpənt] adj.猖獗的，蔓延的
colossal[kə'lɒsl] adj.巨大的，异常的
bicker['bɪkə(r)] vi.斗嘴，闪烁

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分36秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分8秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分14秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分47秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The addictive, divisive iPhone is a fitting tribute to Steve Jobs(786 words)

By Philip Delves Broughton

Larry Page, the chief executive of Alphabet, is said to use a “toothbrush test” before approving any acquisition. If a product is something you will use once or twice a day and if it will make your life better, he will sign the cheque. If not, he won’t. Alphabet’s Google, of course, clears this bar with yards to spare. And, as for Apple’s iPhone, they devour the attention of users, who check them dozens of times a day.

In museums of the future, the iPhone will mark the step in human evolution towards the time when we all have chips in our skulls, augmenting our brains with all the knowledge and capacities of artificial intelligence. It will mark the crude phase when we slid our fingers around a glass screen and listened through wireless headphones, en route to surfing the digital world with a snap of a cortical synapse.

I know there are those who will say these are the ravings of a starry-eyed Apple “fanboy”. Because this is what happens when a product becomes so popular and so divisive: with Apple, just as with Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber, you become either a fanboy or a “hater”. The reactions are cultish. This doesn’t happen with, say, the Toyota Camry or Hewlett-Packard printers.

With a word to Siri, it is easy enough to find Steve Jobs’ presentation of the iPhone in 2007. There he is in his absolute pomp, before his pancreatic cancer and its treatments did their worst. Jobs can be the object of an unhealthy fetishisation. But if you’re the least bit smitten by the history of business, that iPhone launch is Napoleon at Austerlitz or Churchill during the Battle of Britain.

On January 9 2007, Jobs told his drooling audience: “Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along.” It would be three revolutionary products in one: an iPod, a phone and an internet communications device. “Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone,” he said. “Here it is.” And on the screen came a picture of an early iPod with a rotary dial stuck to the front. Later he put up a slide showing the size of the mobile market in 2006. If all Apple could do was sell 1 per cent of the 1bn phones then sold a year, he said, it could build from there.

And, indeed, it has. More than 1bn phones have been sold, with gross margins estimated to be about 40 per cent. The iPhone is the main force in Apple’s total revenue and earnings: in the year to September 2016, the company generated profits of about $45.5bn on sales of $216bn. To put this in context, in their most recent reported full-year earnings, JPMorgan Chase made $24.4bn on sales of $96.6bn; Walmart, $14.7bn from $482bn.

That 2007 launch was the birth of an earnings monster, the likes of which the world has never seen. More or Less, a statistics programme on BBC Radio 4, recently tested the proposition that the iPhone is the most profitable product in history. After considering the history of pepper, opium and tulip bulbs, and more modern challengers such as Coca-Cola, Pfizer’s Viagra and Microsoft Office, it concluded that, yes, it probably is. The iPhone generates as much profit in two weeks as Viagra does in a year.

Apple is a less likeable company today than it was. Rampant success and colossal success does that. But its achievements over the decade since the iPhone was born are astounding. In what is supposed to be an age of infinite choice, it has become for many the only choice — the gateway to every form of entertainment, information and communication.

For the most part, the company has retained its discipline, constraining its product line. People will bicker about the Apple Watch — though I’m noticing more and more of them on people I never expected — and the labyrinthine Apple Music service. But Apple has emphatically not become Sony or HP, dragged down by poor margins on products and services. In a world where 10-year corporate strategies are rewritten every six months, Apple has rarely deviated from the path established by Jobs.

Smartphones have their critics. They have made us more distractible, stimulating the very worst of our monkey minds. But it’s not chocolate’s fault if we can’t stop eating it. And it’s certainly not Jobs’ fault that he made a product so compelling we can’t tear ourselves away.

Next week, we can get back to the Apple-bashing, the worries about its innovation pipeline and whether or not its new spaceship-like Cupertino headquarters mark a new beginning or a hubristic end. But this week it’s worth a pause for the man in the black turtleneck and what he wrought. Every business should be so lucky — or so good.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.The “toothbrush test” in the first paragraph indicates ____.

A. An iPhone is more useful than a toothbrush in our daily life.

B. Most technical products are irrelevant to our everyday life.

C. A frequently used and beneficial product is worth buying.

D. People can assess the value of a product by a toothbrash.

答案(1)

2.Why does the author mention Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber in the third paragraph?

A. To give an example of starry-eyed fanboys in popular culture.

B. To analyze a type of fetishisation created by popular figures.

C. To explain people's extremely divisive attitude towards iPhone.

D. To illustrate the special cultural influence iPhone brings us.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following statements about the first iPhone is true？

A. It was eventually proved to be an earnings monster.

B. It was first introduced at Austerlitz on January 9 2007.

C. It was based on an early iPod with a dial stuck to the front.

D. It took up 1 per cent of the 1bn phones then sold a year.

答案(3)

4.We can conclude from the article that the author's attitude towards smartphones is ____.

A. favourable.

B. critical.

C. questioning.

D. neutral.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.A frequently used and beneficial product is worth buying.
解释：“牙刷测试”指评估一个产品是否像牙刷一样每天都要使用一两次，并且对我们的生活有益。如果是，那这件产品就值得购买。

(2) 答案：C.To explain people's extremely divisive attitude towards iPhone.
解释：当一个产品变得如此流行且富有争议时，事情就会变成这样，就像人们对Taylor Swift和Justin Bieber的态度一样，要么爱，要么恨。

(3) 答案：A.It was eventually proved to be an earnings monster.
解释：2007年第一代iPhone的发售标志着一个赚钱怪兽的诞生。

(4) 答案：A.favourable.
解释：作者在文中肯定了iPhone的诞生为世界带来的巨大改变，并表示智能手机所带来的问题是人类自己的问题，并不能怪到智能手机身上。

监狱金曲《Let it Go》

尽管迪士尼动画《冰雪奇缘》席卷全球票房榜已经是几年前的事了，但很多人仍对片中的主题曲《Let it Go》念念不忘。据一家专为全英国囚犯举办音乐活动的慈善组织披露，《Let it Go》是犯人中人气最高的一首歌。这样一首动画主题曲为何格外受到囚犯青睐？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
superficial[ˌsuːpər'fɪʃl] adj. 表面的，肤浅的
incongruity[ˌɪnkɒn'ɡruːəti] n. 不调和，不一致
resonate['rezəneɪt] v. 产生共鸣
coronation[ˌkɔːrə'neɪʃn] n. 加冕礼
villain['vɪlən] n. 坏人，恶棍
chord [kɔːd] n. 弦，和音
exhilaration[ɪɡˌzɪlə'reɪʃn] n. 高兴，兴奋
latent ['leɪtnt] adj. 潜伏的，潜在的
frazzled ['fræzld] adj. 疲惫的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分38秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分36秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分51秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分39秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Why ‘Let it Go’ is loved by prisoners and preschoolers alike(650 words)

By Helen Brown

This March a charity running singing workshops at prisons across the UK announced that the most popular song among inmates was “Let it Go”, the big number from Disney’s 2013 animated blockbuster, Frozen.

Despite the superficial incongruity of old lags carolling along to a song more commonly associated with preschoolers dressed as animated princesses, anyone alive to the profound emotional truths of the film would not be surprised to find it resonating with prisoners struggling to own the guilt and shame of the past and yearning to move on.

For the few souls who have still not seen Frozen, “Let it Go” is delivered by the character of Elsa on the day she is crowned Queen of Arendelle. As a child, little Elsa developed magical powers to create ice and snow, with which she accidentally hurt her sister, Anna. So her parents locked her up in their castle, teaching her to control and conceal her dangerous gift. But an emotional upset at her coronation exposes her “witchcraft” and turns her subjects against her. She flees Arendelle — the force of her fear and anger leaving eternal winter in her wake — and delivers “Let it Go” as she strides into the mountains where she finally unleashes her powers to build a dazzling ice palace, create a sexy new outfit and shut herself away from a world she kisses off with a defiant shrug of a line: “The cold never bothered me anyway.”

Based on the fairy tale of The Snow Queen, Elsa was originally written as a villain. But when Broadway songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez set out to write “Elsa’s Badass Song”, the couple realised they were writing “a transformation song”, which Elsa begins as a vulnerable girl and ends as a powerful woman.

“Who doesn’t have something there?” says Anderson-Lopez. “Shame or a secret that keeps them from owning their own power? We dug into that and imagined how it would feel at a much higher level.” The film was re-written to suit the song, making Elsa a flawed heroine, saved by the true love of her sister (not the traditional Prince Charming).

Melodically, the song circles the sadness of minor chords and blasts exhilaration through the majors. Its unusual structure includes phases of ballad and soft rock with an orchestral centrepiece, ending on a lingering, unresolved chord. Its vocabulary is unpatronisingly advanced, with Elsa’s soul “spiralling in frozen fractals all around/ And one thought crystallises like an icy blast/ I’m never going back, the past is in the past!” That last, long, high exclamation was written for the dynamic vocal range of Broadway powerhouse Idina Menzel, whose in-film version massively outsold Demi Lovato’s poppier version which Disney had expected to be the big single.

It was inevitable that children would connect with the song’s bold expression of latent power. But they weren’t alone. The internet filled up with tributes and parodies. Frazzled mums converted the chorus to “Fuck it all!” and dads pleaded “Let it go/I’m gonna smash the radio”. It became a coming out anthem for those expressing LGBT feelings, suffering from mental illness or on the autistic spectrum (like Andersen-Lopez’s younger brother).

To bawl along is pure release: the official singalong version has racked up more than 1bn YouTube views, almost double that of the standard version. It’s the most successful Disney song of all time, in the highest grossing animated movie (and third highest grossing movie) of all time.

It’s been recorded in over 40 languages and almost every genre, although (with the exception of a patchy live effort by Pearl Jam in 2014) major artists have steered clear, knowing this one’s for the fans.

Brighton folk rocker Passenger does regularly receive requests for it at gigs, from people muddling it with his 2012 hit, “Let Her Go”. Anybody interested in how those two songs sound when spliced together should check out the glorious mash-up by YouTuber Sam Tsui. It’ll give you shivers.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What kind of transformation is illustrated in ‘Let it Go’ ?

A. Elsa transforms from the Queen of Arendelle to the Ice Queen.

B. Elsa transforms from a vulnerable girl to a powerful woman.

C. Elsa gradually learns to control her powers to create ice and snow.

D. Elsa finally unleashes her powers to build a dazzling ice palace.

答案(1)

2.Who sings ‘Let it Go’ in the film?

A. Katie Lopez.

B. Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

C. Idina Menzel.

D. Demi Lovato.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following statements about the film Frozen is true？

A. It was originally targeted at preschoolers but later became a blockbuster.

B. It was written and directed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

C. It tells the story of a wicked queen who trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

D. It is based on the fairy tale of The Snow Queen but the plot is not quite the same.

答案(3)

4.Why the song "Let It Go" appeals to prisoners?

A. Because the song inspires prisoners who yearning to move on from the past.

B. Because the song teaches them to control and conceal themselves.

C. Because the song expresses their shame and anguish at a much higher level.

D. Because the song expresses their wish to be saved by the love of their family.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.Elsa transforms from a vulnerable girl to a powerful woman.
解释：《Let it Go》是一首讲述改变的歌，Elsa从一个脆弱的小女孩变成了强大的女人。

(2) 答案：C.Idina Menzel.
解释：Idina Menzel录制了《Let it Go》的电影版本，其销量大幅超出更加流行的Demi Lovato的版本。

(3) 答案：D.It is based on the fairy tale of The Snow Queen but the plot is not quite the same.
解释：《冰雪奇缘》改编自童话《冰雪女王》，但他们改变了Elsa这个角色。

(4) 答案：A.Because the song inspires prisoners who yearning to move on from the past.
解释：《Let it Go》受到囚犯欢迎，因为这首歌使那些努力摆脱过去的罪恶开始新生活的犯人感同身受。

瓜帅启示录

他年纪轻轻就缔造了一支以砍瓜切菜之势夺取一切奖杯的"梦之队"，并将艺术足球发扬光大，瓜迪奥拉成为足球世界疯狂追逐的对象。西班牙《国家报》的John Carlin认为，他的成功来自勤奋的思考、良好的习惯、以及对简单理念的不懈追求。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
novice ['nɒvɪs] n.初学者，新手

Ballon d’Or 金球奖，《法国足球》杂志和国际足联合办的世界年度最佳奖
sabbatical [sə'bætikəl] adj./n.休假，安息日
aplomb [ə'plɒm] adj.沉着，自若

English Premier League 英超联赛
rudderless ['rʌdəlis] adj.无舵的；无指导者的
intricately['ɪntrɪkətlɪ] adv.杂乱地
billiard-ball n.台球
proletarian [,prəʊlɪ'teərɪən] n./adj.无产阶级的，劳动者的
esprit de corps[es'pri:də'kɔ:r] n.团队精神

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

16分23秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

9分10秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

6分33秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

2分17秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Pep Guardiola: football’s most wanted (2294 words)

In the spring of 2008 Barcelona Football Club was a big-name global brand that was losing its lustre. The ideas were running out, the competitive edge had faded, morale was low. New leadership was called for.

The board had a range of options… To the dismay of the majority of Barcelona’s 180,000 paid-up members, they chose Pep Guardiola, a novice with one year’s experience as a lower-division coach and none in the game’s upper reaches. Guardiola had been a great player and captain of Barcelona … but, it was like Sony selecting the manager of a medium-sized regional office to take over as company CEO.

In the four years that Guardiola remained at the club, they won 14 out of 19 possible leagues and cups, a feat unequalled in the history of the game. Unequalled also is the fourth consecutive Ballon d’Or, granted this month to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who Guardiola made even better. Barcelona achieved something more difficult to win than any official prize: the admiration of the football world. Guardiola’s team revolutionised the 150-year-old sport. Coaches from clubs large and small made pilgrimages to Barcelona’s training camp.

In May last year Guardiola quit Barcelona and took a sabbatical in New York. Imagine Steve Jobs were alive, announced his departure from Apple and signalled he was open to offers from the competition…

Inquiries came from England, Italy, Germany, Russia, France and China… Finally it was announced this week that the winner is … Germany’s biggest club, Bayern Munich.

. . .

Guardiola, whose father was a bricklayer, was born in 1971 in the small Catalan town of Santpedor. When he was 13 he left home to join La Masía, the elite boarding school where Barcelona nurture the finest young talent.

Guardiola excelled in the youth leagues of Catalonia and, aged 19, he made his debut in the Barcelona first team. A natural leader, he rose to become team captain, along the way winning the European Cup, the biggest prize in world club football, in 1992.

In 2007 he was hired to coach the Barcelona B team, where he performed with such success and aplomb that in 2008 the club board took the gamble of appointing him to run the first team. The gamble paid off beyond anybody’s wildest dreams, but last year he decided he had had enough. A severely self-critical perfectionist, he needed a break from the demands he imposed on himself and the weight of expectation placed on him by the club faithful, for whom Barça is not merely a football team, but the flagship of Catalan pride.

He thrives on New York’s culture, but his chief joy, is the leisure to spend time with his three school-aged children and Cristina, his elegant wife.

Intense and driven, his continuing zeal for his work derives from a perception that he has a duty not only to satisfy fans’ lust for victory but to raise football to an art form.

. . .

What is Guardiola’s secret? How did a man who began his big leagues coaching career aged 37 achieve so much, so soon? A large part of the answer is that he spent 24 years, from the day he arrived at the club, preparing himself for the job. Johan Cruyff, the Dutchman who as coach of Barcelona laid the foundations for the temple Guardiola built, plucked him from the club’s youth ranks into the first team. The Dutch, a magnificent player in his day, never had a more attentive pupil. Cruyff’s core message remains Guardiola’s today. Lessons one, two and three of football: keep possession of the ball. It sounds absurdly simple, but watch any game of the English Premier League, the world’s richest, and you’ll see how difficult it is to put into practice. To keep the ball, to defend by denying it to your opponents and to create more opportunities to score, you need skill, self-possession and intelligence.

He played at number four, just in front of the defence, the link man with the attack. “He had no pace, he couldn’t run with the ball, he wasn’t strong in the tackle, yet he became the axis around which Cruyff’s team revolved,” said Sacristán, a former Barcelona player, who is today coach of the Barcelona B team. “His brain worked so fast he could make those around him play at the speed of light.”

Cruyff imported the Dutch philosophy of “total football” – everybody is comfortable on the ball, everybody attacks, and Guardiola became its chief artificer on the pitch. Guardiola processed every game in his mind, every training session, every lesson Cruyff imparted. It was a habit of mind that extended to his life beyond football. Unusually for a player, he read books. He took an interest – in film, music and politics. One of his closest friends is David Trueba, a Spanish novelist and film director. Trueba wrote about him two years ago: “He is curious about a lot of things beyond football… sometimes he codifies them in his own special way. That he ‘footballises’ them … ”

Some friends warned him not to accept the job as coach of Barcelona B team, telling him the third division was “poison: the players violent, that this was no place to launch his first football laboratory”. But he took the job on, transformed a demoralised team and, as required, won them promotion.

Meanwhile, the first team was not doing so well. Under Frank Rijkaard, a former star player, they had winning the league twice, in 2005 and 2006, and the European Cup in 2006. But it was now the spring of 2008 and the team had faded, winning nothing in two seasons. Rijkaard, it was felt, had lost control of the dressing room.

A murmur arose among club members for José Mourinho to be appointed in his place. Authoritarian, charismatic, with a spectacular record of success in his native Portugal, in England and Italy, he seemed just the man to cut big egos down to size and restore drive to a rudderless team.

But Pep got the position. Murtra, a football director, told me he was convinced that Mourinho’s subsequent “frustrations”, after he became coach of Barcelona’s bitter ancestral enemy, Real Madrid, two years later.

Public opinion in Barcelona was overwhelmingly sceptical of Guardiola, yet he cried out: “Fasten your seat belts,” from the centre of the pitch, “you’re going to have fun!” But fun it wasn’t, at first. Barcelona lost their first league match to a tiny club called Numancia and then drew against scarcely much bigger Racing de Santander. The “I told-you-so’s” rang around practically every home and bar in the Catalan capital. Guardiola did not waver. He declared that he would remain faithful to his “idea”.

The Guardiola idea is, and will remain, that possession is nine-tenths of the law. That you cherish the ball as if you were a jealous lover. That if you lose it the team fights to get it back like a pack of indignant dogs. By monopolising the ball you will minimise the treacherous random factor inherent in football and you will also enjoy yourself. The misery lies in not having it. Let the other team feel that.

And that was exactly what happened. The rivals chased shadows until their legs gave way and they were put lethally, gracefully to the sword. From his third game on, he led a victory parade.

Guardiola rehearsed all manner of intricately geometrical attacking patterns in training, his players pinging the ball about with billiard-ball precision at high speed. “Pep had the rare satisfaction,” Unzué, a goal-keeping coach said, “of seeing the players apply those same moves against the toughest rivals on the field of play, as if they had been copied and pasted.”

Cruyff’s “Dream Team” won the European Cup in 1992. The Dutchman’s manner was aristocratic, and his team reflected it. They were brilliant but too often supercilious, and therefore erratic. Guardiola has always acknowledged his debt to Cruyff, but it was he who distilled the gold from the alchemic process his master began. The difference lay in the thoroughness of Guardiola’s preparation and in his greater attention to the proletarian task of defending, which he had studied in his playing days among the Italians, the masters of the art. Taking “total football” to another level, Guardiola’s players were artists but terriers too.

They would not have been had he not stressed from the beginning the central importance of team spirit. According to Unzué, Guardiola’s notion of esprit de corps extended to ancillary staff, the physios, the doctors, those in charge of the balls, boots and players’ kit.

Unzué Said, “He sent out a message to all of us that we’d be together as a team in bad times and good. On the field that translates into a spirit of fierce solidarity. Eleven players attack and 11 players defend.”

They were no ordinary 11, either – not players easy to win over. Between them they had won the European Cup and the European nations’ cup, among a host of trophies. (Eight of the team’s players won the World Cup in 2010.) Lots of very rich young men there, with very big global reputations. Guardiola subordinated them to his will. And, as Unzué said: “Practically all the players confessed it to me that Pep had made them better.” Not excluding Lionel Messi, who is on record as acknowledging he would not be the player he has become without Guardiola’s help.

Messi played on the right wing during that first season in which the team won everything and he won his first Ballon d’Or. But Guardiola never ceased to believe there was room for improvement.

Unzué said: “Messi had always been regarded, unquestioningly, as a winger, but Pep suddenly saw that he had to be positioned where he would receive more of the ball and have the greatest possible impact.” He was right. Three weeks later, in the return game against Stuttgart in 2010, Barcelona won 4-0 and Messi scored two, setting up another. His scoring rate soared, as it continues to do today. In his first season with Guardiola, Messi scored 38; in his fourth, he scored 73. Barcelona won the Spanish league for the second season. Real Madrid, responded by signing José Mourinho.

Six months later, now in Guardiola’s third season, Barcelona humiliated Mourinho’s Madrid 5-0, never before seen. Barcelona won the Spanish league for the third year in a row, plus the European Cup again.

Real Madrid were finally crowned champions of Spain in 2012.

His batteries were drained. Said Evaristo Murtra. “He needed a rest.” For his own good and, as he saw it, that of the team, which he felt he could no longer improve, he quit.

But it was not in a spirit of mourning or defeat, that the Barcelona faithful crowded into the Camp Nou one balmy evening in May to bid him farewell. The message that night was a joyous “Gracias, Pep!”, “Thank you, Pep!” All present knew, as all did watching the scenes on TV around the world, that the higher achievement of conquering the admiration of the world had been met.

. . .

Apart from recharging his batteries and spending more time with his family and fending off foreign suitors, what has he been doing in New York? Absorbing and processing information in preparation for the next challenge, as he has always done, according to David Trueba. Most obviously, by watching hours of live European football at home. Less obviously, as Trueba says, by devouring all New York has to offer. “I went over to see him and we went to shows and museums – we even had dinner with a famous economist,” Trueba said. “For the American elections he stayed up until the final result was in.”

He has no doubt been “footballising” Obama too, drawing lessons in leadership that he will apply when he gets back to coaching next season. Putting an end to months of speculation in the world’s sports pages, it was announced this week that he has signed a three-year contract with the most successful German football club, Bayern Munich. In the end, he spurned the vast salaries reported to be on offer at England’s most cash-rich clubs, Chelsea and Manchester City, and opted for a club that offers a project and an idea of football that closely matches his own. Bayern Munich, run in the main by former players with long histories of attachment to the club, has a clearly defined identity on and off the field. In recent years the football they and the German national team have played has converged with the philosophy of attractive, possession-based attacking football that Guardiola refined and perfected at Barcelona. Bayern will be expecting him to evolve the model, take it to a higher plain.

A question lingers, however. Will Guardiola be able to repeat his success at his new club? The doubters’ argument rests on the notion that he was lucky at Barcelona to have stumbled upon a spectacularly talented set of players. “With that lot, who couldn’t succeed?” goes a familiar jibe in football circles. Yes, but the core of the team he inherited had done nothing for two years and there are other clubs with excellent individuals, notably Manchester City and Real Madrid, who have not come close to Barcelona’s achievement in terms of beauty of spectacle or sheer efficacy. In the four years during which Guardiola won 14 trophies, Real Madrid won two.

The truth is Guardiola achieved what every coach at every level knows to be the true measure of success: he extracted the very best from what he had and, almost beyond imagination, he made his players even better. Lucky Bayern. He’ll do it again.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following is true about Barcelona under Pep Guardiola's command···

A. Pep was coach from 2008 to 2012.

B. They won all the 14 possible leagues and cups.

C. He established La Masía, Barcelona's youth training camp.

D. He enjoyed a dazzling startup when he took over.

答案(1)

2.Mr. Trueba, a novelist and film director said Guardiola ‘footballises’ a lot of things beyond football.

This can be supported by?

A. When he was a player, he became the axis around which the team revolved.

B. He learned lessons in leadership from the US Presidential Election.

C. In New York, he spent hours of live European football at home.

D. All of above.

答案(2)

3.Pep took Cruyff's “total football” to another level, by doing what?

A. By helping as much as 8 players win the World Cup.

B. By making Messi better that he won 4 Ballon d'Ors.

C. By extending esprit de corps to players and improving defence.

D. By mastering Cruyff's philosophy of "keeping possession of the ball".

答案(3)

4.Why did Pep choose Germany's Bayern Munich as his next stop?

A. They have and idea of football that closely matches his own.

B. They are run by former players.

C. He believes has a duty for victory as well as to raise football to an art form.

D. All of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.Pep was coach from 2008 to 2012.
解释：瓜帅在巴萨执教了4年，而本文一开始就讲了2008年俱乐部出人意料地任命他为主帅。
BCD都不正确，球队赢得了14 out of 19 possible leagues and cups.瓜迪奥拉14岁就加入了拉玛西亚青训营。 文章中部可以看到，他刚接手巴萨一队的前两场联赛一负一平，球迷的不信任给了他不小的压力。

(2) 答案：B.He learned lessons in leadership from the US Presidential Election.
解释：'footballise'是个有趣的词。一些朋友和队友很早都认为瓜帅迟早是个成功的教练，很大程度上因为他勤于思考——而且是从非足球领域中悟出心得，将其应用在带队执教中的能力。在纽约休息时，他不仅仅继续看球，还经常went to shows and museums，甚至还与一名经济学家一起吃饭。

(3) 答案：A.By extending esprit de corps to players and improving defence.
解释：AB都是伟大的成就，而D是“全攻全守”的精髓，但是强调克鲁伊夫的球队too often supercilious， 而他把更好的团队精神和更勤奋的防守意识贯彻到球员身上，同时把控球打法发扬到极致，这就是作者所说的another level.

(4) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：三项都是正确答案。足球理念的一致是他选择拜仁慕尼黑的最根本原因，尽管英格兰的石油富豪和酋长们可以开出更高的工资。

艰苦新世界中的微软苹果

Jason Pontin，麻省理工学院《科技评论》杂志总编。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
smug [smʌg] n./adj.自鸣得意的

OS 操作系统operating system
tutelary ['tjuːtɪlərɪ] adj.监护的/n.守护神
bean counters 账房先生、会计

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分6秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分51秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分2秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分42秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Microsoft and Apple in a tough new world (715 words)

There is a smug maxim in Silicon Valley and the places that imitate it: “To survive, you must destroy your company every x years” (where x varies according to how much the speaker wants to stress the pace of technological change). Sometimes attributed to Intel’s former chief executive Andy Grove, it is a maxim more often repeated than observed. But it can be a lovely and startling thing when a large, publicly traded company takes a big bet by replacing its core product.

Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system, which went on sale last Friday, is the most dramatic gamble by a technology company since Intel abandoned the memory market to make semiconductors in the 1980s. Windows is a civilisational tool; there are more than 1bn Windows users around the world but when, after being given a new personal computer by their IT manager or buying a new device for themselves, those users boot up the new OS, they will recognise nothing.

Gone is the familiar “Start” button and user interface Microsoft has used since it launched Windows 95, 17 years ago. In its place, users will find a screen of shifting colourful tiles. If they have set up a Microsoft account with Outlook, their email, calendar and contacts will appear automatically; if their Microsoft account is linked to Facebook, the faces of their Facebook friends will begin blinking in a People tile and the photos they have posted will float into a Live tile. To its new users, Windows 8 will seem as personal – and as non-corporate – as their smartphone or tablet computers. That is the whole idea.

Windows 8 can be used with a conventional personal computer with a mouse or touchpad, but doing so is confusing. The operating system works best with a touchscreen, where users can swipe tiles and icons. To show off the new functionality, Microsoft is selling its first computer, the Surface – a $499 touchscreen tablet whose cover is a small keyboard, so that the device can also function as a small laptop.

Windows 8 and Surface are elegant and innovative, not qualities one associates with Microsoft’s products. They are mostly the work of Steven Sinofsky, president of the company’s Windows division, who keeps a much-read blog at MSDN, the Microsoft developer network. There, defending the radical change in the design, he wrote: “The new Windows 8 user experience is no less than a bet on the future of computing, and stakes a claim to Windows’ role in that future.”

Last week the crush at Microsoft’s Times Square store reminded some of the crowds at the launch of an Apple product – which must have been Microsoft’s hope. But Mr Sinofsky’s bet also has the logic of desperation. A decade ago there were no competitors to Microsoft’s core business of developing and selling “platforms”, the software upon which other developers’ software must run and with which hardware must work. Today, the web is the platform for most computing and Apple’s iOS (the operating system of the iPhone and iPad) and Google’s Android are the platforms for mobile devices. The sharp edges between business and consumer computing have melted. Microsoft had no choice but to try something new.

It is instructive to compare the launch of Windows 8 and Surface with Apple’s most recent release, the iPad mini. There’s nothing wrong with the mini: for Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, it must seem to fill an important niche – the market for tablets that can be held comfortably in one hand, where Amazon’s Kindle and devices based on Android now dominate. But there’s nothing innovative about Apple’s small tablet. It’s just more of the same. One cannot imagine the late Steve Jobs, Apple’s departed CEO, taking any pride in the thing.

It is an interesting historical moment for the two founding companies of the personal computing revolution. Microsoft knows it is slowly dying but declines to accept its fate. Apple, flush with cash, does not yet have to admit that with the death of its tutelary genius, it has lost its way. But secretly, its executives, designers and developers must fear that something is badly wrong. Jobs always said that technology companies began to die when salespeople and bean counters started making the decisions.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does the writer mean by saying "those users boot up the new OS, they will recognise nothing"?

A. Those who use Windows are generally not good at using computers.

B. Apple's OS is so different from Windows.

C. Windows is so good that other operating systems can hardly survive.

D. Windows has been enjoying a monopolistic position in operating system market.

答案(1)

2.Who is dominating the market for small tablet computers?

A. iPad

B. iPad mini

C. Kindle and Android tablets

D. Nobody is. It is a highly competitive market.

答案(2)

3."Microsoft had no choice but to try something new."

Which of the following can surport this?

A. Apple is threatening Microsoft's core business of selling "platforms".

B. The differences between business and personal computing are disappearing.

C. Apple and Google are dominating mobile OS market, Microsoft is a latecomer.

D. All of above.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is not the writer's opinion?

A. The maxim “To survive, you must destroy your company every x years” is not practical.

B. Steve Jobs would be gald to see the launch of iPad mini.

C. Windows 8 and Surface do not inherit the usual Microsoft style.

D. The future pictures for Apple and Microsoft are vague.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.Windows has been enjoying a monopolistic position in operating system market.
解释：作者在第二段的意思是，微软的win8如同当年的英特尔一样，这是在革自己的命(dramatic gamble)。 因为已经有10亿以上的用户熟悉以开始按钮为特色的Windows系统。而现在公司的产品要大转向了。iOS是由苹果公司为iPhone开发的操作系统，也给iPhone、iPod touch以及iPad使用。

(2) 答案：C.Kindle and Android tablets
解释：文章倒数第二段中，作者说，蒂姆·库克很有必要fill an important niche – the market for tablets that can be held comfortably in one hand. 也就是说虽然iPad热卖，但是可以拿在一只手中操作的小平板电脑市场现在是亚马逊Kindle和安卓平板主导。苹果公司因此推出iPad mini，希望在这个市场进行竞争。

(3) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：理解了这句话，你就理解了本文作者的主要观点：微软推出win8和平板电脑是为形势所迫，被迫应战。

(4) 答案：A.Steve Jobs would be gald to see the launch of iPad mini.
解释：B不正确的，乔布斯才不会推出iPad mini这种没什么创新的产品呢。A是正确的，作者在第一段就说这个很酷的口号more often repeated than observed. C也正确，win8和Surface不像微软以前的产品，它们elegant and innovative.至于D，本文的标题就已经清楚表达了。

央行的“浮士德式讨价还价”

Guggenheim Partners首席投资官斯科特·迈纳德(Scott Minerd)。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
unravel [,ʌn'rævəl] v.阐明；解决；拆散

Federal Reserve notes 联邦储备券，即美元
portfolio [pɔːt'fəʊlɪəʊ] n.文件夹；证券投资组合
basis point 基点，金融常用术语，一个基点为万分之一即0.01%

Operation Twist 扭转操作，即卖出短期债券买入长期债券，目的在不扩张资产负债表规模下缓解经济情况。

insolvent [ɪn'sɒlv(ə)nt] adj.破产的，资不抵债的；n.破产者。

centennial [sen'tenɪəl] adj.一百年的；n.百年纪念
evanescent [iːvə'nes(ə)nt] adj.容易消散的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分47秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分14秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分19秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分48秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Beware the Faustian bargains of central banks (811 words)

In Goethe’s 1831 drama Faust, the devil persuades a bankrupt emperor to print and spend vast quantities of paper money as a short-term fix for his country’s fiscal problems. As a consequence, the empire ultimately unravels and descends into chaos. Today, governments that have relied on quantitative easing instead of undertaking necessary structural reforms have arguably entered into the grandest Faustian bargain in financial history.

As a result of multi-trillion-dollar quantitative easing programmes, central banks have compromised their ability to control the money supply, making them vulnerable to runaway inflation. When interest rates rise, the value of central bank assets could fall below the face value of their liabilities, potentially rendering them incapable of protecting the purchasing power of their currencies. To better understand the potential consequences of quantitative easing, it is useful to review the historical evolution of central banking. Early central banks were essentially clearing houses for gold. Individuals and trading companies placed their bullion on deposit and received a claim that could be redeemed upon demand. The system’s strength was largely derived from its simplicity. Today’s global monetary system, by contrast, has virtually no gold backing and depends entirely on faith that central bankers can control the supply of paper money.

When founded in 1913, the Federal Reserve’s definition of eligible reserve assets was extended beyond gold to include short-term bills and then in the 1930s, Treasury securities. The problem with using Treasury securities as a reserve asset is that, unlike gold, Treasuries have duration. This means that in a rising interest rate environment, the value of the Federal Reserve’s asset portfolio could potentially decline below the face value of its liabilities (Federal Reserve notes).

