injection /ɪnˈdʒekʃn/ n. 注射，注入

expatriate /ˌeksˈpætriət/ n. 移居国外者





难句突破


Asia’s dueling financial hubs invest a lot of capital—real and emotional—in what’s often cast as a zero-sum contest for the affection of foreign companies.

主体句式：Asia’s financial hubs invest in...

结构分析：该句结构并不复杂，但是其中修饰成分较多，容易引起混淆。两个破折号中间的“real and emotional”用来补充修饰前面提到的“capital”。此外，invest in这个短语后面通常跟的都是sth.，而句中的sth. 就是what引导的主语从句。

句子译文：这两个竞争激烈的亚洲金融枢纽为了赢得外国公司的青睐，都在所谓的零和竞争（零和竞争原意指一种技术的应用带来的市场份额上的增加，必然会导致另一种技术在市场份额上的减少，双方加起来的总变化量为零）上投入了大量资金——不论是实际的还是情感上的。





题目分析


1. D 细节题。文章第一段提到的香港那些富裕的移民们开始冒汗是一种比喻的说法，意指他们开始变得紧张，后面指出问题所在是由于房价现在高得离谱，使得他们现在的生活开始变得不像以前那么轻松舒适。可见，令他们紧张的是上涨的房价。

2. A 推理题。文章第二段第一句话中的“dueling”含有“决斗、竞争”的意思，说明了两座城市都视对方为竞争者。B选项的错误原因在于文章并没有指出因为土地的限制，两座城市应该限制外国人的进入。C选项的错误在于所谓的“瓶颈”并不在于其城市基础设施建设没能赢得外国公司的偏爱，而是两座城市已经赢得了外国公司的偏爱，但是由于租金过高迫使他们不得不离开。D错误的原因是这里的态度既不是悲观，也不是乐观，只是客观地指出了问题所在。

3. B 细节题。根据文章第三段，随着外来人口的增多，两座城市的本地人口住得越来越拥挤，可见本地人的居住环境正在变差。A和C选项的错误原因在于文章并没有指出本地人不欢迎外地人或者对政府不满意。D选项错误是因为文章第三段第一句话指出就业几乎已经饱和，但并不是完全饱和。

4. A 细节题。第四段第四句指出“不断刷新纪录的贸易顺差、中国的不断扩张，以及无数新上市的股票，所有这些都使得这个地区充斥着各种资金”，答案显而易见。而A选项中的“注册新公司效率高”的直接效果应该是促进本地商业与贸易的繁荣，资金的增加只是一个间接的效果。

5. A 推理题。根据文章最后一段，两座城市的政治家们都希望进一步扩大本地的人口规模，以促进经济的发展。考虑到前文指出两地目前的人口和土地之间已经产生了尖锐的矛盾，可以推出未来随着人口的增长，这一冲突将会更加严重。B选项的错误在于文章的结论并没有指出两座城市的人口增长计划无法实现，相反，其领导人对于人口增加显得相当有信心。C选项与文中意思相左，不是本地人拒绝进入跨国公司，而是现在大部分外国人都倾向于到中小型公司工作。D选项陈述也与文意不符，因为文章并不认为外国人会破坏当地经济。





参考译文


那些居住在亚洲金融中心的富有移民们普遍过着非常轻松的生活。但是今年夏天，连中国香港和新加坡的富人们也开始焦虑了。问题在哪里呢？过热的房地产市场甚至令银行家们都感到惊讶，许多国际学校更是拥挤得像高峰时段的东京地铁。香港大部分豪华高楼中的一居室房租现高达每月5000美元。新加坡的写字楼房租在过去的一年中更是上涨了105个百分点——这是世界上最快的升值率。对于那些有孩子的雇员来说，情况尤为窘迫。香港的国际学校中那些新来的学生们现在无法直接被分到班级中，而必须要在长长的等待列表中排队——除非他们的父母插队来购买售价高达12万美元的债券。

这两个竞争激烈的亚洲金融枢纽为了赢得外国公司的青睐，都在所谓的“零和竞争”上投入了大量资金——不论是实际的还是情感上的。两座城市在吸引外国公司上都做得非常成功，但是现在对于他们来说，最大的威胁不是来自于对方，而是来自一个共同的问题，即为外国人进行基础设施建设的瓶颈。高档住房的花费正在突破1997~1998年亚洲金融危机前的纪录，以至于新加坡国父李光耀感慨道：“我们必须要控制房租的高涨，否则我们会失去竞争力。”

