The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive Amer

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问题     The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in these countries are looking at this process and worrying: "Won’t the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollable anti-competitive force?"
    There’s no question that the big are getting bigger and more powerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% of international trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growing rapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment of production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. In Argentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationals went from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largest firms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smaller economic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of the world economy.
    I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&A wave are the same that underlie the globalization process: falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customer’s demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. As productivity grows, the world’s wealth increases.
    Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave are scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms today could recreate the same threats to competition that were feared nearly a century ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergers of telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary, the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration is increasing—witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan—but it does not appear that consumers are being hurt.
    Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. A few weeks ago, Some experts warned against the megamergers in the banking industry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of last resort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won’t multinationals shift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict about infringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself the role of "defending competition" on issues that affect many other nations?
What is the typical trend of businesses today?

选项 A、To take in more foreign funds.
B、To invest more abroad.
C、To combine and become bigger.
D、To trade with more countries.

答案C

解析 本题的题干归纳性很强,无法根据题干信息进行准确定位,但第二题明确定位到第三段,所以本题应该定位到前两段;本题的关键词是:typical trend of businesses,问题是当今商业界的典型趋势是什么。根据第一段第一句可知,世界正在经历一场前所未有的(ever witnessed)巨大的企业并购浪潮(wave of mergers and acquisitions),又根据第二段第一句可知,大企业正在变得更大、更强 (are getting bigger and more powerful),mergers and acquisitions(并购)与选项C中的combine(合并),are getting bigger and more powerful(变得更大更强)与该选项中的become bigger(变得更大)是相同含义,ever witnessed(前所未有)和are getting(正变得)也反映出当今的趋势,因此选项C是对前两段的全面概括,是正确选项。选项A出自第二段第四句:International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment of production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment,但这只是文章的细节内容,并不是当今商业界的典型趋势,所以,选项A答非所问。第二段第四句说的是欢迎外资(即资金从国外流到国内)。而该选项将其偷换为增加海外投资(即资金从国内流到国外),并且这也不是当今商业界的典型趋势,所以,选项B答非所问。选项D主观推导,根据第二段第二句:Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20%of international trade in 1982,原文所表达的含义是跨国公司占国际贸易的份额比较少,并没有提到与更多国家进行贸易往来。第一段:并购浪潮引起了人们对垄断的担忧。第二段:并购浪潮使大企业更大、更强,人们担心本国企业和小型企业的地位,以及世界经济的稳定。
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