In 2008, just before the first of two rounds of quantitative easing, the Federal Reserve had $41bn in capital and roughly $872bn in liabilities, resulting in a debt to equity ratio of roughly 21-to-one. The Federal Reserve’s portfolio had $480bn in Treasury securities with an asset duration of about 2.5 years. Therefore, a 100 basis point increase in interest rates would have caused the value of its portfolio to fall by 2.5 per cent, or $12bn. A loss of that magnitude would have been severe but not devastating.

By 2011, the Fed’s portfolio consisted of more than $2.6tn in Treasury and agency securities, mortgage bonds and other fixed income assets, and its debt-to-equity ratio had dramatically increased to 51-to-one. Under Operation Twist, the Fed swapped its short-term securities holdings for longer-term ones, thereby extending the duration of its portfolio to more than eight years. Now, a 100 basis point increase in interest rates would cause the market value of the Federal Reserve’s assets to fall by about 8 per cent, or $200bn, leaving it insolvent, with a capital deficit of about $150bn. Hypothetically, a 5 per cent rise in interest rates could cause a trillion dollar decline in the value of the Federal Reserve’s assets.

As the economy continues to expand, the Federal Reserve will eventually seek to normalise monetary policy, resulting in higher interest rates. In this scenario, the central bank could find that the market value of its portfolio has declined to the point where it no longer has enough sellable assets to adequately reduce the money supply and maintain the purchasing power of the dollar. Given US dependence on foreign capital flows, if the stability of the dollar is drawn into question, the ability of the US to finance its deficits may falter. The Federal Reserve could then find itself the buyer of last resort for Treasury securities. In doing so, the government would become hostage to its printing press, and a currency crisis or runaway inflation could take hold.

To hedge against deterioration in the dollar’s purchasing power, investors have already begun migrating towards hard assets such as gold, commercial property, and artwork. Other assets likely to perform well in the immediate term because of the effects of quantitative easing are credit-related instruments including bank loans and asset-backed securities. European equities are likely to outperform US equities over coming years because of ongoing balance sheet expansion by the European Central Bank. Long-duration, fixed-rate assets such as government bonds are likely to underperform in the years ahead, indicating that now may be a better time to sell Treasury securities than buy them.

Less than half a year before the centennial of central banking in the US, neither policy makers nor investors have much to celebrate. By abandoning monetary orthodoxy and pursuing large-scale asset purchases, global central banks have increased the risk of inflation and compromised their ability to stamp it out. It is too early to predict exactly how this Faustian bargain will play out; but, with each additional paper note that rolls off the printing press or gets conjured up in the ether, the likelihood of a happy ending becomes increasingly evanescent.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why is it that when interest rates rise, the value of assets could fall?

A. The central bank made such a rule.

B. Higher interest rates mean inflation, and thus asssets devalue.

C. Higher interest rates indicate that investors are not going to buy assets unless they are sold cheaper.

D. There's no cause and effect between these two phenomena.

答案(1)

2.According to the passage, what is the wrong description of early financial systems?

A. People used gold as currency.

B. Banks issued gold receipts as paper money.

C. Powerful bankers had the ability to cause inflation.

D. Early central banks were essentially clearing houses for gold.

答案(2)

3.Which one of the following is correct about the Federal Reserve?

(Hint: money issued by a central bank is considered its debt.)

A. It is the first central bank in the world.

B. It is a department in the cabinet.

C. Quantitative Easing dramatically increased the Fed's debt scale.

D. By 2011, the Fed's debt-to-equity ratio is about 51%.

答案(3)

4.What can we infer from the following sentence?

"···global central banks have increased the risk of inflation and compromised their ability to stamp it out."

A. Central banks can "print money" very easily.

B. Central banks would suffer reserve asset losses if they themselves raise interest rates.

C. Central banks can feel free to make huge asset purchases that inject money into the economy.

D. All the above are correct.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.Higher interest rates indicate that investors are not going to buy assets unless they are sold cheaper.
解释：这是一个有趣的经济学问题。市场利率上升，意味着投资者比以前更不愿投资，除非同样的资产给出更高的回报（如储蓄、债券等的更高利率）， 或者以更便宜的价格买这笔资产（价格下降）。对于已经发行的证券来说，就意味着其价值下跌。

(2) 答案：C.Powerful bankers had the ability to cause inflation.
解释：作者指出，早先的银行，与今天不同，它们必须有相应的黄金储备才能发行“黄金收据”也就是纸钞。 而今天的央行可以很容易地增加货币供应。ABD三项都是正确的，在原文第二段中，D项是原文。

(3) 答案：C.Quantitative Easing dramatically increased the Fed's debt scale.
解释：A项原文中并未提及，世界上第一家现代中央银行是英格兰银行，它在1833年取得了发行无限法偿银行券的地位。B项也是不正确的，美联储不是联邦政府内的一个部门。D，文中第五段提到，By 2011,its debt-to-equity ratio had dramatically increased to 51-to-one. 是51倍，而不是51%。

(4) 答案：D.All the above are correct.
解释：ABC三项都是正确的，读懂了这句话，你就懂得了这篇文章作者想要说些什么。今天的央行，不像过去那样依赖黄金储备，而是以各种证券资产作为发行货币的储备。 糟糕的是，这些资产是有持续期（久期）的，也就是说如果利率上升，它们的价值就会下跌。央行的量化宽松——即用印来的钱买债券——不仅把大量货币注入经济体，推高了通胀的风险，还削弱了央行本身用加息以抗通胀的能力。

来自俄国的失望

欧盟曾对俄国艰难加入WTO寄予厚望，然而热情迅速变成了熟悉的失望。本文作者是FT驻布鲁塞尔记者乔舒亚·查芬(Joshua Chaffin)。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
renege[rɪ'neɪg] v./n.食言，出牌违例
sparring ['spɑ:riŋ] v.对打
special levies 特别税费。俄罗斯今年9月对汽车征收报废回收费用，对外国品牌汽车收取的费用更高。

purportedly[pə:'pɔ:tidli] adv.据称地
stigma['stɪgmə] n.耻辱、烙印
eyeball to eyeball 面对面，对峙

ECIPE 欧洲国际政治经济中心(European centre For International Political Economy)

Russia’s WTO accession 2013年8月22日，作为GDP世界第11大国的俄罗斯正式加入WTO。据预计，俄罗斯将把进口关税从11.5%的平均水平降至7%。世界银行估计，加入WTO将为俄罗斯带来更多竞争和更多外商投资，从中期来看，这将为其经济带来每年490亿美元（相当于其国内生产总值(GDP)的3%）的提振。

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分21秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分26秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分44秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分36秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Europe cools on Russia’s WTO accession (610 words)

Europe’s top trade official accused Russia of reneging on its commitments to the World Trade Organisation just three months after it joined the group, and warned “the clock is ticking” before EU legal action.

The comments from Karel De Gucht, the EU trade commissioner, set the stage for a tense visit in two weeks when Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is due to come to Brussels for a bilateral summit.

They also reveal how quickly the optimism that accompanied Russia’s accession to the WTO in August – after nearly 19 years of negotiations – has given way in Europe to a more familiar sense of frustration.

“Since Russia has become a member of the WTO they are doing exactly the opposite of what they are supposed to do or what they have been promising to do,” Mr De Gucht said in Brussels.

“At this moment in time, I’m rather upset about all this,” Mr De Gucht added, calling the developments “very disturbing.”

Brussels has been sparring with Moscow on several trade fronts in recent months, spanning products from wood to slaughtered pigs.

One of the biggest sources of irritation has been a new Russian law that introduces special levies to cover the cost of recycling cars. The law has been billed as an environmental initiative, but EU officials believe it is protectionist because it only applies to imports.

Brussels has also complained about Russia’s blanket ban on imported live animals from Europe – purportedly for health reasons – as well as Moscow’s decision to raise tariffs on hundreds of imported products in spite of joining the WTO.

Russia’s failure to appoint a WTO ambassador thus far has also led some trade officials and analysts to question Moscow’s commitment to its new club.

Viktor Kalmikov, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the EU, questioned the EU’s analysis of the auto recycling fee, and noted that Russia had its own list of complaints against the bloc over matters such as its chemicals regulations.

“What family does not have its quarrels?” he asked, adding: “We believe in the logic of the WTO. We believe in the rules of the WTO.”

Russia is the EU’s third-largest trading partner – after the US and China – but has long been a source of frustration for what EU officials regard as unpredictable, often protectionist, behaviour.

Brussels had championed its bid to join the WTO because it believed it would lock Moscow into a rules-based system that would encourage broader economic reforms and make it easier to resolve occasional disputes.

For Russia, gaining admission to the club removed the stigma of being the last major economy outside it, and was also supposed to help attract foreign investment to diversify an economy reliant on oil and gas exports.

Fredrik Erixon, a director of ECIPE, a Brussels-based think tank that specialises in trade, argued that the Kremlin was trying to avoid a political backlash at home by reinterpreting its WTO obligations.

“Russia entered without a clear idea of why it wants to belong to this club and it has no intention of participating in negotiations to free up trade, the prime purpose of the WTO,” he wrote in an email.

Mr De Gucht warned that his patience was running out, saying: “Either we see movement in this file in the coming weeks, or we will be forced to go to the WTO for dispute settlement. We are left no other choice.”

He also said EU officials would demand answers when they stand “eyeball to eyeball” with the Russian president during the summit, remarking: “I would be very interested to learn from Mr Putin himself what he has on his mind.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does “the clock is ticking” mean?

A. There's little time left for Russia to fufill its promises.

B. President Putin will arrive soon.

C. EU warns of legal actions against Russia.

D. Trade disputes between them are causing huge losses.

答案(1)

2.What is not true about Russia and the EU on the matter of WTO?

A. The EU has always been pessimistic about Russia's joining in.

B. Russia had engaged in 19 years of negotiations in order to join WTO.

C. Russia was accepted as the last major economy by WTO.

D. The EU and Russia are in the middle of several trade disputes.

答案(2)

3.The disputes between EU and Russia concern······

A. oil and gas trade

B. Russia's special levies on auto recycling

C. Russia's regulations on chemicals

D. the suitable candidate for Russia's ambassador to WTO

答案(3)

4.What is not correct about WTO?

A. Its headquarter in New York, World Trade Center, was destroyed on 9.11.

B. WTO is against protectionism.

C. Settling trade disputes is WTO's key function.

D. Help member states to free up trade is its prime purpose.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.EU warns of legal actions against Russia.
解释：不难看出C是正确的，文章第一段和倒数第二段讲到了这一内容。

(2) 答案：A.The EU has always been pessimistic about Russia's joining in.
解释：EU曾经支持俄国加入，because it believed it would lock Moscow into a rules-based system that would encourage broader economic reforms.中国加入世贸时发达国家对中国也寄与了同样的期望。BCD都是正确的。

(3) 答案：B.Russia's special levies on auto recycling
解释：俄罗斯以环境保护为由征收汽车报废回收税，欧盟认为这是保护主义行为。 A项石油和天然气贸易，目前欧盟和俄国对此并未产生争端。俄国加入WTO是想attract foreign investment to diversify an economy reliant on oil and gas exports. C项对化工制品的管制是俄罗斯对欧盟的抱怨。D项的真实情况是：俄国未能及时任命一位驻WTO大使让人觉得他们对WTO承诺不够重视。

(4) 答案：A.Its headquarter in New York, World Trade Center, was destroyed on 9.11.
解释：BCD是正确的。A是错误的，世贸组织的总部在瑞士日内瓦。

胡萝卜加大棒下的缅甸

FT社评。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
pariah [pə'raɪə] n.（印度种姓最低级）贱民
despot ['despɒt] n.暴君；独裁者

Thein Sein 缅甸现任总统吴登盛。其“如2015年缅甸人选择昂山素季担任总统，我将接受她”等表态尤其得到西方社会的赞扬。在缅语中，“吴”字是敬称，有“先生”或“叔叔”的含意，非姓氏。

ambivalence [æm'bɪv(ə)l(ə)ns] n.矛盾心态
pogroms in Rakhine state 若开邦的种族屠杀。自12年六月至十二月，若开邦的罗兴亚人与佛教徒之间爆发了2次大规模暴力冲突。

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

2分52秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分36秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分8秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分24秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Myanmar pressure (402 words)

Choosing when to welcome a pariah state back into the international fold is fraught with risk. The ill-judged rehabilitation of Muammer Gaddafi in 2003 merely reinforced a despot. But Barack Obama has made the right decision to open the door to Myanmar with his historic presidential visit.

Human rights groups have attacked the US president for rushing to legitimise Myanmar’s nominally civilian government before democratic reforms take root. Thein Sein, the reform-minded president, has released hundreds of prisoners, ended media censorship and allowed democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy to enter parliament. But the government’s ambivalence in the face of what look increasingly like anti-Muslim pogroms in Rakhine state shows that human rights are far from entrenched. Many political prisoners also remain in jail, although 60 were set to be freed last night.

It is just for these reasons that the trip is well-timed. It has already prompted a raft of new initiatives on the eve of his arrival. But for reform to continue, Mr Thein Sein needs to show the old guard concrete results. Many still exercise influence in parliament and the government. There is frustration that the US has suspended rather than lifted sanctions. The first visit by a sitting US president is a very public signal that support will be forthcoming if the pace is kept up.

Washington’s act is not selfless. Mr Obama’s six-hour visit is one stop on an Asian tour designed to promote the US as a counterbalance to China’s rising influence in the region. US companies are eager to seize opportunities presented by Myanmar’s rich natural resources.

These are important considerations, but they cannot overshadow the urgent need to press Myanmar’s government, especially on human rights. Its record on protecting the ethnic minorities who make up 30 per cent of the population is dire. Two hundred people are dead and more than 100,000 displaced because of the violence in Rakhine.

Mr Thein Sein has for the first time hinted that this will be addressed. Mr Obama must stress to him that action should be swift and that human rights cannot be sacrificed to strategic and commercial interests. Sanctions once eased can be reinstated. Myanmar’s democratic progress may be fragile, but so too is its rehabilitation. Mr Obama has given Myanmar’s government the carrot of a symbolic presidential visit. But it is not yet time to put away the stick.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Human rights groups attacked President Obama because···

A. Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest.

B. they believe their democratic reforms have not taken root.

C. its government is merely nominally civilian.

D. Thein Sein is someone like Muammer Gaddafi.

答案(1)

2.Why does the writer say "that the trip is well-timed"?

A. Because the pogroms in Rakhine state is still ongoing.

B. Because though the government has freed some political prisoners, many others are still in jail.

C. Because President Thein Sein needs to show the old guard concrete results, so that reforms might be pushed forward.

D. All of above.

答案(2)

3.The writer says "Washington’s act is not selfless".

Which of the following is not correct about Washington's act according to the passage?

A. To counterbalance China's growing influence in the region.

B. To help US companies open the gate to invest in Myanmar.

C. It's perfectly normal for the US to think of its self-interest in foreign affaires.

D. None of above.

答案(3)

4.The writer will not say to President Obama that···

A. to encourage further reforms, it's wise to provide the carrot.

B. it's time to put away the stick.

C. you should make it clear that human rights cannot be sacrificed to commercial interests.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.they believe their democratic reforms have not taken root.
解释：原文中如是说。A与事实不符，吴登盛已经允许昂山素季上任国会议员甚至访问美国了。D也与事实不符。C是正确的，但是并非人权组织批评奥巴马总统的原因。

(2) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC都是正确的。文章第三段中说，缅甸当局已经进行了一些改革了，但要继续推进，吴登盛需要让守旧派看到实实在在的成果。 The first visit by a sitting US president is a very public signal that support will be forthcoming if the pace is kept up.

(3) 答案：D.None of above.
解释：ABC都是正确的。在下一段中，作者说These are important considerations.访问缅甸是美国return to asia外交政策的一部分。

(4) 答案：B.it's time to put away the stick.
解释：文中最后一段强调了作者的主张：胡萝卜加大棒政策应当继续。

新闻网站该不该收费？

新闻机构创办的网站大多亏损，收费能帮助他们扭转困境吗？

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分36秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分42秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分38秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分55秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Charge for news or bleed red ink (926 words)

By John Gapper

Alan Rusbridger, the editor of The Guardian, spoke bluntly last week when he described the financial effects of the internet on his newspaper to journalism students in Coventry: “If I stop to think about the business model, it is sometimes quite scary.”

Scary indeed. Guardian News and Media, which publishes The Guardian and The Observer, last week published figures showing that it made a pre-tax loss of £57m ($93m, €65m) in the 2008-09 financial year, and its auditors only approved it as a going concern because the Scott Trust – established in 1936 to protect the editorial independence of The Guardian – stands behind it.

John Gapper’s blog

John Gapper

The business world: Observations on business, finance, media and technology

Yet Mr Rusbridger reiterated The Guardian’s stand against charging people to read its articles, or view its photographs and videos, online. “It would be crazy if we were to all jump behind a paywall and imagine that would solve things,” he said, according to journalism.co.uk.

Other papers are, however, waking up to the fact that it is untenable to rely on sheer numbers of online readers – and online advertising – to save them. The New York Times, which experimented with charging for selected articles between 2005 and 2007, announced on Tuesday that it would reinstate subscriptions.

From next year, the NYT will follow the Financial Times in charging readers on a “metered” model. They will be permitted to read a set number of articles free each month (perhaps about the 10 the FT allows), but will have to pay a subscription for more.

In any other industry, charging customers would not be a radical idea. Even companies such as Skype and Flickr use a “freemium” pricing strategy of giving away services to casual users and charging customers who use them intensively.

Newspapers have, however, become caught up with the notion of what Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor, calls “the link economy”, believing that any gains from subscriptions will be outweighed by losses in advertising and brand equity.

Maybe that was a fair calculation a few years ago, when rates for online ads appeared to be rising towards those in print publications. But publishers should remember John Maynard Keynes’ dictum: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

Now the facts have changed in just the way you might expect. Instead of papers being able to reconstruct online their domination of print display and classified advertising, they are being swamped by competition from portals, blogs, search engines, and so forth.

The question for general newspapers such as the NYT and The Guardian is: is there any alternative? Many editors have been persuaded that there is not – people are so used to consuming news for free online that they will not pay.

The success of the FT and the Wall Street Journal in gaining subscriptions and advertising online is often dismissed as a special case. Business publications have corporate customers who are price-insensitive, and produce specialist information that is not easily replicated.

General newspapers, however, must take the plunge. If the metrics of the link economy – visitors, page impressions, etc – had enough value, then The Guardian (35m unique users a month globally, 13m in the UK) or The New York Times (17m in the US) would be in fine shape. Editorially, they are doing very well; economically, they are in crisis.

The point that link economy enthusiasts miss, I think, is that the trade-off between subscription and advertising is not a zero-sum game. Rates for online display ads have been falling steadily as competition has proliferated, with most sites now finding it hard to get more than $4 per 1,000 impressions on their pages (or $14m for the 3.5bn hits on all US newspaper sites monthly).

But sites such as the FT and WSJ – or some health or energy websites – can charge $90 or more. The fact that customers are registering and paying not only shows commitment but provides publishers with personal data with which to target advertisements better.

Although online readership falls when any form of subscription is imposed, metering or similar freemium models help publishers to more than make up for it. Not only do they gain subscription revenues, but they can raise advertising rates to their core customers.

Only a small number of readers will convert to being customers, but that need not matter. Outsell, a research group, reported this week that only 6 per cent of US online readers say they would pay online news sites if they charged.

If we are to take the figure at face value (which I don’t think we should), then The Guardian could get 2.1m people to subscribe to it online, making it highly profitable at a stroke. Even 1 per cent would give it a subscription base of 350,000.

Nothing will save a lot of general newspapers. They thrived for a time on local or regional advertising monopolies and, now that Craigslist and other advertising aggregators exist, are finished. They do not produce anything valuable enough to survive the transition.

Perhaps commodity general news is now so widely available that even a true premium provider cannot charge. But I don’t believe it – reading both The Guardian and The New York Times’ coverage from Haiti this week was a reminder of how distinctive they can be.

Relying on advertising alone to finance that has not worked, as The New York Times has acknowledged. If your business model is that scary, you should try another.

john.gapper@ft.com

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is the main purpose of the article?

A. Persuade the Guardian to start charging.

B. Brag about the success of FT and WSJ's subscription model.

C. Argue for the adoption of paid-subscription model for news organizations.

D. Demonstrate how the internet has destroyed the newspaper.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following would the author agree?

A. Relying on advertising alone is dangerous for news web sites.

B. FT and WSJ should raise their advertising rate.

C. FT and WSJ is better than the Guardian and New York Times in term of editorial quality.

D. The newspaper industry should live on subscription alone.

答案(2)

3.The author quoted John Maynard Keynes to:

A. Support an argument of another people.

B. Explain that this is actually an old economic issue.

C. Argue against the wrong assumption held by newspaper industry.

D. All of the above

E. None of the above

答案(3)

4.Which of the following would the author agree?

A. Newspapers should find an alternative business model for online business.

B. Newspapers should not put any of their content online for free.

C. The portals are much more competitive than newspapers.

D. All of the above

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.Argue for the adoption of paid-subscription model for news organizations.
解释：check out the full text

(2) 答案：A.Relying on advertising alone is dangerous for news web sites.
解释：Easy

(3) 答案：C.Argue against the wrong assumption held by newspaper industry.
解释：Newspapers have, however, become caught up with the notion of what Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor, calls “the link economy”, believing that any gains from subscriptions will be outweighed by losses in advertising and brand equity.

(4) 答案：A.Newspapers should find an alternative business model for online business.
解释：Good

金砖四国的故事

金砖四国是高盛率先提出的一个概念。随着金砖四国的崛起，这个概念越来越深入人心，而且对全球经济产生了巨大的影响。

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

28分32秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

15分58秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

11分24秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

3分59秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The story of the Brics (3995 words)

By Gillian Tett

On the desk of Jim O’Neill, chief economist for Goldman Sachs, stand four flimsy flags. They look out of place among the expensive computer terminals of the investment bank’s plush London office, like leftovers of a child’s geography homework or cheap mementos from backpacking trips to exotic parts of the world. But these flags hint at a more interesting story – of the latest way in which money and ideas are reshaping the world. The small scraps of fabric are pennants for big countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China. And almost a decade ago, O’Neill decided to start thinking of them as a group – which he gave the acronym Bric.

It was a simple mental prop. The bolder move was to predict – publicly, and in Goldman’s name – that by 2041 (later revised to 2039, then 2032) the Brics would overtake the six largest western economies in terms of economic might. The four flags would come to represent the pillars of the 21st-century economy.

At the time, many scoffed at this idea. The predictions turned conventional western wisdom on its head; and O’Neill hardly seemed an obvious champion of the concept. A large man with working-class Manchester roots, he does not exude the aura of any globetrotting elite. His office is decorated with splashes of cherry red memorabilia from Manchester United Football Club, and he still speaks with the thick, flattened vowels of his childhood. Indeed, when O’Neill coined the term Bric in 2001, he had never properly visited three of the four countries (the exception was China), and spoke none of their languages. Yet, notwithstanding those unlikely beginnings, in the past decade, Bric has become a near ubiquitous financial term, shaping how a generation of investors, financiers and policymakers view the emerging markets: companies ranging from Nissan to media group WPP have developed Brics business strategies; several dozen financial institutions now run Brics funds; business schools have launched Brics courses; and this April Phillips de Pury will be holding a Brics-themed auction. “The Brics concept … that O’Neill created … has become such a strong brand,” says Felipe Góes, adviser to the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, who is organising the first Brics think-tank.

O’Neill speaks in smaller spheres for a moment: “It has transformed my life,” he says.

To some critics, the fuss about Brics is overblown. The term is hype, spin, from a bank and banking industry accustomed to disguising such guff as genuinely new ideas and concepts – the better to profit from them. “Brics is really just marketing – it’s nonsense!” says Charles Dumas, a London-based economist who disputes many elements of the Brics concept, such as the idea that these countries will keep growing inexorably into the future. Others are more cynical still, arguing that Goldmans Sachs has used the concept to extend its global power, and thus turbo-charge its formidable profit-making machine. O’Neill denies this latter accusation. “I really believe in this idea of Brics, that this idea can make the world a better place – it’s what drives me,” he says.

But even if Brics is self-interested spin, such spin – an idea in itself, really – can sometimes take on a life of its own, beyond what its creators expect or even hope for. By creating the word Brics, O’Neill has redrawn powerbrokers’ cognitive map, helping them to articulate a fundamental shift of influence away from the western world. And if you believe that the way humans think and speak not only reflects reality, but can shape its future path too, then this Brics tag has itself come both to reflect and drive the change – albeit from some unlikely beginnings.

..........................

The rise of the non-western world

The way O’Neill, 52, tells the tale of how he developed the Brics – and he is a born raconteur – starts, a touch melodramatically, on the day terrorists flew aircraft into the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, killing thousands of people.

The son of a postman, O’Neill grew up in south Manchester, where he studied at the local comprehensive (Oasis’s Noel and Liam Gallagher were pupils there too, albeit later) and spent much of his time playing football. After school, he decided to study at Sheffield University, partly because it offered easy access to watch Manchester United. (Today, he has a season tickets at Old Trafford, and leaves spare tickets behind the bar at a local pub, for childhood friends to use.) During his time there, between “getting drunk and playing football”, O’Neill discovered a passion for economics. And after completing a doctorate in the subject, he worked as a foreign exchange analyst at a series of City banks, eventually joining Goldman in 1995 as co-head of economics. In the summer of 2001, Gavyn Davies, O’Neill’s highly respected co-chief, announced his departure – leaving O’Neill the sole leader, and under huge pressure to perform. “I thought: “Oh my god, I have got to put my imprint on this department,” he recalls. “I was searching for a theme and a new idea.”

Inspiration came – a bittersweet gift. On September 11, as the first aircraft approached the Twin Towers, where he had delivered a lecture a few days earlier, O’Neill was hosting a global video conference call. Halfway through, the New York faces vanished from the screen. O’Neill later learnt the staff had been safely evacuated from their offices, but he still reeled in shock at the events. In the days that followed, his mind began to whir. As a foreign exchange analyst, O’Neill had always been a passionate advocate of globalisation, and was fascinated by the rising power of Asia. And to him, the horror in Manhattan was a powerful demonstration of exactly why the non-western world was starting to matter more and more – albeit in a negative way. However, O’Neill also believed – or hoped – that this shift in power could be seen in a more positive sense, too. “What 9/11 told me was that there was no way that globalisation was going to be Americanisation in the future – nor should it be,” he says. “In order for globalisation to advance, it had to be accepted by more people … but not by imposing the dominant American social and philosophical beliefs and structures.”

In practical terms, O’Neill decided, that meant economists had to look more closely at how non-western economies could wield more power in the future. As he scoured the globe, he became increasingly fascinated by four countries: Brazil, India, Russia and China. In one sense, the four seemed disparate, separated geographically and culturally; they had never acted as a bloc in any way, never conceived of themselves as a unit. Yet what they all shared in 2001 were large populations, underdeveloped economies and governments that appeared willing to embrace global markets and some elements of globalisation. To O’Neill, these characteristics made them natural sisters: they all had the potential for rapid future growth.

Excited, he tried to work out how to label this bunch. Since China was easily the largest, it made sense to put its name first. “Lloyd Blankfein [Goldman Sachs’s chief executive] always teases me about it – he says I should have called the group the Cribs,” O’Neill recalls. But O’Neill thought that a word linked to babies would seem patronising. So on November 30 2001, he launched his Big Idea: Goldman Sachs’s Global Economic Paper #66, “Building Better Global Economic Brics”. He predicted, soberly, that “over the next 10 years, the weight of the Brics and especially China in world GDP will grow” – and warned, perhaps a little less soberly, that “in line with these prospects, world policymaking forums should be reorganised” to give more power to the group he had now dubbed Brics.

..........................

Welcome to Briclife

The paper immediately sparked interest among Goldman Sachs’s corporate clients, particularly those already selling – or trying to sell – consumer products to the emerging markets. “I found the Bric thing fascinating right from the start,” says Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP. “It tapped into what we had been already discussing.” But to many investors and bankers – including some inside Goldman Sachs – it all seemed rather fanciful, particularly given that countries such as Brazil had recently experienced hyperinflation. “When I first spoke at a big group in Rio [after the paper was published], it was to around 1,000 investors from all of Latin America,” recalls O’Neill. “The guy who was introducing me whispered in my ear as he went to the podium, ‘we all know that the only reason the B is there is because without it there is no acronym.’”

But O’Neill kept discussing the concept with colleagues and in 2003 his team produced the next offering: a paper called “Dreaming with Brics: The Path to 2050”. It boldly declared that by 2039 the Brics group could overtake the largest western economies in scale. “The list of the world’s 10 largest economies may look quite different in 2050,” it said. That prediction launched O’Neill’s team into what he calls Briclife. Within days, Goldman economists were flooded with e-mails from executives at companies ranging from mobile telecoms group Vodafone to miner BHP Billiton to Ikea and Nissan. By luck – or insight – O’Neill had produced this tag just as many western businesses were trying to hone their strategies to sell products to the non-western world, or to use regions such as China as a manufacturing base. And in a world where corporate boards face information overload, Brics suddenly provided executives with a snappy way of discussing strategy. Better still, unlike phrases such as “emerging markets” or “developing world”, Brics did not sound patronising, or unpromising; it was neutral, strong, politically correct.

Soon rivals, such as HSBC and Deutsche Bank fund unit DWS, were launching dedicated investment funds marketed under the label of Brics. “We asked our lawyers if we could trademark the word Brics, but they said not – apparently it’s not a product,” O’Neill recalls. Steadily, the brand spread, taking on a life beyond Goldman. Initially, most hedge funds ignored the concept as marketing hype. But as investors began to purchase assets specifically linked to the rise of Brics, the hedge-funders recognised that the way that China, say, was making cars could affect demand for Brazilian copper. New correlations were developing in asset prices, amid strong investment flows (since 2003, the Brics stock markets have risen from 2 to 9 per cent of global market capitalisation, and O’Neill forecasts they will represent almost 50 per cent of global market capitalisation in 2050).

..........................

Who’s in, who’s out?

Unsurprisingly, O’Neill’s rivals started to snipe. Some economists said it was ridiculous to make forecasts as far out as 2050, particularly since many of O’Neill’s projections seemed to involve extrapolating current growth on a straight line. Others took issue with the idea that the four Bric countries could – or should – be described as a group. “Economically, financially and politically, China overshadows and will continue to overshadow the other Brics,” analysts at Deutsche Bank argued. Some banks tried to ban their employees from using the B word. “Why the hell should we do Goldman’s marketing for it?” says the chief executive of one of the world’s biggest investment banks. Meanwhile, out in the market, some investors suggested it would be better to talk about Bricks (with Korea included), or Brimck (with Mexico as well) or even Abrimcks (chucking in the Arab region and South Africa). One market wag joked that somebody should start trading the Cement bloc (Countries Excluded from the Emerging New Terminology).

O’Neill fought back. The Goldman team started to crank out Bric research, looking at everything from the future size of the Indian middle class to car use in Brazil. In an effort to soothe some ruffled feathers, in 2005 O’Neill tried to explain why Korea and Mexico had not been included in his big idea (the rather arbitrary-sounding reason was that they were members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). He also tried to placate some of the non-Brics by offering a new term: the “N-11”, or Next Eleven nations on the list to emerge as powers. This was a confusingly broad club, encompassing Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam, but within months companies such as Nissan and WPP were bandying “N-11” around their boardrooms. Another marketing tag – or boundary on a cognitive map – had been born.

Nor was it just the corporate world getting excited. O’Neill heard that politicians in Nigeria were slapping the term on their internal propaganda campaigns, redefining some of the slogans for their own ends; it was uncannily reminiscent of how 19th-century Nigerians once transposed the language of the Anglican Church to their own cultural traditions.

..........................

The Teflon term

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of O’Neill’s golden child is what it didn’t do: collapse under scrutiny as the credit crisis hit. Over the past two years, many of Wall Street’s big ideas have been exposed as woefully ill-conceived at best, utterly fallacious at worst. However, during the great re-reckoning, the Brics concept has flourished. Most of the Brics and N-11 emerged from the crisis well, relative to the economies of the western world. Their banking systems are intact, and their economies are growing at breakneck speed. “As a result,” wrote O’Neill in a recent paper, “we think our long-term 2050 Bric ‘dream’ projections are more, rather than less, likely to materialise.” More specifically, Goldman now predicts that China’s economy will become as big as the US’s by 2027, while the total Brics group will eclipse the big western economies by 2032 – almost a decade sooner than first thought.

That, O’Neill argues, will overturn many western assumptions about how the world works. These days, Goldman aggressively recommends that investors decide which western companies to invest in based on whether they are selling to the Brics and N-11, rather than just western consumers. (In another piece of neat cultural transposition, Goldman recently dubbed this strategy “investment in the Brics Nifty 50” [companies which sell to the Brics region] – a reference to the “nifty 50” of big western companies that were beloved by investors back in the 1970s, when it was presumed that the US and Europe would provide the engines of growth.) “We estimate that two billion people could join the global middle-class by 2030, mainly from Brics,” Goldman’s latest research note trills.

The argument is beloved by some investors. “Had you heeded O’Neill’s work and gotten invested in the stock markets of those four nations [back in 2001], you’d have made more money this past decade than by doing virtually anything else conceivable,” declared Joshua Brown, an influential investment commentator, on his Wall Street blog last month. (O’Neill brushes off the praise as “somewhat embarrassing”.) Others fear it is the next big bubble. To some, the exclusion of countries such as South Africa – or even Indonesia – looks increasingly odd. And the inclusion of Russia is presenting an ever-greater headache, given that the Russian economy was the one Bric to take a real fall in the credit crisis – so severe, in fact, that some investors (and even a few bankers inside Goldman) suspect it is now time to kick Russia out of the group.

Unsurprisingly, O’Neill is reluctant to undermine Goldman’s relations with Moscow by doing that. Although he admits that Russia has “disappointed”, he also insists that if the country “recovers strongly and quickly in 2010 and 2011, as we expect, we believe it will deserve its Bric status”.

..........................

Back to reality

Bric leaders Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dmitry Medvedev, Hu Jintao and Manmohan Singh In the early years of Bric-dom, the four countries chosen by O’Neill had reactions ranging from bafflement to indifference. But soon the countries began to embrace the designation, and use it to get their voices heard on the world stage.

