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  3. "The word ’protection’ is no longer taboo(禁忌语)." This short sentence, uttered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy late last mont

"The word ’protection’ is no longer taboo(禁忌语)." This short sentence, uttered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy late last mont

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问题     "The word ’protection’ is no longer taboo(禁忌语)." This short sentence, uttered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy late last month, may have launched a new era in economic history. Why? For decades, Western leaders have believed that lowering trade barriers and tariffs was a natural good. Doing so, they reasoned, would lead to greater economic efficiency and productivity, which in turn would improve human welfare. Championing free trade thus became a moral, not just an economic cause.
    These leaders, of course, weren’t acting out of unselfishness. They knew their economies were the most competitive, so they’d profit most from liberalization. And developing countries feared that their economies would be swamped by superior Western productivity. Today, however, the tables have turned—though few acknowledge it. The Western continues to preach free trade, but practices it less and less. Asia, meanwhile, continues to plead for special protection but practices more and more free trade.
    That’s why Sarkozy’s words were so important: he finally injected some honesty into the trade debate. The truth is that large parts of the West are losing faith in free trade, though few leaders admit it. Some economists are more honest. Paul Krugman is one of the few willing to acknowledge that protectionist arguments are returning. In the short run, there will be winners and losers under free trade. This, of course, is what capitalism is all about. But more and more of these losers will be in the West. Economists in the developed world used to love quoting Joseph Schumpeter, who said that "creative destruction" was an essential part of capitalist growth. But they always assumed that destruction would happen over there. When Western workers began losing jobs, suddenly their leaders began to lose faith in their principles. Things have yet to reverse completely. But there’s clearly a negative trend in Western theory and practice.
    A little hypocrisy(虚伪)is not in itself a serious problem. The real problem is that Western governments continue to insist that they retain control of the key global economic and financial institutions while drifting away from global liberalization. Look at what’s happening at the IMF(International Monetary Fund). The Europeans have demanded that they keep the post of managing director. But all too often, Western officials put their own interests above everyone else’s when they dominate these global institutions.
    The time has therefore come for the Asians — who are clearly the new winners in today’s global economy—to provide more intellectual leadership in supporting free trade. Sadly, they have yet to do so. Unless Asians speak out, however, there’s a real danger that Adam Smith’s principles, which have brought so much good to the world, could gradually die. And that would leave all of us worse off, in one way or another.
The Western leaders preach free trade because______.
选项 A、it is beneficial to their economies
B、it is supported by developing countries
C、it makes them keep faith in their principles
D、it is advocated by Joseph Schumpeter and Adam Smith
答案A
解析 本题的信息点是The Western leaders preach free bade“西方领导人鼓吹自由贸易”。该信息点出现在文章第一段第三句：For decades，Western leaders have believed that lowering bade barriers and tariffs was a natural good。研读该信息点所在的这个句子，我们发现该旬并没有给出他们倡导自由贸易的原因，那么原因就应该在下文。研读下文我们发现接下来的一句话确实表述了原因：lead to greater economic efficiency and productivity“导致更大的经济效率和生产率”，还有improve human welfare“提高人类福祉”。考友们一定要注意，尽管这里提到两条原因，但是下文是否还有另外原因呢?我们只能据需研读下文，斟酌是否还有其他原因。第二段第一句话又说：These leaders weren’t acting out ofunselfishness．“这些领导人也不是出于无私”，这就暗示还有其他原因，接下来一句They knew their economies were the most competitive，so they’d profit most from liberalization“他们知道他们的经济是最有竞争力的，所以他们会从自由贸易中获得最高的利润”。至此我们才找完了其所有原因，再与本题四个选项比对，我们便可以确定A项对应第三条原因，为本题答案。
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