另一个快速成长的糖业公司ETH Bioenergia的路易斯·佩雷拉·德阿劳约说，市场对于乙醇的需求量在过去的一年中增长了17%，比糖的增长要快得多。并且，多亏灵活燃料型汽车的销量上涨，这类汽车既可用汽油也可用乙醇驱动，这一增长仍将持续。不仅如此，巴西的糖甘蔗种植商协会乐观地认为欧美国家将最终降低对巴西乙醇的进口关税，如果这种情况发生，那么巴西的种植商、压榨商及蒸馏商将更加喜上眉梢。





Unit 4


Most economists hate gold．Not，you understand，that they would turn up their noses at a bar or two．But they find the reverence in which many hold the metal almost irrational．That it was used as money for millennia is irrelevant: it isn’t any more．Modern money takes the form of paper or，more often，electronic data．To economists，gold is now just another commodity.

So why is its price soaring? Over the past week，this has topped $450 a troy ounce，up by 9% since the beginning of the year and 77% since April 2001．Ah，comes the reply，gold transactions are denominated in dollars，and the rise in the price simply reflects the dollar's fall in terms of other currencies，especially the euro，against which it hit a new low this week．Expressed in euros，the gold price has moved much less．However，there is no iron link，as it were，between the value of the dollar and the value of gold．A rising price of gold，like that of anything else，can reflect an increase in demand as well as a depreciation of its unit of account.

This is where gold bulls come in．The fall in the dollar is important，but mainly because as a store of value the dollar stinks．With a few longish rallies，the greenback has been on a downward trend since it came off the gold standard in 1971．Now it is suffering one of its sharper declines．At the margin，extra demand has come from those who think dollars—indeed any money backed by nothing more than promises to keep inflation low—a decidedly risky investment，mainly because America，with the world's reserve currency，has been able to create and borrow so many of them. The least painful way of repaying those dollars is to make them worth less.

The striking exception to this extra demand comes from central banks，which would like to sell some of the gold they already have．As a legacy of the days when their currencies were backed by the metal，central banks still hold one-fifth of the world's gold．Last month the Bank of France said it would sell 500 tonnes in coming years．But big sales by central banks can cause the price to plunge—as when the Bank of England sold 395 tonnes between 1999 and 2002．The result was an agreement between central banks to co-ordinate and limit future sales.

If the price of gold marches higher，this agreement will presumably be ripped up，although a dollar crisis might make central banks think twice about switching into paper money．Will the overhang of central-bank gold drag the price down again? Not necessarily．As James Grant，gold bug and publisher of Grant's Interest Rate Observer，a newsletter，points out，in recent years the huge glut of government debt has not stopped a sharp rise in its price.


注（1）：本文选自Economist；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象：第1题模仿2015年真题Text 1第2题，第2、3题分别模仿2015年真题Text 4第3、2题，第4、5题分别模仿2013年真题Text 1第3题和2006年真题Text 1第3题。



1．In economists’ eyes，gold is something ______.

A) they look down upon

B) that can be exchanged in the market

C) worth people's reverence

D) that should be replaced by other forms of money

2．According to the author，one of the reasons for the rising of gold price is ______.

A) the increasing demand for gold

B) the depreciation of the euro

C) the link between the dollar and gold

D) the increment of the value of the dollar

3．We can infer from the third Paragraph that ______.

A) the decline of the dollar is inevitable

B) America benefits from the depreciation of the dollar

C) the depreciation of the dollar is good news to other currencies

D) investment in the dollar yields more returns than that in gold

4．The phrase“ripped up” (Line 1，Paragraph 5) most probably means ______.

A) strengthened

B) broadened

C) renegotiated

D) torn up

5．According to the passage，the rise of gold price ______.

A) will not last long

B) will attract some central banks to sell gold

C) will impel central banks to switch into paper money

D) will lead to a dollar crisis





篇章剖析


本篇文章采用了提出问题——分析问题的模式，分析了金价上涨、美元下跌的经济态势。第一段说明黄金是一种商品；第二段分析了金价上涨的原因：金价的上涨反映了需求的增加以及计价单位的贬值；第三段分析了美元下跌的原因；第四段分析了各国央行的反应；最后一段对金价继续上扬可能带来的影响进行了分析。