But now another Brics-related phenomenon is emerging. In the early years of Bric-dom, the four countries chosen by O’Neill had different reactions to the designation. There was delight in Russia, bafflement in China, cynicism in Brazil and indifference in India. Now, the countries are using the idea to forge tentative links in reality – not just the world of investment ideas. In May 2008, Russia hosted the first formal Bric summit, a meeting of Bric foreign ministers in Yekaterinburg. In July 2009, it followed this with a formal gathering of all four Bric heads of state.

As meetings go, these were symbolic, not substantive. Although the four countries discussed how they could better co-ordinate their affairs to gain greater influence – and seek alternatives to the dollar – they did not agree any tangible steps. But this year in the early summer, the four countries will meet again, this time in Brazil. In anticipation, the Brazilian authorities are establishing a group of academics and a formal think-tank to brainstorm how to develop the Brics agenda. As part of that, they plan to host a conference next month in Rio – with the participation of O’Neill himself. McKinsey, which has used a version of the Brics concept in its consulting strategy, will also be involved.

It might seem ironic that the four countries would choose a term created by an American bank to define themselves but it is not unprecedented. When countries such as India first developed their sense of national identity and rebelled against the British – or when Soviet republics such as Uzbekistan developed a similar nationalism – they did so using the borders that had also been imposed, artificially and arbitrarily, by an outside power. When the cognitive map is redrawn by a dominant power – even in the world of marketing and investment bank “spin” – it tends not to be erased so much as appropriated.

“Is there much evidence that the Brics countries are collaborating today in practical terms?” O’Neill asks. “Not really, no. But that could change in the future – you look at how Brazil supplies commodities which China needs … or the fact that they all have quite similar ideas about how to manage their economies.”

Or as Felipe Góes, the Brazilian official in Rio charged with setting up the world’s first Brics think-tank, says: “It is somewhat ironic [that we use the word Brics] … but that reflects the fact that in the modern world it is people like Goldman Sachs and McKinsey who have the resources and minds to develop ideas.” Indeed, what makes a large institution such as Goldman so influential these days is not simply its trading acumen and political connections, but also its ability to invest heavily in what bankers sometimes call “thought-leadership”, by funding analysis and ensuring it is read around the world.

..........................

At home abroad

Back in New York, some of Goldman’s older managers are aware of the cultural ironies of the Brics boom. During the first 120 years of its history, Goldman made most of its profits from American markets, and today the firm is often viewed as the most politically well-connected of the US banks. If you step into the office of its headquarters at 85 Broad Street, in downtown Manhattan, the first thing that you see is a vast American flag, looming over the dull brown marble lobby. Yet appearances can deceive. While O’Neill has spent the past decade trying to carve out his own intellectual niche by promoting the Brics, so too – far more discreetly – Goldman has been remaking itself, building activities outside the American heartland to capture the growth that O’Neill forecasts. In the past decade, the bank has opened more offices across the world than in the whole of its previous history, and while revenues from the Americas accounted for 60 per cent of its earnings 10 years ago, they now represent about half (and far less if Latin America is excluded). Indeed, senior Goldman executives expect that within a few years, profits that are “made in America” will be a minority of total earnings.

That pattern is certainly not unique to Goldman Sachs: most other western banks have also been expanding across the globe in the past few years. Deutsche Bank, for example, has been deftly building an emerging markets derivatives franchise, while HSBC is now so convinced that its future lies in Asia that Michael Geoghegan, chief executive, recently relocated to Hong Kong from London.

Still, the swing is particularly striking at Goldman, given its all-American past. These days, one of the buzzwords at 85 Broad Street is “domestification”, or the idea that the bank must build businesses around the world that provide local clients not simply with international services, but also with services in their local markets. Rather than treating non-western countries as far-flung frontiers or pawns in a trading game, the new corporate rhetoric insists that the Brics (and other non-western countries) are markets in their own rights. Thus in Brazil, Goldman recently started selling Brazilian investment funds to Brazilians. In Japan, there are staff who speak barely speak a word of English. And in China – where Goldman Sachs most certainly does not fly a big US flag – the bank is sponsoring a Chinese business school, to ensure access to a stream of authentically local Chinese students.

This drive is going hand in hand with a complex process of cultural engineering. As the bank acquires more non-western staff, it is devising programmes to rotate its locally hired employees through headquarters, to ensure that they learn “Goldman values”. It also takes care to send staff from New York and London out to the regions, and to shuffle different ethnic groups between different regions.

As its sponsorship of Chinese business schools shows, Goldman is trying to raise a new generation of local leaders. “If you look at the history of the London office of Goldman, you can see how over a decade or two, you can have locals rise to the top,” says one top executive. “That is our goal across the world. The idea is to get embedded, to show that we are there for the long term … but also to ensure that our Goldman values are everywhere in the world.”

It all might sound reminiscent of the way the British empire operated in the 19th century – or the way the Russian Communist party once tried to knit the diverse peoples of the Soviet Union into a single ideologically based nation. Only this time, it is MBA programmes and Goldman training courses, rather than British public schools or communist training camps, that provide the cultural glue. And – perhaps most important of all – Goldman Sachs (unlike earlier empires) is not overtly acting with a nationalist or political agenda; insofar as it has a real loyalty, it is to its own bottom line and its ability to make profits.

Put it another way: Goldman will keep flying Old Glory only as long as it believes that there is profit to be made under that banner. No wonder a senior member of the US government remarked a couple of years ago, partly in jest, that sooner or later, Goldman “is going to have to choose whether it wants to really be American or not”. If O’Neill is even half-right in his predictions, it may not be a straightforward choice.

Gillian Tett is the FT’s capital markets editor

Her last piece for the magazine was about the JP Morgan bankers who invented the credit derivative’ – and their reactions to the derivatives-induced financial crisis. Read it at www.ft.com/foolsgold On Monday, the FT begins a five-part series on Bric consumers – who they are, what they buy, who is selling to them and what their rise means for the global economy.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the countries is the most promising among the Brics?

A. China

B. Rusia

C. Brazil

D. India

答案(1)

2.Why did the word "Brics" become so popular?

A. The potential of the four countries

B. It reflected an already undergoing trend

C. It is easy to remember

D. All of the above

E. None of the above

答案(2)

3.What of the following is TRUE based on the story?

A. Bric is a trademark of Goldman.

B. The Bric countries haven't accepted the concept of Bric themselves.

C. Indonesia should be included in the Bric group.

D. O’Neill doesn't think Korea and Mexico should be included in the Bric.

答案(3)

4.Which of the Bric country performed worst in the 2008 global financial crisis?

A. China

B. Russia

C. India

D. Brazil

答案(4)

5.Why did Goldman sponsor Chinese business schools, according to the article?

A. To make a profit from MBA students.

B. To influence and nurture Chinese business and political leaders.

C. To shift its focus to the education field.

D. To promote O’Neill's Bric concept.

答案(5)

(1) 答案：A.China
解释：“Economically, financially and politically, China overshadows and will continue to overshadow the other Brics,” analysts at Deutsche Bank argued.

(2) 答案：D.All of the above
解释：Right

(3) 答案：D.O’Neill doesn't think Korea and Mexico should be included in the Bric.
解释：In an effort to soothe some ruffled feathers, in 2005 O’Neill tried to explain why Korea and Mexico had not been included in his big idea (the rather arbitrary-sounding reason was that they were members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

(4) 答案：B.Russia
解释：Good

(5) 答案：B.To influence and nurture Chinese business and political leaders.
解释：As its sponsorship of Chinese business schools shows, Goldman is trying to raise a new generation of local leaders.

哈维·韦恩斯坦：好莱坞的衣冠禽兽

哈维·韦恩斯坦的性侵丑闻揭露了影视业中女性从业者所面临的人身威胁。位高权重的男人们以种种下作手段炫耀他们的统治地位已经成了电影行业的一种常态。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
chronicle ['krɒnɪkl] vt. 记录
signifier ['sɪɡnɪfaɪə(r)] n. 示意，记号
sordid ['sɔːdɪd] adj. 卑鄙的, 无耻的
recumbent[rɪ'kʌmbənt] adj. 侧卧的，休息的
hellish['helɪʃ] adj. 地狱的，凶恶的
capricious[kə'prɪʃəs] adj. 变化无常的，任性的
entrant['entrənt] n. 竞赛者，新就业者

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分33秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分6秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分13秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分46秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Harvey Weinstein is Hollywood’s monster(779 words)

By John Gapper

If it takes a story in The New York Times to alert a company’s directors to prolonged misconduct by its co-founder, they are not paying much attention. Perhaps The Weinstein Company’s board did not want to listen for allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein, or notice that he was a bully.

It may have come as a surprise to them that Mr Weinstein had reached private settlements with women who chronicled his alleged harassment in hotel suites over three decades. It cannot have been news that a man who propped a baseball bat in his office as his personal style signifier was prone to volcanic fits of temper and used intimidation as a management technique.

This is Hollywood, where the “casting couch” — the sordid tradition of film executives abusing their power to make female performers have sex with them — reaches back to studio bosses in the 1940s such as Darryl F Zanuck. “I’ve slept with producers, I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t,” Marilyn Monroe once said. “If you didn’t go along, there were 25 girls who would.”

The sexual side of Hollywood exploitation occurs behind closed doors. But displays of male dominance are treated not as a regrettable side-effect of creativity but as a routine part of how business gets done. The difference with Mr Weinstein is that he took the opportunity for abuse to horrifying extremes: he is Hollywood’s monster.

A few months ago, I received a message that a Hollywood director wanted to meet me. He had directed a hit film, was looking for fresh material in the business world, and apparently thought that I might help him. Flattered, I presented myself at a hotel in London to be greeted by several female assistants and ushered to his suite.

It soon became clear that the director had no idea who I was, or what I was doing there; he thought I was another journalist there to quiz him. It was the end of a day of interviews for the international release of his film, he was tired and had a sore back. He lay on a sofa and talked while recumbent.

It was not a distressing experience; in the end, it was amusing. But it was a tiny example of how the film business works: the agents and enablers who initially spread word of interest; the distant summons to a hotel room; a kinglike director who assumes that the world is one big casting call.

Mr Weinstein’s rise illustrates the point made by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Stanford professor, in an article titled “Why the assholes are winning”. As Prof Pfeffer wrote, leaders who create “toxic and hellish work environments” are often admired nonetheless: “It seemingly doesn’t matter what an individual or a company does . . . as long as they are sufficiently rich and successful.”

This does not just describe Hollywood: the powerful and capricious chief executive with broad freedom to act as he or she chooses is a feature of much of the media industry. There is good reason: one US study found at companies gain from having strong leaders when they are in unstable industries in which decisions must be made rapidly and there is a threat of new entrants.

A CEO can draw more authority from also being a founder, and from the “soft power” of having close ties to other board members. In Mr Weinstein’s case, his brother and co-founder Bob Weinstein sits on the board that finally dismissed him this week.

At Miramax, the company which the brothers sold to Walt Disney in 1993, Harvey Weinstein used charisma to lure and nurture directors such as Quentin Tarantino. But power has a dark side if it is unrestrained. In Down and Dirty Pictures, his book about Miramax, Peter Biskind described the Weinstein brothers’ reputation “for brilliance but also for malice and brutality”.

Another study of the traits of dominant people noted that greater power triggers “disinhibited behaviour”. In other words, leaders who are allowed to do whatever they want can end up behaving very badly. The powerful “more frequently act on their desires in a socially inappropriate way”, the authors concluded.

Over-eating, over-aggression and predatory sexual behaviour were among syndromes they described for “high status, powerful individuals” whose moods swing from irritability into mania. Mr Weinstein once claimed that his tantrums were caused by eating too much sugar, and that he had behaved himself better after stopping.

This is what an industry that runs on power encourages. It has business logic, but Mr Weinstein’s long inviolability proves its perils. When personal patronage is the surest route from obscurity to glamour, danger lurks.

The fact that Hollywood has been like this for so long shows how resistant it is to reform, but the Weinstein scandal could bring progress at last. Greater honesty would also help.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does “casting couch” refer to according to the article ?

A. Persons guilty of harassment settle claims and demand non-disclosure clauses.

B. Film studios secretly solicit casting directors for a prostitute or a brothel.

C. Film executives demand sexual favors in return for casting a performer in a film.

D. Film executives use force, threat, or coercion to aggressively dominate actresses.

答案(1)

2.Peter Biskind's book Down and Dirty Pictures reveals that ____.

A. the Weinstein brothers has a bad reputation for malice and brutality.

B. people tend to admire successful company leaders no matter what he does.

C. companies gain from strong leaders when they are in unstable industries.

D. the powerful and capricious leader is a feature of much of the media industry.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following statements about The Weinstein Company is true ?

A. The film studio has benefited a lot from Harvey Weinstein's strong leadership.

B. It was founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein and was later sold to Walt Disney.

C. The company's board decided to dismissed Harvey Weinstein in wake of sex scandal.

D. The company has long been notorious for asking actresses to offer sexual services.

答案(3)

4.According to the study, which of the following is not among the symptoms high status, powerful individuals often have ?

A. Predatory sexual behaviour.

B. Brutal manner.

C. Over-eating.

D. Over-aggression.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.Film executives demand sexual favors in return for casting a performer in a film.
解释：“Casting Couch”指电影制作人利用他们的权利迫使女演员与他们发生性关系。

(2) 答案：A.the Weinstein brothers has a bad reputation for malice and brutality.
解释：Peter Biskind在他所著的关于米拉麦克斯影业的书《Down and Dirty Pictures》中揭露，韦恩斯坦兄弟非常精明强干，同时也出了名了的恶毒野蛮。

(3) 答案：A.The company's board decided to dismissed Harvey Weinstein in wake of sex scandal.
解释：哈维·韦恩斯坦的兄弟和合伙人鲍勃·韦恩斯坦本周决定将其解雇。

(4) 答案：B.Brutal manner.
解释：位高权重的人常常被一些列综合征困扰，包括暴食、攻击性过强以及掠夺性性行为。

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.58

开纳粹的玩笑有什么问题？

英国明星厨师Paul Hollywood近日不得不作出公开道歉，只因他14年前穿着纳粹制服参加化装舞会的一张照片遭到曝光。但事实上，Hollywood的行为并非刻意冒犯纳粹的受害者，也并没有支持任何纳粹行为，我们有必要对这样一个无伤大雅的滑稽玩笑如此敏感吗？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
strut[strʌt] v. 趾高气扬地走
slapstick['slæpstɪk] n. 打闹剧
flak [flæk] n. 高射炮，抨击
peril['perəl] n. 危险，冒险
herd[hɜːd] vt. 群集，使…成群
instill [ɪn'stɪl] v. 滴注，逐渐灌输
engender[ɪn'dʒendə(r)] v. 产生, 引起
malign[mə'laɪn] adj. 有害的，恶性的
punchline['pʌntʃlaɪn] n. 妙语

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分47秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分41秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分55秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分40秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Is it ever OK to joke about the Nazis?(671 words)

By Robert Shrimsley

Poor Paul Hollywood, the TV baker, who this week felt forced to apologise for dressing up in a Nazi uniform for a fancy-dress party 14 years ago. It all seemed rather rough. After all, who among us has not at some time felt the urge to don jackboots or strut hilariously around the village pub?

Sadly, Hollywood’s hijinks came to light when someone gave the papers a snap of him from 2003 in full Nazi costume. His explanation — which no one has challenged — was that he and some friends were dressed as characters from the slapstick war comedy ’Allo ’Allo!. Since there is no previous evidence of any extremist sympathies, it seems reasonable to believe this was not a secret meeting of Bakers for Blitzkrieg. I was surprised, however. I’d have marked him down more as the japey fun-loving rugby-club type who would go dressed up as one of the lingerie-clad women.

The baker is not the first public persona to face flak over a fondness for Wehrmacht-wear. Most notably, Prince Harry suffered for a similar stunt but, as a royal, he is held to higher standards than the host of Bake Off. Unfortunately, the modern Mr Pastry was not a celebrity in 2003 and so had yet to read the chapter on the perils of the Luftwaffe look.

But it does raise an interesting question. Can we joke about Nazis? Clearly, at one level the answer is easy. There is nothing funny about what the Nazis did or believed. I have known Holocaust survivors who felt strongly that Nazis were so evil that they should not be reduced to figures of fun. These uniforms might be the last thing a victim saw as they were herded into the gas chambers. For those with this view, wearing a Nazi uniform even in jest is to diminish the crimes and disrespect the victims. It is to normalise Nazism and humanise the inhuman. In Germany, of course, Hollywood would be up on criminal charges.

This argument is clearly powerful. For me, however, the real issue when censuring celebs or others is one of intent. The decisive factor is whether the costume is meant to give offence or signify approval. Wittingly or not, our feted baker was taking on the valuable work of helping to make Nazis look ridiculous. Real Nazis, after all, were about blood and thunder, not croissants and buttercream.

The strutting iconography of the Nazi regime was designed to instil awe and terror. This is a key part of its appeal to society’s losers. Walking to work, I often pass a man stripped to the waist to reveal impressive muscles and a huge swastika tattoo and walking two pit bulls. He patently enjoys the anxiety he engenders. Now, as then, Nazism’s appeal is to social inadequates trying to feel like big men.

That is why it is so important to make Nazis figures of ridicule and mockery, to revel in Basil Fawlty’s silly walks, Smith and Jones’ Nazi generals and Mitchell and Webb’s SS officers - not that fancy dress is in quite the same league of humour, of course.

This is not to diminish the crimes of the real Nazis but to send a message to their modern-day admirers. For me - while one does need to be sensitive to where you are planning to make the joke - the mockery does not diminish the crimes, just the criminals.

For some, these arguments will not do. Even if no malign motive exists, they see this behaviour as insensitive. It is, they contend, something a considerate, decent person would not do and so we should think less of anyone who does.

I doubt the Pieman thought about it that deeply. He probably just saw it as a piece of fun. But such disregard is the final insult to that lethal creed. To place Nazis beyond ridicule is to afford them a victory in history. At a time when similar ideologies are enjoying a renaissance, reducing them to a costume-party punchline may be a good way to diminish their appeal.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why does Paul Hollywood make a public apology this week?

A. Because he extolled the Nazi regime and denied the Holocaust.

B. Because he baked a cake decorated with an image of Adolf Hitler.

C. Because he dressed up in a Nazi uniform on a television programme.

D. Because he was found dressing up in a Nazi uniform 14 years ago.

答案(1)

2.The public is satisfied with Hollywood's explanation because ____.

A. there is no previous evidence of a secret meeting of Bakers for Blitzkrieg.

B. there is no previous evidence of him showing any sympathies to extremist.

C. he is not the first public persona to face flak over a fondness for Nazi uniform.

D. people believe a baker is held to lower moral standard than other public figures.

答案(2)

3.The author believes Hollywood's Wehrmacht-wear forgivable because ____.

A. he helped to make Nazis look ridiculous and meant no disrespect to the victims.

B. wearing a Nazi uniform in jest is to diminish the crimes of the real Nazis.

C. he sent a message to Nazis' admirers that the fondness for Nazis is deplorable.

D. decent person would not see wearing a Nazi uniform as a insensitive behaviour.

答案(3)

4.The author of the passage would be most likely to approve of which of the following?

A. It is reasonable for modern people to find what Nazis did or believed funny.

B. Wearing a Nazi uniform is to diminish the crimes and disrespect the victims.

C. Nazism appeals to society’s losers because it creates the sense of awe and terror.

D. Making fun of Nazi uniform is to normalise Nazism and humanise the inhuman.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.Because he was found dressing up in a Nazi uniform 14 years ago.
解释：可怜的电视烘焙明星Paul Hollywood，本周他不得不为14年前穿着纳粹制服参加化装舞会而道歉。

(2) 答案：B.there is no previous evidence of him showing any sympathies to extremist.
解释：人们很容易就接受了Hollywood的解释，因为他从未对极端主义思想表现过任何同情。

(3) 答案：A.he helped to make Nazis look ridiculous and meant no disrespect to the victims.
解释：判断此类事件的最关键因素是，他的制服是否是故意冒犯他人或支持纳粹主义。但我们的厨师只是让纳粹看起来更加荒唐了。

(4) 答案：C.Nazism appeals to society’s losers because it creates the sense of awe and terror.
解释：作者认为纳粹主义之所以能吸引社会底层，是因为纳粹政权给人们灌输了威严和恐惧，它让地位低微的人也觉得自己伟大。

巴黎——世界首个“后汽车时代”大都会？

巴黎2024年奥运会的准备工作即将全面展开，以奥运会为契机，副市长Missika介绍了巴黎未来几年的城市规划：几年之内，巴黎市内现有的交通系统将发生翻天覆地的改变，无人驾驶和电动交通工具将成为巴黎道路的主宰。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
dense[dens] adj. 密集的，浓厚的
metropolis[mə'trɒpəlɪs] n. 大都市, 重要中心
lobby['lɒbi] v. 游说
commute[kə'mjuːt] n. 乘车上下班，通勤
doddle['dɒdl] n. 轻而易举之事
obsolete['ɒbsəliːt] adj. 已废弃的，过时的
boulevard['buːləvɑːd] n. 林荫大道
unrivalled[ʌn'raɪvld] adj. 无对手的，无匹的
pragmatic[præɡ'mætɪk] adj. 实际的，实用主义的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分39秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分36秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分51秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分39秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Why Paris will be the first post-car metropolis(652 words)

By Simon Kuper

In Lima next Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee will rubber-stamp Paris as host of the 2024 Games. By the time the Games begin, Paris will be transformed. “Vehicles with combustion engines driven by private individuals” could well be banned from the city by then, says Jean-Louis Missika, the deputy mayor.By 2024, driverless shuttle buses should be going up and down the road all day. Olympic visitors will see a vision of the post-car city.

Anyone watching lorries calmly unload on pedestrian crossings in today’s Paris will struggle to believe this. Paris is now dirty, chaotic, years behind the transport frontrunners Amsterdam and Copenhagen and, according to its mayor, Anne Hidalgo, suffers 6,500 deaths a year from pollution. But that’s largely because Paris was built pre-car, and never had the space for the 20th-century technology. Now, as private cars start fading out, pre-car cities will come into their own. Paris, capital of the 19th century, could be the capital of the 21st.

The city is already unrolling the future: raising the price of parking, adding bike lanes and planning to ban diesel cars by 2020. Paris has all the qualities to become the world’s first post-car metropolis. First of all, it’s too dense for cars and, as ever more tourists pile in, it keeps getting denser. “Every inch of that road surface has to be maximised,” says Ross Douglas, who runs Autonomy, an annual urban-mobility conference in Paris. “The first thing the city will want to do is reduce the 150,000 cars parked on the street doing nothing.

By 2024, driverless taxis will be making ride after ride, almost never parking. Paris’s parking spaces will become bike or scooter paths, café terraces or playgrounds.

The second reason Paris can change fast: France’s car industry has been steadily shedding jobs since the 1980s. It’s now too small to lobby hard against the future. Third, France has a 39-year-old tech-savvy president. Whereas his predecessors spent their energy saving dying industries, Emmanuel Macron intends to grab pieces of new ones, such as driverless vehicles. Fourth, Paris doesn’t need private cars because it already has the best public transport of any international city, according to the New York-based Institute of Transportation and Development Policy. Visitors from clogged developing cities ride metro trains here goggling in amazement. Already, nearly two-thirds of the 2.2 million Parisians don’t own cars, says Missika.

New electric bikes will allow suburban cyclists to cover two or three times current distances, making long commutes a doddle. The Périphérique — Paris’s ring road, which now cuts off the city from the suburbs — will become obsolete, predicts Missika. He looks forward to it turning into an urban boulevard lined with trees and cafés.

By then Paris and the suburbs will have merged into a single “Grand Paris”. Missika points out that the Olympic stadium and athletes’ village in 2024 will be outside Paris proper, in Seine-Saint-Denis, one of France’s poorest departments — just five minutes from Paris by train, but currently a world away.

By 2024, Paris will be the EU’s unrivalled number one metropolis. I asked Missika if he expected Brexit to benefit Paris. He replied that he considered London and Paris a single city, “the metropolis”. You can travel between them in less time than it takes to cross Shanghai. Anyway, he adds: “I have the impression Brexit won’t happen, since the English are pragmatic. The moment when they say, ‘We were wrong, we’ll take a step back’ will be a bit humiliating, but it will be better than doing Brexit.”

“Paris is again picking up,” British architect Richard Rogers told me at last Saturday’s FT Weekend Festival. Admittedly, the city won’t be paradise yet in 2024. Soldiers with machine guns may still spend their days patrolling sleepy side-streets for terrorists, alleviating their boredom by eyeing up Parisiennes. But already, Paris is starting to regard its English neighbour with sympathy rather than envy.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which kind of vehicle could disappear in Paris by 2024 ?

A. Driverless shuttle bus.

B. Taxi with combustion engine.

C. Private car with combustion engine.

D. Shuttle bus driven by private individual.

答案(1)

2.Why does Paris have serious traffic problems?

A. Because the parking lots and bike lanes in Paris take up too much space.

B. Because there are 150,000 cars parked on the street doing nothing in Paris.

C. Because Paris was built before car was invented and thus left no space for car.

D. Because France’s car industry has been steadily shedding jobs since the 1980s.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is an advantage Paris possesses to become the world’s first post-car metropolis?

A. France’s petroleum industry is too small to lobby hard against the future.

B. Paris already has the best public transport of any international city.

C. New electric bikes allows suburban cyclists to cover longer distances.

D. France’s car industry is accelerating to get ready for the era of electric vehicle.

答案(3)

4.According to the article, the deputy mayor of Paris believes that ____.

A. The English will not take Brexit into practice eventually.

B. Paris is the EU’s unrivalled number one metropolis.

C. Paris will benefit greatly from Brexit in a few years.

D. Travelling across Paris will take less time than crossing Shanghai.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.Private car with combustion engine.
解释：副市长Jean-Louis Missika表示，2024年巴黎奥运会前，装有内燃机的私人轿车可能被禁止。

(2) 答案：C.Because Paris was built before car was invented and thus left no space for car.
解释：巴黎在汽车发明前就已经建成，没有为这种20世纪才出现的科技预留空间。

(3) 答案：B.Paris already has the best public transport of any international city.
解释：第四，巴黎不需要私人轿车，因为巴黎已经有了全世界国际大都市中最好的公共交通系统。

(4) 答案：A.The English will not take Brexit into practice eventually.
解释：巴黎副市长Missika相信英国脱欧最终不会发生。

好坏美丑尽在伦敦

本文作者为英国《金融时报》专栏作家 菲利普·斯蒂芬斯。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
lurid ['l(j)ʊərɪd] adj.可怕的，耸人听闻的
verdict ['vɜːdɪkt] n.结论，裁定
opulence ['ɒpjʊl(ə)ns] n.富裕
eccentric [ɪk'sentrɪk] n./adj.古怪的人
wryly ['raili] adv.挖苦地，表情冷漠的
majestic[mə'dʒestɪk] adj.庄严的，宏伟的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分56秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分53秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分46秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分58秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

London serves up the good, the bad and the ugly (972 words)

London is readying itself to play host to the world. Those who look beyond the sporting spectacle and the commercial circus of the 2012 Olympics will encounter a city holding up a mirror to globalisation. The riches, energy, diversity, grime, poverty and occasional riots – London offers them in abundance.

The games promise a more intense expression of what Britain’s capital does all the time: it earns its keep by providing, at a price, the arena for others to display their talents and to spend their money.

It would have been nice had Andy Murray won Wimbledon. But it does not really matter that a Brit has not taken the men’s singles title at the All England Club since Fred Perry in 1936. Wimbledon is still the best – as expensively lush an occasion as the grass on centre court. Where else does the glamorous wife of a future king look on from “The Royal Box”?

It’s not just Wimbledon. Beyond summer balls in leafy squares, the London season reaches out to opera at Glyndebourne, racing at Ascot and the regatta at Henley. Yes, the weather can be unpredictable, but there is shopping and nightlife aplenty for well-heeled Arabs fleeing the searing heat of the Middle East.

London is not just for fun. After Wimbledon, attention has turned to a different court. The High Court is witnessing an expensive legal battle between Oleg Deripaska and Michael Cherney. The two made fortunes in the wild west privatisation scramble after the fall of the Soviet Union. We have heard lurid tales of organised crime and extortion. Mr Cherney says Mr Deripaska owes him hundreds of millions of dollars.

Last year saw a battle royal between the Russian oligarchs Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich. The verdict is due any day. The law has become an export business. An estimated 60 per cent-plus of the case load of the High Court’s commercial division now comes from Russia and eastern Europe. London’s lawyers have never been busier – or richer.

There is a paradox here. One of the city’s principal attractions is as a place where incomers can leave their chequered pasts behind. Expensive public relations advisers and even more costly libel lawyers smooth the path to establishment respectability. Yet London is also a place where the buccaneers of globalisation are assured of a level playing field. Judges are rarely, if ever, nobbled; so whatever they might have done in an earlier life, litigants know that in London, the rule of law prevails.

The City, home to the global financial elite, lost much of its lustre to the crash. The latest scandal, about corrupt manipulation of interest rates at Barclays, has rekindled uncomfortable memories of the years of “light-touch regulation”.

Bob Diamond, the US-born former chief executive, may now be heading home. Yet the glistening towers of Canary Wharf – just a stone’s throw from the Olympic park – are still packed with wheelers, dealers and financial whizz kids from every corner of the globe. City bonuses and soaring property prices long ago put London’s smart residential enclaves beyond the reach of mere Londoners.

Austerity has seen Britain gripped by fits of moral outrage directed at politicians and journalists as well as bankers. Yet for incomers, London operates a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Coutts, which styles itself as banker to the Queen, was recently caught failing to operate money laundering rules. This was a small infringement. The city is awash with the riches of unpleasant regimes and dubious foreign enterprises.

Private opulence sits alongside public decay. After decades of under-investment, the infrastructure is creaking badly. Travellers on the 19th century underground rail system are nowadays treated to an astonishing pre-recorded warning from Boris Johnson. The trains, London’s mayor admits, may be unable to bear the Olympic strain.

The eccentric Mr Johnson, who yearns to replace his fellow Conservative David Cameron in Downing Street, might have started work on a much-needed Thames crossing in the east of the capital. Instead he has strung up a cable car to carry Olympic visitors across the river. Taxi drivers call it the mayor’s “fairground ride”.

As anyone who has suffered the horrors of Heathrow knows, London lacks a decent airport hub. The government cannot even manage the immigration queue. Waits of two hours for routine passport checks are common. And the main highway from Heathrow to the centre of the city is closed for roadworks.

Mr Cameron promises to “roll out the red carpet” for wealthy French citizens fleeing the punitive tax rates of François Hollande’s administration. The prime minister, however, has also promised a crackdown on the overall number of immigrants arriving in Britain. Poorer workers and students are to be kept out. Mr Cameron, his own officials wryly observe, has declared the capital open to the world for business, but closed to (all-but-rich) foreigners.

There is much to love about London – especially for those of us lucky enough to have been born here. To the energy, the din of multiculturalism (about a third of residents were born abroad), the parks, the glorious legacy of a sometimes inglorious history, the galleries and the rest, I could add the view from my office across the sweep of the Thames to the majestic dome of St Paul’s Cathedral.

The reflection in the mirror, though, is also a reminder of how unequally the bounty of globalisation has been shared. The expensively vulgar apartment blocks perched beside the Thames are cleaned and serviced by workers marooned by the grim poverty of the minimum wage.

City states such as London – closely connected to each other and increasingly disconnected from their national hinterlands – are often held up as the future. But globalisation depends on a political architecture provided by consenting nation states. The same is true of great cities.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following is correct on London according to the passage?

A. The trains in London may be able to bear the Olympic strain.

B. London'airport can burden the mass of Olympic passage flow.

C. The government cannot conduct the immigration queue.

D. None of them is correct.

答案(1)

2.Why did the author say"The City,home to the global financial elite,lost much of its lustre to the crash."?

A. The Barclays scandal

B. The royal scandal

C. The strike scandal

D. The oil scandal

答案(2)

3.What can we learn from Mr Cameron'declaration in paragraph fourteen?

A. The official may punish all of the immigrants arriving in Britain.

B. Poorer workers and students are to be kept out.

C. The government may encourage all of the businessmen to come to London.

D. All of above is right.

答案(3)

4.In this passage,what is the fortune for the author?

A. He is enough lucky to born in London.

B. He can be the live audience of Olympic.

C. His apartment perches beside the Thames.

D. His office is located in the outside of the London.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.The government cannot conduct the immigration queue.
解释：选项A，正文中"The trains, London’s mayor admits, may be unable to bear the Olympic strain."故A错误。选项B，"London lacks a decent airport hub."故选项B错误。选项C，"The government cannot even manage the immigration queue."故正确答案选C。

(2) 答案：A.The Barclays scandal
解释：正确答案选A。正文第八段有提及。

(3) 答案：D.All of above is right.
解释：正确答案在倒数第四段。选项A,B,C皆是对卡梅伦所说“欢迎世界上的商人来伦敦，而对各种其他原因来伦敦的予以抵制。”的各种理解，都正确。故正确答案选择D。

(4) 答案：A.He is enough lucky to born in London.
解释：选项A是正确的，文中倒数第三段有提到。选项B显然错误，作者本身就是伦敦人。选项C文中没有提及。选项D，作者从办公室可以横扫泰晤士河到圣保罗大教堂的穹顶，故D是错误的。

挑战果粉信仰的新iPhone

“果粉”们期盼已久的苹果新品发布会将在9月12日举行，届时苹果将发布10周年纪念版iPhone。新款iPhone在显示屏、摄像头和总体设计上均有重大升级，预计售价将达到1000美元。面对史无前例的高昂价格，“果粉”的忠诚还经得住考验吗？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
enthusiasm[ɪn'θuːziæzəm] n. 热忱，热情
saturation[ˌsætʃə'reɪʃn] n. 饱和
continuous [kən'tɪnjuəs] adj. 连续的，继续的
augmented [ɔːg'mentɪd] adj. 增强的，扩张的
slick[slɪk] adj. 光滑的；娴熟的
elasticity[ˌiːlæ'stɪsəti] n. 弹力，弹性
reckoning['rekənɪŋ] n. 计算，算帐

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

3分39秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分2秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分27秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分30秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Apple tests customer loyalty with $1,000 iPhone(511 words)

By Tim Bradshaw

Apple will this week test its customers’ loyalty, buying power and enthusiasm for innovation when it unveils the first iPhone to cost as much as $1,000.

