1、GMAT（ VERBAL）阅读模拟试卷 8及答案与解析 0 Traditionally, the first firm to commercialize a new technology has benefited from the unique opportunity to shape product definitions, forcing fol- lowers to adapt to a standard or invest in an unproven alternative. Today, however, the largest payoffs may go to compani
2、es that lead in developing integrated approaches for successful mass produc- tion and distribution. Producers of the Beta format for video cassette recorders(VCR s), for example, were first to develop the VCR commercially in 1975, but producers of the rival VHS(Video Home System)format proved to be
3、more successful at forming strategic alliances with other producers and distributors to manufacture and market their VCR format. Seeking to maintain exclusive control over VCR distribution, Beta producers were reluctant to form such alliances and eventually lost ground to VHS in the competition for
4、the global VCR market. Despite Beta s substantial technological head start and the fact that VHS was neither technically better nor cheaper than Beta, developers of VHS quickly turned a slight early lead in sales into a dominant position. Strategic alignments with producers of prerecorded tapes rein
5、forced the VHS advantage. The perception among consumers that prere- corded tapes were more available in VHS format further expanded VHS s share of the market. By the end of the 1980 s, Beta was no longer in production. 1 The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following? （ A） Evaluatin
6、g two competing technologies. （ B） Tracing the impact of a new technology by narrating a sequence of events. （ C） Reinterpreting an event from contemporary business history. （ D） Illustrating a business strategy by means of a case history. （ E） Proposing an innovative approach to business planning.
7、2 According to the passage, todays successful firms, unlike successful firms in the past, may earn the greatest profits by （ A） investing in research to produce cheaper versions of existing technology. （ B） being the first to market a competing technology. （ C） adapting rapidly to a technological st
8、andard previously set by a competing firm. （ D） establishing technological leadership in order to shape product definitions in advance of competing firms. （ E） emphasizing the development of methods for the mass production and distribution of a new technology. 3 According to the passage, consumers b
9、egan to develop a preference for VCR s in the VHS format because they believed which of the following? （ A） VCRs in the VHS format were technically better than competing-format VCRs. （ B） VCRs in the VHS format were less expensive than competing-format VCRs. （ C） VHS was the first standard format fo
10、r VCRs. （ D） VHS prerecorded videotapes were more available than Beta-format tapes. （ E） VCRs in the Beta format would soon cease to be produced. 4 The author implies that one way that VHS producers won control over the VCR market was by （ A） carefully restricting access to VCR technology. （ B） givi
11、ng up a slight early lead in VCR sales in order to improve long-term prospects. （ C） retaining a strict monopoly on the production of prerecorded videotapes. （ D） sharing control of the marketing of VHS-format VCRs. （ E） sacrificing technological superiority over Beta-format VCR s in order to remain
12、 competitive in price. 5 The alignment of producers of VHS-format VCRs with producers of prerecorded videotapes is most similar to which of the following? （ A） The alignment of an automobile manufacturer with another automobile manufacturer to adopt a standard design for automobile engines. （ B） The
13、 alignment of an automobile manufacturer with an automotive glass company whereby the manufacturer agrees to purchase automobile windshields only from that one glass company. （ C） The alignment of an automobile manufacturer with a petroleum company to ensure the widespread availability of the fuel r
14、equired by a new type of engine developed by the manufacturer. （ D） The alignment of an automobile manufacturer with its dealers to adopt a plan to improve automobile design. （ E） The alignment of an automobile dealer with an automobile rental chain to adopt a strategy for an advertising campaign to
15、 promote a new type of automobile. 6 Which of the following best describes the relation of the first paragraph to the passage as a whole? （ A） It makes a general observation to be exemplified. （ B） It outlines a process to be analyzed. （ C） It poses a question to be answered. （ D） It advances an arg
16、ument to be disputed. （ E） It introduces conflicting arguments to be reconciled. 6 Australian researchers have discovered electroreceptors(sensory organs designed to respond to electrical fields)clustered at the tip of the spiny anteater s snout. The researchers made this discovery by exposing small
17、 areas of the snout to extremely weak electrical fields and recording the transmission of resulting nervous activity to the brain. While it is true that tactile receptors, another kind of sensory organ on the anteater s snout, can also respond to electrical stimuli, such receptors do so only in resp