词汇注释


reverence /ˈrevərəns/ n. 崇敬，尊敬

millennia /mɪˈlenɪə/ n. （millennium的复数）一千年

soaring /ˈsɔːrɪŋ/ adj. 剧增的，猛增的

troy ounce 金衡制

denominate/dɪˈnɒmɪneɪt/ v. 以…面值发行，以某种给定的货币单位发行或表达

euro /ˈjʊərəʊ/ n. 欧元

depreciation /dɪˌpriːʃiˈeɪʃn/ n. 跌价；贬值

bull /bʊl/ n. 买空；（做）多头

stink /stɪŋk/ v. 发出臭味

longish /ˈlɒŋɪʃ/ adj. 相当长的

rally /ˈræli/ n. （行情、价格等）跌后复升

greenback /ˈɡrɪːnbæk/ n. 美钞

tonne /tʌn/ n. 公吨（=1,000公斤或称 metric ton）

rip up 撕毁；取消

overhang /ˌəʊvəˈhæŋ/ n. 突出量





难句突破


At the margin，extra demand has come from those who think dollars—indeed any money backed by nothing more than promises to keep inflation low—a decidedly risky investment，mainly because America，with the world's reserve currency，has been able to create and borrow so many of them.

主体句式：Extra demand has come because...

结构分析：本句是一个复杂句，from这个介词所引导的状语中包含一个who 引导的定语从句，一个插入语，主句之后是一个because引导的原因状语从句。nothing more than的意思是“只不过，仅仅”。

句子译文：美元贬值的额外需求来自于那些认为美元——实际上是任何一种依靠抑制通胀的许诺来支撑的货币——无疑是一种高风险投资的人，主要因为美国拥有美元这一世界储备货币，而且一直能够制造和借来很多美元。





题目分析


1．B 细节题。文章第一段提到经济学家不喜欢黄金的原因是人们对黄金缺乏理性的崇拜。在他们看来，黄金只不过是一种商品，也就是可以在市场上交换的东西。

2．A 细节题。文章第二段分析了金价上涨的两个主要原因：金价用美元表示，而美元相对于其他货币贬值了；市场对黄金需求的增加。

3．B 推理题。根据文章第三段，美国因为拥有美元这一世界储备货币，而且一直能够制造和借来很多美元。要偿还这些美元，最不费力的方式就是让美元贬值。可见，从这个角度来看，美元贬值对美国是有益的事情。

4．D 语义题。根据文章第四段，为了防止出现一国央行大量抛售黄金导致金价下跌的情况，各国央行达成协议，协调和限制今后的黄金销售。如果金价持续上涨，很可能一些央行会再次抛售黄金（文中提到法国央行出售黄金的决定），那样各国央行之间的协议就会被破坏。因此，根据上下文，“ripped up”最有可能的意思就是“torn up”（撕毁）。

5．B 细节题。根据文章第四段，在许多买家大量买入黄金的同时，许多央行却打算将他们囤积的黄金出售。文章第五段说，如果金价继续上扬，各国央行之间用于协调和限制未来黄金销售的协议将会被打破，也就是说金价的上涨会吸引各国央行出售黄金。





参考译文



大多数经济学家都讨厌黄金。要知道，这可不是因为他们瞧不起一两块金条，而是因为他们发现许多人对这种金属的崇拜几乎到了毫无理性的地步。它被用作千禧年的货币是另外一回事：何况那已经是明日黄花了。现代货币采用的是纸币的形式，或者更多时候直接采用电子数据的形式。对经济学家来说，黄金现在只是另外一种商品。

那么为什么金价会大幅上涨呢？在过去一周里，每金衡（1金衡约31.1025克）的价格达到了450美元，比年初上涨了9%，而比2001年4月则上涨了77%。啊，答案揭晓了，黄金交易是以美元来计数的，价格的上涨只是反映了美元对其他货币比价的下跌，尤其是对欧元的比价，本周美元对欧元的比价再创新低。用欧元计数的话，金价的波动要小得多。然而，美元价值和黄金价值之间似乎并没有固定联系。像其他任何东西的价格一样，金价的上涨可以反映需求的增加以及计价单位的贬值。

因此就出现了黄金买空。美元的下跌之所以重要，主要是因为作为一种保值手段美钞可谓臭名昭著。自从1971年脱离金本位，美元就一直处于跌势，其间只有为数不多的几次为期稍长的跌后复升。这一次跌幅更大。美元贬值的额外需求来自于那些认为美元——实际上是任何一种依靠抑制通胀的许诺来支撑的货币——无疑是一种高风险投资的人，主要因为美国拥有美元这一世界储备货币，而且一直能够制造和借来很多美元。要偿还这些美元，最不费力的方式就是让美元贬值。

各国中央银行的反应跟这种额外需求正好形成鲜明对照。这些银行都想把手里的黄金卖掉一些。以前各国货币都依靠这种金属，历史承袭的结果就是各国中央银行的黄金储量是世界黄金总量的五分之一。上个月，法国中央银行宣布即将在未来几年出售500吨黄金。不过中央银行大量出售黄金会导致金价猛跌——1999年至2002年之间英格兰银行出售395吨黄金时就发生过这种情况。其结果是各国央行达成协议，协调限制今后的销售。