Tuesday’s event at Apple’s new Cupertino headquarters is expected to reveal its much-anticipated 10th-anniversary iPhone, offering significant upgrades to the smartphone’s display, camera and overall design.

The high-end model is an addition to Apple’s line-up, alongside more incremental updates to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus released last year.

Analysts believe the launch will help Apple to overcome its growth problem of the last two years. In markets such as America and Europe, where smartphone ownership is close to saturation and many customers are holding on to their existing handsets for longer, the best way to drive faster revenue growth is by charging more for each device, rather than simply relying on unit growth.

At the same time, Apple is bringing in costly new components. These include an OLED display that makes the front of the phone into one continuous screen. Depth-sensing cameras will offer new “augmented reality” features and allow the device to be unlocked by face recognition, instead of fingerprint.

More advanced components are in short supply, however, which could leave many customers waiting long after September to get hold of the new iPhone. That presents an opportunity for rivals such as Samsung’s new Note 8 or Essential, the smartphone maker led by Android co-founder Andy Rubin, which is targeting premium customers such as Apple’s with its slick $699 device. Google is also said to be preparing a new version of its Pixel smartphone, which has proved popular with early adopters.

A survey by Creative Strategies and SurveyMonkey found that 21 per cent of consumers planning to buy the new iPhone would do so however much it cost, although 33 per cent of existing iPhone users said they would not upgrade if it was too expensive.

Analysts at Citi Research expect the “bill of materials” and assembly costs for the special-edition model to be $100 higher than for today’s iPhone 7, at an estimated $387. Half of that extra cost is due to the OLED display, which is available in more limited quantities from supplier Samsung Electronics than the LCD screens in previous iPhones.

To retain its gross margin of about 46 per cent, Wayne Lam of research group IHS predicts Apple will be forced to price the device at about $1,000.

“It is no secret that Apple has the highest profit margins in history,” he said. “This year will test the price elasticity of regular consumers.”

Some customers are prepared to pay more for their smartphones because the device has become so central to their daily lives, analysts say. Other smartphone makers are taking advantage of that: Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8, released next week, costs $960.

Still, it is more than most people spend on a PC these days. “Given that phones don’t necessarily last more than two years, it’s a big investment,” Mr Lam said. “There is an economic reckoning that needs to be had with the ever-increasing costs of devices.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the article, why does Apple have growth problem in the last two years?

A. Because costumers in America and Europe will not upgrade their iPhone if it is too expensive.

B. Because costumers in America and Europe now tend to choose cheaper handsets.

C. Because costumers in America and Europe gradually lose their interest in iphone.

D. Because costumers in America and Europe upgrade their handsets slower than before.

答案(1)

2.Which is the most costly new component of the 10th-anniversary iPhone?

A. The depth-sensing camera.

B. The augmented reality device.

C. The face recognition.

D. The OLED display.

答案(2)

3.We can conclude from the passage that the cost of iPhone 7 is around ____.

A. $287.

B. $387.

C. $487.

D. $587.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following statements about Apple's upcoming new iPhone is true?

A. Samsung will supply OLEDs for Apple's new iPhone in limited quantities.

B. A survey shows most of existing iPhone users will not buy the new iPhone.

C. A new iPhone with the largest storage capacity will cost as much as $1,000.

D. Its “augmented reality” features allow the device to be unlocked by fingerprint.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.Because costumers in America and Europe upgrade their handsets slower than before.
解释：分析人士称此次新品发布将帮助苹果克服困扰两年之久的增长问题。在美国和欧洲等市场，智能手机市场占有率接近饱和，很多消费者不再频繁更换现有手机。

(2) 答案：D.The OLED display.
解释：苹果公司带来了昂贵的新部件，手机的成本也随之提高，提高的成本中有一半都花在OLED显示屏上。

(3) 答案：B.$387.
解释：据估计，新一代iPhone的成本达到了$387，比iPhone7增加了$100。

(4) 答案：A.Samsung will supply OLEDs for Apple's new iPhone in limited quantities.
解释：三星电子是新iPhone的OLED屏幕供应商，与前代的LCD屏幕相比，OLED的供应量更加有限。

矛盾的美国人

本文作者系英国《金融时报》财经编辑加里·西尔弗曼（Gary Silverman）。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
mourner ['mɔːnə] n.哀悼者
rugged['rʌgɪd] adj.粗糙的
stance[stɑːns] n.态度，看法
denouement[deɪnuː'mɒŋ] n.结局
compartmentalization['kɔmpɑ:t,mentəlai'zeiʃən] n.区分，划分
yuppie['jʌpɪ] n.雅皮士，属于中上阶层的年轻专业人士

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分38秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分9秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分15秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分47秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

America’s secret love for ‘illegals’ (789 words)

It is the love that dare not speak its name. But thanks to the long-running popular US reality show known as the Republican presidential campaign, it has been laid bare for all to see.

I speak of the love Americans feel for illegal immigrants. We don’t talk about it much because few people anywhere, apart from Charlie Sheen and harder-core mourners at funerals of suicide bombers, are comfortable with public displays of affection in connection with illegal activities. But it’s real.

The latest evidence comes courtesy of an American by the name of Paul Babeu, the elected sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, and an outspoken advocate of tougher measures to prevent people from getting into the US illegally by crossing the rugged border that separates his state from Mexico.

In recent years Mr Babeu’s stance has made him a star in Arizona’s Republican circles. He was in a television commercial as part of John McCain’s 2010 campaign for re-election to the Senate, which featured the men discussing ways to stop illegal immigration and concluded with the sheriff saying: “Senator, you’re one of us.” This year Mr Babeu launched a bid for election to the US House of Representatives and signed on as co-chairman of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in Arizona, raising his national profile.

But Mr Babeu’s public image changed this month when the Phoenix New Times reported allegations made by José Orozco, a 34-year-old Mexican immigrant. Mr Orozco claimed that he and Mr Babeu met in 2006 on a website for gay men, and then fell in and out of love. During the denouement of their years-long relationship, Mr Orozco alleged, Mr Babeu’s attorney threatened him with deportation if he refused to sign an agreement promising never to discuss the affair.

Mr Babeu, who is 43, said it was “completely false” that Mr Orozco had been threatened with deportation, and told reporters that he had believed the Mexican man was living in the US legally, according to the Associated Press. But Mr Babeu acknowledged being gay and having a personal relationship with Mr Orozco. While vowing to continue with his bid for a congressional seat, the sheriff stepped down from his voluntary job with the Romney campaign on Saturday, only days before the February 28 Arizona primary.

Arizona authorities, following up on a request from Mr Babeu, are looking into the allegations. But the most interesting part of this story for me involves the facts of the Babeu-Orozco relationship that are not in dispute, because they shed so much light on the complex relationships so many people in this country have with our “illegals”.

When it comes to immigration, Americans such as Mr Babeu are masters of the old Clintonian skill of compartmentalisation. In public displays, like his television advertisement with Mr McCain, Mr Babeu was a warrior, pronouncing Arizona “outmanned” at the border and agreeing with the senator on the need to complete “the danged fence”. In private Mr Babeu seems to have taken a more nuanced approach in dealing with arriving Mexicans. When one of those people crossing the border caught his eye, Mr Babeu felt love, allegedly.

While I doubt that romantic relationships of this sort are particularly widespread, I do think it is par for the course for people of Mr Babeu’s circumstances – by which I mean comfortable, in a material sense – to form close ties with immigrants without knowing for sure whether they are in this country legally or illegally.

It’s part and parcel of the US upscale life. Look behind any yuppie in this country and chances are you will see an immigrant – or two or three or more – standing in the shadows. There is no way that so many Americans could pursue the time-consuming careers and leisure activities they love without the support of recent arrivals who mow our lawns, rake our leaves, clean our toilets, make our deliveries, clear our tables, cook our food and care for our children and our elderly. We don’t pay these people enough, but there is no denying the warmth of our feelings for them when they are doing our dirty and difficult jobs.

For all his criminal justice experience and obvious ideological fervour, Mr Babeu seems to have behaved like so many of us when he sat down in front of his computer on that day and went looking for love or companionship or the fulfilment of some less elevated desire. When he met his match, and got what he wanted, he apparently didn’t think to ask whether the Mexican who fulfilled his needs had all his papers in order. I suspect Mr Babeu didn’t care very much at the time at a moment like that. Few people do.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.About the relationship between Mr Babeu and Mr Orozco, which of the following descriptions is INCORRECT?

A. They knew each other through the internet.

B. They maintained a homosexual relationship.

C. Mr Babeu admitted that he had already known Mr Orozco was an illegal immigrant.

D. It was Mr Orozco who made their relationship known to the public.

答案(1)

2.About Mr Babeu, which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A. Mr Babeu advocates that the United States should be tougher to prevent illegal immigrating.

B. Mr Bebeu is a republican.

C. Mr Babeu was involved in the campaign activity of John Macain.

D. Mr Babeu will do a voluntary job with Romney's campaign in Arizona.

答案(2)

3.According to the author, why did many American's love illegal immigrants?

A. Because of their humanitarian sympathy.

B. Because illegal immigrants provide cheap labors which allow them enjoy more leisure.

C. Because of their ideological considerations.

D. Cannot determined from the text.

答案(3)

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. To describe and explain some American's conflicting attitude toward illegal immigrants.

B. To tell an anecdote of a sheriff.

C. To suggest ways for solving issues concerning illegal immigrating.

D. To discuss the social acceptance of homosex.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.Mr Babeu admitted that he had already known Mr Orozco was an illegal immigrant.
解释：根据文中"...and told reporters that he had believed the Mexican man was living in the US legally, according to the Associated Press."可知，Mr Babeu宣称自己一直认为Mr Orozco是 合法居住在美国的。故C错。

(2) 答案：D.Mr Babeu will do a voluntary job with Romney's campaign in Arizona.
解释：根据文中"While vowing to continue with his bid for a congressional seat, the sheriff stepped down from his voluntary job with the Romney campaign on Saturday, only days before the February 28 Arizona primary."可知，Mr Babeu被“请”出了罗姆尼的选举阵营。故D错。

(3) 答案：B.Because illegal immigrants provide cheap labors which allow them enjoy more leisure.
解释：根据倒数第二段的内容，B正确。

(4) 答案：A.To describe and explain some American's conflicting attitude toward illegal immigrants.
解释：

在年轻人中“失宠”的Facebook

作为世界上最大的社交网络，Facebook正在面临着互联网新贵Snapchat的威胁。愿意在Facebook上花费时间的美国年轻人越来越少，而Snapchat则成了他们的新宠。面对年轻用户流失的局面，Facebook还能风光下去吗？Snapchat是否会取代它的地位？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
covet['kʌvət] v.妄想，垂涎
metric['metrɪk] n.度量标准，公制
portal ['pɔːtl] n.入口，大门
retain[rɪ'teɪn] vt.保持，保留

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分11秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分20秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分40秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分35秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Snapchat’s youth appeal puts pressure on Facebook(587 words)

By Hannah Kuchler in San Francisco and Tim Bradshaw in Los Angeles

Facebook is at risk of losing its grip on young American users to Snapchat, new figures show, as analysts predict the world’s largest social network will soon see its first ever decline in usage among any age group.

Research group eMarketer warned on Monday that a new generation of social media users may never join Facebook as it predicts that users aged between 12 and 17 will fall by 3.4 per cent to 14.5m this year, below the 15.8m teenagers who use Snapchat.

Snapchat has also overtaken Facebook in the coveted 13-24 age group based on one specific metric used by advertisers to make ad-buying decisions. Facebook’s “daily ad reach” is 25m-26m, according to figures shown on its ad-buying portal, while Snap’s equivalent exceeds 26m, the Los Angeles-based company has told advertisers, said two people familiar with the data.

Although the gap is narrow, Snapchat’s ability to reach more 13 to 24 year olds on a single day could be an advantage for advertisers such as movie studios and retailers conducting flash sales, agency executives say.

Facebook and Snap, the group behind Snapchat, both declined to comment on the figures.

Snap’s shares have come under sustained pressure in recent months, as investors worry about its growth prospects. However, taken together, these data suggest that Facebook’s repeated copying of Snapchat features such as selfie masks and 24-hour “stories” has not had a significant impact on young users’ loyalty. Snap reported earlier this month that it saw a 33 per cent increase in time spent on its app among under-25s compared with six months ago.

“The good news [for Snap] is that Snapchat is continuing to grow,” said Debra Aho Williamson, analyst at eMarketer. “The bad news is that Facebook is very large and powerful, so Snapchat is still going to exist somewhat in their shadow.”

Even as younger users log in less frequently and spend less time on Facebook, the Silicon Valley company’s ownership of Instagram has helped it to retain teenage users, eMarketer said.

While Snapchat is also expected to have more 18-24-year-old users than Facebook — with Snap’s 24.4m comparing to its larger rival’s 23.5m this year — Instagram is also a significant player here, with 22.1m users in the age bracket, according to eMarketer.

“For teens and increasingly for young adults, Snapchat is a very, very sticky platform, and one that they turn to again and again over the course of a day,” said Ms Aho Williamson. “They also like that Snapchat is a bit hard for older folks to figure out. It’s kind of their little place where they don’t feel like they have to be on display and they can be their true selves because they are talking to their friends.”

Snapchat is under pressure to prove it can compete with Facebook and its 2bn monthly users for advertising dollars. Investors have remained excited about Facebook — pushing the stock up 36 per cent so far this year — as it beat expectations on earnings and revenue.

However, the prospect that it could lose the attention of teenagers, lured by newer apps and deterred by their parents’ presence on the network, has worried shareholders in the past.

The shift of teens’ loyalty from Facebook to Snapchat has been “building every year”, said Ms Aho Williamson. “This year we finally felt comfortable saying, yes, this phenomenon is going on.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Snapchat is expected to exceed Facebook among which age group in terms of user base？

A. 6-12 age group.

B. 13-24 age group.

C. 18-30 age group.

D. under 25 age group.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following statements about Snapchat is true?

A. Compared to Facebook, Snapchat can reach more 13 to 24 year olds on a single day.

B. Facebook has seen its first ever decline in usage among any age group this year.

C. Facebook’s copying of Snapchat features helps them to build users' loyalty.

D. Snapchat's stock price witnessed a rapid rise as its daily ad reach exceeds 26m.

答案(2)

3.Which app helps Facebook retain teenage users?

A. WhatsApp.

B. MySpace.

C. Instagram.

D. Tumblr.

答案(3)

4.The writer’s purpose in writing this story is ____?

A. to explain why Snapchat is becoming increasingly popular among young Americans.

B. to point out Facebook is losing its grip on young American users to Snapchat.

C. to compare the differences between two leading social network in America.

D. to indicate investors needn't to be too worried about Snap's growth prospects.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.13-24 age group.
解释：Snapchat在13-24岁群体中的用户即将超越Facebook。

(2) 答案：A.Compared to Facebook, Snapchat can reach more 13 to 24 year olds on a single day.
解释：Snapchat每天有更多13至24岁的用户，这对电影工作室和零售商的广告投放有利。

(3) 答案：C.Instagram.
解释：eMarketer表示Facebook旗下的Instagram帮助他们留住了年轻用户。

(4) 答案：B.to point out Facebook is losing its grip on young American users to Snapchat.
解释：本篇文章指出Facebook在美国年轻人中的用户量受到了Snapchat的挑战。

安全还是自由？

要保障国土安全，政府可以做什么、不能做什么？个人隐私与自由该如何定义？群己权界的确切边界在哪里？英国士兵里格比在光天化日下遇到恐怖袭击身亡的事件，再次激发了人们对这个古老话题的讨论。最近，英国内阁在一项反恐法案上分歧不小，FT专栏作家Janan Ganesh认为，争论的其中一方抛出“滑坡理论”，是有些敏感过度了。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
knee-jerk 膝跳反应，下意识的

IRA 爱尔兰共和军，希望用制造暴力事件把英国从北爱驱逐出去的恐怖组织。

Lee Rigby 英国士兵里格比5月22日在伦敦被两名伊斯兰极端分子当街砍死
neologism[nɪ'ɒlədʒɪz(ə)m] n.新词；新义
quandary['kwɒnd(ə)rɪ] n.困惑；窘境

Lord 英国上议院议员
snooper ['snu:pə] n.刺探者，爱管闲事者
habeas corpus [ˌheɪbiːəs ˈkɔrpəs] 人身保护法。是在英美法系下由法官签发的手令，命令将被拘押者交送至法庭接受审判，让他能挑战拘押的正当性。也就是说政府不得未经审判长期拘押公民。美国宪法明文规定，除非战乱，人身保护法不得被暂停执行。

slippery slope 滑坡理论/谬误，是个经典的逻辑错误，即把一连串“坡度不一”的事件都当成必然。鲁迅有个文学化的描述：“一见到短袖…就想到私生子”。

Diplock courts 1973年，英国在北爱骚乱(the Troubles)时设立的特别法庭，它可以维护国家安全为由拘押骚乱分子但不及时给他们正常的受审机会

Magna Carta 大宪章
unconscionable[ʌn'kɒnʃ(ə)nəb(ə)l] adj.不合理的，没良心的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分7秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分25秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分27秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分51秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Liberals provide the knee-jerks in today’s terror debate (858 words)

By Janan Ganesh

The novelist Martin Amis wrote that modern terrorism, with its uninhibited bloodlust, is better characterised as “horrorism”. Its object is less the paralysing fear that, say, the IRA aimed to stoke, than hideous violence itself. His neologism certainly fits the killing of Lee Rigby, a British soldier, in London last week.

The murder has not terrorised the British, who have summoned their usual restraint. When David Cameron counselled against “knee-jerk responses”, the prime minister was heeded. Although “questions will be asked” about the need for new security measures, he said, the mightiest response to these attacks is to “go about our normal lives”. Britons are doing that.

But the oldest quandary in politics – between liberty and security – cannot be finessed away like this, as he is finding out. His Conservative home secretary, Theresa May, long ago drafted a bill to give the security services more power to monitor emails, telephone calls and internet use. It failed to withstand opposition from Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister who derides the “snooper’s charter”, but it is stirring again. It has advocates in the Labour opposition, including the former home secretary Alan Johnson, who says Ms May should make it a resignation issue. The Liberal Democrat Lord Carlile, who served as the independent reviewer of anti-terror laws under three prime ministers, is another supporter.

Reviving the legislation because of last week’s attack alone would be rash. It remains unclear if the powers under discussion would have averted it. And whether we give it the name terror or horror, the dark truth is that no law can ever equip the state to eradicate such violence.

But it is not necessary to approve of the bill to sense that some of the opposition to it is overdone. And it does not take a hawk to worry that, over the past decade, the civil liberties lobby has become dogmatic and sensationalist. Liberals who show more fervour than rigour can be found in parliament, the judiciary and pressure groups such as Liberty, an outfit that proves you can get away with any claim, however silly, if you belong to the “third sector” of campaign organisations and charities. Civil libertarians grew in voice during Tony Blair’s premiership – sometimes thwarting anti-terror laws that commanded public support, such as 90-day detention without charge – and can now claim to represent the received opinion of the British elites. It therefore matters that many of their certainties are wrong.

One example is the idea that anti-terror laws betray exactly the freedoms we are trying to defend from terrorists. This assumes that what al-Qaeda hates about Britain are the habeas corpus and online privacy. What actually defines western democracy, and riles its enemies, are its basic rights – to vote, to live freely, to worship as one chooses or not at all. Protecting these by compromising other liberties does not make the UK a despotism or reward murderers. The notion that all freedom is indivisible is a lovely thought but there are fundamental freedoms and slightly less fundamental freedoms. Pragmatic societies weaken the latter to secure the former when under threat, as they did during the second world war. If anything, the UK does it less than comparable nations such as France, a country that nobody confuses for Iran or North Korea.

Libertarians who concede this point then bring up the “slippery slope”. Some liberties may be secondary, they say, but losing them is the first insidious step to outright authoritarianism. Erosions of freedom are never reversed, and only ever expand with time. This is ahistorical. Britain has tightened security laws at many moments without becoming an unfree country. And policy does not move in one direction: wartime restrictions were lifted when peace arrived and the Diplock courts of Northern Ireland, which comprised a single judge and no jury, were abandoned when the Troubles eased.

There are other libertarian inanities, such as the habit of invoking the ancientness of certain freedoms as though menaces to public safety have not changed in character or scope since the Magna Carta was signed. But the worst argument of all is the pretence that restrictions on freedom do not even enhance security. This is merely a way of not having to do any hard thinking. Mr Blair’s plan to introduce identity cards was, on balance, a costly and bureaucratic scheme that deservedly came to nothing. But only a churl or ideologue could suggest that it would not have improved security at all. And yet many did.

Intellectually honest liberals should argue that counterterror laws can work, but at an unconscionable cost to personal freedom. They should also acknowledge that, if western security services have made it much harder in recent years for terrorists to launch large attacks, they did not achieve this by asking nicely. Their work has been helped by new powers, many of which were controversial at the time.

Mr Cameron was impressively restrained in his response to the killing of Mr Rigby. But the real knee-jerks in the immemorial struggle between liberty and security now come from the liberal side.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is "the mightiest response to these attacks", according to PM David Cameron?

A. To "go about our normal lives".

B. Launch immediately a purge and hunt down the murderer.

C. That “questions will be asked” about the incident.

D. That “questions will be asked” about the need for new security measures.

答案(1)

2.What do we know about "Civil libertarians"?

A. Deputy PM Nick Clegg is one of them.

B. They sometimes thwart anti-terror laws.

C. They are becoming more practical and less dogmatic.

D. They prefer the France way that has less security regulations.

答案(2)

3.What do we know about PM Blair’s plan to introduce identity cards?

A. It failed to be passed into law.

B. It was a costly and bureaucratic plan.

C. It could've been useful to improve security.

D. All of above.

答案(3)

4."But the real knee-jerks in the immemorial struggle between liberty and security now come from the liberal side."

Meaning?

A. The debate between liberty and security will last forever.

B. The conservatives used to overreact on such issues.

C. It is not always easy to compromise betwenn the two.

D. Deputy PM Nick Clegg should not obstruct the security measures.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.To "go about our normal lives".
解释：是文中的原话。

(2) 答案：B.They sometimes thwart anti-terror laws.
解释：无

(3) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC都是正确的。
作者评价是：a costly and bureaucratic scheme that deservedly came to nothing.
C正确的关键在看懂这句话：only a churl or ideologue could suggest that it would not have improved security at all. 你们说它昂贵和官僚主义没错，但是说它对国家安全没有好处就没道理了。

(4) 答案：D.Deputy PM Nick Clegg should not obstruct the security measures.
解释：内政部长、保守党人Theresa May提议法案让政府部门有更多的权力来监控电邮、电话和网络，以便制止恐怖袭击。 克莱格不屑地称之为“snooper’s charter”。作者全文的意思就是，没必要这么敏感，克莱格先生。

3.0版的中国？

国际关系专家马克·莱纳德总结了中国学界的一些思潮，并提出了“三种版本的中国”，FT专栏作家吉迪恩·拉赫曼(Gideon Rachman)认为它们非常有意思，为解读中国的经济和政治提供了一种新的视角。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
cusp[kʌsp] n.尖端，尖头
whiff of sensationalism 哗众取宠的味道
hackneyed['hæknɪd] adj.陈腐的
social Darwinist New Right 社会达尔文主义新右派。前者是将达尔文进化论思想应用于人类社会的一种理论；最早提出者是英国哲学家赫伯特·斯宾塞；“落后就要挨打”这种口号就是受其影响。后者也称新保守主义和新自由主义，以哈耶克和弗里德曼等人的思想为基础，强调自由市场和个人权利。

neo-authoritarian adj.新威权主义，与新自由主义相对。它崇尚稳定、民族主义和强有力的政府，以经济繁荣或意识形态作为统治合法性，以政治核心集团替代个人专制和直接选举。

Egalitarian New Left 平等主义新左派。他们形成于上世纪90年代，一方面反思斯大林式社会主义，一方面反对自由主义。

populist['pɒpjʊlɪst] n./adj.民粹主义者，民粹分子

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分39秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分9秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分15秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分47秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

On the cusp of China’s third revolution (791 words)

Edited by Mark Leonard, European Council on Foreign Relations

China is a one-party state, where the media remains tightly controlled. But do not make the mistake of assuming that has killed off intellectual debate. On the contrary, there is a ferment of discussion there today about the future of the country and its role in the world.

In some ways, these debates are more interesting than their equivalent arguments in the west. That is because the debates in Europe or the US are dominated by a broad mainstream acceptance of certain basic principles about democracy, capitalism and the international order.

By contrast, Chinese intellectuals are still arguing about really fundamental issues. Is liberal democracy the way forward – or should the country seek its own political settlement, rooted in Confucian values? Did it go too far in its embrace of liberal capitalism or not far enough? If it becomes a superpower, should it try to reshape the world system or should it accept the existing institutions?

The great virtue of China 3.0 – a short collection of essays by Chinese intellectuals – is that it gives an insight into the vigour and variety of some of these debates. According to Mark Leonard, the editor of the volume, China 1.0 was Mao Zedong’s communist revolution, China 2.0 was Deng Xiaoping’s market revolution – and China 3.0 is yet to emerge, but could be just as revolutionary.

Sensitive readers should not be put off by the whiff of sensationalism, and the slightly hackneyed “3.0” formulation. In his introduction, Leonard provides a useful categorisation of the debates featured in the book. On economics, he sees a dividing line between a “social Darwinist New Right” and an “egalitarian New Left”. In politics, he argues that the main divide is between “political liberals” and “neo-authoritarians”. And in foreign policy, he identifies a split between “defensive internationalists” and newly assertive nationalists.

This categorisation may well be too simple. Nonetheless, it provides a different way of understanding some of the dramatic political and economic news coming out of China.

Such broad categorisation inevitably involves a degree of simplification. For example, many economists would argue that Beijing needs both to press ahead with liberalisation and to do more to combat inequality – and that the two goals need not be incompatible. Nonetheless, Leonard’s categories and the essays he introduces offer a fresh way of understanding some of the dramatic political and economic news coming out of China.

The downfall of Bo Xilai, the charismatic party boss of the southern municipality of Chongqing was the political story of 2012. It had everything – a poisoning, corruption, intrigue, an attempted defection. But, as this book makes clear, there were also important ideas at stake.

Indeed, Leonard argues that the debate about China’s economic future can be understood as a battle between the Chongqing and Guangdong models. He writes: “Guangdong, a prosperous coastal region, stood for a quest to move up the value chain economically while using a free media, civil society, and political openness to quell social tensions. Chongqing, by contrast, was about turning a backward inland province into a laboratory for egalitarian social policies and domestic consumption.”

Despite the fall of Bo, the Chongqing model still has its defenders. In China 3.0, Cui Zhiyuan, a professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, argues that while much media coverage has focused on Bo’s encouragement of “red songs” – and interpreted this as a dangerous effort to restart the cultural revolution – in fact he was pursuing a much more laudable agenda. In particular, Cui argues that the Chongqing model greatly improved the rights of the millions of migrant workers from the countryside who have fuelled China’s industrial revolution.

Many Chinese liberals, by contrast, were deeply suspicious of Bo, whom they regarded as an unprincipled and dangerous populist. Yet an essay by Michael Anti (the pen name of a prominent reformist blogger) argues that the downfall of Bo also revealed how the internet can be a double-edged sword in the struggle to enlarge political freedom in China.

While there is little doubt that the rise of social media – in particular Weibo, the Chinese microblogging services similar to Twitter – has opened up political debate, Anti argues that the authorities skilfully manipulated the social networks to engineer the downfall of Bo. “Weibo became a marketplace for rumours about Bo,” he writes. “Suddenly you could say anything ... It was almost like living in the US. But if you dared to tweet or retweet anything about a fake coup in Beijing, you would have been arrested.”

Despite the censorship, limits and manipulation, however, political debate is opening up in surprising ways. The essays in China 3.0 are testimony to that fact.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why in China, "these debates are more interesting than their equivalent arguments in the west"?

A. Because for westerners, China is still the "mysterious Orient"

B. Because the debates in China remain tightly controlled.

C. Because western intellectuals do not have a broad mainstream acceptance of certain basic principles.

D. Because they are still arguing about really fundamental issues.

答案(1)

2.Among the academic duels categorized by Leonard, which one is in the field of economics?

A. “social Darwinist New Right” VS “egalitarian New Left”

B. “political liberals” VS “neo-authoritarians”

C. “defensive internationalists” VS "newly assertive nationalists"

D. Chongqing model VS Guangdong model.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following about the 2 "models" is incorrect, according to the passage?

A. Chongqing model was about egalitarian social policies.

B. People can discuss Bo's downfall quite freely on Weibo.

C. Guangdong stood for a free media, civil society and political openness.

D. Chongqing model is popular among "Chinese liberals".

答案(3)

4.What is China 3.0?

A. Deng Xiaoping’s market revolution.

B. Chonqing model.

C. Guangdong model.

D. We don't know yet.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.Because they are still arguing about really fundamental issues.
解释：在作者看来，中国知识界的争论比西方的更有趣，是因为后者已经有种尘埃落定、缺乏新鲜事的感觉。 而在中国，对一些基本话题的争论仍在热火朝天地进行着。D选项是本文第三段原话。C与事实相反，AB正确但不能解答问题。

(2) 答案：A.“social Darwinist New Right” VS “egalitarian New Left”
解释：A是正确的。Leonard provides a useful categorisation of the debates：ABC分别为经济学、政治学和和国际关系领域的对垒。两个“模式”之间的对垒超出了某一单一学科的界限。

(3) 答案：D.Chongqing model is popular among "Chinese liberals".
解释：D是错误的，与事实相反。they regarded (Bo) as an unprincipled and dangerous populist，民粹主义者是个贬义词。ABC都是正确的。

(4) 答案：C.Guangdong model.
解释：C是正确的。China 3.0 is yet to emerge, but could be just as revolutionary.

小乔治的软实力

一个小王子的诞生能影响国家的实力，这种故事发生在几百年前，也发生在今天。哈佛大学教授约瑟夫·奈(Joseph Nye)指出，这绝非偶然。王室虽然早就退出政治舞台，但仍扮演着传播英国文化和团结英联邦国家的重要角色。美国人民喜迎小王子诞生的同时，英国王室在美国拥有超7成的认可率。古老的君主制仍有助于塑造大英的软实力。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Windsor['winzə] 温莎，目前的英国王室，家长即女王伊丽莎白二世。其实际姓氏为韦廷(Wettin)，因其来自德国。一战时，英王乔治五世为表示与表兄弟德皇威廉二世坚决作战的态度，将姓氏更改为温莎。

Tudor['tju:də] 都铎王室，1485至1603年间统治英格兰的王朝，其业绩包括确立了对威尔士和爱尔兰的统治，以及与天主教决裂等。都铎王朝被认为是英国君主专制的黄金时期。

Commonwealth['kɒmənwelθ] n.英联邦
innings['iniŋz] n.局
trappings['træpɪŋz] n.服饰，礼服

British Council 英国文化委员会

House of Lords 上议院
vestigial[vɛ'stɪdʒɪəl] adj.残余的
panacea[,pænə'siə] n.灵丹妙药

Joseph Nye 哈佛大学国际关系和政治学教授，“软实力”“巧实力”概念的提出者

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分32秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分6秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分12秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分46秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The infant Prince George is a source of real-world power (775 words)

By Joseph Nye

Can an infant affect the global power of a nation in the 21st century? He can if he is a Windsor born in Britain this week. Not perhaps the way a male Tudor heir would have affected Britain’s balance with Spain five centuries ago, but Prince George affects Britain’s soft power in the world. For better or worse, the monarchy still matters in global politics.

The British monarch, of course, is the head of the 54-nation Commonwealth, and even where she is no longer head of state, the royal brand still stirs some hearts and sells some products. And in the US, the land of revolting colonials where George III is still a villain in the schoolbooks and many pundits have (mistakenly) pronounced the end of the special relationship, people arose early to watch the royal wedding and now celebrate the birth of the new prince. Television anchors gush with enthusiasm. Even before this week’s event, a CBS/New York Times poll reported in 2011 that 71 per cent of Americans thought the royal family “a good thing,” and only 15 per cent were against it. This is remarkably similar to the monarchy’s 77 per cent approval rating at home.

We live in a celebrity era and the monarchy has managed to hold its own in competition with rock stars and athletes. In an information age, where power is not only a function of whose army wins but also whose story wins, the monarchy has provided a compelling narrative with more durability than the 15 minutes of fame enjoyed by celebrities who lack its institutional trappings.

Britain has recently been enjoying a good innings in the soft-power league. Not only have the BBC and the British Council kept their international reputations for credibility but the successful London Olympics and Paralympics provided a beneficial burst of public relations. In its 2012 rankings of countries’ soft power, Monocle Magazine argued that Britain had displaced the US in the top slot.

The British government is beginning to pay more attention. The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review and National Security Strategy stressed the value of soft power in response to the problems involving defence cuts, and William Hague, foreign secretary, has argued for the importance of soft power as a “vital component” of the UK’s international role. A House of Lords committee on soft power and the UK’s influence is holding hearings. Certainly, the monarchy should be one of the instruments they examine.

What are the costs and benefits of the monarchy as an instrument of soft power? Next year’s Sovereign Grant for the royal family will be about £36m. Critics complain that this does not fully account for security and travel costs but even if the estimate were doubled, it would be a mere pittance compared with other expenditures in the defence budget. Britain’s relatively few republicans complain that the social costs of anchoring a vestigial aristocratic class system is much more important, but this raises constitutional and political issues that go far beyond soft power.

Soft power – the ability to produce outcomes through attraction rather than coercion or payment – is not a panacea. But neither is hard power, as we discovered in Iraq. If one wishes to depose a regime or roll back an invasion, hard power is necessary. But if one’s objective is to foster democracy or human rights, soft power may be more effective. And in most cases, a smart power strategy depends upon the mutually reinforcing combination of hard and soft-power resources. The cultivation of soft-power resources of legitimacy and goodwill can create a favourable environment.

