专八英语阅读理解精读50篇.doc

第1篇： TROUSER SUIT
The European Court sides with Levi Strauss in its battle with Tesco
IT WAS a ruling that had consumers seething with anger and many a free trader crying foul. On November 20th the European Court of Justice decided that Tesco, a British supermarket chain, should not be allowed to import jeans made by America's Levi Strauss from outside the European Union and sell them at cut-rate prices without getting permission first from the jeans maker. Ironically, the ruling is based on an EU trademark directive that was designed to protect local, not American, manufacturers from price dumping. The idea is that any brand-owning firm should be allowed to position its goods and segment its markets as it sees fit: Levi's jeans, just like Gucci handbags, must be allowed to be expensive.
Levi Strauss persuaded the court that, by selling its jeans cheaply alongside soap powder and bananas, Tesco was destroying the image and so the value of its brands--which could only lead to less innovation and, in the long run, would reduce consumer choice. Consumer groups and Tesco say that Levi's case is specious. The supermarket argues that it was just arbitraging the price differential between Levi's jeans sold in America and Europe--a service performed a million times a day in financial markets, and one that has led to real benefits for consumers. Tesco has been selling some 15,000 pairs of Levi's jeans a week, for about half the price they command in specialist stores approved by Levi Strauss. Christine Cross, Tesco's head of global non-food sourcing, says the ruling risks "creating a Fortress Europe with a vengeance".
The debate will rage on, and has implications well beyond casual clothes (Levi Strauss was joined in its lawsuit by Zino Davidoff, a perfume maker). The question at its heart is not whether brands need to control how they are sold to protect their image, but whether it is the job of the courts to help them do this. Gucci, an Italian clothes label whose image was being destroyed by loose licensing and over-exposure in discount stores, saved itself not by resorting to the courts but by ending contracts with third-party suppliers, controlling its distribution better and opening its own stores. It is now hard to find cut-price Gucci anywhere.
Brand experts argue that Levi Strauss, which has been losing market share to hipper rivals such as Diesel, is no longer strong enough to command premium prices. Left to market forces, so-so brands such as Levi's might well fade away and be replaced by fresher labels. With the courts protecting its prices, Levi Strauss may hang on for longer. But no court can help to make it a great brand again.

注（1）：本文选自Economist; 11/24/2001, Vol. 361 Issue 8249, p58, 1/2p
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象2001年真题text 5（其中因2001年真题text 5只有4个题目，所以本文第5题模仿参照对象为1999年 Text 1的第4题。）
1. Which of the following is not true according to Paragraph 1?
[A]Consumers and free traders were very angry.
[B]Only the Levi’s maker can decide the prices of the jeans.
[C] The ruling has protected Levi’s from price dumping.
[D] Levi’s jeans should be sold at a high price .
2. Gucci’s success shows that _______.
[A]Gucci has successfully saved its own image.
[B] It has changed its fate with its own effort.
[C]Opening its own stores is the key to success.
[D] It should be the court’s duty to save its image.
3. The word “specious”(line 12, paragraph 2) in the context probably means _______.
[A]responsible for oneself
[B] having too many doubts
[C] not as it seems to be
[D]raising misunderstanding
4. According to the passage, the doomed fate of Levi’s is caused by such factors except that ________.
[A]the rivals are competitive
[B]it fails to command premium prices
[C]market forces have their own rules
[D]the court fails to give some help
5. The author’s attitude towards Levi’s prospect seems to be _______.
[A] biased
[B] indifferent
[C] puzzling
[D] objective
答案：B B C D D
篇章剖析

本文的结构形式为提出问题----分析问题。在第一段首先提出问题,指出欧洲法庭对特易购超市做出的裁决。第二段指出当事方对同一事件的不同看法和解释。第三段指出争论的核心问题在于是否应该借助法庭达到一些商业目的，并以古奇（Gucci）为例说明答案为否定。第四段对利维（Levi’s）的前景做出了评价和分析。
词汇注释

adj.沸腾的, 火热的 seething
foul    adj.下流的，粗俗的：
segment    v.分割
innovation    n.改革, 创新
specious    adj. 似是而非的; 似乎正确的，但实际却是谬误的
arbitrage   v. 套汇, 套利交易
with a vengeance    猛烈地;极度地
licensing     n.注册登记
discount    n.折扣
resort    vi.求助, 诉诸
premium   n.额外费用, 奖金, 奖赏, 保险费, (货币兑现的)贴水
难句突破

1.Levi Strauss persuaded the court that, by selling its jeans cheaply alongside soap powder and bananas, Tesco was destroying the image and so the value of its brands--which could only lead to less innovation and, in the long run, would reduce consumer choice.