这两个经济体几乎都已经实现了充分就业，因此寻找人才也变得更加困难。写字楼的房租高到连最有钱的投资银行都开始在市中心以外的地方寻找更加便宜的办公室。在接下来的10年中，这两座城市都通过吸引成千上万的移民来增加其人口规模，以至于本地人的居住环境越来越拥挤。新加坡议会的国家发展委员会主席查尔斯·宋警告道：“如果新加坡人觉得因为外国人的到来使得价格变得如此高昂，那么这就有了一个政治成本。”

从某种意义上来说，这两座城市都是自身成功的受害者。它们都是这个星球上注册新公司最高效的地方。它们以拥有世界级的金融、会计和法律服务为豪，并充分尊重合同和商业法规，这在亚洲的其他地方是见不到的。不断刷新纪录的贸易顺差、中国的不断扩张，以及无数新上市的股票，所有这些都使得这两座城市充斥着各种资金，从而推动着它们以令人难以置信的速度发展，去年香港和新加坡的GDP分别增长了6.8个和7.9个百分点。

由于当地的出生率不断降低，这两个金融枢纽都希望继续通过吸引移民来推动增长。新加坡的国家发展部长马宝山希望这个城市国家的人口到2027年能够达到650万，即比现在增加200万人——这意味着在接下来的20年中，新加坡每年要输入10万外国人。香港行政长官曾荫权曾经表示，他希望这座城市的人口能够最终突破1000万——即比现在的人口总数增长30%——且人口增长将包括“来自各个国家的新鲜血液”。随着两座城市更加接受外来人口，一些新的因素保证了将会有更大规模的移民迁入。过去，人们认为全球化仅限于那些大规模的跨国公司，但现在大部分移民却都是在为小型和中型的公司工作。这些移民也不再是主要来自于欧洲和北美；很多的国家都在向国外输出专业人才，其中包括中国、印度和韩国。





Unit 9


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；

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 under his leadership there is a sign that the company will soon stop losing money.

B) Because Airbus put on a good show in Paris in which it received a large number of orders.

C) Because Airbus launches its recovery plan that would surely bring a great amount of profit.

D) Because the company is in better situation as it succeeded in slowing down the annual loss.

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 mastering advanced technology that can compete with or excel Boeing.

B) By receiving more financial and other kinds of support from the partner governments.

C) By adopting the RSP model so as to cut costs and improve the efficiency of its working process.

D) By reducing cost through its recovery plan and relevant policies.

4. What is Boeing’s strategy of cutting cost?

A) It outsources a large portion of work to its partners.

B) It invests in 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客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；第三段说明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状态。





词汇注释


successive /səkˈsesɪv/ adj. 继承的，连续的

plunge /plʌndʒ/ vi. 投入，跳进，陷入

bloat /bləʊt/ v. （使）膨胀，肿起

auction /ˈɔːkʃn/ vt. 拍卖

roll-out /ˈrəʊˌaʊt/ n. 出场，推出

composite /ˈkɒmpəzɪt/ adj. 合成的，复合的

titanium /tɪˈteɪniəm/ n. 【化】钛

bemoan /bɪˈməʊn/ vt. 哀叹

outsource /ˈaʊtˌsɔːs/ v. 外包

duopoly /djʊːˈɒpəli/ 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：本句开头的短语“Five years behind the 787”是用来形容A350的，“which will enter service next year”作为定语从句修饰“the 787”，增加了句子的难度。后面的but引导一个转折句，句中包含了一个由that引导的定语从句，来修饰design。

句子译文：比明年投入使用的波音787晚五年的A350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A350把CRP板挂在钛框架上。





题目分析


1. D 细节题。文章第二段第一句话说明空中客车公司该年的年度亏损小于去年，公司的状况开始变好，因此D选项正确。A选项的错误原因是，并没有迹象显示公司将会停止亏损。B选项的错误原因在于，尽管文章第一段指出空客在巴黎航空展上表现不错，但是订单的增加并不是从航空展上得到的。C选项的错误原因是文中第二段提到的公司恢复计划能够节约成本，并没有提到会带来很大利润。