如果金价继续上扬，这个协议就会被破坏，虽然一场美元危机会让各国央行在转向纸币经营问题上慎之又慎。那么央行所储备的大量黄金是否会将金价再次拉下来呢？那倒不一定。正如时事通讯《格兰特利率观察家》的出版人兼黄金迷詹姆斯·格兰特所指出的，最近几年政府的巨额债务并未阻止金价的大幅上涨。





Unit 5


No one can accuse Howard Schultz of inaction since he returned as chief executive of Starbucks，the firm he built into a multinational only to watch it stumble under his successor．Barely a month has gone by over the past year without the firm announcing some new initiative or other．The latest came on February 17th in New York，when Mr Schultz unveiled Via，an instant coffee which，he claims，tastes just as good as Java brewed in the shop by one of the firm's baristas．

Mr Schultz hopes to win a share of the $17 billion or so the world spends on instant coffee—a product which，he sniffs，has not improved in decades．Starbucks itself has spent 20 years pursuing the holy grail of an instant coffee that tastes as good as the fresh stuff．Don Valencia，the firm's first head of research and development，who created the blended and frozen frappuccino drinks that earn Starbucks $2 billion a year，could never find a way to scale up an instant formula he had developed at home. When Mr Schultz returned as chief executive，he noticed that there had been some technological advances，allowing finer grinding，for example．So he asked the R&D team to repeat the recently deceased Valencia's experiments，and found that“we had broken the code”．The name Via is a hat-tip to Valencia—though during development it was known as Jaws (just add water，stir)．

Starbucks says it has patents that should prevent competitors from quickly replicating Via，which will go on sale in some American stores next month．The opportunity may，however，be biggest in other countries: in Britain over 80% of coffee sold is instant，compared with just 10% in America．

Assuming Starbucks drinkers decide that Via tastes good，the company will have to get the price right．At first，it will come in packets of 12 or 3 individual servings，for 83 and 98 cents a cup respectively．That is much more than other instants，but much less than a cup of coffee at one of Starbucks’ stores．The risk is that the firm's existing customers may abandon counter service and start making their own cup of instant．That would encourage them to visit Starbucks less often，a trend that is already gathering pace with the recession．For the first time in Starbucks’ history，same-store sales have fallen.

Mr Schultz has had to accelerate the store-closure programme that he had started in order to correct the over-expansion which prompted his return to the helm．To keep customers coming to remaining outlets，he might experiment with discounts such as cheap“combination meals” of a drink and food．He also wants a visit to a Starbucks shop to be a“uniquely uplifting experience”．Improving the smell in stores by changing the cheese used in breakfast sandwiches was a start．But ensuring that staff are enthusiastic will be especially difficult when jobs are disappearing．Mr Schultz remains hostile to unions，but has decided to maintain the firm's popular health benefits，while cutting his own pay．

Will all this be enough? So far，investors seem sceptical: Starbucks’ share price remains barely a quarter of its all-time high in 2006.


注（1）：本文选自Economist；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象：第1题模仿2006年真题Text 1第4题，第2题模仿2006年真题Text 1第1题，第3题模仿2015年真题Text 1第2题，第4、5题模仿2007年真题Text 2第1、5题。



1．The reason why the author maintains that Howard Schultz should not be blamed of inaction is most probably because ______.

A) he would not allow his successor to destroy Starbucks

B) Starbucks spent the entire last year developing the new instant coffee

C) the new instant coffee is of the same quality as that brewed in the shop

D) he launched the new instant coffee after his return

2．The word“hat-tip” （Line 8，Paragraph 2）most probably means ______.

A) reward

B) achievement

C) surprise

D) tribute

3．The risk of launching the instant coffee Via is that______.

A) it can be quickly imitated by market competitors

B) customers may patronize Starbucks store less

C) it may fail to cater to customers’ taste

D) the high price will prohibit people from mass purchase

4．According to the text，which of the following was a common practice in Starbucks before?

A) Starbucks hired baristas to guarantee the quality of the coffee brewed.

B) Starbucks was a major player in the market of instant coffee.

C) Starbucks provided“combination meals” with fair discounts.

D) In Starbucks，employees had a high pressure of losing job.

5．The author's attitude towards Schultz's new measures seems to be ______.