Promoting attractive images of one’s country is not new but the conditions for trying to create soft power have changed dramatically in recent decades. For one thing, nearly half the countries in the world are now democracies. In such circumstances, diplomacy aimed at public opinion can become as important to outcomes as the traditional classified diplomatic communications among leaders. Information creates power, and today a much larger part of the world’s population has access to that power. Technological advances have led to dramatic reduction in the cost of processing and transmitting information.

The result is an explosion of information, and that has produced a “paradox of plenty.” Plentiful information leads to scarcity of attention. One of the great ironies of this century is that the democratic remains of a once hierarchical monarchy are still a very cost-effective way of attracting attention for Britain today.

The writer is a professor at Harvard University and author of ‘Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era’

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What's the purpose of the first paragraph?

A. To present a brief history of British monarchy.

B. To lament the decline of the British crown.

C. To depict Britain's international influence.

D. To reveal the "soft power" carried by the monarchy.

答案(1)

2.Which one is Professor Nye's point of view of UK-US relationship?

A. American textbooks still depict George III as a villain.

B. 71% of Americans approve of the royal family.

C. The US-UK special relationship has not ended.

D. The British monarchy has held its ground in a celebrity era.

答案(2)

3.What are the costs of monarchy?

A. £36m Sovereign Grant.

B. Security and travel costs paid by the government.

C. Social costs of maintaining a aristocratic class system.

D. All of above.

答案(3)

4.What is correct about "soft power"?

A. Soft power can achieve what hard power cannot achieve, like in Iraq.

B. Soft power can fight back an invasion, as well as foster human rights.

C. In the new era, information creates power that diplomacy might lose.

D. Monarchy can serve as a very cost-effective way of promoting soft power.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.To reveal the "soft power" carried by the monarchy.
解释：一个小王子的诞生能影响一个国家在一个世纪的影响力，在都铎王朝时是影响大国间“硬实力”的平衡，在今天的温莎王朝，则是一种文化上的软实力。谁谁谁-薛莉称英国王室更像是“国家形象的公关部门，而且是民营的”。

(2) 答案：C.The US-UK special relationship has not ended.
解释：AB是客观事实，D不是说英美关系。

(3) 答案：D.All of above.
解释：ABC都是正确答案。

(4) 答案：D.Monarchy can serve as a very cost-effective way of promoting soft power.
解释：A正确的说法是硬实力和软实力都不万能，伊拉克说明了只靠硬实力不行。 B的正确说法是，软实力不能推翻政权或击退侵略，但可以用来培育人权。C的正确说法是，在信息时代，旨在影响公众观点的民间外交，与官方外交同样重要。

挥之不去的帝国遗梦

伦敦国王学院历史教师、《撒切尔的不列颠》一书作者理查德·维南(Richard Vinen)

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
herring['herɪŋ] n.鲱鱼

Borough Market 博罗市场，是伦敦桥南端一个历史悠久的水果蔬菜批发市场，出售世界各国的美食。

kamikaze [,kæmɪ'kɑːzɪ] n.神风特攻队
the backbench 后排议席。英国下议院惯例：执政党和在野党领袖、内阁任职议员及反对党影子内阁成员等重要议员坐在前排，普通议员坐在后排。

bravura[brə'v(j)ʊərə] n.大胆的尝试；令人赞赏的演唱技巧

Belize[be'li:z] n.伯利兹，是个人口只有33万的中美洲小国，曾是英国殖民地，现为英联邦成员国。

acrimonious[,ækrɪ'məʊnɪəs] adj.严厉的；辛辣的

Household Cavalry 皇家近卫骑兵团
apoplexy['æpəpleksɪ] n.中风

Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré 巴黎圣奥诺雷市郊路，被视为世界上最时尚的街道。几乎整条街都是高级时装店，还有英、美、加等国大使馆和法国总统府爱丽舍宫。

the British Expeditionary Force 英国远征军，英国在两次世界大战期间派往欧陆作战的部队。

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

7分20秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

4分6秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分56秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

1分1秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Imperial dreams still haunt Britain (1028 words)

George Orwell wrote that the loss of empire would reduce England to a “cold and unimportant little island where we should all have to work very hard and live on herrings and potatoes”. It has not turned out like that. The British live better than ever before. Herring is a pungent delicacy enjoyed by the Borough Market-going classes.

In spite of this, it is widely held to be political suicide for any British leader to suggest that their country might have a future that does not involve “greatness”. Indeed, the only politician to have taken such a stance was that great kamikaze of the backbenches, Enoch Powell.

Even Harold Macmillan, who was particularly qualified to understand the great sweep of history, managed to feign outrage when it was suggested that Britain was no longer a first-rate power. The party conferences will probably feature calls to “put the Great back in Great Britain”. But does anyone believe that Britain can be great again and does anyone, really, think it matters?

Escaping from greatness can be a tricky business. Postwar German politicians were able to abandon their country’s Bismarckian pretensions partly because they started with the melancholy advantage of having suffered a crushing military defeat and with the even more melancholy awareness of what horrors had been brought by German victories.

Charles de Gaulle covered his brisk realism about France’s place in the world with some extraordinary rhetoric. He wrote, in the bravura opening to his memoirs, that France could not be herself without greatness but he also remarked, revealingly, that France was “like the princess in the fairy tale”. A fairy tale, of course, preserves the power to move even when neither the teller nor their audience believes what is being said.

When British politicians talk of greatness, by contrast, it feels more like one of those embarrassing family rituals – Dad dressing up as Father Christmas. Everyone cringes but the grown-ups (in this case politicians) think that the children (in this case the electorate) will get upset if we admit to the reality.

Certain features of British history have made it difficult to recognise our changed position. One of these is the resilience of our institutions – it is hard to look relative decline in the face if one’s constitution and political system is still, to a large extent, the same as when Queen Victoria was Empress of India.

Britain’s position in world politics – its permanent seat on the UN Security Council, in particular – springs from having been on the winning side in the second world war. After 1945, Britain maintained an expensive façade of great power status: for the only time in its history, conscripts were called up in peacetime. A succession of military successes masked the changed realities of British status. In Malaya and Kenya, Britain defeated insurgencies and thus contrived to make backing out of empire look like a kind of victory.

However, there is a chance for British politicians to change things. The freedom of manoeuvre that they enjoy can be underlined by comparing their position with that of their American counterparts. Any US presidential candidate who dared suggest that the real challenge for their country involved the intelligent management of relative decline – and surely two such intelligent men as Mitt Romney and Barack Obama must know this in their own minds – would be sure of defeat.

Things are different in Britain. The country has never gone in for institutionalised patriotism. British schoolchildren do not salute the flag and I doubt one Briton in a hundred knows all the words to the national anthem. The British are moved by the suffering of individual soldiers but, perhaps because of this, are suspicious of generals.

How should politicians use this attitude to good ends? Cuts in military spending would be one answer. Service chiefs will always say that we need to be prepared for every eventuality, from the invasion of Belize to all-out nuclear war, but in truth Britain faces fewer threats to its existence than almost any other major country in the world.

A defence review should not mean the usual acrimonious battle to make small savings. Rather, ministers should start from the assumption that all defence spending is a luxury. Set the tone with some spectacular gestures – such as the abolition of the Household Cavalry. Unless at least one general, two admirals and a dozen Tory backbenchers are hospitalised with apoplexy, the defence secretary should assume that he has not been radical enough.

The Foreign Office should be another target. If you recruit many of your brightest young people into an institution that is designed to help Britain play a world role, then they will (à la Douglas Hurd) spend the rest of their lives devising expensive ways in which Britain can “punch above its weight”. How far do we need diplomats at all? What harm would be done if we just sold off that grand embassy on the Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré?

All this would save money. It would also change the structure of the economy – more people would devote their talents to the profits of private companies rather than the prestige of the state. It would change our national definition of success. It is absurd and undignified to insist that the British state should aim to be “great” rather than just to make its citizens happier and more prosperous.

We should not be ashamed of our history. Our empire was no worse than anyone else’s, our role in helping the US to contain the Soviet Union was important and our stand against Nazism in 1940 was heroic. All these things, however, belong to the past. In 1914, Britain’s entry into the first world war propelled the country into a period of greater military and imperial commitments at just the moment when relative economic decline was starting to sap its capacity to sustain such commitments. British troops will probably return from Afghanistan 100 years after the British Expeditionary Force left for the killing fields of northern France. This would be a good moment to admit that “greatness” has been, for many years, a fairy tale, and to close the book.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why does the writer call MP. Enoch Powell a "great kamikaze "?

A. Because nobody acted as he did.

B. Because he said Britain might have a future without “greatness”.

C. Because he was from the backbench.

D. Because he ended up commited suicide.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is not true, according to the passage, about postwar German politicians and Charles de Gaulle?

A. Bismarckian pretensions are about the greatness of an empire.

B. Postwar German politicians felt fear about German military victories.

C. Charles de Gaulle did not believe in the greatness about France.

D. It was a fairy tale that France would remain great.

答案(2)

3.Belize is such a small and unimportant country in the Central America. Why does the writer mention "the invasion of Belize"?

A. To tell us that Belize is actually a very dangerous country but few people know that.

B. To feel sorry about declining British military force.

C. Belize has once in history invaded Britain.

D. To make fun of Britain's huge military spending.

答案(3)

4.What are the writer's suggestions to politicians?

A. American politicians should take "the intelligent management of relative decline" seriously.

B. Rules need be introduced that British schoolchildren should salute the flag.

C. The defence secretary should not abolish the Household Cavalry.

D. all of above

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.Because he said Britain might have a future without “greatness”.
解释：作者在第二段说，对英国政客来说，说出英国的未来可能与“伟大”无关这事 is a political suicide.

(2) 答案：C.Charles de Gaulle did not believe in the greatness about France.
解释：作者在四、五段中用德国和法国政治家的例子，来与英国首相哈罗德·麦克米兰对比。作者认为，德法的政治家已经认识到，自己的国家不能继续生活在“伟大帝国的旧梦”中。 而英国首相麦克米兰（1957年-1963在任）则拒绝承认这一点。C是正确的，戴高乐He wrote······that France could not be herself without greatness.

(3) 答案：D.To make fun of Britain's huge military spending.
解释：答案很明确，作者认为军方要求大量军费开支是为了防止“从伯利兹入侵到全面核战争”的各种危险，但这是不必要的：but in truth Britain faces fewer threats to its existence than almost any other major country in the world.

(4) 答案：A.American politicians should take "the intelligent management of relative decline" seriously.
解释：A项是正确的，作者原话是两位美国总统候选人都不敢直接说“我们的相对衰落不可挽回，让我们认真应对吧”这种话，但是他们当然应该仔细考虑这个问题。 B项不是作者的主张，C项与他主张相反，他认为国防大臣应该坚决推进废除皇家近卫骑兵团，“除非一些将军和保守党后排议员被气得中风住院”。

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.59

谷歌的中国寻“宝”之旅

尽管谷歌几乎完全被屏蔽在中国之外，但他们并不愿放弃这片技术人才的沃土。近日，谷歌发出广告在北京招聘4名机器学习专家。今年5月份，谷歌在于上海附近召开的AI高峰会议上暗示，他们正寻求成立首个设在中国的AI研究团队。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
ramp[ræmp] vt.加速
cachet['kæʃeɪ] n.优良标志
savvy['sævi] adj.有见识的
summit['sʌmɪt] n.顶点；最高阶层
equivalent[ɪ'kwɪvələnt] adj.等价的，相等的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

3分10秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

1分46秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分16秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分26秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Google building artificial intelligence team in Beijing(445 words)

By Yuan Yang

Despite being all but locked out of China, Google is ramping up efforts to tap a vital technology resource in the country: engineering talent.

The US tech giant is advertising for artificial-intelligence experts in Beijing, where it has expanded rapidly in the past few years. Google hinted in May, at an AI summit near Shanghai, that it was looking to set up its first China-based AI research team.

The move pits Google in the race for talent against domestic group Baidu, which is also headquartered in Beijing’s northwestern tech village and has been stepping up its own efforts to hire AI researchers in Beijing and Silicon Valley.

“Google’s recruiting creates additional pressures for [its competitors],” said Mark Natkin of Beijing-based tech research firm Marbridge Consulting. “There’s still great benefits for a Chinese engineer going to work for a large US firm, in the same way there’s [more] cachet in going to a second-tier UK university than a top Chinese one,” he added.

Although Google’s search engine has been blocked in China since 2010, the company has maintained a presence in the country and has made progress in mending relations, most recently by collaborating with local government on the AI summit in the town of Wuzhen.

It has relaunched Google Translate as a Chinese-language mobile app, and earlier this year a senior official told the Financial Times that relations with Google were improving.

But its Google Play app store is blocked in China — home to a third of the world’s users of Google’s Android smartphone operating system.

For its part, China’s government considers technological innovations such as AI key to reviving its slowing economy, and has outlined plans to become the world’s premier AI innovation hub by 2030.

China has the benefit of huge pools of personal data to feed into AI research, and a vast market for AI applications for its smartphone-savvy consumers. But experts say it lags behind the US in fundamental AI research.

Analysts say that while Beijing’s universities are turning out plenty of computer-science talent, there is a lack of top-level figures such as Baidu’s former chief scientist Andrew Ng, who left the company earlier this year.

Four of 20 positions being advertised by Google in Beijing are for its machine learning programme — part of its AI research initiative — and require expert qualifications, such as those equivalent to an assistant professor’s.

Google’s more than 600 employees in mainland China include an advertising sales team, where business is booming as a result of Chinese companies’ desire to attract foreign customers, and engineers working on Google’s still-blocked search engine.

Google declined to make any immediate comment on its AI hiring plans.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.In the past few years, Google____.

A. set up a headquarter in Beijing’s tech village.

B. has been expanding rapidly in Beijing.

C. set up its China-based AI research team.

D. attended several AI summit in Shanghai.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following products of Google is accessible in China?

A. Google search engine.

B. Google Translate.

C. Google Play app store.

D. Google Maps.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following statements is true according to the article ?

A. China’s government considers AI as the only solution to revive its economy.

B. China will become the world’s premier AI innovation hub by 2030.

C. There is a lack of top-level computer scientists in China according to analysts.

D. Experts say China has exceeded the US in fundamental AI research.

答案(3)

4.How many employees does Google have in mainland China?

A. Over 50.

B. Over 500.

C. Over 600.

D. Over 60.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.has been expanding rapidly in Beijing.
解释：过去的几年里，这家美国科技巨头在北京快速扩张。

(2) 答案：B.Google Translate.
解释：谷歌在中国重新发布了谷歌翻译应用。

(3) 答案：C.There is a lack of top-level computer scientists in China according to analysts.
解释：分析人士称，北京的大学正在培养出大量的计算机科学人才，但仍然缺乏这方面的顶级人物。

(4) 答案：C.Over 600.
解释：谷歌在中国大陆有超过600名员工，其中包括一个广告销售团队和工程师团队。

美国“梦想家”面临困境

2012年，奥巴马政府出台“童年抵美者暂缓遣返”计划，让大量儿时来美的无证移民能够免遭遣返，并获得工作许可。如今，特朗普政府却在考虑废除这一计划。受惠于该计划的年轻无证移民儿时被父母带到美国，并在美国长大，但如今，他们可能会被遣返回一个陌生的“祖国”，他们该何去何从？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
fret[fret] v.烦恼，不满
deliberate[dɪ'lɪbərət] vi.仔细考虑
legislation[ˌledʒɪs'leɪʃn] n.立法，法律
instill[ɪn'stɪl] v.滴注，逐渐灌输
quintessential [ˌkwɪntɪ'senʃl] adj.精粹的
deport[dɪ'pɔːt] vt.驱逐出境

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分37秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分35秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分51秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分38秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

California ‘Dreamers’ nervously await Trump decision(648 words)

By Chloe Cornish

At 7:30am on a sunny Saturday in California’s Menlo Park, the corporate home of Facebook, Karina, a Mexican-born Silicon Valley project manager squeezed in breakfast before a boxing class, and fretted about a decision being taken 5,000km away.

In Washington DC, US President Donald Trump deliberated over whether to fulfil a campaign promise to revoke a piece of Obama-era legislation that gave undocumented migrants, brought to the US illegally as children by their parents such as Karina, temporary rights to work and study in the US.

Soon, 22-year-old Karina — who declined to use her full name for fear of identifying her illegal immigrant parents — will know whether she could be deported to Mexico, a country she left aged three.

But Karina and 790,000 other so-called Dreamers who have benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) scheme have a local ally — tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and chief executive.

The tech lobbying group FWD.us, co-founded by Mr Zuckerberg, sent an open letter to Mr Trump last week signed by 384 business leaders, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Apple’s Tim Cook.

Mr Zuckerberg, who has mentored Dreamers in East Palo Alto near Facebook’s headquarters — where Karina grew up sharing one bed with both her parents and older brother — called for a permanent legislative solution for allowing Dreamers to stay.

“These young people represent the future of our country and our economy,” he wrote on Facebook.

California has approved more than 220,000 young undocumented people to Daca, while second-highest Texas has approved 124,000.

Karina, who works for a biotech company, believes Dreamers such as herself are a valuable asset to fast-moving, hard-driving tech businesses.

“They really value strong work ethic and they see that in the Dreamers . . . Against all obstacles, they’re crushing it,” she says.

This is not the only fight tech companies have with the White House over immigration. Valley businesses fear that tighter immigration controls could curb their access to talent.

According to government data analysed by Collaborative Economics, 57 per cent of tech workers in Silicon Valley were born abroad. Only 18 per cent come from the state itself.

But while Karina was born outside the US, her life has been closely bound to California’s economy. When she was growing up her parents worked so many night shifts — her father as a construction worker, her mother doing photocopying for attorneys — that Karina would go days without seeing them.

Their hard work eventually earned them a house in the nicer neighbourhood of Menlo Park, but they lost it in the real estate crash of 2007 and were bounced straight back to East Palo Alto.

She says that upbringing has instilled in her what she sees as quintessentially American values of self-improvement through work. Now her older brother is studying to become an accountant, while their 11-year-old brother is into robotics and already participating in competitions at Nasa.

“I got through college and landed this really great job, and its something I could never do back home,” she says. “That’s the beauty of this country . . . you can make a change.”

While at university, Karina would get up at 5am to babysit children whose parents started work early, some at tech groups, then drive a different child to school before attending her college classes. To pay her bills, she also had a housekeeping job that finished at 10pm.

But polling data suggest many Americans are worried about immigration — 41 per cent of those polled by Gallup in 2016 said they were “very dissatisfied” with the level of immigration — and Mr Trump’s hardline stance does have support.

Some comments below Mr Zuckerberg’s pro-Dreamer post reflected anti-immigration hostility.

“People who jump over fences and enter this country illegal are not dreamers they are criminals and should be deported!” wrote commenter Ginger Green.

Mr Zuckerberg replied: “It’s tough to jump over a fence when you’re one or two years old.”

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the article, the Daca ____.

A. gives undocumented migrants arrived in the US as children temporary rights to work and study.

B. allows illegal immigrants who entered the country as children to get permanent residency.

C. gives undocumented foreign students in the US eligibility for a two-year period of work permit.

D. was introduced in the Senate by tech lobbying group FWD.us including 384 business leaders.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following statements about Karina is true?

A. She was born in Mexico and brought to the US by her parents in the Obama era.

B. She could be deported to Mexico once Trump decides to revoke Daca on Tuesday.

C. She is a project manager in a biotech company which is located in East Palo Alto.

D. She moved to Menlo Park together with her family after the real estate crash of 2007.

答案(2)

3.Which state in the US has the approved the most young undocumented people to Daca ?

A. Florida.

B. New York.

C. Texas.

D. California.

答案(3)

4.Many Silicon Valley companies worried about Trump's immigration controls because____.

A. immigrants reduce labor shortages in low- and high-skilled markets.

B. they really value the strong work ethic they see in the illegal immigrants.

C. tighter immigration controls could curb their access to foreign-born talent.

D. 57 per cent of tech workers in Silicon Valley are illegal immigrants.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.gives undocumented migrants arrived in the US as children temporary rights to work and study.
解释：“童年入境暂缓遣返计划”让童年来美的非法移民获得短期的工作和学习许可。

(2) 答案：B.She could be deported to Mexico once Trump decides to revoke Daca on Tuesday.
解释：特朗普将在周二决定是否撤销Daca，一旦Daca被取消，Karina可能被遣返回墨西哥。

(3) 答案：D.California.
解释：加州已经批准了220000个Daca申请者，第二多的是得州，有124000人。

(4) 答案：C.tighter immigration controls could curb their access to foreign-born talent.
解释：57%的硅谷科技从业者出生在国外。硅谷的公司担心日趋严格的移民控制将会限制他们招揽人才。

中国式爱情保险

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
policy(of insurance) n.保险单
matrimony['mætrɪmənɪ] n.婚礼；婚姻生活
surrender value 退还金额，退保金额
malleable['mælɪəb(ə)l] adj.可锻的；可塑的；易适应的
litmus test 石蕊试验；立见分晓的检验办法

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分31秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分5秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分12秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分46秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

When insurance is a girl’s best friend (774 words)

One of the advantages of not having an insurance industry with hundreds of years of continuous history is that you get to make things up as you go along. So for last Thursday’s “Qixi”, or Chinese Valentine’s day, mainland insurance companies offered “love insurance” – for the spouse who has everything. The policies bear different names and different terms – they may be life policies, accident policies, medical or endowment insurance – but all are marketed as the perfect alternative to chocolates and flowers. Some offer returns linked to length of matrimony. And many stipulate that only the woman can collect on them.

Of course “insurance” is largely in the eye of the beholder, in any society: in the west, diamonds are not just a girl’s best friend, they are also a girl’s best insurance policy. In these days of upside-down mortgages, at least the ring has a surrender value higher than zero.

But in China, notions of risk and how to insure against it are even more malleable: after decades when citizens relied on a combination of children and communism to take care of them when things got rough, insurance penetration is still exceptionally low, even to protect against those staples of Chinese life, illness and car accidents.

Chinese insurance companies offer a baffling array of policies, from life policies with health insurance riders, to “love” policies with accident riders, to endowment policies with annual wedding anniversary bonuses – with a big lump sum if the couple gets to golden. Insurance brokers say last year’s reinterpretation of the Chinese marriage law – which appears to favour men over women by awarding the family home to the party whose parents bought it (usually the groom) – has boosted demand from women for policies to underwrite marital bliss.

During last week’s Qixi, or Seventh Night festival, which occurs on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, some men dangled love insurance in front of their wives as a token of undying affection, according to a broker peddling Valentine insurance imaginatively labelled Red Rose. But these days, not only romantic or guilt-struck mates are coughing up for such policies: even parents-in-law are buying them as a wedding gift to make the bride feel she is a valued member of her new family.

One woman in northern China’s Hubei province posted on her microblog the paperwork for an accident insurance policy procured on her behalf by her boyfriend (her appreciation apparently boosted by the fact that a recent car accident had landed her in hospital without private accident insurance). And a Chinese newspaper quoted a wife saying she considers the Valentine policy purchased by her husband as a “guarantee for their marriage”.

Another wife, who posted her views in a popular Chinese internet forum, seemed to see the purchase of matrimonial insurance as a litmus test for the relationship: she asked her husband to buy such a policy, but he was lukewarm – leaving her worried that his passion had cooled.

In fact, such policies have more to do with divorce than marriage, say brokers who sell them. The reinterpretation of the marriage law – which overturned the practice of routinely giving jilted wives half of property purchased by the husband before marriage – spawned a new industry in insurance policies that pay only the wife upon divorce. One recipient of such a policy wrote online that it made her feel secure. “If something bad happens to my marriage, the surrender value does not become community property, but all goes to the wife,” she said.

To judge from recent figures showing a sharp rise in HIV/Aids among middle-aged men in China, it may not be a moment too soon to invest in a bit of matrimonial underwriting. Beijing’s National Centre for HIV/STD Control and Prevention said last week that China was unique worldwide in showing a big rise in new infections among male pensioners. Affordable prostitution – coupled with the attitude that pensioners are already so old that they worry little about developing HIV/Aids five or 10 years down the line – has contributed to this outbreak, the government says. In 2005, only 2.2 per cent of newly diagnosed carriers were over 60; five years later that rate had quadrupled.

Rising wealth is driving this: but these days middle-class Chinese can afford not just more prostitutes, but more fried food, more sugar and more hours in front of the television. Maybe Chinese mums should stop insisting that their sons-in-law buy a flat before marriage – and start insisting they buy private medical insurance. That will doubtless be the next frontier for the Chinese insurance industry: underwriting the diseases of Chinese prosperity.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following is not true about “love insurance”?

A. These policies bear different names – like life policies, accident policies, medical or endowment insurance.

B. Some of them offer returns linked to length of mariage.

C. Notions of risk and how to insure against it are relatively new in China.

D. For these policies, men and women usually have the same claim on them.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following word can replace "lukewarm"?

("she asked her husband to buy such a policy, but he was lukewarm – leaving her worried that his passion had cooled"--the 7th paragraph)

A. warm

B. sympathy

C. indifferent

D. furious

答案(2)

3.According to the passage, what is correct about "the reinterpretation of the marriage law"?

A. In China, the groom's parents usually purchase a house for the newlywed.

B. It seems to favour men over women.

C. It has boosted demand from women for policies.

D. All the above is correct.

答案(3)

4.What does the writer mean by saying "underwriting the diseases of Chinese prosperity" in the last paragraph?

A. People usually underestimate the problems of China's prosperity.

B. There are serious problems concerning Chinese economy.

C. Chinese insurance industry can help deal with the diseases.

D. All kinds of diseases are arriving at middle-class Chinese, as they are getting richer.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.For these policies, men and women usually have the same claim on them.
解释：ABC三项都是正确的。作者在文中多次强调很多"love insurance"是规定受益人只能是女方的。如第一段最后一句： And many stipulate that only the woman can collect on them.

(2) 答案：C. indifferent
解释：lukewarm的意思是冷淡的；不够热心的，微温的。

(3) 答案：D.All the above is correct.
解释：ABC三项都是正确的。原文第四段中说： last year’s reinterpretation of the Chinese marriage law – which appears to favour men over women by awarding the family home to the party whose parents bought it (usually the groom) – has boosted demand from women for policies…

(4) 答案：D.All kinds of diseases are arriving at middle-class Chinese, as they are getting richer.
解释：underwrite的意思是vt.给...保险；承诺支付；vi. 经营保险业，而不是低估。结合前两段来看，作者的意思是，随着中国人变得富裕，各种“富贵病”也越来越多。

面对事实，交税吧美国人

本文作者为美国预算与政策优先中心高级研究员贾里德·伯恩斯坦(Jared Bernstein)，他曾担任美国副总统拜登的首席经济顾问。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
deafening['defnɪŋ] adj.震耳欲聋的；极喧闹的
asymmetric[,æsɪ'metrɪk] adj.不对称的
the Grover Norquist pledge 保守派游说家格罗夫·诺奎斯特推动的反对任何形式加税的誓言，已经有95%的国会共和党议员签了名。

mantra['mæntrə] n.咒语
ruse[ruːz] n.策略，计策；诡计
touted['tautid] adj.被吹捧的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分18秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分58秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分7秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分44秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Americans need to face the harsh truth and pay more tax (743 words)

One of the guiding principles of contemporary tax policy in the US is the notion that Americans are terribly overtaxed. Both candidates are running on not raising taxes for the middle classes and Mitt Romney wants to not only make the George W. Bush tax cuts permanent, he wants to cut income tax rates another 20 per cent across the board.

Yet, data from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reveal that, when it comes to federal taxation, US households are less taxed now than 30 years ago, and that is not just a function of the recession. The CBO data began in 1979 when the typical, or median, household paid 19 per cent of their income in federal taxes. In 2009, that share had fallen to 11 per cent.

Both economic and policy changes account for the decline in “effective tax rates”. In recessions, progressive tax systems provide automatic tax cuts as declining incomes push households into lower tax brackets. Middle-income households lost an average $6,000 in market-based income, an 11 per cent decline, between 2007 and 2009, but their federal tax bill fell $2,300, or 24 per cent. Thus their effective tax rate fell from 14 per cent to 11 per cent.

But policy changes also played a significant role and the Bush tax cuts have had a large impact on the fall of tax rates ever since. Over the 1980s and 1990s, the overall effective tax rate fluctuated within a narrow band of 20.2 per cent to 22.7 per cent – lower in the Ronald Reagan years, a bit higher in the Bill Clinton years. But from 2000-07, before the recession took hold, they fell by almost 3 percentage points, equal to about $300bn in revenue, or 2 per cent of gross domestic product.

Policy changes lowered taxes in the recession, too. That’s a perfectly legitimate use of tax cuts, but such cuts are supposed to be temporary and reset once the downturn has passed. Yet, every time a tax cut nears expiration, the deafening cry of “tax increase!” frightens politicians such that today’s tax policy is solidly asymmetric: rates can only go down. That makes it impossible to get on a sane fiscal path.

For Republicans who have signed the Grover Norquist pledge to never raise taxes, the misleading mantra that we are overtaxed serves two purposes. First, the wealthiest households get the biggest income boost from any across-the-board cuts.

Second, once the villainy of tax increases is widely accepted, the only way to achieve any deficit savings is through spending cuts. But this is very dangerous logic. The House Republican budget, for example, as authored by Mr Romney or Paul Ryan, would gut virtually every government function outside of Social Security, healthcare and defence.

Barack Obama, backed by Senate Democrats, is calling for the upper-income Bush tax cuts to expire. But contrary to popular belief, Mr Obama has already been an aggressive tax cutter. His cuts have helped considerably in reducing recessionary damage to family incomes, but there needs to be a more robust plan to return to fiscal health.

That plan will have to include tax increases beyond just the wealthiest households, although that is the right place to start. But what should happen next? In Washington, the standard position is “comprehensive tax reform” where we “lower the rates and broaden the base”. While I agree with that in theory, in practice it has become a ruse. From the highly touted Bowles-Simpson plan to the Paul Ryan budget plan, we see many concrete ideas for lower rates, which is what got us into this mess in the first place, and precious few specifics on broadening the base.

The best thing to do, once the economic recovery is solidly under way, is to simply let the Bush tax cuts expire and return to the tax structure that prevailed under Bill Clinton. It cannot be plausibly argued, based on economic outcomes, that the rate structure in those years was counterproductive. Oh, and it also helped deliver a budget surplus.

While I understand and support the fairness argument, I’d urge Democrats to be forthright with the fact that we’re way below where we need to be in terms of revenue collection. We simply can’t begin to meet the challenges we face on the lowest effective tax rates in decades.

It may not be the conventional wisdom, but it is the truth.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the passage, in the days of a former president, the “effective tax rates” went up. Who is this president?

A. George W Bush

B. Bill Clinton

C. Ronald Reagan

D. Mitt Romney

答案(1)

2.What is the writer's attitude towards the Grover Norquist pledge?

A. It is true that we are overtaxed.

B. The middle class benefits the most from current tax cuts.

C. To cut spending is dangerous, so in order to reduce deficit, they must raise taxes.

D. President Obama should also sign it.

答案(2)

3.''Today’s tax policy is solidly asymmetric'', what does the writer mean?

A. The president has a much bigger say in tax policies than the Congress.

B. There's inequality between tax paid by businesses and by households.

C. Tax rates can go down easily but go up with difficulty.

D. The share paid by the poor is becoming bigger and bigger.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is not the writer's opinion?

A. Romney wants to further reduce the taxes, that's unreasonable.

B. Obama already cut taxes aggressively, that was quite successful.

C. Obama should let G W Bush's tax cuts expire, in order to achieve fiscal health.

D. The tax structure in Bill Clinton's terms is better, although it was a bit counterproductive

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.Bill Clinton
解释：B项克林顿总统是正确的。第四段中说:Over the 1980s and 1990s, the overall effective tax rate fluctuated within a narrow band of 20.2 per cent to 22.7 per cent – lower in the Ronald Reagan years, a bit higher in the Bill Clinton years. 而小布什总统任期内也推行各种大规模减税政策。至于罗姆尼，他还没当上总统呢！

(2) 答案：C.To cut spending is dangerous, so in order to reduce deficit, they must raise taxes.
解释：作者说:the misleading mantra that we are overtaxed serves two purposes，一是富人从现有的减税中获益最多，而诺奎斯特希望暂行的减税措施永久化；二是政府开支消减不得，要解决赤字的压力只有增税一条路。作者显然不支持诺奎斯特的主张，因此D也不正确。

(3) 答案：C.Tax rates can go down easily but go up with difficulty.
解释：原文第五段中有原话:that today’s tax policy is solidly asymmetric: rates can only go down.

(4) 答案：D.The tax structure in Bill Clinton's terms is better, although it was a bit counterproductive
解释：ABC三项都是正确的，作者支持奥巴马在金融危机后为中产阶级减税，但认为随着经济好转，消减赤字的压力让政府不应该延长布什减税，更别说进一步减税了。 而D项不是作者的观点，他认为克林顿的高税收政策并未拖累经济。倒数第三段有这么一句话: It cannot be plausibly argued, based on economic outcomes, that the rate structure in those years was counterproductive.

远离互联网的一周

作者为了治愈“网瘾”，远离了互联网一周。让我们看一下作者是如何度过这以一周的。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
sadistic[sə'dɪstɪk] adj.虐待狂的，残酷成性的
methadone['meθədəʊn] n.美沙酮：一种有效的合成麻醉药
voracious[və'reɪʃəs] adj.贪婪的
surveillance[sə'veɪl(ə)ns] n.监视，监督
fiddle['fɪd(ə)l] v.无意识而不停地拨弄

Luddite['lʌdait] n.反对技术或工艺变化的人

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分34秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分40秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分37秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分55秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

A week without the worldwide web (920 words)

The iPhone’s 3G is off, the Wi-Fi is shut down and my flamboyantly sadistic 19-year-old son has taken custody of my iPad for the next week. Out comes the network cable and I draft an automatic reply for email messages. As the witching hour approaches, I bid farewell to my 200,000-odd followers on Twitter: “Internet addiction check-up. Off-line for a week from tomorrow. Be in touch”.

The first, less than encouraging, responses are include: “All the best! I reckon it’d be easier to give up smoking.” “I give you two days, tops.” “Keep some methadone handy. You never know”. “I lasted 26 minutes, long enough to go on to Facebook and tell everyone I couldn’t do it”.