2. A 情感态度题。文章第三段最后一句指出，波音公司认为A350可能跟波音787一样轻，但是却不如波音787舒适，而且前者比后者更难维修，这说明波音公司并不看好空客即将推出的A350，或者说，波音公司是带着吹毛求疵的态度看待A350机型的性能，认为其不仅不够完美，而且不及波音787的各项优点。

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，充足的政府支持是波音能够一直保持行业领先地位的重要因素。因此加洛瓦希望与空客合作的四个国家的政府也能够增加对空客的投资，从而以增强其竞争力。

4. A 细节题。本题的关键是波音公司如何降低成本，而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，因此答案为A。B和C选项都是波音保持强劲发展势头的原因，但不是降低成本的原因。

5. C 语义题。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状态，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，说明作者认为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个月内的第三任首席执行官。但是他仍然声称：“我可以充满信心地告诉你们，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多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，同时疲软的美元突显了公司的高成本问题。现在公司实施了“Power8”恢复计划，目的在于通过裁员1万人、并把6个工厂拍卖给合作伙伴等措施，从而每年节约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积极的姿态。波音787销售已经十分成功，该机型在下个月正式出场之前就已经收到了超过630架的订单。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振奋。比明年投入使用的波音787晚五年的A350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A350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，且这款机型比较难维修。

加洛瓦先生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，加洛瓦先生也感叹其对手拥有政府的研发支持优势。他声称波音每年得到的资金为8亿美元，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6亿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，最重要的是市场保持强劲，而且公司要处理其成本的问题。这可能要求空客进一步去模仿波音的风险分担伙伴（RSP）模式，尽管这也许超出了空客的预期。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在过去十年里依旧岿然不动。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它们的合作伙伴和客户。但是这种局面也是会改变的。





Unit 10


Focus on what you do best. This age-old strategy has worked well for RealNetworks, Microsoft’s main competitor in multimedia software for the Internet. Now, the smaller Seattle-based firm is trying a novel way to contain the software giant. On October 29th, it released the underlying recipe, or source-code, of its RealPlayer software and will soon do the same for its other programs—giving away a big chunk of its intellectual property.

This may sound like a desperate echo of 1998, when Netscape, struggling in Microsoft’s chokehold, published the source-code of its web browser (an initiative that yielded few real results until this June, when the first serious new version of the open-source browser, Mozilla, was released). Yet RealNetworks is not playing defence. It is trying to encourage the creation of a common multimedia software infrastructure for every kind of file format and device, thus thwarting Microsoft’s ambitions in this promising market.

The firm hopes that others in the industry（volunteer programmers, media firms and hardware makers）will take the code, called Helix DNA, improve it and make it run on new devices, such as mobile phones and home stereos, turning RealNetworks’ software into an industry standard. Clever licensing terms are supposed to ensure that this standard does not splinter and that the firm still makes money.

Individual developers, universities and other non-profit organisations can modify the software as they please, and even redistribute it for free, so long as they also publish the source-code for their changes. This is a sort of payment in kind, for RealNetworks is then allowed to use these contributions. Firms, on the other hand, must pay royalty fees if they distribute more than 1m copies of the code. They also have to make sure that their software works with other Helix DNA products. The software’s development community already has 2,000 members. And several hardware makers back the effort. But there are risks. Afraid of piracy, media groups are suspicious of anything that might be related to hackers（although they also do not want to depend on, and pay for, technology controlled by Microsoft）. The self-created competition could also hurt RealNetworks if customers decide its commercial products, which will be based on the open source-code but with extra features, are not worth paying extra for.

RealNetworks’ move is another sign that the software industry is going hybrid. Mixing elements of proprietary software, where the source-code is tightly controlled, with open-source programs enables firms to expand a market, harvest the ideas of others and, they hope, still make money. Even Microsoft is edging this way: it recently announced that partners can now look at—but not modify or reuse—the source-code for Passport, its controversial digital-identity service.

注（1）：本文选自Economist；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2004年真题Text 1。



1. What is the RealNetworks’ new way of stopping Microsoft?

A) By selling its intellectual property.

B) By doing what it is good at.