18、onse to electrical field strengths about 1, 000 times greater than those known to excite electro-receptors. Having discovered the electroreceptors, researchers are now investigating how anteaters utilize such a sophisticated sensory system. In one behavioral experiment, researchers successfully trai
19、ned an anteater to distinguish between two troughs of water, one with a weak electrical field and the other with none. Such evidence is consistent with researchers hypothesis that anteaters use electroreceptors to detect electrical signals given off by prey; however, re- searchers as yet have been u
20、nable to detect electrical signals emanating from termite mounds, where the favorite food of anteaters live. Still, researchers have observed anteaters breaking into a nest of ants at an oblique angle and quickly locating nesting chambers. This ability quickly to locate unseen prey suggests, accordi
21、ng to the researchers, that the anteaters were using their electrorecep- tors to locate the nesting chambers. 7 According to the passage, which of the following is a characteristic that distinguishes electroreceptors from tactile receptors? （ A） The manner in which electroreceptors respond to electr
22、ical stimuli. （ B） The tendency of electroreceptors to be found in clusters. （ C） The unusual locations in which electroreceptors are found in most species. （ D） The amount of electrical stimulation required to excite electroreceptors. （ E） The amount of nervous activity transmitted to the brain by
23、electroreceptors when they are excited. 8 Which of the following can be inferred about the experiment described in the first paragraph? （ A） Researchers had difficulty verifying the existence of electroreceptors in the anteater because electroreceptors respond to such a narrow range of electrical fi
24、eld strengths. （ B） Researchers found that the level of nervous activity in the anteater s brain increased dramatically as the strength of the electrical stimulus was increased. （ C） Researchers found that some areas of the anteaters snout were not sensitive to a weak electrical stimulus. （ D） Resea
25、rchers found that the anteaters tactile receptors were more easily excited by a strong electrical stimulus than were the electroreceptors. （ E） Researchers tested small areas of the anteater s snout in order to ensure that only electroreceptors were responding to the stimulus. 9 The author of the pa
26、ssage most probably discusses the function of tactile receptors(lines 10-17)in order to （ A） eliminate and alternative explanation of anteaters response to electrical stimuli. （ B） highlight a type of sensory organ that has a function identical to that of electroreceptors. （ C） point out a serious c
27、omplication in the research on electroreceptors in anteaters. （ D） suggest that tactile receptors assist electroreceptors in the detection of electrical signals. （ E） introduce a factor that was not addressed in the research on electroreceptors in anteaters. 10 Which of the following can be inferred
28、 about anteaters from the behavioral experiment mentioned in the second paragraph? （ A） They are unable to distinguish between stimuli detected by their electroreceptors and stimuli detected by their tactile receptors. （ B） They are unable to distinguish between the electrical signals emanating from
29、 termite mounds and those emanating from ant nests. （ C） They can be trained to recognize consistently the presence of a particular stimulus. （ D） They react more readily to strong than to weak stimuli. （ E） They are more efficient at detecting stimuli in a controlled environment than in a natural e
30、nvironment. 11 The passage suggests that the researchers mentioned in the second paragraph who observed anteaters break into a nest of ants would most likely agree with which of the following statements? （ A） The event they observed provides conclusive evidence that anteaters use their electrorecept
31、ors to locate unseen prey. （ B） The event they observed was atypical and may not reflect the usual hunting practices of anteaters. （ C） It is likely that the anteaters located the ants nesting chambers without the assistance of electroreceptors. （ D） Anteaters possess a very simple sensory system fo
32、r use in locating prey. （ E） The speed with which the anteaters located their prey is greater than what might be expected on the basis of chance alone. 12 Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the hypothesis mentioned in lines 27-29? （ A） Researchers are able to train anteaters to b
33、reak into an underground chamber that is emitting a strong electrical signal. （ B） Researchers are able to detect a weak electrical signal emanating from the nesting chamber of an ant colony. （ C） Anteaters are observed taking increasingly longer amounts of time to locate the nesting chambers of ant
