2008年考研英语阅读理解冲刺重点预测25篇 （第4篇）

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2008年考研英语阅读理解冲刺重点预测25篇

第4篇

Whatever else, Airbus cannot be accused of failing to put on a brave face at this week's Paris Air Show, held every two years. Louis Gallois is the troubled European airframe-maker's third chief executive within 12 months. But still he declared: “I can tell you with full confidence that Airbus is back and fully back.” Supporting his confident public message was an extraordinary flow of orders and commitments for over 600 aircraft accumulated in time for the show by the firm's super-salesman, John Leahy.
Although it is heading for a second successive loss—last year it plunged 572m ($718m) into the red—Airbus is undoubtedly in better shape than it was 12 months ago when wiring problems delayed the A380 and the weak dollar exposed the firm's bloated cost base. It has begun the “Power8” recovery plan, intended to save 2 billion annually by cutting 10,000 jobs and auctioning off six factories to partners. And the giant A380 will begin commercial service with Singapore Airlines in the autumn, although being two years late.
In the contest between the twin-engined wide-body Boeing 787 and the A350 XWB, Mr Gallois struggles to be as positive. The 787 is already a sales phenomenon, with over 630 firm orders even before the plane's roll-out next month. The airlines are excited by its revolutionary use of a composite material called carbon-reinforced plastic (CRP). Five years behind the 787, which will enter service next year, the A350 contains a similar share of composite material, but is based on a less advanced structural design that involves hanging CRP panels on a titanium frame. Boeing acknowledges that the A350 may be as light as the 787, but argues that it will be a less pleasant plane to fly in and a more difficult one to maintain.
Mr Gallois admits that following Boeing's approach would have been too expensive and risky for Airbus. At the same time Mr Gallois bemoaned the advantage his rival has in government-supported research and development. Boeing, he claims, receives about $800m a year—ten times as much as Airbus. Earlier in the week, during meetings with ministers representing the four Airbus partners (France, Germany, Britain and Spain), he asked them to fund half the company's planned 600m-a-year investment in research and technology. He is not hopeful.
But for the moment what matters most for Airbus is that the market stays strong and that it gets to grips with its costs. This may require going further in imitating Boeing's risk-sharing partner (RSP) model than Airbus seems willing to contemplate. According to some estimates, about 80% of the work on the 787 is outsourced to RSPs, saving Boeing both precious development time and working capital.
What this week has shown is that for all the success of the 787 and the mistakes of Airbus, the competitive duopoly of the past decade is still firmly in place. But will things stay that way? That depends partly on whether Airbus really has learnt its lessons and partly on who else wants to get into the game. Boeing reckons that in 20 years, 36% of the market will be in the Asia-Pacific region. For the time being, the Chinese, the Indians and others are happy to be partners and customers. But that could change.
注（1）：本文选自Economist, 07/23/2007
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2004年真题Text 3。

1． How can Louis Gallois be confident that Airbus is “fully back”?
  [A] Because the company stops losing money.
    [B] Because Airbus put on a good show in Paris.
    [C] Because Airbus launches its recovery plan.
    [D] Because the company is in better situation.

2． How does Boeing feel about the coming A350 by Airbus?
  [A] Critical
    [B] Indifferent
    [C] Optimistic
    [D] Supportive

3．According to Mr Gallois, how can Airbus catch up with Boeing?
  [A] By learning technology from Boeing.
    [B] By receiving more fund from the governments.
    [C] By adopting the RSP model.
    [D] By reducing cost.

4． What is Boeing’s strategy of cutting cost?
  [A] It gives some work to its partners.
    [B] It invests on technology research and development.
    [C] It receives much support from the government.
    [D] It expands production by looking for more orders.

5． By “But will things stay that way?” (Line 2, Paragraph 6), the author means _______.
    [A] Airbus might make more mistakes.
    [B] the markets in Asia-Pacific region might shrink.
    [C] the competitive duopoly by Boeing and Airbus might change.
    [D] Chinese and Indians might become the two companies’ strong competitors.


篇章剖析
    本文是一篇说明文，主要讲述了欧洲空中汽车公司在和美国波音公司的竞争中遇到的麻烦和困难。第一段通过巴黎航空展和空客首席执行官的态度来引出话题；第二段描述了空中客车现在面临的具体困境；第三段则刻画了空客在和波音公司之间的竞争中处于下风；第四、五段简要分析了空客不敌波音的一些原因；第六段总结说明了两家公司仍然处于竞争垄断市场的局面。

词汇注释
successive [sEk`sesiv] adj. 继承的, 连续的   composite [`kRmpEzit] adj. 合成的, 复合的
plunge [plQndV] vi. 投入, 跳进, 陷入       titanium [tai`teinjEm] n. [化]钛
bloat [blEut] vi. 膨胀, 肿起               bemoan [bi`mEun] vt. 哀叹
auction [`R:kFEn] vt. 拍卖                 outsource [`aUt7sR:s] v. 外包
roll-out n.出场、推出         duopoly [dju`RpEli] n. 两家卖主垄断市场(的局面)

难句突破
Five years behind the 787, which will enter service next year, the A350 contains a similar share of composite material, but is based on a less advanced structural design that involves hanging CRP panels on a titanium frame.

