历年考研英语阅读理解mp3(01-4)

[00:00.00]在线英语听力室(www.tingroom.com)友情制作
[00:03.83]2001 Passage4
[00:06.05]The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers²
[00:08.96]and acquisitions ever witnessed.
[00:11.59]The process sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe
[00:15.52]and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might.
[00:20.45]Many in these countries are looking at
[00:22.57]this process and worrying:
[00:25.00]"Won't the wave of business concentration turn into
[00:28.42]an uncontrollable anti-competitive force?"
[00:32.85]There's no question that the big are getting bigger
[00:36.08]and more powerful.
[00:37.89]Multinational corporations accounted for less than
[00:41.22]20% of international trade in 1982.
[00:46.56]Today the figure is more than 25% and growing rapidly.
[00:52.61]International affiliates³ account for
[00:55.24]a fast-growing segment of production in economies
[00:58.35]that open up and welcome foreign investment.
[01:02.90]In Argentina, for instance,
[01:05.10]after the reforms of the early 1990s,
[01:08.33]multinationals⁴ went from 43% to almost 70%
[01:13.27]of the industrial production of the 200 largest firms.
[01:18.52]This phenomenon has created serious concerns
[01:22.05]over the role of smaller economic firms,
[01:25.40]of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability
[01:29.42]of the world economy.
[01:31.97]I believe that the most important forces behind
[01:34.69]the massive M&A wave are the same
[01:37.62]that underlie⁵ the globalization process:
[01:40.85]falling transportation and communication costs,
[01:44.43]lower trade and investment barriers
[01:47.15]and enlarged markets that require enlarged
[01:50.37]operations capable of meeting customers' demands.
[01:55.03]All these are beneficial, not detrimental⁶, to consumers.
[01:59.44]As productivity grows, the world's wealth increases.
[02:03.87]Examples of benefits or costs of
[02:06.59]the current concentration wave are scanty⁷.
[02:09.72]Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger¹ of
[02:12.64]a few oil firms today
[02:14.76]could re-create the same threats to competition
[02:17.88]that were feared nearly a century ago in the U.S.,
[02:21.52]when the Standard Oil trust was broken up.
[02:25.15]The mergers of telecom companies,
[02:27.57]such as WorldCom,
[02:29.08]hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers
[02:32.41]or a reduction in the pace of technical progress.
[02:36.54]On the contrary, the price of communications
[02:39.47]is coming down fast.
[02:41.79]In cars, too, concentration is increasing
[02:45.62]--witness Daimler and Chrysler,
[02:48.44]Renault and Nissan--but it does not appear
[02:51.77]that consumers are being hurt.
[02:53.39]在线英语听力室(www.tingroom.com)友情制作
[02:54.70]Yet the fact remains
[02:56.11]that the merger movement must be watched.
[02:58.83]A few weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against
[03:01.95]the megamergers in the banking⁸ industry.
[03:04.79]Who is going to supervise,
[03:06.81]regulate and operate as lender of last resort with
[03:11.04]the gigantic banks that are being created?
[03:14.56]Won't multinationals shift production
[03:16.79]from one place to another
[03:19.01]when a nation gets too strict
[03:20.72]about infringements⁹ to fair competition?
[03:24.09]And should one country take upon itself
[03:26.70]the role of "defending competition" on issues
[03:29.32]that affect many other nations,
[03:31.85]as in the U.S. vs. Microsoft case?

1 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

2 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。

4 multinationals   

跨国公司( multinational的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These local companies are only small fry compared with the huge multinationals. 同那些跨国公司比，这些当地的公司不过是小鱼小虾。
• Some people believe that the multinationals have too much power. 有人认为跨国公司的权力太大了。

5 underlie   

v.位于...之下，成为...的基础

参考例句：

• Technology improvements underlie these trends.科技进步将成为此发展趋势的基础。
• Many facts underlie my decision.我的决定是以许多事实为依据的。

6 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

7 scanty   

adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的

参考例句：

• There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
• The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。

8 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

9 infringements   

n.违反( infringement的名词复数 )；侵犯，伤害

参考例句：

• It'seems to me we've got to decide on wider issues than possible patent infringements. 我认为我们不能只考虑侵犯专利可能性这一问题，要对更大的一些问题做出决策。 来自企业管理英语口语（第二版）(2)
• Wikipedia relies on its users to correct errors and spot copyright infringements. 维基百科主要依靠用户来纠正错误，并发现版权侵权行为。 来自互联网