A) biased

B) critical

C) objective

D) pessimistic





篇章剖析


本篇文章主要介绍星巴克创始人霍华德·舒尔茨重返公司担任首席执行官，通过推出一款速溶咖啡产品以及采取其他一系列措施，意图重振公司雄风。第一段开宗明义，指出舒尔茨一回到工作岗位就积极行动，推出一款速溶咖啡；第二段详细介绍了这款速溶咖啡研发以及命名的过程；第三、四段从正反两方面分析了这款咖啡的市场前景；第五段介绍了舒尔茨采取的其他措施；最后一段则指出，投资者们对这一系列新举措的效果持不太乐观的态度。





词汇注释


inaction /ɪnˈækʃn/ n. 无作为，无行动，不采取措施

multinational /ˌmʌltiˈnæʃnəl/ n. 跨国公司

stumble /ˈstʌmbl/ v. 绊脚；蹒跚而行

brew /bruː/ v. 煮（咖啡）；泡（茶）

barista /bəˈrɪstə/ n. 咖啡师

sniff /snɪf/ v. 嗤之以鼻

grail /greɪl/ n. 努力追求的理想目标

grind /graɪnd/ v. 磨碎，碾碎 ；把…磨成粉

decease /dɪˈsiːs/ v. 死亡，亡故

serving /ˈsɜːvɪŋ/ n. （食物或饮料的）一份

helm /helm/ n. 舵；掌管

hostile /ˈhɒstaɪl/ adj. 怀有敌意的，不友善的





难句突破


Don Valencia，the firm's first head of research and development，who created the blended and frozen frappuccino drinks that earn Starbucks $2 billion a year，could never find a way to scale up an instant formula he had developed at home.

主体句式：Don Valencia...could never find a way to...

结构分析：本句是一个复合句，主句为Don Valencia could never find a way to scale up an instant formula。句中的the firm's first head of research and development为主语的同位语，用来补充说明主语Don Valencia的身份。同位语后面是一个由who 引导的定语从句，用来修饰主语；此定语从句中又包含了一个定语从句that earn Starbucks $2 billion a year，用来修饰the blended and frozen frappuccino drinks。句末的he had developed at home是一个省略了关系代词which/that的定语从句，用来修饰an instant formula。

句子译文：星巴克公司研发部的首席研发负责人唐·巴伦西亚曾研发出了混合冷冻的星冰乐咖啡，这款咖啡每年为星巴克赚得20亿美元。他在家中研发出一个速溶咖啡配方，却一直无法找到将其规模化生产的方法。





题目分析


1．D 细节题。第一段开门见山地指出人们不应该指责舒尔茨无所作为，并在接下来的两句话里说明了原因。在星巴克陷入困境的情况下，舒尔茨重返公司并推出了一款速溶咖啡，行动非常迅速，因此D正确。A的内容文章中没有明确提到。B的内容错误，文章第二段介绍了新产品的研发过程，第二句话提到了星巴克耗时20年研发顶级速溶咖啡。C是一个细节信息，是舒尔茨对新产品的评价，但并不符合题意。

2．D 语义题。这款速溶咖啡的名称Via是由研发人的名字Valencia的首字母和末尾两个字母组成的，同时结合上一句中“recently deceased Valencia”（刚刚过世的巴伦西亚），可以推出这样命名是为了向Valencia致敬。选项D中tribute意为“（尤指对死者的）致敬”，因此该选项是正确答案。A选项reward意为“奖励”；B选项achievement意为“成果”；C选项surprise意为“惊喜”，均不符合句意。

3．B 细节题。文章第四段讨论了星巴克推出速溶咖啡的风险，其中第三句明确提出the risk是指“公司现有的顾客可能会放弃柜台服务，转而自己冲泡速溶咖啡。这将使他们去星巴克门店消费的次数减少”，B选项中“patronize”这个词的意思是“光顾”，即使不知道这个词的意思也可以通过排除法得出正确答案。文章第三段提到，星巴克申请了专利，以防止竞争者迅速仿制，因此A不正确。文中未明确表示消费者是否喜欢这种速溶咖啡的口味，只是assume（假设）消费者认为好喝，因此C不正确。第四段虽然也提到了这款速溶咖啡价格较同类产品更贵，但由于其价格低于在门店消费的价格，也无法说这就是其风险，因此D不正确。

4．A 推理题。这题要求推断选项中哪个是星巴克以前的做法，可以通过排除法找到正确答案。文章提到星巴克第一次推出速溶咖啡，因此该公司以前并不涉足这块市场，可以排除B。第五段指出舒尔茨的新举措包括了各种打折优惠，这说明星巴克以前并不这么做，可以排除C。第五段也指出由于舒尔茨目前正加快关闭部分门店，以纠正过去过度的扩张，因此员工们面临失去工作的压力，这并不是星巴克的长期做法，因此D也可以排除。从文章第一段最后一句话可以看出，由咖啡师做出香醇的咖啡是星巴克的传统做法和特色。