主体句式  The A350 contains a similar share of composite material.
结构分析  本句是简单句。开头的两个短语“Five years behind the 787”和“which will enter service next year”都是用来形容A350的，放在前面增加了句子的难度。后面but引导一个转折句，句中包含了一个定语从句，以that引导，来修饰design。
句子译文  将于明年开始服务的A350比波音787晚了五年，它拥有一种类似的合成材料，但是这种材料所基于的技术不如波音787先进，即把CRP板挂在钛框架上。

题目分析
1．D. 推理题。

2．A. 态度题。文章第三段最后一句，波音公司指出A350不如波音787非常舒适，而且比后者更难操作，这说明波音公司并不看好空客即将推出的A350。

3．B. 细节题。文章第四段中，加洛瓦感叹波音公司每年从政府得到的研发支持和资金是空客的10倍，因此加洛瓦要求空客的四个合作国家的政府也增加对空客的投资，以增强其竞争力。

4．A. 细节题。文章第五段介绍了波音公司通过RSP模式将许多工作外包给合作伙伴，从而节约了工作资金，降低了成本。

5．C. 推理题。在“But will things stay that way?”这句话之前，文章表明这两家公司仍然处于竞争垄断市场的局面，后文又继续说明了有可能导致这种局面有所变化的一些因素。这句话处在中间的衔接位置，说明了作者认为对于这种状况不一定能够长期持续下去。

参考译文
    无论如何，我们不能说空中客车在这周举办的两年一度的巴黎航空展表现不佳。路易·加洛瓦是这个遇到麻烦的欧洲飞机制造商12个月内的第三个首席执行官。但是他声称：“我可以充满信心的告诉你们，空中客车回来了，完全地回来了。”他之所以发表如此充满信心的讲话，是因为该公司的超级销售员约翰·雷义在航展前及时地拉到了600架飞机的大规模订单和合同承诺。
    尽管空中客车今年会连续第二年亏损—去年该公司的赤字为5.72亿欧元（折合7.18亿美元）—空中客车毫无疑问比12个月前的情况好得多，那个时候由于配线问题导致了A380延迟推出，同时疲软的美元凸现了公司的高成本问题。现在公司实施了“Power8”恢复计划，目的在于通过每年裁员1万人、并把6个工厂拍卖给合作伙伴等措施，从而节约20亿欧元。新加坡航空公司将在今年秋天首先把巨型的A380用于商业服务，这比原计划推迟了两年。
    在空客A350 XWB和双引擎宽体的波音787的竞争中，加洛瓦先生力图保持正面积极的态度。波音787已经成为了一个销售现象，该机型在正式出场之前的一个月就已经收到了   超过630家公司的订单。这款机型革命性地使用了一种叫做碳增强塑料（CRP）的合成材料，这使得航空公司都非常感到振奋。将于明年开始服务的A350比波音787晚了五年，它拥有一种类似的合成材料，但是这种材料所基于的技术不如波音787先进，即把CRP板挂在钛框架上。波音承认A350有可能和787 一样轻，但同时指出坐在A350上可能不是非常舒适，且这款机型比较难操作。
    加洛瓦承认紧跟波音的步子对空客来说成本昂贵且风险很大。同时，加洛瓦也感叹其对手拥有政府的研发支持。他声称波音每年得到的资金为80亿美元，这是空客的10倍。本周早先时候，在与空客的四家合作者（法国、德国、英国和西班牙）的部长会谈中，他要求后者为公司每年提供60亿欧元的资金用于技术研发。但是希望并不大。
    目前对于空中客车来说，最重要的是保持市场的强劲，而这关系到其成本的问题。这可能要求空客进一步去模仿波音的风险分担伙伴（RSP）模型，尽管这也许超出了空客预期的结果。根据一些预测数据，波音787约80%的工作外包给了RSP，这给波音节约了宝贵的研发时间和工作资金。
    本周的一系列事件告诉我们，尽管波音787取得了巨大的成功而空客犯下了一些错误，但这两家竞争公司的垄断地位依旧岿然不动。可是这种情况会一直持续下去吗？这一部分取决于空客是否真的吸取了教训，一部分取决于是否还有别的公司愿意加入这场游戏。波音估计在20年后，36%的市场在亚太地区。目前，中国人、印度人等都非常愿意成为合作伙伴和客户。但是这也是会改变的。

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