Day one. I wake up and instead of checking my mail and glancing at the news online, I look at photos from a recent trip to Tamil Nadu. The main thing – as I tell my nearest and dearest – is to ignore the iPad making eyes at me from the kitchen table. The family smiles in sympathy. Daddy’s got a difficult week ahead. Don’t rub him up the wrong way.

By nine, I’m ready to do something out of the ordinary. I pop out to the newsstand in the square, buy a paper and read it. “What’s so strange about that?” I hear you ask. “You’re a columnist. You read the papers, don’t you?” Well yes, but a bit at a time, through the day. Not in one voracious, early-morning session.

I resolve to keep busy to blot out the web’s siren song. I make five appointments in Milan. As I move around the city, unencumbered and uninformed, my hand keeps drifting into my iPhone pocket to check for emails. Internet, I conclude, is a matter of habitual gestures. Only six days left: I might just make it.

The second day gets off to a bad start. Everyone wants to send me crucial emails. I know this because some of them phone and others text. Back to 1992! Soon, I’ll start seeing things. Like Oasis.

A burgeoning – psychosomatic? – headache means I get little work done. The euphoria has gone and halfway through the day I realise I’m on edge – not least because my son has done a good job of hiding the iPad. It’s harder to do any work. I have to dig out a biography for an interview but I can’t. Wikipedia and LinkedIn are off-limits. I want to check how to spell an American town’s name in preparation for a trip to the States. Normally, I’d Google it but that is off limits. I reach for an atlas. Reassuringly the town is there.

Day three: This morning, I spent 10 minutes watching Kiss Me Kate! (musical, USA, 1953) on TV. Not a good sign. Theoretically, the weekend is the easiest part of my crash digital diet. Deadlines are further apart, emails are fewer and friends have other things to do. There’s an article in the Italian edition of Wired that says Web addiction affects the brain: “Magnetic resonance imaging has shown that an inability to tear yourself away from internet alters the structure of certain parts of the brain (like the orbital-frontal region and anterior callous cingulum)”. I wonder how my callous cingulum is doing.

Day four, Sunday. In the quiet of the weekend, the family intensifies its surveillance (“Where are you going?” “To my office”. “There’s a computer. I’m coming with you, to be on the safe side.”). At first, these exchanges amused me but now they are starting to grate. I detect delight in preventing me from getting things done but no solidarity.

Day five. Monday is a challenge. Having cogitated over the weekend, people are poised to project their thoughts into cyberspace. What is new is that I can’t glean the thoughts. As soon as I wake up, I flick on the TV for the headlines from teletext – teletext! – and wait for the on-the-hour bulletin. Let’s be honest: this is a stress test that banks would baulk at.

Some benefits are emerging. I’m less easily distracted and my concentration has improved. A chunk of cerebral RAM has been freed up. I am realising how emails influence mood by continually shuttling in unexpected information. For five days, I’ve been doing less but I reckon I’ve done it better.

Tuesday and two days to go. I am in Rome and feeling in good shape. I text (it has been a nightmare for my colleagues), read the papers over breakfast in the hotel and, for the first time in decades, observe the road to Fiumicino. At the Milan check-in desk, two of us are not fiddling with an iPhone or Blackberry or Android: your correspondent and a toddler. An American paper announces: “The new mantra for tech firms: All things to all people, all day.” Google, Facebook and the rest no longer seek to enrich our days but to “own our every waking moment”. Worrying, but not till Thursday.

Wednesday is the final day of the experiment and I am vaguely perturbed. Why am I not psychologically devastated by a week’s cyber-abstinence? It is curious, I reflect as the light fades in a turquoise Lombard sky and my unusual week draws to a close. I feel a bit like Herman Melville’s Bartleby (“I would prefer not to”). There are questions that need to be answered. Do you adjust to deprivation quite so quickly? Am I turning into a Luddite? And, more important: where’s my iPad, son?

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What was the first reaction of his followers on Twitter to his decision of staying off-line for a week?

A. They encouraged him.

B. They thought it was impossible.

C. They suggested him to give up smoking while staying off-line.

D. They gave him some methadone.

答案(1)

2.According to passage, what does the author usually do after waking up in the morning?

A. Check mail and glancing at the news online.

B. Travel to Tamil Nadu.

C. Look at his family album.

D. Buy a newspaper at a newsstand.

答案(2)

3.According to the passage, what day did the author start his plan of staying off-line?

A. Sunday

B. Monday

C. Wednesday

D. Thursday

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is NOT a benefit of staying off-line that the author mentioned in the text?

A. Without google, he turned to an atlas for finding a location.

B. His concentration was improved.

C. He learned how emails influence one's mood by providing unexpected information.

D. He stopped playing around with his mobile phone when waiting in a line.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.They thought it was impossible.
解释：根据第二段中The first, less than encouraging, responses are include:All the best! I reckon it’d be easier to give up smoking.” “I give you two days, tops.” 可知，B正确。

(2) 答案：A.Check mail and glancing at the news online.
解释：根据Day one. I wake up and instead of checking my mail and glancing at the news online, I look at photos from a recent trip to Tamil Nadu.

(3) 答案：D.Thursday
解释：无

(4) 答案：A.Without google, he turned to an atlas for finding a location.
解释：无

看空中国？

本文作者是英国《金融时报》副主编及首席财经评论员马丁·沃尔夫（Martin Wolf）。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
vested['vestɪd] adj.既有的
complacency[kəm'pleɪs(ə)nsɪ] n.自满

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

7分19秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

4分5秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分55秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

1分1秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

How to blow away China’s gathering storm clouds (1025 words)

China is entering upon a difficult transition to both lower growth and a different pattern of growth. This is the conclusion I drew from this year’s China Development Forum in Beijing. Moreover, it is likely to be a political as well as an economic transition. These two transitions will also interact with one another in complex ways. The past record of economic success, under Communist party rule, does not guarantee a comparably successful future.

Readers do not need to take my word. They can take those of the outgoing premier, Wen Jiabao, who said on March 14: “The reform in China has come to a critical stage. Without the success of political structural reform, it is impossible for us to fully institute economic structural reform. The gains we have made in reform and development may be lost, new problems that have cropped up in China’s society cannot be fundamentally resolved and such historical tragedy as the Cultural Revolution may happen again.”

These political questions are of great importance. But the economic transition, in itself, will be hard enough. China is coming to the end of what economists call “extensive growth” – driven by rising inputs of labour and capital. It must now move to “intensive growth” – driven by improving skills and technology. Among other consequences, China’s rate of growth will slow sharply from its average annual rate of close to 10 per cent of the past three decades. Making this transition harder is the nature of China’s extensive growth, particularly the extraordinary rate of investment and heavy reliance on investment as a source of demand (see charts).

China is ceasing to be a labour surplus country, in terms of the development model of the late West Indian Nobel laureate, Sir Arthur Lewis. Lewis argued that the subsistence income of surplus labour in agriculture set a low ceiling for wages in the modern sector. This made the latter extremely profitable. Provided the high profits were reinvested, as in China, the rate of growth of the modern sector and so of the economy would be very high. But, at some point, labour would become scarcer in agriculture, so raising the price of labour to the modern sector. Profits would be squeezed and savings and investment would fall as the economy matured.

The China of 35 years ago was a surplus labour economy. Today that is true no longer, partly because growth and urbanisation have been so rapid: since the beginning of reform the Chinese economy has grown more than 20-fold, in real terms, and half of China’s population is now urban. In addition, China‘s low birth rate means that the working age population (15-64) will reach a peak of 996m in 2015. A paper by Cai Fang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences states that “labour shortage has become rampant throughout the country since it broke out in coastal areas in 2004. In 2011, manufacturing enterprises came across unprecedented and universal difficulties in recruiting labour”. Mr Fang’s paper gives compelling evidence of the consequent rise in real wages and shrinking profits.

China is now at the Lewis turning point. One consequence is that, at a given investment rate, the ratio of capital to labour will rise faster and returns also fall faster. Indeed, strong evidence of such rising capital intensity emerged even before the Lewis turning point. According to Louis Kuijs, a former World Bank economist, the contribution to higher labour productivity of the rising ratio of capital to labour (as opposed to the contribution of a higher “total factor productivity” (TFP), or overall productivity) rose from 45 per cent between 1978 and 1994 to 64 per cent between 1995 and 2009.

This has to change. China’s growth must be driven by rising TFP, which will sustain profits, rather than rising ratios of capital to labour, which will lead to declining profits, particularly now that real wages are rising fast. Some decline in profits is desirable, given the maldistribution of income. Taken too far, it would damage potential growth.

The difficulty of making the transition to growth driven by technical progress is one reason why so many countries have fallen into what has come to be called the “middle-income trap”. China, now a middle-income country, is determined to become a high-income country by 2030. That will take deep reforms, which are laid out in a remarkable recent joint report by the World Bank and the Development Research Center of the State Council. Those reforms will adversely affect vested interests, particularly in local government and state-owned enterprises. That is surely a big reason why Mr Wen thinks political reforms matter.

The need to make difficult reforms, to sustain growth in the next two decades, is China’s longer-term challenge. In trying to get there, it confronts the short-term risks of a hard landing, as Nouriel Roubini of the Stern School of Business at New York University pointed out at the conference. China’s government is targeting annual growth of 7.5 per cent this year and of 7 per cent in the current five-year plan period. Some such slowdown seems inevitable. As growth slows, the need for extraordinary investment rates will also decline (see chart).

Yet getting from an investment rate of 50 per cent of gross domestic product to one of 35 per cent, without a deep recession on the way, requires an offsetting surge in consumption. China has no easy way to engineer such a surge, which is why its response to the crisis has been still higher investment. In addition, China has come to rely heavily on investment in property construction: over the past 13 years investment in housing has grown at an average annual rate of 26 per cent. Such growth will not continue.

China may indeed manage the transition to a very different kind of economic growth. The country still has vast potential to catch up. But the challenges of adjusting to the new pattern will be huge. Plenty of middle-income countries have failed. It is difficult to argue against China, given past successes. The best reason for confidence is that top policy makers lack such complacency.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the passage, what is the relationship between China's economic transition and political transition?

A. Successful economic transition is the prerequisite of political transition.

B. Successful political transition is the prerequisite of economic transition.

C. Without successful political transition, the existing achievements of economic transition can be lost.

D. Economic transition is more important than political transition under China's current situation.

答案(1)

2.About Authur Lewis's development model, which of the following descriptions is correct?

A. The model assumed a very low subsistence income for surplus agriculture labor.

B. The model argued that this low subsistence income allowed industrial sector to pay low wages to agriculture labor.

C. The model predicted that wages paid by industrial sector will finally increase.

D. All of the above.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is NOT a pattern of China's "extensive growth"?

A. Grows with rising inputs of labour and capital.

B. Maintained a high ratio of capital to labour.

C. Relys heavily on investment as a source of demand.

D. Had surplus labor supply.

答案(3)

4.According to the author,what is the best reason for being confident with China's development?

A. China still enjoys surplus labor supply, which allows the industrial sector to maintain high profit.

B. China is no longer a middle income country, which means that it will not be inflicted by the “middle-income trap”.

C. Many previous succeeded transformations provide precious experiences.

D. China's top governors know that the reform has not been fully accomplished and they are committed to push it forward.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.Without successful political transition, the existing achievements of economic transition can be lost.
解释："These two transitions will also interact with one another in complex ways."因此不能说一个是另一个的先决条件。AB错误。文章并没有提到经济改革和政治体制改革哪个更重要。D错。 根据温总理的发言，C项正确。

(2) 答案：D.All of the above.
解释：无

(3) 答案：B.Maintained a high ratio of capital to labour.
解释：根据刘易斯和蔡昉的观点，中国之前的增长模式应该是劳动密集型的，即高劳动/资本比率，低资本/劳动比率。故选B。

(4) 答案：D.China's top governors know that the reform has not been fully accomplished and they are committed to push it forward.
解释：见文章最后两句话"It is difficult to argue against China, given past successes. The best reason for confidence is that top policy makers lack such complacency."

得不到教会祝福的婚姻

本文作者系英国《金融时报》专栏作家罗伯特·舍瑞恩斯利（Robert Shrimsley）。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
pesky['peskɪ] adj.麻烦的，恼人的
wedlock['wedlɒk] n.已婚状态；婚姻
polygamy[pə'lɪgəmɪ] n.一夫多妻制
no less a person than 身份不低于
specious['spiːʃəs] adj.似是而非的
vociferous[və(ʊ)'sɪf(ə)rəs] adj.叫喊的，吵闹的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分53秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分44秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分57秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分41秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The Catholic Church is ruining my marriage (684 words)

My marriage is under threat; its very existence is being undermined. I know this because the Catholic Church says so. I’m not Catholic myself, you understand, but if there’s one thing those priests know about, it’s marriage. Similar warnings are coming from other faith-leaders and the rightwing commentators.

And it’s all because of those pesky gays.

It turns out that the very foundations of our union will be irrevocably eroded if gays are allowed to marry. No less an authority than Rick Santorum, currently running second for the Republican presidential nomination, says redefining wedlock to include gays could “cheapen marriage… make it something less valuable, special”. Scotland’s leading Catholic bishop appears to argue that if gay marriage is legalised, the clamour will start for polygamy to be similarly blessed. But it’s not just marriage at stake. The Pope says that allowing gays to call themselves married is one of a number of threats to “the future of humanity itself”. Yikes.

Marriage, according to our religious leaders is less a robust, timeless institution than a precious, delicate thing – a dandelion in the wind, easily blown away by others you’ve never met enjoying the same benefits. It’s like being a member of an elite club and then finding out that Katie Price has joined. You wonder if you still belong.

I understand where they are coming from. I recently bought an espresso machine to which I was hugely attached until I noticed Whittard was selling the same model to gays. Suddenly my macchiato seemed cheapened; and questioned my commitment to the morning shot. Now the Illy languishes untouched and I have begun dallying with an old jar of Maxwell House I was once close to. We’d fallen out of touch after I’d committed to proper coffee but recently reconnected via Facebook. So I’m wise to the dangers of gay marriage. We all saw what happened when homosexuality was legalised. Crime rates soared, obviously because people felt their previous law-abiding status had been devalued by the decision to stop treating gays as criminals.

My wife and I are resigned to our fate if the government presses ahead with reform and have already begun discussing custody arrangements. It’s a pity; because we’ve been happy together. But it’s clear that at the first glimpse of Boy George at the altar I’ll abandon my family and move out to small flat above a Pizza Hut. Across the nation, young couples will cancel their engagements, put off by the weddings of other adults who love each other and increased competition for wedding venues from gays and polygamists.

When otherwise intelligent people rely on such specious arguments, you have to wonder whether it isn’t because they daren’t say what they truly believe – that gays are lesser human beings who should be denied the same rights as others. It would be wrong to tar everyone in this way, but it is striking how many of the most vociferous objections come from those with a less-than-stellar record on gay rights.

Where opponents of gay marriage have a point is in noting that there seem to be few benefits not already secured by civil partnerships. But like any excluded minority, it is natural for gays to rail against exclusion. It is hard to believe that all those Jews who used to campaign against their exclusion from elite golf clubs actually wanted to join them. I don’t think there’s ever been a great Jewish golfer and it’s a long walk to the club house if you get hungry. But when someone takes the trouble to bar you, well, a chap can take that kind of thing personally.

One of the most striking (and heartwarming) social developments of the past decade is just how quickly civil partnerships have become entirely unremarkable. It is hard to believe the same would not be true of gay marriage. But maybe this easy acceptance is what is really driving the increasingly apocalyptic warnings. Perhaps, what worries opponents is not that marriage and society will be disastrously undermined by this reform, but that they won’t.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the first paragraph(without regarding to the whole passage), how would the author react to the words of a Catholic priest?

A. He will accept all the words.

B. He will accept none of the words.

C. He will accept all the words except those concerning marriage.

D. He will accept none of the words except those concerning marriage.

答案(1)

2."When otherwise intelligent people rely on such specious arguments, ..."

What do "such specious arguments" stand for?

A. The arguements made by religious leaders like the Scotland’s leading Catholic bishop.

B. The arguements made by politicans like Rick Santorum.

C. The arguements made by the author himself in the two paragraphs above.

D. All of the above

答案(2)

3.According to the passage, which of following groups of people will most probably oppose gays marriage?

A. Gays

B. Those who support polygamy

C. Those who regard gays as lesser human beings

D. Those Jews who used to campaign against their exclusion from elite golf clubs

答案(3)

4.How does the author organize this passage?

A. The author presents the arguements made by the opponents of gays marriage at first and then refutes them by pointing out their foundamental reason for opposing gays marriage.

B. The author presents a debate on gays marriage by showing the thesis made by each side.

C. The author presents arguements made by religious leaders and politicians on opposing gays marriage at first and support these arguements with his own thesis.

D. The author presents his idea on gays marriage at first and then supports his idea with several thesis.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.He will accept none of the words except those concerning marriage.
解释：根据"but if there’s one thing those priests know about, it’s marriage." D正确。

(2) 答案：D. All of the above.
解释：无

(3) 答案：C.Those who regard gays as lesser human beings
解释：根据倒数第三段，作者认为人们之所以反对同性恋婚姻，从根本上讲，是因为他们认为同性恋者本身是低人一等的人。因此选C。

(4) 答案：A.The author presents the arguements made by the opponents of gays marriage at first and then refutes them by pointing out their foundamental reason for opposing gays marriage.
解释：出题者认为，作者首先用大量的篇幅陈述了各种反对同性恋婚姻的观点，让人觉得作者自己也是其中一员。 作者尔后话锋一转，说那些人之所以反对同性恋婚姻，是因为他们认为同性恋者本身是低人一等的人。 至于作者自己对同性恋婚姻的看法，出题者认为文中并未明示。

兄弟反目，家族或得益

本文讨论了家庭内部纷争可能带来的好处——不过这家庭是指所谓的“豪门”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
feud[fjuːd] n.纷争，世仇
tawdry['tɔːdrɪ] adj.俗丽而不值钱的
ruthless['ruːθlɪs] adj.无情的，残忍的
rancorous['ræŋkərəs] adj.充满愤恨的，仇恨的
aftermath['ɑːftəmæθ] n.结局；结束
vitriol['vɪtrɪəl] n.刻薄话
annihilate[ə'naɪɪleɪt] v.消灭，毁灭
awestruck['ɔ:strʌk] adj.敬畏的
sheer[ʃɪə] adj.纯粹的，完全的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分6秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分51秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分2秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分42秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

A family feud is not always a bad thing (716 words)

Even if you have only half-heard of Gina Rinehart, you will know that she is a force to be reckoned with. She is the Australian mining magnate who controls Hancock Prospecting, founded by her father. Her aggressive approach to business and family relations has prompted three of her four children to sue her.

The emails and letters in this court battle were released last week. They make for compulsive reading. In brief, the children allege Ms Rinehart gave them one business day to agree to extend her control of a family trust or face “financial ruination”. She, in turn, deems them “manifestly unsuited” to running the trust. Her letter says it is “reasonably arguable” that bankruptcy of the trust might – “personal development-wise” – be in her children’s best interests: it would “force them to go to work and reconsider their holidaying lifestyles and attitudes”.

This would just be a tawdry family spat, bar the fact that Ms Rinehart is already one of the richest people on the planet – and getting richer. Owning a giant iron ore mine at a time of growing Asian demand helps, but I think the ruthless vigour with which she has prosecuted this and other family feuds (she was at acrimonious odds with her father in his later years) is also part of the reason for her success.

It is a staple assumption of the literature on family companies that their owners should avoid feuds at all costs. In-fighting overrides most of the genetic advantages of the family model. Strong corporate cultures, a predisposition towards collaboration and co-operation, and an inherent tendency to favour benevolent long-termism are tossed aside when relatives go to war. Rancorous and debilitating feuds destroy the value in such groups – for heirs and for any outside investors unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire. The aftermath of vicious bouts of intra-familial hair-pulling can last generations and cost billions.

All true. But perhaps academics are underestimating the motivational advantages of familial rivalry. Just occasionally, the vitriol and poison combine to create a rocket fuel that powers certain ruthless, entrepreneurial family members and the companies they head to the top.

This is the sort of drive that could well turn Volkswagen, under Austrian chairman Ferdinand Piëch, into the largest carmaker in the world. Last week, his wife Ursula was nominated to join the VW board. The proposal flouts corporate governance orthodoxy so flagrantly it takes the breath away. But it is also a sign of the determination of Mr Piëch – a grandson of the man who founded Porsche – to dominate and enlarge the family business. His victory over cousin Wolfgang Porsche in a 2009 attempt to fuse the sportscar maker with VW drove the latter to tears.

The Australian mining heiress and the Austrian motor magnate, for all their differences, appear to share similar attitudes to the business legacies they are doing everything to secure. The VW chairman has in the past listed his priorities as “VW, family, money”, while the mining magnate has been quoted as saying: “Whatever I do, the House of Hancock comes first.”

They are not alone. The late Jan Stenbeck, the buccaneering Swedish telecoms and media magnate, consolidated his foothold in the 1980s by defeating two sisters for the right to rule over the family investments, which he then vastly increased in size and scope.

To prosecute such wars without annihilating the inheritance takes a special person, however. Family members who seek to dominate by force must be persistent, thick-skinned – and skilful. According to most accounts, Ms Rinehart and Mr Piëch are coldly effective executives.

Family companies, it is said, usually disintegrate in the third generation, as myriad weak-chinned heirs-of-heirs start to squabble. Disinterested businesspeople can exploit these situations: Bernard Arnault has used such opportunities to add to his LVMH luxury goods empire. But hard-hearted insiders who have already neutralised their less competent, or less ambitious, relatives are proof against the predations of such opportunists.

The dangers of such an uncompromising pursuit of outright victory in a family feud are evident. But while outsiders may pity relatives stuck in the path of such unbridled ambition, it is impossible not to be awestruck by the sheer power unleashed by a business obsession that comes as a birthright.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the passage, Gina Rinehart's children sue her probably for

A. her agressive ruling over the family.

B. her persistent dispute with her father.

C. she abandoning the control over family trust.

D. she rising the price of iron ore that exported to asia.

答案(1)

2.According to literature mention in the fourth paragraph, which of the following is NOT one of the results of family feud？

A. Hatred and rancor between family members were nourished.

B. Some of family members were excluded from family business.

C. Family coherence was jeopardized.

D. Family business was as a result stabilized and prospered.

答案(2)

3.According to the author, what is the main way to which family feud benefits family businesses?

A. Family feud breaks family businesses into several parts which helps to extend family businesses into different areas of industry.

B. Family feud gives shrewd outsiders chances to control family businesses.

C. Family feud clears out those members who are not suit for business and allow those who are ruthless and entrepreneurial to control the businesses.

D. All of the above.

答案(3)

4.According to the passage, which of the following company is NOT an example of family feud prospered family business?

A. Hancock Prospecting

B. Volkswagen

C. The businesses owned by Jan Stenbeck

D. LVMH

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.her agressive ruling over the family.
解释：根据"Her aggressive approach to business and family relations has prompted three of her four children to sue her."A正确。

(2) 答案：D.Family business was as a result stabilized and prospered.
解释：根据第三段的内容，D不在其中。

(3) 答案：C.Family feud clears out those members who are not suit for business and allow those who are ruthless and entrepreneurial to control the businesses.
解释：根据"Just occasionally, the vitriol and poison combine to create a rocket fuel that powers certain ruthless, entrepreneurial family members and the companies they head to the top."C正确。

(4) 答案：D.LVMH
解释：LVMH是家族内部相争、外人得利的例子。

怎样鼓励艺术创作？

本文作者为英国《金融时报》专栏作家约翰·凯（John Kay）。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
incentive[ɪn'sentɪv] n.激励，鼓励
droit[drɒɪt] n.所有权
subsequent['sʌbsɪkw(ə)nt] adj.随后的，后继的
confer[kən'fɜː] v.商谈，授予
windfall['wɪn(d)fɔːl] n.横财

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分57秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分46秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分58秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分41秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The difficult balance of intellectual property (694 words)

It’s mad to give my heirs rights to a student lit crit essay

Intellectual property law must strike a difficult balance. There is public benefit from the widest possible access to and use of creative output. There is also a public interest in ensuring that artists and their publishers have incentives to produce new work.

There are few certainties in judging the effects of such policies, but there are some. John Lennon will never sing another song. James Joyce will never publish another novel (thank goodness), and Picasso will never pick up his brush again. No financial incentives can now affect the quality or quantity of their work.

Yet the US Congress and the European Commission have been much exercised in increasing the rights of the dead, or those whose creative years are long behind them. The Sonny Bono Copyright Act of 1998 extended the term of American copyright in written material and was quickly followed in Europe. Thanks to the efforts of Mr Bono and my doctors, copyright in my prize essay for excellence in Scottish literature will probably endure into the 22nd century. More recent pressure to extend copyright terms has focused on sound recordings. While this plan has been rejected several times, pressure from interest groups is relentless.

Of course, the lobbyists are not really representing the great poetry circle in the sky. The principal beneficiaries of these measures are organisations that are very much alive, even if some are struggling to remain so: organisations like EMI/Citigroup, which controls most British popular music recordings of the 1960s, and the Disney Corporation, whose exclusive rights to Walt’s characters were about to expire when Sonny Bono came to the rescue. The focus of current attention, however, is art.

Droit de suite gives an artist who has sold his work the right to share the proceeds of any subsequent sale, an idea that seems odd when applied to cars, or clothes, or even books. It is unjust that van Gogh received so little financial reward or public recognition in his short lifetime, but we cannot make it up to him now.

Still, the resale right was adopted in France, then Germany; the European Union was subsequently persuaded to take the idea on board. The winning argument was that since France had foolishly implemented this policy unilaterally, French auctioneers would suffer a competitive disadvantage unless everyone else adopted it as well. They do: Paris is a world centre for painters, for art museums, but not for art sales. Britain, by some distance Europe’s largest art market, managed to secure a derogation for 10 years in respect of the work of artists who are no longer alive. But these years are about to run out.

The argument that France would suffer by unilateral action does, of course, apply equally to the European Union as a whole. The initial directive required the Commission to negotiate similar agreements globally and to report on the effects of its policy within 10 years of implementation. No report has appeared and no such agreements have been made – or are likely to be, since there is no flicker of interest in droit de suite in the US, Switzerland or China.

If we want to support new creative endeavours, it is easy to think of more effective measures. It was my vanity, the spur of the prize, and the encouragement of Mr Steel that prompted me to write that Scottish essay in 1959, not the prospect of rewards to my distant heirs. A similar mix of motives leads me to write this article. Public support of artists should focus on recognition, immediate financial recompense, and a supportive political and cultural environment.

It is time to distinguish sharply between the public interest in stimulating new creative work and the private interest in squeezing more profit from work that was created long ago. We do not encourage originality by conferring windfall gains on the Disney Corporation, EMI, Citigroup, and the Picasso estate. Little understanding of either culture or economics is required to recognise that new ideas in art, music and literature will come from the living, not the dead.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following is increased its rights by the US Congress and the European Commission?

A. The dead

B. Great poetry

C. Alived organisations

D. All of the above

答案(1)

2.According to the author, which of the following is supportive to new creative endeavours?

A. Human's vanity

B. Spur of the prize

C. Recognition from others

D. All of the above

答案(2)

3.According to the article, which of the following is NOT correct?

A. No financial incentives can now affect the quality or quantity of Picasso's work.

B. There is no flicker of interest in droit de suite in the US.

C. We can encourage originality by conferring windfall gains on the Picasso estate.

D. New ideas in art, music and literature will come from the living.

答案(3)

(1) 答案：C.Alived organisations
解释："Of course, the lobbyists are not really representing the great poetry circle in the sky. The principal beneficiaries of these measures are organisations that are very much alive..."

(2) 答案：D.All of the above
解释：请仔细阅读文章的倒数第二段。

(3) 答案：C.We can encourage originality by conferring windfall gains on the Picasso estate.
解释：" Little understanding of either culture or economics is required to recognise that new ideas in art, music and literature will come from the living, not the dead."，故C项有误。

副总统这个神奇的职位

本文作者为美国经济学家、财政专家布鲁斯·巴特利特(Bruce Bartlett)

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
oddity['ɒdɪtɪ] n.奇异；古怪

US Senate 美国联邦参议院
pro tempore（拉）当时；暂时
nominate['nɒmɪneɪt] v.推荐；提名
temperament['temp(ə)rəm(ə)nt] n.气质，性情，性格

Hispanic[hi'spænik] adj.西班牙裔的
rubber-stamp 加盖橡皮图章，追认

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分5秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分51秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分2秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分42秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The peculiar case of the American vice-presidency (714 words)

Among the oddities of the US system of government is the vice president. The position was created by the Constitution, but the founding fathers neglected to give him anything to do. His only constitutional role is to preside over the US Senate and break ties; he can’t even speak except to deliver vote totals and make the occasional parliamentary ruling; and the vast majority of the time his function is fulfilled by random members of the majority party who serve as president pro tempore of the Senate.

Of course, the vice president becomes president in the event that the president should die in office or resign. Of the 43 men who have served as president, nine achieved the office this way. Additionally, the vice presidency is often a stepping stone to the presidency, with five vice presidents later being elected president in their own right. George H.W. Bush is the most recent to do so.

Therefore, a third of American presidents became president directly or indirectly through the vice presidency. It is a decision to which great thought should be given.

Unfortunately, this is often not the case. The vice president is often chosen to satisfy some political need within a party. For example, Ronald Reagan thought he needed Mr Bush to balance his ticket and soften his image as a hardline conservative.

Ideally, presidential nominees would like to find a vice president who can deliver a big state that he would not otherwise carry. The classic example is John F. Kennedy’s choice of Lyndon Johnson in 1960. He undoubtedly carried the state of Texas for him and helped throughout the South.

Since it is rare for there to be a potential vice president who can carry a key state, presidential nominees often look for vice presidents who appeal to certain interest groups. Mr Bush chose Dan Quayle in large part because he thought his youth would appeal to younger Americans.

The key constraint in terms of using the vice president for purely political purposes is that he or she really does have to be capable of becoming president. Nominating someone who is manifestly unqualified can drag a candidate down to defeat.

It is widely believed that John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as vice president in 2008 doomed him to defeat, as it became clear during the campaign that she had neither the minimum knowledge nor temperament to be president.

Consequently, much of the discussion about who Mitt Romney should name has centered on those considered safe choices—people clearly qualified to be president who won’t pull the ticket down.

Current speculation has centered on 5 men: Ohio Senator Rob Portman, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and South Dakota Senator John Thune. Last week there was also some speculation about former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Mr Rubio and Mr Jindal clearly are long shots because of their youth and relative inexperience. Some Republicans believe Rubio, who is of Cuban heritage, would help with the fast-growing Hispanic vote, although there is no evidence of this in polls. Mr Jindal, whose parents were born in India, would showcase the party’s inclusiveness.

Political professionals, however, think Mr Romney will probably pick one of the “boring old white men”: Mr Portman, Mr Pawlenty or Mr Thune. Each is qualified to be president and would be unlikely to cause controversy. But none would measurably strengthen the ticket except possibly Mr Portman, who may help Romney carry a state, Ohio, he needs to win.

Some scholars have long been troubled by the common practice of allowing a party’s presidential nomination to have the sole say-so in naming his running mate. Although the party’s convention nominally names the vice president, in practice it merely rubber-stamps the presidential nominee’s choice.

I think it would be a good idea to give parties a bigger role in choosing the vice president. Perhaps nominees could provide the party convention with a slate of acceptable choices and let them sell themselves to party delegates. At least it would add some excitement to an event that is otherwise almost entirely devoid of substance in an era when presidential nominees are chosen by state primaries long in advance of party conventions.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the passage, one of the following is a constitutional role of the vice-president, which one?

A. To bring the vote of a big state for his party's presidential candidate.

B. To alter the parliamentery vote result when necessary.

C. To break ties.

D. To preside over the Senate.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is correct?

A. There has been no case that a vice-president later becomes president in his own right.

B. There has been no case that a vice president becomes president after the president dies in office.

C. There has been no case that a vice-presidential candidate has helped his presidential candidate to loose.

D. Many presidents won their elections through their vice-presidential candidate partner.

答案(2)

3.There are 6 possible republican vice-president candidates mentioned in the article. But Mr Romney will probably pick one of the “boring old white men”.

What does the author imply?

A. They can bring a good image.

B. They have minority connections that can bring votes.

C. Each of them is qualified to be the president.

D. Each of them can bring Romney the votes of a big state.

答案(3)

4.What are the writer's opinion towards the nomination process of vice-presidential candidates?

A. It is running quite well.

B. The party’s convention nominally names the vice president.

C. It should be seperated from nominating the presidential candidate.

D. A party's presidential nomination should not have the sole say in naming his campaign mate.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.To preside over the Senate.
解释：主持参议院是副总统的宪法职能。A项是党派对其副总统候选人的期望。B项是只有最高院才有的职能。C项是作者的玩笑话，用来说明副总统无太多实权。

(2) 答案：D.Many presidents won their elections through their vice-presidential candidate partner.
解释：A项是错误的，原文第二段中说历史上共有5位这样的副总统，老布什就是最近的一例。事实上，美国第二、第三任总统亚当斯和杰弗逊也是如此。 B项是错误的，历史上共有9位这样的副总统。C项也是错误的，2008年麦凯恩选择的副手萨拉·佩林就被广泛认为是拖了麦凯恩的后腿。

(3) 答案：C.Each of them is qualified to be the president.
解释：一些政治观察家认为，这几位既不年轻也没有少数族裔身份的男性政治家的优势是稳健而经验丰富，不大可能会引发争议，所以罗姆尼可能会从他们之中选择一位搭档。A选项在文中并未提及。B项是错误的，他们都是美国社会主流的盎格鲁撒克逊人。D项也是错误的，这三人中只有Portman来自大州俄亥俄州。

(4) 答案：D.A party's presidential nomination should not have the sole say in naming his campaign mate.
解释：A项与作者的观点恰好相反。B项是对事实的描述而不是观点。C项不是作者提出的观点。D项是正确的

《金融时报》原文阅读精选集
Vol.60

几个词读懂德国政坛

德语单词的构词规则简单粗暴，只需将两个词放到一起就可以捏出一个新词。想在9月24日的德国大选前了解德国政坛的情况，我们也可以从这些有趣的词汇入手。当一个德国人对你说：“我默克尔了。”他指的是什么？哪一群人被德国人民发了好人卡？“车站鼓掌家”又是在讽刺谁？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
cartel[kɑːr'tel] n.联合企业
blatantly['bleɪtəntli] adv. 公开地，悍然地
cosset['kɑːsɪt] v. 宠爱，溺爱
moderate['mɑːdərət] v.节制，使…稳定
insofar[ˌɪnsəʊ'fɑː] adv. 只要，在…范围内
scrap[skræp] vt.扔弃
pejorative[pɪ'dʒɔːrətɪv] adj. 贬低的，轻蔑的
clapper ['klæpə(r)] n.响板，鼓掌者
traitor['treɪtə(r)] n.叛徒，卖国贼
berate[bɪ'reɪt] vt.严责
connote[kə'nəʊt] vt.意思就是
acronym['ækrənɪm] n.缩写字
chagrin['ʃæɡrɪn] vt.使…懊恼
locomotive[ˌləʊkə'məʊtɪv] n.火车头

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分49秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分42秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分55秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分40秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

A guide to understanding the German election(676 words)

By Simon Kuper

In German you can create new words almost ad infinitum, usually by bolting existing words together. One way to understand Germany’s elections of September 24 is therefore to look at the country’s current political vocabulary, from Genderwahn to merkeln.

