2017年4月高等教育自学考试全国统一命题考试

英语阅读二

试卷及解析

(课程代码 00596)

一、Reading Comprehension.(50 points,2 points for each)Directions: In this part of the test,there are five passages.Following each passage,there are five questions with four choices marked A,B,C and D.Choose the best answer and then write the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet. Passage One

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　They earn and spend，buy and sell，work and play.It’s a mass of individuals，struggling to satisfy often-conflicting goals，who set the pace for the American system.
 　　Whether the nation’s huge business machine sputters or steams ahead depends on millions of individual consumers，the real “bosses” of the American economy.
 　　People’s decisions on where to live and work，what to buy or pass over,how much to save are at the heart of the free market system.Business and government take their cues from consumers，changing plans to meet their wants and needs.
 　　Everyday,the nation’s 218 million consumers spend more than 3 billion dollars.Their purchases account for almost two-thirds of all the money spent each year,with government and business responsible for the rest.The trouble is that while people’s needs are almost endless，their incomes aren’t.
 　　Where money goes? About 70 percent of the average household’s spending goes for necessities such as housing，food，clothes and health care.To be able to afford these items and still have money left for nonessentials such as travel and entertainment，most families find themselves economizing and watching their pennies.The same problem of matching limited resources with seemingly endless demands confronts businesses and public agencies.
 　　That is what the economy is all about—making choices on how to use limited resources of money,manpower,machinery and materials,whether it involves a shopper deciding what to buy in the supermarket or a manufacturer deciding what line of goods to produce.
 　　Choices made in the economy involve a continuous tug-of-war between consumers and producers over price.
 　　If many businesses are offering a product and there is plenty of it to satisfy the needs of all consumers，a producer will be forced to sell at a price not far above costs in order to keep from being stuck with a lot of unmarketable supplies.This is why,for example，prices for fresh fruit and vegetables drop during the summer months when such produce is in great number.
 　　There is a natural ceiling on price，but it differs from one buyer to the next, depending on how much each can afford to pay and how badly he wants to buy.If a company prices its goods or services too high，some consumers will decide they’re getting too little value for the money and will put off buying.“It’s not worth that much” is the view heard in such situation.
 　　But if a respected brand of clothing or appliance is marked down during a sale，the reaction may be just the opposite：a rush of purchases.Why?“It’s a good buy for the money.” 第1题 The real “bosses” in paragraph 2 refer to________.

A.the officials

B.the consumers

C.the businessmen

D.the manufacturers

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】词义猜测题。由第二段可知，the real “bosses” of the American economy作millions of individual consumers的同位语。故选B。

第2题 What can we learn from paragraph 3

A.The government tends to dominate the market.

B.The manufacturers ignore the consumers’ demands.

C.The businessmen take over the American economy completely.

D.The consumers’ decisions take the key role in the American economy.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】事实细节题。由第三段第一句可知，人们决定住在哪儿，在哪里工作，买什么或者不买什么，节省多少钱，都是自由市场体系的核心。故选D。

第3题 The average Americans spend most of their money on________.

A.stocks

B.necessities

C.education

D.entertainment

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】事实细节题。由第五段第二句可知，普通家庭约70%的开销花在了生活必需品上，例如住房、食物、衣服和医疗等。故选B。

第4题 In paragraph 7，a “tug-of-war” implies a sort of________.

A.fight

B.conflict

C.bargaining

D.cooperation

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】词义猜测题。在第七段中，由关键词consumers and producers over price可知，tug-of-war的意思为a sort of bargaining。故选C。

第5题 A producer sometimes has to sell his products at a very low price to avoid________.

A.having a heavy stock

B.having a short supply

C.causing a price war

D.losing his profit

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】事实细节题。由第八段第一句可知，如果许多企业提供一种产品，市场上有许多此类产品来满足所有消费者的需求，那么生产者将会被迫以略高于成本价的价格卖出，避免被大量滞销产品束缚住。故选A。