题目

Questions 8-12

　　. Read this letter to the editor of The Economist.

　　. Choose the best sentence from the list A-I to fill each of the blanks.

　　. For each blank (8-12) mark one letter (A-I) on your Answer Sheet.

　　. Do not mar4 any letter twice.

　　. One answer has been given as an example.

　　Sir-

　　You state on February 13th that New Mexico has "few natural resources ",... ...example... In 1991 New Mexico ranked fourth in the United States in production of natural gas , seventh in oil and tenth in non-fuel minerals( ...8...)Non-fuel minerals contributed about $ 1 billion and coal $ 509 million.

　　Taxes from production of fuels and minerals, and lease payments on state lands have been set aside by legislative acts to endow two permanent funds worth about $ 5. 65 billion, (... 9 ... )In addition, during fiscal year 1991 , payments to New Mexico from taxes on federal lands were S 108 million ,all earmarked for public education.

　　(... 10 ...) About $566 million came from taxes and permanent-fund earnings attributable to oil and gas production. (...11 ... )Tourism is an important industry in New Mexico, yet its economic impact on the public sector is dwarfed by that of mineral production.

　　New Mexico came through the recent recession in much better shape than most other states. It does not have a deficit. (...12...)States that rely primarily on a sales tax or on an income tax have big problems during economic downturns. Income growth per head in New Mexico averaged 6. 1/00 in the year to October 1992-one of the fastest growth rates in the United States.

　　Charles Chapin

　　Example :C

　　A. It has a broadly based tax structure an important point.

　　B. In 1992 it produced more oil than Colorado and Kansas combined.

　　C. However, the extractive mineral industry in New Mexico is one of the state's strongest economic forces.

　　D. During fiscal year 1992 New Mexico raised permanent funds worth about $6.1 billion.

　　E. the combined value of oil and gas production was $ 2. 8 billion.

　　F. Some 16, 000 employees work in the extractive industries and their wages are among the highest of any major industry.

　　G. the $39 million earned by these funds in 1991 was used to finance education and other public services.

　　H. Only S 25 million came from agricultural taxes.

　　I. New Mexico's extractive mineral industries contribute about a third of the state's $ 1. 9 billion general-fund income in fiscal year 1991.

讲解

参考答案：8. E 9. G 10. I 11. F 12. A

这种题型要求从九个句子中选出五个填到原文的空白部分，使上下文连贯。这考察了对全文意思和结构的理解。其实这种题目，最重要的是弄清楚空白部分所在段落主要在讲什么，空白前后在讲什么，然后联系前后文的意思来填写就可以了。填写完之后，从头读一遍，看是否连贯。

8.空白之前是在说，石油，天然气和非燃料矿产的排名。空白后面是在讲非燃料矿产和煤的产值。那么，根据对称的原则，空白部分是否应该写一下石油、天然气的产值呢？根据A到I的选择，只有E是最能和前后文呼应的。

9.空白前说设立了两个永久性的基金，那么空白部分是否还要说这两个基金的问题呢？空白后马上说in addition,那么肯定是对前面的补充。这些都用于教育。那么，继续对这两个基金做补充说明的就只有G了。

10.这一段主要承接上文，讲对经济的贡献问题。当然要选I。

11.空白部分之后说旅游业对公众的利益小于矿产生产类，那么前面肯定说矿产类对公众的好处了。那么F讲的是从事矿产类的高就业率和高工资，当然是对公众的好处了。

12.结合前后文，讲的是经济危机对经济结构不同的各个州的影响。后面讲的是那些主要依赖销售税和个人所得税的州受经济危机影响严重，那么，前面肯定讲没有受到经济危机影响的新墨西哥州的经济结构了，所以选择A最合适了。