Autoland (literally, land of cars). On the upside, the car industry is Germany’s economic motor. On the downside, the Autolobby is also often Germany’s political motor, much as Wall Street is in the US or the City in the UK. Germany’s Autokartell (car cartel) has its own revolving door with politics. Most blatantly, Matthias Wissmann, president of the automobile industry’s trade body, is a former Christian Democratic transport minister. The German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel (sometimes known as Siggi Pop) was a government representative on Volkswagen’s supervisory board and later worked for a communications firm that advised the company.

Cosseted by government, car companies felt free to lie for years about their diesel emissions, until Dieselgate (or der Abgasskandal) broke in 2015. The Autolobby also moderates the much-trumpeted German Energiewende, or shift away from fossil fuels. Germany will reduce emissions only insofar as that doesn’t upset carmakers, the small but potent Braunkohle-Lobby (coal lobby) or, indeed, green Fundis (fundamentalists) who insisted the country scrap its nuclear reactors.

Gutmensch (good person). The word is mostly used pejoratively, to describe supposedly naive leftie self-hating Muslim-hugging Germans. Bahnhofsklatscher (literally, station clappers) are the Gutmenschen who stood in train stations in September 2015 applauding arriving refugees. The Bahnhofsklatscher themselves thought they were expressing a new German Willkommenskultur (welcoming culture).

The rival tribe to the Gutmenschen are the Wutbürger (furious citizens). Gutmenschen and Wutbürger are roughly Germany’s equivalents of “Blue” and “Red” Americans, but with less risk of civil war. Older Wutbürger are sometimes known as Hassrentner (hate-pensioners), though Wutbürger prefer to call themselves besorgte Bürger (concerned citizens). They berate Gutmenschen for their Hypermoral (hypermorality) and Genderwahn (delusions about gender issues).

Lügenpresse (lying press) is one of several words favoured by the Nazis and now revived by Wutbürger. Another is Volksverräter (traitor to the people), which can be applied to any mainstream politician. Frauke Petry, leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, got into trouble for trying to revive völkisch, an adjective that historically connotes a racially defined German people, or Volk.

Mutti (Mummy), the nickname of current and future chancellor Angela Merkel. After 12 years as chancellor, Merkel is regarded by many Germans almost as a family member. Her tics are instantly recognisable. The Raute, or diamond, is the shape she makes with her hands when posing for photographs. (According to conspiracy theorists cited by the British Daily Express tabloid, the “secret hand sign” betrays her membership of the Illuminati secret society.) Postwar Germans prefer their chancellors familiar, Christian Democratic and dull: Konrad Adenauer served for 14 years and Helmut Kohl for 16.

Merkel even has her own verb, merkeln, which means to not make decisions, to kick the can down the road, as has been her general strategy during the Eurocrisis. (Popular usage: “Asked to attend his mother-in-law’s birthday, he merkelte.”)

Merkeln doesn’t necessarily stem from cowardice or indecisiveness. Rather, Merkel believes that if you don’t immediately try to solve a problem, the problem often either changes or goes away. Merkeln entails ignoring media who demand a solution this week, when governments ought to be thinking 20 years ahead.

Schwarze Null (literally, black zero) refers to the German government’s policy of aiming for a budget that’s either balanced (zero) or in the black. After 44 years of deficits, the state has scored three black zeros in a row since 2014. This is a source of pride in Germany and of chagrin in other European countries, which want Germany to be their economic locomotive. German scorn for foreign debtors is captured in the tabloid phrase Pleite-Griechen (literally, broke Greeks). Always remember that the German word Schuld means both debt and guilt.

Umvolkung (roughly, forced change in the population’s ethnic composition). The word captures the fears of Wutbürger that Merkel is replacing their Volk with Muslims and other Passdeutsche (passport Germans). A related word is Volkstod, or death of the people.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does the word Autoland mean according to the article?

A. Car companies in German were found cheated on their diesel emissions.

B. Germany’s car cartel has its own revolving door with politics.

C. Car industry is Germany’s economic motor as Wall Street is in the US.

D. Car industry has great influence on both economy and politics in Germany.

答案(1)

2.Which two words are roughly Germany’s equivalents of “Blue” and “Red” Americans?

A. Gutmenschen and Wutbürger.

B. Gutmenschen and Hassrentner.

C. Bahnhofsklatscher and Wutbürger.

D. Hypermoral and Wutbürger.

答案(2)

3.According to conspiracy theorists, the Raute ____?

A. is favoured by the Nazis and now revived by Wutbürger.

B. refers to the policy of aiming for a black zero budget.

C. betrays Merkel's membership of the Illuminati secret society.

D. entails ignoring media who demand a solution this week.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following words have positive meaning？

A. Gutmensch.

B. Schwarze Null.

C. Lügenpresse.

D. Umvolkung.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.Car industry has great influence on both economy and politics in Germany.
解释：Autoland一方面表明汽车产业是推动德国经济增长的引擎，另一方面汽车公司的游说也会对德国政治产生重大影响，就像华尔街之于美国或金融城之于英国。

(2) 答案：A.Gutmenschen and Wutbürger.
解释：Gutmenschen和Wutbürger大致等同于美国人的“蓝党”、“红党”。

(3) 答案：C.betrays Merkel's membership of the Illuminati secret society.
解释：“钻石”指默克尔照相时的手势，阴谋论认为这一手势出卖了她作为光明会成员的秘密身份。

(4) 答案：B.Schwarze Null.
解释：Schwarze Null指德国政府制定的财政平衡目标，自2014年以来，德国已经连续三年达到了收支平衡，德国人为此感到骄傲。

纹身的“后悔药”

当年轻的你去纹身的时候，你可否想过，人是多么善变，而纹身却如此顽固。好消息是，新的技术已经让祛除纹身变得更加容易。但遗憾的是，即使是最尖端的技术也无法去掉所有纹身。对于纹身，有哪些“后悔药”可供我们选择呢？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
remorse[rɪ'mɔːs] n懊悔，悔恨
stigma['stɪɡmə] n.耻辱，污名
linger['lɪŋɡər] vi.逗留，消磨
dermatologist[ˌdɜːrmə'tɑːlədʒɪst] n.皮肤科医生
pigment['pɪɡmənt] n.色素，颜料
practitioner[præk'tɪʃənər] n.从业者
premium['priːmiəm] n.额外费用，奖金

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分48秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分41秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分55秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分40秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

How to correct a taboo tattoo(672 words)

By Kathleen Baird-Murray

According to the British Association of Dermatologists, one in five British adults now has one or more tattoos. But how many of those will go on to regret them? Given that most people with tattoos get inked in their youth, at a time when no one can imagine love for a partner or a circle of barbed wire or Rebel Wilson’s Mexican Worm (as seen in Bridesmaids) ever fading, the potential for remorse is high.

The professional stigma lingers in many careers and cultures: one City of London broker tells me his colleagues get theirs done in areas that are easy to cover up, like on the wrist where the watch goes, or on “the butt cheek”.

“I’ve had people coming in to get tattoos removed because they have an interview for a Middle-Eastern airline,” says Dr Vishal Madan, president of the British Medical Laser Association, who specialises in tattoo removal using a laser, which is still widely considered the most reliable method.

The latest laser — the Picosecond — can reduce the time it takes to remove a tattoo: 15 sessions as opposed to 20, depending on size. But it’s still not 100 per cent effective. “It’s just not true to say all tattoos can be removed, as some salons will claim,” says Dr Madan.

Laser removal works by sending wavelengths of light in specific colours into the skin. The light is absorbed by coloured pigments in the tattoo, raising the temperature in the pigment to levels where the pigment breaks into particles that can be absorbed by white blood cells (macrophages). “The current lasers come in red, green — there is also one for black tattoos. But if you have orange, yellow-toned, or skin-toned pigments, you cannot remove these permanently.”

In the hands of the wrong operator, you can make your tattoo a lot worse. Critically, there is no regulation in the UK for the use of lasers in aesthetic treatments such as tattoo removal. As a practitioner, as long as you have the £120,000 or so for the machine itself, you can open a tattoo removal salon. When you consider that the side effects can include laser burns, blisters, scarring, colour change or ghosting — where the tattoo pigment has gone but you can still see the silhouette of the original — it’s all rather terrifying.

There is also the option of reworking the tattoo into something new, in the manner of Johnny Depp’s infamous “Winona Forever”, for then girlfriend Winona Ryder, which became “Wino Forever”. Or perhaps inspiration can be found in Tattoo Fixers — the reality TV show in which tattoo artists address previous mistakes. If you do try this, it’s recommended that you have one session of laser first to lighten up the offending tattoo, so that you have more options when it comes to covering it.

But perhaps the more sensible option is to ensure that your tattoo is never that big to begin with. Recent months have seen a rise in tiny tattoos, delicate inkings smaller than a thumbnail (such as actress Emilia Clarke’s bee design). Model Bella Hadid recently had a micro rose inked on the back of her left arm, her second minuscule tattoo this year by New York artist Jonathan “Jon Boy” Valena of West 4 Tattoo.

“Over the past few years there’s been a trend towards the tinier ones,” says star tattoo artist Mark Mahoney, whose Los Angeles studio, The Shamrock Social Club, has become famous for creating black-ink fine-lined elaborate-scale works of art on David Beckham and Depp, but is also responsible for Adele’s subtle initial “A”.

“Girls get three, four or five done as single ones in places like behind their ear. For a beginner, it’s the toe-in-the-water tattoo,” says Mahoney, who has a year’s waiting list, and is rumoured to be opening a pop-up at London’s new Mandrake Hotel later this year. “Not everyone can do them. The key is to keep them clean and simple — if they’re done right, they look good for ever.” Which, when you consider that a tattoo is for life, is a very long time.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What percentage of adults in Britain have at least one tattoo?

A. Around 10%.

B. Around 15%.

C. Around 20%.

D. Around 25%.

答案(1)

2.According to the article, why do some people get their tattoos done on the wrist?

A. Tiny tattoos on the wrist is a more sensible option for tattoo beginners.

B. Tattoos on the wrist can be removed by picosecond laser permanently.

C. Tiny tattoos on wrist are increasingly popular in recent months.

D. Tattoos on the wrist are easy to be covered up by watch.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following options is widely considered the most reliable method to remove a tattoo?

A. Skin-toned pigments.

B. The Picosecond laser.

C. Reworking the tattoo into something new.

D. Raising the temperature in the pigment.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following statements is true according to the article？

A. The Picosecond laser can reduce the time it takes to remove a tattoo.

B. A yellow-toned tattoo cannot be removed by laser permanently.

C. People work for Middle-Eastern companies are not allowed to have tattoos.

D. Laser can remove the tattoo pigment but the silhouette is indelible.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C. Around 20%.
解释：英国皮肤科协会的数据显示，在英国，每五个成年人中就有一人有至少一个纹身。

(2) 答案：D.Tattoos on the wrist are easy to be covered up by watch.
解释：伦敦的一位经理人告诉我，他的同事们都把纹身纹在容易遮住的地方，比如可以用手表遮住的手腕上，还有屁股上。

(3) 答案：B.The Picosecond laser.
解释：激光仍然被广泛视作最有效的祛除纹身方式，皮秒激光是最新的激光技术。

(4) 答案：A.The Picosecond laser can reduce the time it takes to remove a tattoo.
解释：最新的皮秒激光技术可以缩短祛除纹身的时间。

难以捉摸的战争经济学

很多人相信，发动战争对一国的经济是有利的。的确，美国正是靠着二战走出大萧条，而战败国日本和德国也在战后经历了经济奇迹。但我们很难从个例中得出有说服力的结论。战争对经济究竟有怎样的影响，让我们从历史说开去。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
rhetoric['retərɪk] n.华丽虚饰的语言
volatility[ˌvɒlə'tɪləti] n.波动率；波动性
miraculous[mɪ'rækjələs] adj.奇迹的
stratospheric[ˌstrætə'sferɪk] adj.极高的
casualty['kæʒuəlti] n. 伤亡人数
arguably['ɑːrɡjuəbli] adv. 可辩论地
gambit['ɡæmbɪt] n.策略，诡计

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分49秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分15秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分19秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分48秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

There are better ways to boost an economy than going to war (815 words)

By John Authers

War: could it be good for your wealth? During a long, hot summer of ever stronger rhetoric between North Korea and the US, and wider talk about a breakdown in globalisation, the subversive notion that war might actually be good has started to find its way around.

The sabre-rattling has had minimal impact. Volatility remains tiny, and world stocks continue to advance. The dollar has weakened and the rest of the world has gained at the expense of the US, but there is no fear of conflict to be seen on the trading screens, despite what is on the television screens.

And might a war even be good? This week a reader posted a comment on one of my pieces online, averring that the clearest lesson from history is “that wars are a positive for US stocks. If Trump sends in the troops the S&P 500 would be a good wartime haven for investors.” He added that most wars have worked out well for the US economically, and that big historic market crashes did not happen at times of war.

Does this bear out? The second world war allowed the US to escape the Great Depression, while Japan and Germany, the losers, enjoyed miraculous economic growth and stratospheric market gains in the aftermath. The idea that wars are helpful (at least economically and financially) is not ridiculous.

There is a problem with small sample size; thankfully the US has not been involved in too many big wars. But looking across the world, Jamie Thompson of Oxford Economics found 372 “conflict episodes” in the past half century with at least 25 battlefield deaths each year. Most were civil wars, but there were 47 wars between countries.

Comparing these conflicts with gross domestic product growth, Oxford Economics drew three conclusions. First, the worse the conflict, the worse the impact on the economy. There were 45 conflicts with more than 1,000 battlefield deaths per year, and 70 per cent of these saw slower economic growth after the conflict.

Second, wars bring a near-term economic loss followed by a strong recovery. Typically, within five years GDP rebounds to grow faster than it did in the run-up to the conflict.

Finally, there is the war’s length. In wars between countries, those that lasted less than a year saw GDP growth fall below trend for one year, and then rebound — when wars last more than a year, GDP growth tends to continue to decline for several years afterwards.

So a brief war without too many casualties can be good for you. Longer wars with serious casualties are not so good.

All of this refers to the economy. Markets try to anticipate economic developments. So how do markets deal with these developments? The Dow Jones Industrials behaved quite similarly in the past century’s two world wars — it sold off by almost 40 per cent initially, then recovered to end the war slightly higher than it had started.

The picture for the least successful US military adventure, Vietnam, is harder to measure because it is tricky to work out where it began. If we start at the Tonkin Gulf resolution in August 1964 and end with the final US evacuation from Saigon in 1975, we find the S&P 500 gained 6.4 per cent over the period — or in real terms, taking into account the inflationary spiral that war started, it lost 37.5 per cent. Unsuccessful wars have nothing to be said for them.

For a war seen as successful, look at the S&P 500 in the first Gulf war — invading Kuwait helped fuel a brief bear market. The market was higher at the war’s end than at its start, and went on to spend the rest of the decade in arguably the greatest bull market in history.

And the broader perspective? UK academics Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike Staunton compiled market returns from 1900 to 2017 for a range of countries. Losing a big war could hit returns for generations. Austria lost an empire as a result of the first world war — and its stock market returned an average of 0.8 per cent over the period (compared with the US’s 6.4 per cent), taking 97 years just to get back to where it had been before the war. This is true even though Austria now enjoys one of the highest standards of living anywhere on the planet. German stocks fell 88 per cent during the second world war — but the Marshall Plan helped them gain almost 4,400 per cent in real terms from 1949 to 1959.

So, history confirms what we might have thought anyway. Wars are dangerous gambits. If they are swift, and not too damaging they can boost growth, and create investment opportunities once it is clear who will win. But there are better, safer ways to grow an economy or make money. And nobody should put money to work ahead of a war — opportunities to buy come later.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Why does the author say that wars are a positive for US stocks is a premature conclusion？

A. Big wars like World War II imperiled US stock market significantly.

B. We cannot find sufficient historical experiences to support the idea.

C. Only the losers of big wars can enjoy post-war economic growth.

D. The economic benefits of war have been proved groundless.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is not a correct conclusion of Oxford Economics's research.

A. History proves wars usually lead to economic loss in the short term.

B. A brief war with few casualties is probably good for the economy.

C. Casualty is the deciding factor to the economic impact of a war.

D. Wars last less than a year usually have no long-term negative impacts.

答案(2)

3.Why does the economic impacts of the Vietnam War hard to measure？

A. Because there is no final conclusion on the start time of Vietnam War.

B. Because the economic impacts on two sides of the Vietnam War differed.

C. Because the inflationary spiral resulted in false prosperity in stock market.

D. Because economic figures during Vietnam War was ambiguous and less credible.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is the best conclusion the article？

A. The economic impacts of wars are mostly negative in the long term.

B. The longer a conflict lasts, the heavier the toll on GDP growth.

C. History confirms it is reasonable to believe wars are helpful to economy.

D. Wars are dangerous gambits since they have mixed economic impacts.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.We cannot find sufficient historical experiences to support the idea.
解释：战争有益的想法并不是荒唐的，但问题在于样本容量太小了。

(2) 答案：C.Casualty is the deciding factor to the economic impact of a war.
解释：战争的伤亡人数和战争持续的时间都是造成战争经济影响不同的重要原因。

(3) 答案：A.Because there is no final conclusion on the start time of Vietnam War.
解释：越战是美国最失败的军事冒险，它带来的经济影响很难衡量，因为我们无法断定这场战争是何时开始的。

(4) 答案：D.Wars are dangerous gambits since they have mixed economic impacts.
解释：作者在本文中得出的结论是，战争对经济的影响有好有坏，依靠战争来刺激经济增长是个危险的策略。

美国人信什么？

本文作者系《金融时报》专栏作家吉莲·邰蒂（Gillian Tett）。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
cater for 迎合，提供
tweak[twiːk] v.微微调整
anthropology[,ænθrə'pɒlədʒɪ] n.人类学，人类学家
amateur[ˈæmətə(r)] n.业余爱好者，业余选手
woe[wəʊ] n.困境，灾难，麻烦
rhetorical[rɪ'tɒrɪk(ə)l] adj.修辞的，言辞的
humility[hjʊ'mɪlɪtɪ] n.谦卑，恭敬

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分49秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分15秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分19秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分48秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Extreme conviction and other failings (816 words)

A couple of years ago, I wrote a book about the financial crisis for the American and British markets. Before publication, I was told I would need to make tweaks to cater for differing transatlantic tastes. So for the UK edition I included long passages about Northern Rock (the failed British bank). And in the American edition I replaced that with passages on Countrywide (the US mortgage giant). So far, so unsurprising. But the real fun erupted when I wrote the preface. Initially I planned to start the book by admitting that I was not a true expert on high finance: instead I crashed into this world in 2005, after a background spent in journalism-cum-social anthropology – making me a well-intentioned amateur, but without complete knowledge.

My friends in the British publishing world loved that honesty; in the UK, self-deprecation sells, particularly for “well-meaning amateurs” such as the writer Bill Bryson. But my American friends hated it. In New York, I was sternly told, absolutely nobody wants to listen to self-doubt. If you are going to write a book – let alone stand on a political platform or run a company – you must act as if you are an expert, filled with complete conviction. For the US version, the preface was removed entirely.

Happily for me, the book sold well in both markets. But in the past couple of weeks I have been pondering this issue of “conviction” again, since it is becoming newly relevant to America’s political economy.

Earlier this month George W. Bush published his memoirs, which have been causing a buzz in political circles partly because the tome includes passages where the former president admits that he made some mistakes. Bush also admits to uncertainty in relation to religion. “If you haven’t doubted, you probably haven’t thought very hard about what you believe,” he observes, describing how he became a Christian.

Now, in some senses this might appear to disprove the advice I was given by my American publishing friends a couple of years back. But in another way, it does not. The reason why Bush’s “confession” has caused so much interest is that he almost never admitted to any uncertainty or mistakes when he was in office. Instead, conviction ruled.

If you look at today’s political scene, it is even harder to imagine politicians, business leaders or pundits revealing doubt. On the contrary, in recent months the debate has become increasingly polarised in media and political circles – and imbued with extreme positions. The idea that a politician might stand up today in Washington and say “I am not sure” or “I need to learn” or “I might change my mind if someone else has a better idea” is almost laughable. Instead, politicians are increasingly expected to act like preachers – in possession of great, confident truths they wish to impart to everyone else.

This is not entirely an American phenomenon, of course: even in the more cynical, downbeat British world of politics, men such as David Cameron, George Osborne or Nick Clegg are loath to admit making any mistakes. Yet what has marked out the British coalition government in recent months is a sense of pragmatism, not extreme ideological conviction. That has fostered a mood of compromise hard to imagine in Washington today.

. . .

Earlier this month, for example, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, the two chairmen of a bipartisan tax commission in Washington, delivered a surprisingly sensible set of proposals for tackling America’s fiscal woes, which had been produced in a rare flash of pragmatic collaboration between both men. But no sooner had those proposals emerged, there were shrieks of protest from both men’s parties. “Unacceptable,” declared Nancy Pelosi, Democrat luminary, echoing the convictions on the Republican side too.

All of this certainly makes US politics entertaining and dramatic: rather more exciting than UK politics, say. But it is profoundly unhelpful too. After all, when you look at the big challenges dogging America today – ranging from Afghanistan to the national debt – it is clear that the government is beset with problems of great moral complexity, which can only be solved with subtle trade-offs. What is needed now, in other words, is pragmatic collaboration – not passionate conviction. And that is difficult to foster in the current rhetorical pattern.

Perhaps President Obama will change this; he is now, after all, pledging to “listen” to Republicans. Maybe business and civic leaders will shift their rhetorical tone too. This month’s edition of the Harvard Business Review, for example, specifically tells corporate executives that they need to be “humble and open-minded” and “Ask: ‘What do I have wrong?’”

But I, for one, will be keeping a close eye on which books hit the best-seller list in the US this Christmas. Somehow I doubt whether there will be much uncertainty or humility on offer; or not, at least, from anyone close to power.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the article, which kind of character would the Americans appreciate?

A. Honesty

B. Self-deprecation

C. Self-doubt

D. Extreme conviction

答案(1)

2.Which of the following statement, about US politics, is INCORRECT?

A. George W·Bush admits that he made some mistakes in his memoirs.

B. Bush almost never admitted to any uncertainty or mistakes when he was in office.

C. Politicians are increasingly expected to act like preachers.

D. Washington government in recent months is a sense of pragmatism and a mood of compromise.

答案(2)

3.What does the author suggest, according to the article?

A. Pragmatic collaboration

B. Extreme ideology

C. Passionate conviction

D. All of the above

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is TRUE, according to the author?

A. Because of the unappropriate preface, the author's book sold bad in the US.

B. It's even harder to imagine politicians, business leaders or pundits, at today's political scene, revealing doubt.

C. The debate certainly makes US politics entertaining and helpful.

D. The author believes that, those men in power will become humble in the future.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D. Extreme conviction
解释：前三个选项是作者观察中英国人更尊崇的品质。

(2) 答案：D.Washington government in recent months is a sense of pragmatism and a mood of compromise.
解释：" Yet what has marked out the British coalition government in recent months is a sense of pragmatism, not extreme ideological conviction. That has fostered a mood of compromise hard to imagine in Washington today."，故D项有误。

(3) 答案：A.Pragmatic collaboration
解释："What is needed now, in other words, is pragmatic collaboration – not passionate conviction."，故A项正确。

(4) 答案：B.It's even harder to imagine politicians, business leaders or pundits, at today's political scene, revealing doubt.
解释：作者听从朋友的意见，删除了美国版的序言，所以书在英美都卖的很好，故A项有误；作者认为这种论战会让美国政治变得富有娱乐性但这同时也是有害的，而非有益，故C项有误；在文章的末尾，作者表示她很怀疑人们是否能表现出更多的谦逊，故D项不准确。

巧舌如簧的英国佬

本文作者为英国《金融时报》专栏作家西蒙·库柏（Simon Kuper）。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
workaholic[wəːkəˈhɒlɪk] n./adj.工作狂
confess[kən'fes] v.承认，忏悔
albeit[ɔːl'biːɪt] conj.尽管，即使
marvel at 对…惊奇
rhetoric['retərɪk] adj.巧善言辞，华而不实的言语
verbal['vɜːb(ə)l] adj.词语的，口头的
eloquence['eləkwəns] n.口才，雄辩

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分55秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分19秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分22秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分49秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Speaking of the British (830 words)

By Simon Kuper

I recently went on a business trip with three members of the British ruling classes. The late-night banter over drinks was predictably excellent. Sometimes, though, we had to work. When that happened, my companions showed up unprepared and without notes – and did just fine. No wonder, because their entire education had been a lesson in winging it. They knew that all you need to succeed is to speak well, and that’s what the British ruling classes do: they speak well.

I’m talking about the caste of Britons who attended private school and/or Oxbridge before joining the establishment: senior politicians, civil servants, lawyers, pontificators and the better-dressed sort of banker. It’s the class of Tony Blair, David Cameron, Christopher Hitchens, Anne Robinson and Simon Cowell: the people who speak English better than the rest of the world.

Even the entrance exam for the British establishment chiefly tests the ability to talk without knowledge. Good grades are not enough. You also need to perform in a peculiarly British ritual: the Oxbridge interview. It works like this: you are 17 years old. You are wearing a new suit. You travel to an Oxbridge college for your interview. You find the tutor’s rooms. Perhaps you’re served sherry, which you’ve never seen before. Then you talk. The tutors, sprawled on settees, drawl questions about whatever is keeping them awake. I know an applicant who was asked: “Don’t you think the Piazzetta San Marco in Venice looks like a branch of Barclays bank?” If you speak well, you get handed your entry ticket to the establishment.

You arrive at Oxbridge knowing little. After all, you probably did school exams in just three subjects. At university, you only study one. Often it’s English literature or history or Latin and Greek – the sort of subjects that have parents in other countries asking anxiously: “But what use will that be later?”

Nor is workaholic study encouraged. A South African relative of mine started his first “supervision” at Cambridge by confessing that he hadn’t read every single book on the reading list. “Good God,” said his supervisor, “nor have I. I put them down hoping that you’d look at a couple, and tell me what they said.”

Oxbridge’s teaching methods reward good talk. Aged 18, perhaps hungover, you read out your pitiful but elegant essay. The tutor points out gaps in your knowledge. For an hour, you talk your way around those gaps.

Traditionally, elite Britons then leave education aged 21. Until recently they rarely bothered with graduate school. Consequently, they know very little but speak very well, albeit only in English.

C.P. Snow, in his “Two Cultures” lecture of 1959, marvelled at their ignorance of basic science. Winston Churchill, for instance, had approved the misguided “area bombing” of Germany based on a flawed statistical study by his chief scientific adviser, Lord Cherwell. Of course Churchill couldn’t check the numbers. His forte was rhetoric. It’s no coincidence that his Nobel prize was for literature. And it’s no coincidence that Britain’s wartime king, George VI, is now known chiefly for his struggle – depicted in the film The King’s Speech – to speak well.

Numbers remain a challenge for Britain’s ruling class. It treats the City as a magical moneymaking machine, whose demands are best granted because lord knows how the thing works. Even the finance minister, George Osborne, has no education in economics beyond whatever he picked up studying history at Oxford. British public debate just doesn’t feature many numerate people such as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or China’s ruling engineers. Britain’s own excellent engineers and quants are stuck in the engine room while the rhetoricians drive the train.

Britain’s rulers still struggle to judge scientific arguments about nuclear energy or climate change, writes the historian Lisa Jardine (who appears in this week’s Inventory). When Tony Blair hinted that Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction” could hit London within 45 minutes, the establishment mostly believed him. Educated Americans would often praise Blair for arguing the case better than President Bush could. Yes, Blair spoke well. That’s what he did. Where there were gaps in his knowledge, he talked around them.

Blair had only one verbal shortcoming, which he shared with Margaret Thatcher: no sense of humour. But in general, Britain’s ruling classes are funny speakers. To quote Noël Coward, this class’s favoured playwright: “Since my life began/The most I’ve had is just/A talent to amuse.”

It was the urge to amuse that recently prompted Cameron to riff on an old TV ad and shout “Calm down, dear,” at a female Labour MP. No other western leader (except Silvio Berlusconi) would have risked the sexism, because they don’t need to be funny.

Admittedly, ignorance sometimes saves Britain’s rulers from error. Ignorant and suspicious of philosophy, they reject the daft ideas that sometimes ensnare the French or German elites. Anyway, running a country on eloquence alone hasn’t worked out disastrously – or at least not yet.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which person of the following is thinked as a "rhetorician"?

A. Warren Buffett

B. Bill Gates

C. David Cameron

D. All of the above

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is NOT called "pontificators"?

A. Senior politicians

B. Lawyers

C. Engineers

D. Civil servants

答案(2)

3.Which best describes the author's outlook towards the UK's future as "eloquence running the country"?

A. It hasn't worked out disastrously.

B. It is beneficial to the country.

C. It will surely destroy the country.

D. It is not feasible at all.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is CORRECT, according to the author?

A. The entrance exam for the British establishment chiefly tests the ability to talk without knowledge.

B. Winston Churchill, depicted in the film The King's Speech, is known chiefly for his struggle to speak well.

C. British public debate just doesn't feature many numerate people such as the finance minister George Osborne.

D. Blair is a good speaker and funny.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.David Cameron
解释："It’s the class of Tony Blair, David Cameron, Christopher Hitchens, Anne Robinson and Simon Cowell: the people who speak English better than the rest of the world."

(2) 答案：C.Engineers
解释："I’m talking about the caste of Britons who attended private school and/or Oxbridge before joining the establishment: senior politicians, civil servants, lawyers, pontificators and the better-dressed sort of banker.",故选择C项。

(3) 答案：A.It hasn't worked out disastrously.
解释："Anyway, running a country on eloquence alone hasn’t worked out disastrously – or at least not yet."

(4) 答案：A.The entrance exam for the British establishment chiefly tests the ability to talk without knowledge.
解释："George VI, is now known chiefly for his struggle – depicted in the film The King’s Speech – to speak well."故B项有误；"Even the finance minister, George Osborne, has no education in economics beyond whatever he picked up studying history at Oxford."故C项有误；"Blair had only one verbal shortcoming, which he shared with Margaret Thatcher: no sense of humour."，故D项有误。

政策松紧之辩

本文作者系《金融时报》首席经济评论员马丁·沃尔夫(Martin Wolf) 。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
trigger['trɪgə] v.引发，引起（连锁反应）
synchronise['sɪŋkrənaɪz] v.同步
premature['premətjʊə] adj.过早的，仓促的
peripheral[pə'rɪf(ə)r(ə)l] adj.次要的，边缘的
dire['daɪə] adj.可怕的，恐怖的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

8分14秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

4分36秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

3分17秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

1分9秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Why the battle is joined over tightening (1154 words)

By Martin Wolf

To tighten or not to tighten – that is the question. It is one to which policymakers have started changing their answers. Are they right to do so? That is the issue addressed in the Financial Times this week, echoing the fierce debates of the 1930s. If arguments for tightening are correct, failure to do so would bring fiscal and financial shocks in some of the world's most important countries. If arguments for tightening are false, decisions to do so threaten recovery and might trigger further financial shocks.

Where are the policymakers? The declaration after the Toronto summit of the Group of 20 leading nations, stated: “There is a risk that synchronised fiscal adjustment across several major economies could adversely impact the recovery. There is also a risk that the failure to implement consolidation where necessary would undermine confidence and hamper growth. Reflecting this balance, advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that will at least halve deficits by 2013 and stabilise or reduce government debt-to-gross domestic product ratios by 2016.”

This language is notably more cautious than that of the Pittsburgh summit of September 2009. That stated boldly: “We pledge today to sustain our strong policy response until a durable recovery is secured. We will act to ensure that when growth returns, jobs do too. We will avoid any premature withdrawal of stimulus. At the same time, we will prepare our exit strategies and, when the time is right, withdraw our extraordinary policy support in a co-operative and co-ordinated way, maintaining our commitment to fiscal responsibility.”

So what has changed?

The first answer is that the world economy is recovering more strongly than expected. In April 2009, at the time of the London G20 summit, the consensus of forecasts for global economic growth this year was 1.9 per cent. By last September it had reached 2.6 per cent. By June 2010, it was 3.5 per cent. In the US, the consensus forecasts for 2010 were 1.8 per cent in April 2009, 2.4 per cent last September and 3.3 per cent in June 2010. Even for the eurozone, the consensus of forecasts has moved a little, from 0.3 per cent in April 2009, to 1 per cent last September and 1.1 per cent in June 2010.

The second answer lies with the fiscal crises in Greece and other peripheral members of the eurozone, reinforced by the election of the coalition government in the UK. The flight from risk was dramatic: in May, the yield on Greek 10-year bonds peaked at more than 12 per cent. This led to a rescue package by the International Monetary Fund and other eurozone governments, and the creation of a new €750bn joint IMF and eurozone stabilisation facility.

