2018专四阅读理解练习：商业并购浪潮

2018专四阅读理解练习： 商业并购浪潮

2018专四阅读理解练习汇总

　　The world is goingthrough the biggest wave ofmergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. Theprocesssweeps from hyperactive America to Europe andreaches the emergingcountries with unsurpassedmight. Many in these countries are looking atthisprocess and worrying: “Won't the wave ofbusiness concentration turn into an uncontrollableanti-competitive force?"

　　There's no question that the big are getting bigger and morepowerful. Multinationalcorporations accounted for less than 20% ofinternational trade in 1982. Today the figure ismore than 25% and growingrapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segmentofproduction in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. InArgentina, forinstance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationalswent from 43% to almost 70% ofthe industrial production of the 200 largestfirms. This phenomenon has created seriousconcerns over the role of smallereconomic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimatestability of theworld economy。

　　I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&Awave are the samethat underlie the globalization process: fallingtransportation and communication costs, lowertrade and investment barriers andenlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable ofmeeting customers'demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. Asproductivity grows, the world's wealth increases。

　　Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave arescanty. Yet it is hardto imagine that the merger of a few oil firms todaycould re-create the same threats tocompetition that were feared nearly acentury ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust wasbroken up. The mergersof telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higherprices forconsumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary,theprice of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration isincreasing—witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan—but it doesnot appear that consumers arebeing hurt。

　　Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. Afew weeks ago, AlanGreenspan warned against the megamergers in the bankingindustry. Who is going tosupervise, regulate and operate as lender of lastresort with the gigantic banks that are beingcreated? Won't multinationalsshift production from one place to another when a nation gets toostrict aboutinfringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself theroleof“defending competition" on issues that affect many othernations, as in the U.S. vs. Microsoft case?

　　33. What is the typical trend of businesses today?

　　[A]To take in more foreign funds

　　[B]To invest more abroad

　　[C]To combine and become bigger

　　[D]To trade with more countries

　　34. According to the author, one of the driving forces behindM&A wave is _________。

　　[A]the greater customer demands

　　[B]a surplus supply for the market

　　[C]a growing productivity

　　[D]the increase of the world's wealth

　　35. From paragraph 4 we can infer that _________。

　　[A]the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers

　　[B]WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs

　　[C]the costs of the globalization process are enormous

　　[D]the Standard Oil trust might have threatened competition

　　36. Toward the new business wave, the writer's attitude can be saidto be _________。

　　[A]optimistic

　　[B]objective

　　[C]pessimistic

　　[D]biased

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