主体句式：Levi Strauss persuaded that …

结构分析：that之后是一个宾语从句；by之后的句子做伴随状语来修饰宾语从句；宾语从句中which又引导了一个非限制性定语从句。

句子译文：利维•斯特劳斯公司使法庭相信特易购把利维牛仔服与皂粉，香蕉等放在一起廉价销售这一做法使其形象受损，品牌价位也因此受到了影响，这势必会使产品缺乏新意，最终减少消费者的选择。
题目分析

1．答案为B，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是“…should not be allowed … to sell them at cut-rate prices without getting permission first from the jeans maker.”意思是“只有事先经过牛仔裤生产商的同意才能打折销售。”是否只有生产商才能决定价格，我们不得而知。

2．答案为B，属推理判断题。文中提到问题的实质是“whether it is the job of the courts to help them do this.”后又以古奇(Gucci) “saved itself not by resorting to the courts but by ending contracts with third-party suppliers, controlling its distribution better and opening its own stores. It is now hard to find cut-price Gucci anywhere.”为例，说明它的成功并不是诉诸法庭，而是通过自身的努力和尝试。

3．答案为C ，属猜词题。第二段开头提出了利维公司（Levi’s）对特易购（Tesco）的指责，后又提出了特易购的反驳意见，前后两者之间的观点应该是相反的。从而可猜出该词的含义。

4．答案为D，属推理判断题。原文对应信息是最后一段。

5．答案为D，属情感态度题。作者没有任何偏颇的阐述整个事件。
参考译文

法庭的裁决使消费者感到义愤填膺，很多自由贸易者也感到愤愤不平。11月20日，欧洲法庭对特易购(Tesco)这家英国连锁超市做出了判决，特易购不能通过欧盟之外的渠道进口利维•斯特劳斯公司生产的牛仔裤，并且没有事先经过牛仔制造商的同意，不能打折销售。具有讽刺意味的是，这项判决是根据欧盟商标法做出的，目的在于保护本地而非美国制造商免受价格倾销的纷扰。其观点是应该允许任何一家拥有自己品牌的公司给自己的产品定位，分属适合的市场，比如利维牛仔裤，它就应该象古奇(Gucci)牌手提包一样售价昂贵。

利维•斯特劳斯公司使法庭相信特易购把利维牛仔裤与皂粉，香蕉等放在一起廉价销售这一做法使其形象受损，品牌价位也因此受到了影响，这势必会使产品缺乏新意，最终减少消费者的选择。消费者和特易购却认为利维公司貌似有理实则不然。特易购认为它只是从美国和欧洲销售利维牛仔裤存在的价格差价中套利。这是一种在金融市场上天天都会进行上百万次，并使消费者真正受益的商业行为。特易购一周之内以低于利维•斯特劳斯公司授权专卖店一半的价格销售15，000条牛仔裤。负责特易购全球非食品类主管克里斯廷•克罗斯认为这一裁决会加大产生“欧洲堡垒”的风险。

这场争论还将继续下去，并且不单只局限于休闲服装（季诺•大卫多夫香水制造商也和利维•斯特劳斯联手诉讼）。这一问题实际上不在于品牌商品是否应该控制销售方式来维护其形象，而在于是否应该借助法庭来帮助它们达到这一目的。许可经营管理松散并且在折扣店里频频出现毁坏了古奇这一意大利品牌服饰的形象，但它并没有诉诸法庭，而是通过中止与第三方供应商的合同，更好的控制商品销售，以及开专卖店等方式挽救了自己的命运。现在已经很难找到打折销售古奇产品的地方了。