34、s. （ D） Anteaters are observed using various angles to break into nests of ants. （ E） Ant eaters are observed using the same angle used with nests of ants to break into the nests of other types of prey. 12 When A. Philip Randolph assumed the leadership of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, he
35、began a ten-year battle to win recognition from the Pullman Company, the largest private employer of Black people in the United States and the company that controlled the railroad industry s sleeping car and parlor service. In 1935 the Brotherhood became the first Black union recognized by a major c
36、orporation. Randolphs efforts in the battle helped transform the attitude of Black workers toward unions and toward themselves as an identifiable group; eventually, Randolph helped to weaken organized labor s antagonism toward Black workers. In the Pullman contest Randolph faced formidable obstacles
37、. The first was Black workers understandable skepticism toward unions, which had historically barred Black workers from membership. An additional obstacle was the union that Pullman itself had formed, which weakened support among Black workers for an independent entity. The Brotherhood possessed a n
38、umber of advantages, however, including Randolph s own tactical abilities. In 1928 he took the bold step of threatening a strike against Pullman. Such a threat, on a national scale, under Black leadership, helped replace the stereotype of the Black worker as servant with the image of the Black worke
39、r as wage earner. In addition, the porters very isolation aided the Brotherhood. Porters were scattered throughout the country, sleeping in dormitories in Black communities; their segregated life protected the union s internal communications from interception. That the porters were a homogeneous gro
40、up working for a single employer with single labor policy, thus sharing the same grievances from city to city, also strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity as well. But it was only in the early 1930s that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining i
41、ts own unions with company money eventually allowed the Brotherhood to become recognized as the porters representative. Not content with this triumph, Randolph brought the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor, where it became the equal of the Federa- tion s 105 other unions. He reasoned
42、 that as a member union, the Brotherhood would be in a better position to exert pressure on member unions that practiced race restrictions. Such restric- tions were eventually found unconstitutional in 1944. 13 According to the passage, by 1935 the skepticism of Black workers toward unions was （ A）
43、unchanged except among Black employees of railroad-related industries. （ B） reinforced by the actions of the Pullman Companys union. （ C） mitigated by the efforts of Randolph. （ D） weakened by the opening up of many unions to Black workers. （ E） largely alleviated because of the policies of the Amer
44、ican Federation of Labor. 14 In using the word “understandable“(line 20), the author most clearly conveys （ A） sympathy with attempts by the Brotherhood between 1925 and 1935 to establish an independent union. （ B） concern that the obstacles faced by Randolph between 1925 and 1935 were indeed formid
45、able. （ C） ambivalence about the significance of unions to most Black workers in the 1920s. （ D） appreciation of the attitude of many Black workers in the 1920s toward unions. （ E） regret at the historical attitude of unions toward Black workers. 15 The passage suggests which of the following about
46、the response of porters to the Pullman Company s own union? （ A） Few porters ever joined this union. （ B） Some porters supported this union before 1935. （ C） Porters, more than other Pullman employees, enthusiastically supported this union. （ D） The porters response was most positive after 1935. （ E
47、） The porters response was unaffected by the general skepticism of Black workers concerning unions. 16 The passage suggests that if the grievances of porters in one part of the United States had been different from those of porters in another part of the country, which of the following would have be
48、en the case? （ A） It would have been more difficult for the Pullman Company to have had a single labor policy. （ B） It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to control its channels of communication. （ C） It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to build its membership. （ D）
49、 It would have been easier for the Pullman Company s union to attract membership. （ E） It would have been easier for the Brotherhood to threaten strikes. 17 The passage suggests that in the 1920 s a company in the United States was able to （ A） use its own funds to set up a union. （ B） require its employees to join the company s own union. （ C） develop a single labor policy for all its employees with little employee dissent. （ D） pressure its employees to contribute money to maintain the company s own union. （ E） use its resources to prevent