The extent of the tightening must also not be exaggerated. In its May Economic Outlook, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development forecast a decline in cyclically adjusted fiscal deficits for the grouping as a whole from 6.4 per cent in 2010 to 5.8 per cent in 2011. Corresponding figures were 9 per cent and 7.9 per cent for the US, and 4.1 per cent and 3.6 per cent for the eurozone. But further tightening is now planned, particularly in the UK. Moreover, many think planned fiscal tightening does not go far enough.

What, then, are the arguments?

At the anti-deficit extreme are those who argue fiscal deficits have no impact on activity since they lead to offsetting behaviour by private people. Thus, if governments run deficits, private people save, since they understand that their taxes will ultimately rise. Another, very different, extreme position comes from those who believe a deep slump would purge past excesses, and so lead to healthier economies and societies. While people who think in these radical ways influence the broader politics, they have limited direct influence on policymakers. So what is the latter debate about?

The “cutters” argue that such huge fiscal deficits – never seen in peacetime in big developed countries, notably the US – threaten long-term fiscal credibility and depress private confidence and spending. While piling fiscal stimulus on top of the built-in stabilisers made sense in the panic of 2008 and early 2009, the time has come for swift consolidation. Otherwise, a spike in borrowing costs looms, with dire results. The permanent loss of output and revenue left behind by the crisis, along with ageing populations, make action inescapable and urgent.

Finally, should economies weaken after a fiscal tightening, monetary loosening would be highly effective. The latter can work by encouraging investment and weakening exchange rates, so also encouraging exports. Many cutters also argue that the best response would be to reduce spending. That is the lesson, they say, from past fiscal retrenchment.

The “postponers” agree there must be decisive slowing of the growth of long-term spending. But they emphasise the fragility of recovery and, in particular, the huge private sector financial surpluses. This private frugality has caused the fiscal deficits, they insist, not the other way round. The sequence of events makes that evident.

Moreover, add postponers, we have seen a strong flight to safety: for the panickers, there is no alternative to bonds of highly rated governments, particularly the US, issuer of the world's safe-haven currency. Since the eurozone crisis, that role has become more entrenched. Moreover, the long-term interest rates of leading countries are falling, not rising: in the US, 10-year Treasury bond rates are 3 per cent. Where, then, is the threat to confidence?

Moreover, postponers would add, with interest rates close to zero, monetary policy is ineffective, except to the extent that it supports fiscal loosening. Fortunately, countries with their own central banks can finance fiscal deficits directly. This is untrue for members of the eurozone, which are, in effect, operating with a foreign currency. So long as excess capacity remains so large and normal bank lending so weak, such reliance on the central bank “printing press” creates no inflationary danger. On the contrary, the danger is rather that premature fiscal tightening would trigger a sharp economic slowdown, as in Japan in the 1990s, so pitching important economies into deflation.

The interaction of high indebtedness with deflation could, they argue, create a downward spiral. A Japanese-style “lost decade” threatens the developed world. That is particularly likely if everybody tightens together. If anything, further loosening is needed: in the first quarter of 2010, the GDP of every member of the Group of Seven leading countries was still below its pre-crisis peak.

Readers must make up their own minds on the merits of the arguments this week. My own strong sympathies are with the postponers. But on one thing everybody agrees: this debate matters. We cannot be sure who is right. But we can be sure that, if policymakers get it wrong, the results may well be dire. Physicians must prepare to respond swiftly to adverse reactions to their favoured course of treatment.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is the author's attitude?

A. His own strong sympathies are with the postponers.

B. He thinks the fiscal tightening does not go far enough.

C. It's hard for him to say which side to stand on.

D. The debate on tightening is a waste of time.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following statement about current situation is NOT true, according to the author?

A. The world economy is recovering more strongly than expected.

B. The consensus of forecasts has not moved at all for the eurozone.

C. The election of the coalition government in the UK has reinforced the fiscal crises.

D. Further tightening is now planned in many european countries.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is CORRECT, according to the article?

A. The language of the Toronto summit of the G20 is notably bolder than that of the Pittsburgh summit in 2009.

B. At the anti-deficit extreme are those who argue fiscal deficits have no impact on activity.

C. The "postponers" argue that such huge fiscal deficit threaten long-term fiscal credibility.

D. All of the above.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following is INCORRECT about the "postponers" ?

A. They agree there must be decisive slowing of the growth of long-term spending.

B. They insist that the private frugality has caused the fiscal deficits.

C. They have seen that the long-term interest rates of leading countries are falling instead of rising.

D. They argue the interaction of high indebtedness with deflation could create a upward spiral.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.His own strong sympathies are with the postponers.
解释：文章的最后一段有清楚的写道：Readers must make up their own minds on the merits of the arguments this week. My own strong sympathies are with the postponers.

(2) 答案：B.The consensus of forecasts has not moved at all for the eurozone.
解释："Even for the eurozone, the consensus of forecasts has moved a little, from 0.3 per cent in April 2009, to 1 per cent last September and 1.1 per cent in June 2010."，故B项错误。

(3) 答案：B.At the anti-deficit extreme are those who argue fiscal deficits have no impact on activity.
解释："This language is notably more cautious than that of the Pittsburgh summit of September 2009. "，故A项有误；"The “cutters” argue that such huge fiscal deficits – never seen in peacetime in big developed countries, notably the US – threaten long-term fiscal credibility and depress private confidence and spending. "，故C项有误。

(4) 答案：D.They argue the interaction of high indebtedness with deflation could create a upward spiral.
解释：不应该是"upward spiral"，而是"downward spiral"。

如何应对反社会金融行为

本文作者系《金融时报》专栏作家约翰·普伦德（John Plender）。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
remarkably[rɪ'mɑːkəblɪ] adj.引人注目地，明显地
proponent[prə'pəʊnənt] n.支持者，拥护者
draconian[drə'kəunjən] adj.异常严厉，严酷的
litigant['lɪtɪg(ə)nt] n.当事人，诉讼人
empower[ɪm'paʊə] v.授权，许可
ulcer['ʌlsə] n.腐败，败坏
pathetic[pə'θetɪk] adj.凄惨的，可怜的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

5分37秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分9秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分15秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分47秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

TACKLING ANTISOCIAL FINANCIAL BEHAVIOUR (788 words)

By John Plender

First, Lord Turner, head of the UK's Financial Services Authority, put the cat among the pigeons by questioning the social utility of much financial innovation. Then Paul Volcker declared that the only financial innovation that had impressed him over the past 20 years was the automated teller machine. Yet, despite these reservations the world remains remarkably tolerant of anti-social behaviour in the markets and in the wider business environment.

Exhibit A is high-frequency trading. This type of computerised dealing exploits the millisecond gaps between news events and their impact on the markets. With the regulators sitting on their hands, such trading has expanded rapidly to the point where, on some estimates, it accounts for 60-70 per cent of the trading volume in US equities. Much of this volume is conducted by a very small number of companies.

A big reason for concern is that exchanges appear to have joined in an unholy alliance with this small group, which is allowed to see orders before the public. In effect, these people are privileged insiders who are profiting at the expense of those who are innocently saving for retirement and what have you.

Worse, the exchanges, which have a business interest in high volume, encourage co-location whereby traders can route their orders to servers in the same location as the exchanges' computer matching systems. Reducing geographical distance in this way cuts milliseconds off the time it takes for buy or sell messages to be sent into or back from an exchange.

This is all a form of front-running, even if the trading is not taking place in front of a client order. Proponents argue that anyone can co-locate, but genuine private investors cannot engage in this with an entry price measured in thousands of dollars. The supposed benefit is greater market liquidity. But the resulting market liquidity is far more than is needed for genuine investment. Why should a difference in the milliseconds be relevant to meeting pension liabilities with a 20-, 30- or 40-year duration? And, as the “flash crash” of May 6 showed, the activity can be highly disruptive.

Now that the regulators are taking an interest, they will probably focus on making the playing field more level. Far better would be to recognise that this competitive technological battle reduces social welfare in a similar way to an arms race. The fact that a handful of traders are creaming off big profits at the expense of genuine investors undermines the integrity of the market. A more draconian regulatory response would be appropriate.

Next, consider BP and the plans of the New York state pension fund and others to sue the company over the share price plunge. This will be damaging for the company. Yet the litigants' calculus is that the proceeds from successful litigation will exceed their share of the cost of the damage. The victims will be smaller shareholders who cannot play the legal game, along with other stakeholders including the employees.

Litigation is admittedly understandable in a US governance context. In the absence of majority voting, shareholders have much less ability to throw out underperforming directors than in Europe. Fierce lobbying by big business succeeded last month in removing a proposal to introduce majority voting from the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.

But with a UK company such as BP shareholders are properly empowered. Not only is it easier for institutions to eject a dud chief executive. The UK's stewardship code is actively encouraging institutional shareholders to co-operate with companies. It would be better if the New York state pension fund engaged with the BP board on corporate strategy and risk management and sought to influence the composition of the board in a more constructive and responsible way.

On the topic of shareholder democracy, corporate governance and anti-social behaviour, I cannot do better than quote Michael Lewitt of Harch Capital Management on Dodd-Frank: “The financial reform bill that is emerging from Congress leaves so much essential work undone, and is so obviously a sell-out to special interests and expensive Wall Street lobbying efforts, that it can only be considered the latest example of all that is wrong with the American political system. In addition to leaving untouched the single biggest threat to financial stability – naked credit default swaps – it also fails to address the bleeding ulcers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ignores the deficiencies of the rating agencies and leaves most of the details of financial reform to be filled in by regulators, whose record in effectively doing their jobs is, to put it more politely than it deserves, pathetic.”

Mr Lewitt was prescient about the financial crisis. For my money, he is also on the mark here.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.In author's opinion, what is the world's attitude toward "antisocial financial behaviour"?

A. Doubtful

B. Disgusted

C. Worried

D. Tolerant

答案(1)

2.Which of the following is true about "antisocial financial behaviour", according to the author?

A. There are a large number of companies which conducted much of the trading volume.

B. With the sustantial support from regulators, high frequency trading has expanded rapidly.

C. Genuine private investors can't engage in "co-location".

D. The resulting market liquiding of co-location is not enough than is needed for genuine investment.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is true about BP?

A. Shareholders of BP are properly empowered.

B. It's easy for BP to eject a dud chief executive.

C. BP has much more ability to throw out underperforming directors than in the US.

D. All of the above.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following would the author DISAGREE?

A. It seems that exchanges have joined in an unholy alliance with those illegal companies.

B. We should take more draconian regulatory response to the antisocial financial behaviour.

C. The financial reform bill that is emerging from Congress leaves so much essential work undone.

D. Co-location is all a form of front-running, although it is not disruptive at all.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：D.Tolerant
解释："Yet, despite these reservations the world remains remarkably tolerant of anti-social behaviour in the markets and in the wider business environment."

(2) 答案：C.Genuine private investors can't engage in "co-location".
解释："Much of this volume is conducted by a very small number of companies."，故A错误；"With the regulators sitting on their hands, such trading has expanded rapidly"，可见监管机构并非大力支持，而是袖手旁观，纵容的态度，故B项错误；"The supposed benefit is greater market liquidity. But the resulting market liquidity is far more than is needed for genuine investment. "，故D项错误。

(3) 答案：D.All of the above.
解释：无

(4) 答案：D.Co-location is all a form of front-running, although it is not disruptive at all.
解释："as the “flash crash” of May 6 showed, the activity can be highly disruptive.",故D项有误。

中国“小皇帝”们的抗争

本文作者系《金融时报》驻北京首席记者杰夫.代尔（Geoff Dyer）。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
spoilt[spɒɪlt] adj.宠坏的，惯坏的
demographic[,demə'græfɪk] adj.人口统计学的
workforce['wɜːkfɔːs] n.劳动人口
resilience[rɪ'zɪlɪəns] n.适应能力，还原力
privation[praɪ'veɪʃ(ə)n] n.匮乏，贫困
compliant[kəm'plaɪənt] adj.顺从的，屈服的
nimble['nɪmb(ə)l] adj.灵活的，敏捷的
deflate[dɪ'fleɪt] v.降低，紧缩
ant tribe 蚁族
precarious[prɪ'keərɪəs] adj.不稳固的，摇摇欲坠的
mistress['mɪstrɪs] n.情妇
massacre['mæsəkə] n.大屠杀，残杀
irate[aɪ'reɪt] adj.盛怒的

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分19秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分32秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分31秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分53秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

China’s little emperors demand their due (886 words)

By Geoff Dyer

China’s youth can get a bad press. In most accounts, they are the “Little Emperors” or the “Me Generation”, the spoilt and apolitical offspring of one-child families who are interested in fast cars, video games and designer goods but little else. At the main Shanghai store of Louis Vuitton there is a queue to get in at weekends – young women wait patiently in the rope line, as if they were trying to get into the hottest new LA club.

Yet the Me Generation is beginning to show its teeth. Simmering discontent about soaring house prices and the recent wave of strikes at car plants and other factories both speak of the rising and sometimes frustrated expectations of younger Chinese, who want more from their lives than their parents could dream of. It is a phenomenon that could have all sorts of consequences for China’s future.

There are lots of good explanations for the strikes of the past two months, including low pay and a demographic shift that is reducing the number of young people entering the workforce. But there is also a generational shift at play. Chinese often talk about their capacity to chi ku, or “eat bitterness”, which helps explain their resilience amid the chaos and privations of the past century. But the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s has grown up among much wider prosperity, even in poor parts of the countryside.

Twenty years ago, the main goal of many migrant workers in city factories was to send money home to struggling village families. Now they see the factory as part of a personal project, a first step towards an urban life. Internet access has made them more worldly and since a labour law passed in 2008 they have a stronger sense of their rights.

Writing in Caixin magazine, the economist Andy Xie described the compliant labour force he saw at large Chinese factories a decade ago. The workers were mostly 18-year-old girls prized by their bosses for their “nimble fingers”. They had few toilet breaks and had to remain at their benches during breaks. In contrast, the recent strikes suggest a workforce much less willing to “eat bitterness”. “Today’s young adults and their parents may as well be from different centuries,” says Mr Xie. “They want to settle down in big cities and have interesting, well-paying jobs – just like their counterparts in other countries.”

The same generational forces have been behind the discontent over the cost of housing, which has forced Beijing to deflate the market and risk an economic slowdown. There have been no mass demonstrations about property prices but the tensions are real enough – one adviser to the central bank recently described China’s housing problem as being even worse than pre-crisis US, precisely because it combined elements of a bubble with these political pressures.

For the tens of millions of young Chinese graduates, buying a flat is a central part of their plan to live a modern, middle-class life. Young Chinese men feel the social pressure the most. The first time someone told me his chances of getting married would be ruined if he could not buy an apartment, I thought he was joking, yet it is a refrain one hears constantly. Chinese mothers-in-law to-be, it seems, can be an unforgiving bunch.

It is the young who are hit most by rising prices. If their parents come from the city, it is probable that they were awarded their government flat in the housing reforms of the late 1990s, giving them a foothold in the property market. But many young Chinese now feel priced out. Beijing and other cities have thousands of what Chinese media call the “ant tribe”, young graduates who live in precarious housing on the outskirts as they try to land their first job.

One of China’s biggest recent television hits was a soap opera called Woju, or Snail House. A biting social commentary on the politics of property, it featured one young character who ends up becoming the mistress of a government official to pay off her sister’s mortgage. For many viewers, the programme captured a certain kind of urban disillusionment.

None of this is a prediction about imminent revolution or youthful mass protests for political reform. Over the past two decades, the Chinese Communist party has confounded predictions of imminent demise. The political views of professional young Chinese often tend towards the status quo, their ideas about China’s elite untainted by direct experience of the Cultural Revolution or the massacre of protesting students in 1989.

On the recent occasions when young Chinese have expressed strong political opinions, nationalism has been the dominant tone. In 2008, during the riots and demonstrations in Tibet and European protests around the Olympic torch relay, many young Chinese were irate at the attitude of some western politicians and the western media. If they were critical of Beijing, it was for not being tougher with the west.

Yet it is not a contradiction for young people to be more patriotic, but also more demanding and individualistic. Modernisation has unleashed powerful forces – pride and confidence in China’s achievements but also high expectations about the life that can be lived. The signs of restlessness among young Chinese make for a less predictable political future.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following statement about young Chinese is correct, according to the article?

A. In most accounts,they are interested in material entertainment instead of politics.

B. Younger Chinese just want the same lives which has no pressures from house prices and employment as their parents.

C. The generation born in the 1980s and 1990s is still encouraged to "eat bitterness".

D. Today's young adults want well-paying jobs and send money home to struggling village families.

答案(1)

2.What's the reasonable explanations for the strikes of the past two months?

A. low pay

B. demographic shift

C. generational shift

D. All of the above.

答案

3.Which of the following would the author DISAGREE?

A. Because of the combination of the bubble and political pressure, China's housing problem may be even worse than pre-crisis US.

B. All Chinese mother-in-law can forgive those no-house men to marry their daughters.

C. The political views of professional young Chinese often tend towards the status quo.

D. Nowadays, young Chinese have expressed their strong nationalism.

答案(2)

4.The author's attitude toward young Chinese can be described as:

A. Encouraged

B. Sarcastic

C. Pessimistic

D. Concerned

答案(3)

(1) 答案：A.in most accounts,they are interested in material entertainment instead of politics.
解释："……younger Chinese, who want more from their lives than their parents could dream of."，故B项错误；"In contrast, the recent strikes suggest a workforce much less willing to “eat bitterness.Today’s young adults and their parents may as well be from different centuries",故C项有误；"Twenty years ago, the main goal of many migrant workers in city factories was to send money home to struggling village families. Now they see the factory as part of a personal project, a first step towards an urban life. ",D项错误。

(2) 答案：B.All Chinese mother-in-law can forgive those no-house men to marry their daughters.
解释："The first time someone told me his chances of getting married would be ruined if he could not buy an apartment, I thought he was joking, yet it is a refrain one hears constantly. Chinese mothers-in-law to-be, it seems, can be an unforgiving bunch."

(3) 答案：D.Concerned
解释：作者认为，中国的年轻人既是自我的一代、贪图享受的一代，同时也背负了沉重的社会负担。他们与二、三十年前的中国人过着完全不同的生活，而他们所承受的压力和对生活的不满有可能会为日后的中国社会发展埋下隐患。

中产阶级的困局

本文作者为英国《金融时报》专栏作家 菲利普·斯蒂芬斯。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
stumble across 偶然发现
resurgent[rɪ'sɜːdʒ(ə)nt] adj.复活的，复苏的
disposable income 可支配收入
clamour for 呼吁
fracturing['fræktʃəriŋ] adj.破碎

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

6分39秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

3分43秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

2分39秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分55秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

The great middle class power grab (931 words)

I keep stumbling across unswerving predictions that the future belongs to China. Or, perhaps to the contrary, that the Middle Kingdom will always struggle to challenge US primacy. Don’t ask where India and Brazil fit in. Enjoyable as it is, this exercise in the remaking of the geopolitical landscape is also something of a diversion. The 21st century will not be shaped by the abstract choices of states. Transformative power will belong to a new global middle class.

The story of the past couple of decades has been of the great shift of economic weight and geopolitical influence from west to east. This rebalancing still has some way to go. However, comparisons of the relative position of established and emerging powers obscure some of the more fundamental drivers of change. What is happening within states is every bit as interesting as what might change in the relationships between them. Within 20 years or so a world that is now predominantly poor will be mostly middle class.

States, of course, will remain the dominant form of political organisation. Increasing wealth is unlikely to displace cultural and national identities. In some cases, it may well reinforce them. Resurgent nationalism could prove to be one of the big threats to international peace and security. But the way most new global actors behave will be steered by an unprecedented redistribution of power from rulers to ruled.

The raw numbers are set out in a compelling report – Global Trends 2030 – just published by the Paris-based Institute for Security Studies. On current trends, it says, the ranks of the global middle class will swell from about 2bn today to 3.2bn by 2020 and 4.9bn by 2030 – the last of those numbers out of a total world population of just above 8bn. Put another way, for the first time in human history more people will be middle class than poor.

Economists can debate the precise definition. The ISS measure of what constitutes middle class counts the number of people with between $10 and $100 a day in disposable income. Others set the bar higher, with a starting point of daily expenditure of $15 or so. By western standards even that figure is very low – but then think of how many people survive on $1 a day. The important thing is that even the most conservative assumptions point to an irrevocable redistribution of economic power.

Unsurprisingly, the transformation is set to be most pronounced in Asia. China already has upwards of 160m middle class consumers, a number second only to the US. But they represent only about 12 per cent of the Chinese population. By 2030, the ISS projects, the proportion may be 74 per cent. In India, half of the population should cross the $10-a-day threshold before 2025, and by 2040, 90 per cent will be middle class.

These tides will reach beyond Asia. More than two-thirds of Brazilians are likely to count themselves as middle class by 2030. In the same year, central and Latin America will have as many middle class consumers as North America. The transition will be slower in Africa but even there the numbers should be more than double by 2030.

These new consumers, of course, will still have much less disposable income than their North American or European counterparts. The rich nations’ share of global middle class consumption is nonetheless likely to more than halve from 64 per cent to 30 per cent by 2030.

The implications of this transformation will be as profound for dynamics of the political order within rising states as for relations between them and established powers. Bigger, affluent middle classes will probably demand more accountable government. That does not necessarily mean a clamour for western-style representative democracy. It does suggest that existing, often authoritarian elites will be under pressure.

The middle classes’ demand for a bigger say in the organisation of their societies will be amplified by widening access to education – especially among women – and by the relentless advance of digital technology. The impact of the digital revolution has already made its mark in the Arab world. Shared access to instant and virtually free communication hands the global middle classes a potent weapon in the struggle for more control over their lives. There are already more internet users in China than citizens in the US.

For the west, the inherently cheering prospect of billions of people being lifted out of poverty sits alongside the likelihood that many – quite probably the greatest number – will embrace basic values such as individual freedom, human dignity and the rule of law. There is not a mechanistic relationship between a society’s wealth and the extent of individual freedom. Nor is there a straight line between prosperity and democracy. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the wealthier and more educated they become the more citizens identify with a broad set of universal values. Oppressive governments everywhere will struggle to resist this political awakening.

This is not to say that the world will be a more stable or a more peaceful place. Great powers will still compete. Regimes under pressure at home may well seek enemies abroad. Competition for natural resources and the gap between expectations of the new global middle class and the capacity of states to meet them will invite authoritarian regimes to awaken the demons of xenophobia. A likely fracturing of the institutions of global governance will not help.

But the prospect of a world at once more universally prosperous and more attached to freedom? There must surely be good news in that.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.In paragraph three,"The raw numbers are set out in a compelling report...to3.2bn by 2020...world population of just above 8bn."

What did the author use that sentence to prove?

A. In human history more people will be middle class than poor.

B. The important thing is that even the most conservative assumptions point to irrevocable redistribution.

C. Both A and B.

D. The way most new global actors behave will be steered by an unprecedented redistribution of power from rulers to ruled.

答案(1)

2.What is the definition of middle class according to the ISS measure?

A. The number of people with between $10 and $100 a day in disposable income.

B. The number of people with a starting point of daily expenditure of $15 or so.

C. The number of people with a starting point of daily expenditure of $10 or so.

D. The number of people with between $18 and $200 a day income.

答案(2)

3.According to the passage , which of the following is correct?

A. China will not always struggle to challenge US primacy.

B. The 21st century will be shaped by the abstract choices of states.

C. Within 20 years or so a world that is now predominantly poor will be mostly middle class.

D. All of are above.

答案(3)

4.Why the author didn't think the world will be a more stable
or a more peaceful place?

A. Regimes under pressure at home may well seek enemies abroad.

B. Competition for natural resources and the gap between expectations of the new global middle class and the capacity of states to meet them will invite authoritarian regimes.

C. A likely fracturing of the institutions of global governance will not help.

D. All of above.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：A.In human history more people will be middle class than poor.
解释：正确答案在第三段最后一句话，最后一句话是对上面所有数据的总结,正确选项A。

(2) 答案：A.The number of people with between $10 and $100 a day in disposable income.
解释：有关内容在文章第五自然段，原句为“The ISS measure of what constitutes middle class counts the number of people with between $10 and $100 a day in disposable income.”故而选A。

(3) 答案：C. Within 20 years or so a world that is now predominantly poor will be mostly middle class.
解释：选项A，根据文章的意思是中国有一天会赶超美国，成为世界第一。选项B，文章想表达的意思是21世纪不会被所谓的国家选择而定格。选项C正是第二段的最后一句话。

(4) 答案：D. All of above.
解释：正确答案在倒数第二段，第一句正是题目，后面的所有内容都是对第一句的解释，选项A，B，C皆是该段内容。

在智能时代，我只希望手机“笨”一点

我本想好好地读本书，却不由自主地拿出了手机。我努力让自己相信，我只是上想谷歌查一些重要的资料，但三十分钟过去了，我突然发现自己在刷Facebook和Twitter，已经完全忘了原本要做什么……“手机依赖症”并不是一种偶然现象。开发者们使尽浑身解数将用户玩弄于股掌之中，他们是如何得逞的？我们又该怎么办？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
scroll[skrəʊl] vt./vi.卷动，翻滚
brazen['breɪzn] adj.厚颜无耻的
persuasive[pə'sweɪsɪv] adj.有说服力的
neuroscientist[ˈnʊroʊsaɪəntɪst] n.神经学家
explicit[ɪk'splɪsɪt] adj.明确的,详述的
dopamine['doʊpəmiːn] n.多巴胺
antidote['æntidəʊt] n.解毒剂，解药
incentivize[ɪn'sentɪvaɪz] v.刺激，激励

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为：

那么，您的阅读速度相当于

每分钟阅读的英文单词数

4分52秒

母语为英语者的朗读速度

140

2分43秒

母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度

250

1分57秒

母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度

350

0分40秒

母语为英语的速读高手

1000

Why a dumb phone is a smart move(683 words)

By Aime Williams

I’ve recently found myself wondering if I could do without Google Maps. It is, I think, the only app on my phone I’d really miss were I to swap my smartphone for a “dumb” one that handles only calls and text messages.

Why am I thinking about this? It’s because every time I try to read a book, I end up picking up my phone instead. I convince myself that I need to google something, something important, and, 30 minutes later, I’m scrolling through Facebook or Twitter with all sense of time and purpose lost. I’ve taken to turning off my phone, but then I turn it back on. I’ve tried hiding all my colourful apps in little folders, but that doesn’t really work. I keep interrupting my own train of thought in order to do something that I don’t consciously want to do.

This is not accidental. Developers have become ever more brazen in their attempts to keep us hooked on our smartphones. Some of them speak in the language of addiction and behavioural psychology, though most prefer the term “persuasive tech”. In itself, persuasive tech is not a new idea — an academic named BJ Fogg has been running classes from a “persuasive tech lab” at Stanford since the late 1990s. But as smartphone ownership has rocketed and social-media sites have been born, persuasive tech has vastly expanded its reach.

One company, Dopamine Labs — named for the chemical released in the reward centre of the brain — offers a service to tech businesses wanting to “keep users engaged”. Founded by two neuroscientists-turned-programmers, it explicitly talks about using artificial intelligence to modify apps and release dopamine hits to “surprise and hook each user”. Loosely translated, in case it’s not terrifying enough: robots are trying to alter your brain chemistry to make you spend more time doing something you don’t want to do.

Dopamine Labs is interesting, though, because it also offers an antidote service — an app that tries to help users regain control.

Founder Ramsay Brown tells me he wants people to understand that “their thoughts and feelings are on the table as things that can be controlled and designed”. He thinks there should be more conversation around the persuasive power of the technologies being used. “We believe everyone has a right to cognitive liberty, and to build the kind of mind they want to live in,” he says.

Dopamine Labs’ app — Space — springs from the idea that technology can help us change the way we use it, by encouraging us to resist the lure of the smartphone and spend our time online more productively.

There are two main ways the tech world seeks to help us regain our self-control. Space opts for the “mindfulness” approach, asking us to breathe slowly for a few seconds before it loads an app. The alternative is the cold turkey option — which seems appealing, though it comes with obvious practical problems.

The poster child of the resistance movement against addictive apps is former Google “design ethicist” Tristan Harris. He thinks the power to change the system lies not with app developers but with the hardware providers. In 2014, Harris founded “Time Well Spent”, a group that campaigns for more ethical design practices among developers. When I ask him about this, he drops in phrases such as “brain hacking” — which seem extreme until you remember that there’s a company called Dopamine Labs.

Any tech business that relies on advertising revenues is incentivised to hold its users online for as long as possible, Harris says. This means apps are specifically designed to keep us in them. Apple, on the other hand, wants to sell phones but doesn’t have a revenue stream so rigidly correlated to the amount of time its customers spend online. Harris hopes that companies like Apple could use their influence to boost more ethically designed apps.

While I wait for Apple to sort this out, I find myself longing for something called a “Light Phone”, a credit-card-sized handset that does absolutely nothing but make and receive calls. Price tag? $150. Seems expensive. But the company’s website is very persuasive.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the author, what is the main reason that we are becoming so addicted to our smartphones？

A. Because people's behaviours are easy to be controlled and designed through apps.

B. Because developers make various attempts to keep us hooked on our smartphones.

C. Because apps are designed to change attitudes or behaviors of users through coercion.

D. Because apps like Google Maps have became a necessary part in our daily life.

答案(1)

2.Dopamine Labs's founder believes that ____.

A. People's thoughts and feelings have been controlled and designed by tech businesses.

B. Persuasive technologies are dangerous since they deprive people of their cognitive liberty.

C. We should be more careful about the persuasive power of the technologies being used.

D. Every can build the kind of mind they want to live in with the help of persuasive technologies.

答案(2)

3.What is “Time Well Spent” according to the article？

A. A company that offers a service to tech businesses wanting to keep users engaged.

B. A group that campaigns for more ethical design practices among developers.

C. An academic that has been running classes from a “persuasive tech lab” at Stanford.

D. An app that helps us to resist the lure of smartphone and spend our time more productively.

答案(3)

4.What is this passage mainly about？

A. Technical companies control their costumers' thoughts and feelings by altering their brain chemistry.

B. A “Light Phone” that handles only calls and text messages is beneficial to our mental health.

C. We should be aware of persuasive technologies on smartphone which is weakening our self-control.

D. Companies like Apple could use their influence to boost more ethically designed apps.

答案(4)

(1) 答案：B.Because developers make various attempts to keep us hooked on our smartphones.
解释：我们越来越离不开手机，这一现象并不令人意外。开发者们一直想方设法让我们放不下手机，他们的野心越来越不加掩饰。

(2) 答案：C.We should be more careful about the persuasive power of the technologies being used.
解释：Ramsay Brown认为人们应该就使用劝诱性技术的问题进行更多的讨论。

(3) 答案：B.A group that campaigns for more ethical design practices among developers.
解释：“Time Well Spent”是一个呼吁开发者在开发应用时更加注重伦理道德的组织。

(4) 答案：C.We should be aware of persuasive technologies on smartphone which is weakening our self-control.
解释：这篇文章讲述了人们为何无法抵御手机应用的诱惑，并介绍了为摆脱劝诱性技术而做出的努力。

The End

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Table of Contents

书名页

版权页

目　录

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.51

正在颠覆公共交通的Uber和Lyft

面对骚扰，她们为何沉默？

信自己还是信专家？

谷歌：搜索的灵魂？

假新闻找到了新战场

世界末日的生存之道

价值投资与阿森纳的兴衰

足球转会：金钱狂欢背后的玄机

股神凯恩斯？

用书和笔对抗恐怖主义

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.52

巴萨——加泰罗尼亚政治旗帜

殊途同归的“足球天才”

印度特色的咖喱资本主义

印度style：世界的缩影

“了不起的盖茨比陷阱”

当心“金砖”失色

哈布斯堡西班牙的启示

社交媒体改善写作？

视频时代，思考不再？

保守主义教父伯克

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.53

小池百合子：日本首位女首相？

酸奶成为中国消费者新宠

让人捉急的写作能力

与魔鬼订约的电影大师

血汗工厂不便宜

八十七年前···

经济自由主义地基牢固

大数据造就老大哥？

窃听风暴袭击全球？

学习德国好榜样

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.54

止痛药物不再是中国的禁忌

日本人如何为核战争做准备？

雨天基金与英国银行业

改写历史无助于复兴日本

统制主义，天降杀机？

“大卫·斯托克曼现象”

民粹登场，民主靠边？

弗爵爷传奇是怎样炼成的

百岁老人的投资智慧

撒切尔是对的

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.55

“科技城市”：颠覆创新还是痴人说梦？

苹果需要重新定义数字经济

在洪水中消弭的仇恨

印度遭遇“唐顿效应”

被咬的苹果

装备良好的养老基金？

金钱能买什么？

《林肯》载入史册

爱枪者，美国选民

“法国黑”，高级黑？

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.56

“行万里路”不会让你变成更好的人

“粉丝团”成政坛新兴力量

小可乐难倒大市长

老兵不死

经济预测，欲望永不眠

同性婚姻的真实影响

仇富潮流全球化？

中土世界的主宰

不可思议的漂流

住巴黎，毁三观

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.57

“苹果神教”的十年浮沉

监狱金曲《Let it Go》

瓜帅启示录

艰苦新世界中的微软苹果

央行的“浮士德式讨价还价”

来自俄国的失望

胡萝卜加大棒下的缅甸

新闻网站该不该收费？

金砖四国的故事

哈维·韦恩斯坦：好莱坞的衣冠禽兽

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.58

开纳粹的玩笑有什么问题？

巴黎——世界首个“后汽车时代”大都会？

好坏美丑尽在伦敦

挑战果粉信仰的新iPhone

矛盾的美国人

在年轻人中“失宠”的Facebook

安全还是自由？

3.0版的中国？

小乔治的软实力

挥之不去的帝国遗梦

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.59

谷歌的中国寻“宝”之旅

美国“梦想家”面临困境

中国式爱情保险

面对事实，交税吧美国人

远离互联网的一周

看空中国？

得不到教会祝福的婚姻

兄弟反目，家族或得益

怎样鼓励艺术创作？

副总统这个神奇的职位

英国《金融时报》原文阅读精选集Vol.60

几个词读懂德国政坛

纹身的“后悔药”

难以捉摸的战争经济学

美国人信什么？

巧舌如簧的英国佬

政策松紧之辩

如何应对反社会金融行为

中国“小皇帝”们的抗争

中产阶级的困局

在智能时代，我只希望手机“笨”一点