品牌专家认为利维•斯特劳斯公司正在逐步丧失市场占有率，而让步给Diesel这样的竞争对手,它的实力已不足以使它对溢价具有掌控能力。在市场机制的作用下，象利维这样的一般品牌很有可能会逐渐消失，被新的品牌所代替。由于法庭对其价格有保护作用，利维•斯特劳斯公司可能会多维持一段时间，但是法庭却无法帮它再成为知名品牌了。 （编辑：赵露）
第2篇： LOCK 'EM UP
Minority youths are more likely to face trial as adults
A WHITE KID SELLS A BAG OF COCAINE at his suburban high school. A Latino kid does the same in his inner-city neighborhood. Both get caught. Both are first-time offenders. The white kid walks into juvenile court with his parents, his priest, a good lawyer-and medical coverage. The Latino kid walks into court with his mom, no legal resources and no insurance. The judge lets the white kid go with his family; he's placed in a private treatment program. The minority kid has no such option. He's detained.
There, in a nutshell, is what happens more and more often in the juvenile-court system. Minority youths arrested on violent felony charges in California are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be transferred out of the juvenile-justice system and tried as adults, according to a study released last week by the Justice Policy Institute, a research center in San Francisco. Once they are in adult courts, young black offenders are 18 times more likely to be jailed-and Hispanics seven times more likely-than are young white offenders. "Discrimination against kids of color accumulates at every stage of the justice system and skyrockets when juveniles are, tried as adults," says Dan Macallair, a co-author of the new study. "California has a double standard: throw kids of color behind bars, but .rehabilitate white kids who commit comparable crimes."
Even as juvenile crime has declined from its peak in the early 1990s, headline grabbing violence by minors has intensified a get-tough attitude. Over the past six years, 43 states have passed laws that make it easier to try juveniles as adults. In Texas and Connecticut in 1996, the latest year for which figures are available, all the juveniles in jails were minorities. Vincent Schiraldi, the Justice Policy Institute's director, concedes that "some kids need to be tried as adults. But most can be rehabilitated."
Instead, adult prisons tend to brutalize juveniles. They are eight times more likely to commit suicide and five times more likely to be sexually abused than offenders held in juvenile detention. "Once they get out, they tend to commit more crimes and more violent crimes," says Jenni Gainsborough, a spokeswoman for the Sentencing Project, a reform group in Washington. The system, in essence, is training career criminals. And it's doing its worst work among minorities.
注（1）本文选自By Anamaria Wilson  Time; 02/14/2000, Vol. 155 Issue 6, p68 1/3p
注（2）本文习题命题模仿对象1997年真题text 5（其中因1997年真题text 5只有4个题目，所以本文第4题模仿参照对象为1999年 Text 4的第4题。）
1. From the first paragraph we learn that _________.
[A]the white kid is more lucky than the minority kid
[B]the white kid has got a lot of help than the minority kid
[C]the white kid and minority kid has been treated differently
[D]the minority kid should be set free at once.
2. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
[A]Kids shouldn’t be tried as adults.
[B] Discrimination exists in the justice system.
[C]Minority kids are likely to commit crimes.
[D] States shouldn’t pass the laws.
3. The word “skyrocket” (Line 13, Paragraph 2) means ________.
[A]rising sharply
[B]widening suddenly
[C]spreading widely
[D]expanding quickly
4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
[A] something seems to be wrong with the justice system
[B]adult prisons have bad influence on the juveniles
[C] juveniles in adult prison are ill-treated
[D]the career criminals are trained by the system
5. The passage shows that the author is _________ the present situation.
[A] amazed at
[B]puzzled by
[C]disappointed at
[D] critical of
答案：CBAAD
篇章剖析

本文的结构形式为提出问题----分析问题。在第一段首先提出问题,以一个案例为切入点，对比白人少年与有色人种少年受到的不同待遇。第二段和第三段用事实进一步说明司法机关对有色人种的青少年的歧视以及他们受到的不公正待遇。第四段阐述了司法机关的这一做法造成的不良影响。
词汇注释

offender    n.罪犯, 冒犯者
coverage   n.保险项目；保险范围
option   n.选择;供选择的事物
detain    v.拘留,
in a nutshell   简括地,简言之；简要地说
felony    n.[律]重罪
rehabilitate   v. 使(身体)康复, 使复职, 使恢复名誉, 使复原
get-tough   adj.强硬的
concede  v.勉强, 承认
brutalize   v.残酷地对待
detention  n.拘留, 禁闭
难句突破

1．Minority youths arrested on violent felony charges in California are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be transferred out of the juvenile-justice system and tried as adults, according to a study released last week by the Justice Policy Institute, a research center in San Francisco.

主体句式：Minority youths are more than …

结构分析：这是一个比较长的简单句。“more than twice as likely as their white counterparts”是一种表示倍数的表达方式；“to be transferred out of the juvenile-justice system and tried as adults”不定式短语来修饰white counterparts; “according to a study released last week by the Justice Policy Institute”是现在分词做伴随状语；“a research center in San Francisco”是“the Justice Policy Institute”的同位语。

句子译文：刑法政策研究所是旧金山的一个研究中心。据其上周发表的研究结果，在加利福尼亚，因为犯重罪被少年法庭转出而以成人的身份被审判逮捕的非白人少年比白人少年多出两倍还要多。
题目分析

1． 答案为C，属推理判断题。作者在第一段中进行对比，目的在于引出同一性质案例因为对象不同，从而处理结果也不同这一论点。

2． 答案为B，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是：“Discrimination against kids of color accumulates at every stage of the justice system and skyrockets when juveniles are, tried as adults”。其它选项意思与原文不符。

