真题训练

1994 Passage 2
One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us, the "cashless society" is not on the horizon — it's already here.
While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.
Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.

55. According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to ________.
[A] withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes
[B] obtain more convenient services than other people do
[C] enjoy greater trust from the storekeeper
[D] cash money wherever he wishes to

56. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that ________.
[A] in the future all the Americans will use credit cards
[B] credit cards are mainly used in the United State today
[C] nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash
[D] it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before

57. The phrase "ring up sales" (line 2, paragraph 2) most probably means "________".
[A] make an order of goods
[B] record sales on a cash register
[C] call the sales manager
[D] keep track of the goods in stock

58. What is this passage mainly about?
[A] Approaches to the commercial use of computers.
[B] Conveniences brought about by computers in business.
[C] Significance of automation in commercial enterprises.
[D] Advantages of credit cards in business.
难句解析

难句解析：
①They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad and they make many banking services available as well.
▲此句是由and连接的两个并列句，其中第一个句子结构较复杂，有一个复杂的地点状语in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad，在阅读时在此处可以适当地加快速度。
△此句在理解中的难点是短语give somebody credit，此处credit应理解为“信用额度”，在英文中credit card意味着持卡人可以有一定的透支额度。
②Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom.
▲这两个短句虽然简单，但是由于其中包含有几个短语，如do much more than...，ring up，electronic cash registers等，因此在阅读中也存在一定的障碍，在我们不知道一个短语的确切意思的情况下，通过上下文来定位其大致意思就显得非常重要。
△electronic cash registers意为“电子收银并记录”；do much more than的意思是“做的不只是”；ring up的意思可以从第一个短句的结构中推出，第一个短句的结构为A can do much more than simply B，我们知道A和B之间只存在程度上的差异，而本质相同，因此ring up应该与electronic cash registers意思相同或相近，应为“收款，记录”的意思。
③At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employers are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns.
▲在第一个句子中包含有两个并列宾语从句which hours are busiest and which employers are the most efficient，而在逗号后面的是一个分词结构，用来修饰主句。
△第一个句子中最后一个词accordingly和第二个句子中的preferred是理解的重点。accordingly意为“相应地”，而preferred是一个形容词，不是prefer的过去分词，意为“有优先权的，优先的”。
④Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.
▲本句中的主语有一个非常长的修饰成分from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors，在阅读的时候，如果我们注意到它只是在逗号之间的补充说明成分，我们就可以先跳过去抓句子的主干成分。

试题解析

试题解析：
55. [B] 文章的第1段利用一系列的实例说明了信用卡(credit card)给其使用者带来的诸多方便，第2段第1句前半句总结概括了第1段的主题。
[A]原文指出，信用卡的持有者可以不受地域和时间的限制存取钱，但这并不意味着愿取多少就取多少。
[C]意为：（与不持有信用卡的人相比）享受更多的信誉，这是不符合事实的，事实上，无论是持信用卡还是持现金，顾客在购物时都享有同等的信誉。
[D]意为：想在哪个地方兑换现金都可以。这也说得有些空泛，如：由一个银行发放的信用卡未必适用于另一个银行及其分行。
56. [C] 原文第1段第4句指出：对许多美国人来说，“无现金社会”已经来到，而不是将要来到(on the horizon)。
[A]原句未指出是否所有美国人将都会使用信用卡。
[B]这一选择显然是不正确的，信用卡的使用并非主要限于美国。
[D]本文并未指出以前信用卡的使用不方便，因此，我们也无法作出任何比较。原句也没这方面的含意。
57. [B] “register”意为：记数器，记录器。原句中ring up意为：将……记录在记数器内，sales意为：销售额。同一段后文指出：除了记录销售额以外，计算机在商业上还有更广泛的用途，而记录销售额是电子收款机最基本的功能。
[A]、[C]都不正确。
[D]意为：跟踪记录现存货物。
58. [B] 本文的主旨陈述在最后一段，电子收款机与信用卡使用都是计算机在商业上应用的实例，本文旨在指出计算机的应用给使用者带来的诸多方便。
[A]本文不再去说明计算机如何在商业上使用而主要谈论计算机在商业上的应用所带来的结果。
[C]意为：商业自动化的意义。本文的着眼点不在“意义”上，而更重在说明计算机的应用给生产者与消费者带来的诸多方便。
[D]文章的第1段列举了信用卡的使用给消费者带来的好处，但这并不是文章的主旨，作者仅仅是想通过信用卡这一例子来说明计算机的应用给消费者带来的诸多方便这一主旨。
全文翻译

全文翻译：
1.3亿美国人的手中至少持有一家银行发行的信用卡。信用卡持有者可在商店、饭店、宾馆，在当地、外地甚至国外赊购货物，同时信用卡还可以使他们得到银行提供的许多服务。越来越多的信用卡可以自动读取，于是持卡人就可以在不同地方存取，不管本地支行是否营业。对于我们很多人来说，“无现钞的社会”不是即将来临，而是已经到来。
计算机为消费者提供诸多方便的同时，也给商家带来很多优势。电子收银机能做的远不止记录销售额，它们可进行各种各样的记录，包括谁卖了什么，何时卖的，卖给谁了。这些信息通过显示销售商品的种类和销售速度，使商家能够跟踪和记录它们的商品清单，然后做出决定是再定货还是把商品退给供应商。同时这些计算机记录哪些时间段是高峰，哪些员工最有效率，进而就能对人员分配进行相应的调整。此外，他们还确定理想的顾客群进行促销活动。基于同样的原因，生产商们也依赖计算机。计算机分析的营销报告能有助于决定目前应重点生产哪些商品，将来开发哪些产品，哪些应停止生产。计算机跟踪库存商品，现有原材料甚至生产过程本身。
许多其他商业企业，从剧院到杂志社，从燃气电器公司到牛奶加工厂都通过计算机的使用给消费者提供更好、效率更高的服务。