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  3. There is no better symbol of the benefits of globalization than the container ship. More than 9 billion tonnes of goods and mate

There is no better symbol of the benefits of globalization than the container ship. More than 9 billion tonnes of goods and mate

admin2015-01-31  31
问题     There is no better symbol of the benefits of globalization than the container ship. More than 9 billion tonnes of goods and materials were transported by sea in 2012, with trade helping to lift global growth rates. An ever-expanding web of links connects rich and poor; developing countries now account for around 60% of seaborne trade. But ships also show the rotten side of trade: protectionism.
    Protectionism in shipping is centuries old. In a 1905 study Royal Meeker, an American economist, explained how a system of subsidies developed under Elizabeth I. Rewards were based on tonnage of ship, and included "bounties" paid to fishing boats heading for the North Sea in search of herring. Adam Smith provided an early economic analysis in "The Wealth of Nations", lamenting: "It has, I am afraid, been too common for vessels to fit out for the sole purpose of catching, not the fish, but the bounty." The handouts distorted the shipbuilding industry, resulting in an oversize fishing fleet and a wrong allocation of resources.
    Far from avoiding the distortion Smith spotted, governments have been keen to nurture it. The early logic was military. A strong merchant fleet meant lots of boats that could be commandeered during times of war. One way to bolster shipping has been to grant profitable contracts for postal delivery: Britain’s Cunard lines benefited hugely from such a deal in the 1830s. Another method, used by both America and Japan in the early 1900s, was easy finance, in the form of cut-price government loans.
    Modern shipping subsidies are used to build economic heft rather than military might. Governments like shipping due to the knock-on effects of a booming yard. Modern ships are huge(up to 400m long)and include up to 30,000 parts. Assembling them is labour-intensive, and so is making the parts that outside suppliers provide to the shipyards. A recent report by America’s Maritime Administration estimated that more than 107,000 people work in the country’s heavily protected shipyards. Adding in the companies supporting the yards, and the shops and services that support these workers, the total ran to 400,000, an employment "multiplier" of 4. So, the idea is, by helping shipping a government indirectly supports workers in many other industries.
    Yet economists’ views on subsidies have hardened over time. In deciding whether a subsidy violates trade rules, the World Trade Organisation(WTO)uses a "price gap" approach. The idea is simple: if a country is producing and selling something at a big discount to what others are charging, there is probably something fishy going on.
What’s the main idea of the passage?
选项 A、How to distinguish the protectionism.
B、Protectionism in shipping.
C、The importance of shipping industry.
D、Container ships benefits hugely from globalization.
答案B
解析 主旨题。本文主要讲述了船舶业里面的贸易保护主义。列举了过去的和现在政府给船舶业的各种津贴和不同的目的，最后简要说明了如何判别贸易保护主义。所以B项最准确，A项、D项只是甚少的一部分，C项文章几乎没提。因此，正确答案是B。
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