3． 答案为A ，属猜词题。从单词所在的句子语境中，我们可以判断skyrocket与accumulate的意思相近，并且程度更强。了解到这一点就不难作出选择。

4．答案为A，属推理判断题。原文相关信息是“The system, in essence, is training career criminals. And it's doing its worst work among minorities”。

5．答案为D，属情感态度题。作者通篇都在阐述司法机关对有色人种青少年的不公正待遇。

参考译文

把他们关起来！
有色人种青少年更可能以成人的身份受审

一白人少年在他就读的郊区中学贩卖了一袋可卡因。一拉丁美洲少年在其居住的内城区附近也做了同样的事情。两个人都被抓住了。两个人都是初犯。白人少年是由其父母，牧师，知名律师陪伴，并带着医疗保险接受少年法庭的审理；而拉丁美洲少年却只有母亲陪伴，没有任何法律援助，也没有保险。法官判白人少年与其父母安然离开法庭，私下进行审理。而这位有色人种少年除了被拘留别无选择。

简而言之，这样的事情在少年法庭上越来越常见。刑法政策研究所是旧金山的一个研究中心。根据上周发表的研究结果，在加利福尼亚，因为犯重罪被少年法庭转出而以成人的身份被审判逮捕的非白人少年比白人少年多出两倍还要多。一旦被移交成人法庭，那些年轻的黑人犯法者被送进监狱的可能性是白人的十八倍，美籍西班牙人是白人的八倍。这项研究的合作者Dan Macallair说：“司法系统的每一个层面对有色人种中青少年的歧视越来越强，而这些年轻人一旦以成人的身份被审判的话，这种歧视表现得更为淋漓尽致。”加利福尼亚有一个双重标准：把犯罪的有色人种少年扔进监狱，对犯有同等罪行的白人少年却实行教育感化。

虽然青少年犯罪率在二十世纪九十年代初期达到高峰以来已经有所下降，但是未成年人触目惊心的暴力行为强化了公众对其强硬的态度。在过去六年中，有四十三个州通过的法律更容易使青少年以成人的身份受审。一九九六年美国德克萨斯州和康涅狄格州的记录是能收集到的最近的数字资料，资料表明在监狱服刑的所有青少年都是有色人种。作为司法政策研究所的所长，Vincent Schiraldi承认“有些青少年确实应该作为成人进行审判，但是他们中大多数人是可以教育感化的。”

成人监狱对待这些青少年却是非常残酷的。这些人自杀的可能性是少管所的罪犯的八倍，遭到性虐待的可能性是他们的五倍。“量刑计划”是华盛顿的一个改革团体，作为它的女发言人，Jenni Gainsborough认为“这些人一旦被释放，他们的犯罪率会更高，罪行会更恶劣。”这种体系实际上是在训练职业罪犯，对于有色人种而言情况更为糟糕。 （编辑：赵露）
第3篇： A BURNING IN ALABAMA
The savage murder of a gay man stuns a state where hate-crime laws do not protect homosexuals
 “This is not the type of place where this happens," city council president George Carlton told a reporter, after the horror became public in his hometown, Sylacauga, Ala. He echoed what was said in Jasper, Texas, a year ago. Few people then had ever heard of Jasper. A week ago, even fewer could have pointed out Sylacauga on a map. A tiny city of 13,000, halfway between Birmingham and Montgomery, Sylacauga was known for its white marble quarries, textile mills and ice-cream factory. But last week Sylacauga, like Jasper, became a chapter in the recent history of hatred.
According to police, Steven Eric Mullins, 25, and Charles Monroe Butler Jr., 21, plotted for two weeks to murder Billy Jack Gaither, 39. On Feb. 19, they arranged to meet him at a Sylacauga bar and lured him to a secluded area. There they beat him and dumped him into the trunk of his car. They then drove about 15 miles to Peckerwood Creek in Coosa County. There, says Coosa County Sheriff's Deputy Al Bradley, "they took him out of the trunk, took an ax handle and beat him to death." They set two old tires aflame, says Bradley, "then they put the body on the fire." They did it all, the deputy says, because Gaither was gay.
Gaither's death has become a rallying point for gay-rights organizations' and state legislators' pushing a bill that would extend Alabama's three-year-old hate-crimes law beyond race, color, religion and national origin to cover crimes related to sexual orientation as well. "It's unfortunate that somebody had to lose his life in order for this legislation to pick up momentum here in the state of Alabama," says state Representative Alvin Holmes, who failed to get the original law amended when it was passed in 1996. Holmes filed for extending the law after Matthew Shepard, a gay student, was beaten and left to die on a fence in Wyoming last October, an incident that sparked national outrage. Even Wyoming failed to pass hate-crime legislation in the wake of the Shepard lynching. Like Shepard, Gaither did not hesitate to admit being gay, though he adhered qui