1、专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 20及答案与解析 0 Lately, everybody from industrial designers to city planners claims to be looking after our aesthetic interests, and there is ample anecdotal evidence that, on the margin, people do put a higher premium on the look and feel of things than they once did. That is to be expect
2、ed as society grows richer. But aesthetics is not the only value - trade-offs must be made - and aesthetic value is hard to measure. What is “it,“ after all? Aesthetics doesnt come in neat units like microprocessor speed, calories, or tons of steel. Style is qualitative. The value of qualitative imp
3、rovements poses tricky problems for economists. It is a major challenge to tease out how much consumers value each individual attribute that comes bundled in a given good or service. If you pay $2.99 for a toothbrush, how much of that is for the cleaning ability? How much for the feel of the handle?
4、 How much for the durability? How much for the packaging? How much for the convenient distribution to your comer drugstore? How much for the color? Economists use statistical techniques called “hedonic pricing“ to try to separate the implicit prices of various characteristics. Essentially, they look
5、 at how prices go up or down as features are added or subtracted and try to figure out how consumers value the individual features. How much will consumers pay for an extra megahertz of computing speed, for instance? Not every characteristic is as easily measured as megahertz. The trickier the measu
6、rement, the more difficult the problem. For aesthetics, economists generally dont even try. Its just too hard. How do you account for the restaurant d cor or subtle enhancements in the taste of the food? How do you measure the increased value of a typeset resume, memo or client newsletter - the resu
7、lt of ubiquitous word processors - over an old-fashioned typed document? That sort of detail is simply lost in crude economic statistics. Many product characteristics - from convenience to snob appeal to aesthetics - are hard to quantify and so tend to be undercounted. The result is that the standar
8、d of living can change for the better without much notice. That is especially likely if products improve without becoming more expensive. Consumers are happier, but if they arent spending more money, no revenue increase shows up in the productivity statistics. This isnt unusual in competitive market
9、s. Shopping malls redecorate, and newspapers adopt color printing just to keep up with the competition. They arent able to charge more. They are just able to stay in business. When thinking about new products, producers face two challenges. First, they need to offer something whose value to the cons
10、umer is greater than its cost to produce and distribute. Increasing the surplus of value minus cost is where both higher living standards and higher profits come from. It is the measure of real economic improvement. The second challenge is, of course, to price the offering to maximize profit. As a g
11、eneral matter, aesthetics sells. But “as a general matter“ obscures all the specifics that make or break a product: What exact design will you use? How will you manufacture it? What will you charge? And, given those decisions, how will customers respond? The answers cant be found through a blackboar
12、d exercise. Price theory is a useful tool, but we cant know in advance how much people will value the characteristics of a product they havent yet seen or compared with real alternatives. Even market research, while helpful, cannot duplicate real-life choices. Although we all have fun predicting and
13、 second-guessing business ideas, the only way to find out is through trial and error. Market competition is a discovery process that subjects business hypotheses to unsentimental testing. Some managers are better than others at identifying promising new sources of value, and some companies are bette
14、r than others at operations and pricing - the skills that determine whether a product that consumers do value will in fact be profitable. Market competition tests these theories and skills. And, like all competitions, this one has its failures, some of them beautiful. Not every attempt at improvemen
15、t works out. Sometimes value does not exceed cost. Sometimes it does, but managers fall in love with their product, price it too high and drive away potential customers. Sometimes the coolest of the cool just cant survive the heat. With 20/20 hindsight, it is easy to see that the pricey Cube was doo
16、med. But nobody knew that a year ago. 1 The passage is mainly concerned with _. （ A） adding aesthetics to products （ B） increasing surplus of value minus cost （ C） quantifying product characteristics （ D） putting business ideas to market testing 2 According to the passage, the standard of living imp
17、roves when _. （ A） products are more aesthetically appealing （ B） each product characteristic is quantifiable （ C） there is a surplus of value minus cost （ D） producers do not charge aesthetic enhancements 3 Which of the following is most probably true of Apples Cube? （ A） Customers didnt like the l
18、ook and feel of it. （ B） There was no surplus of value minus cost. （ C） It did not reflect real-life choices. （ D） It contradicted price theory. 3 David Landes, author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor, credits the worlds economic and social progress over th
19、e last thousand years to “Western civilization and its dissemination.“ The reason, he believes, is that Europeans invented systematic economic development. Landes adds that three unique aspects of European culture were crucial ingredients in Europes economic growth. First, science developed as an au
20、tonomous method of intellectual inquiry that successfully disengaged itself from the social constraints of organized religion and from the political constraints of centralized authority. Though Europe lacked a political center, its scholars benefited from the use of a single vehicle of communication
21、: Latin. This common tongue facilitated an adversarial discourse in which new ideas about the physical world could be tested, demonstrated, and then accepted across the continent and eventually across the world. Second, Landes espouses a generalized form of Max Webers thesis that the values of work,
22、 initiative, and investment made the difference for Europe. Despite his emphasis on science, Landes does not stress the notion of rationality as such. In his view, “what counts is work, thrift, honesty, patience, and tenacity.“ The only route to economic success for individuals or states is working
23、hard, spending less than you earn, and investing the rest in productive capacity. This is his fundamental explanation of the problem posed by his books subtitle: “Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor.“ For historical reasons - an emphasis on private property, an experience of political pluralism, a
24、 temperate climate, an urban style - Europeans have, on balance, followed those practices and therefore have prospered. Third, and perhaps most important, Europeans were learners. They “learned rather greedily,“ as Joel Mokyr put it in a review of Landess book. Even if Europeans possessed indigenous
25、 technologies that gave them an advantage (spectacles, for example), as Landes believes they did, their most vital asset was the ability to assimilate knowledge from around the world and put it to use - as in borrowing the concept of zero and rediscovering Aristotles Logic from the Arabs and taking
26、paper and gunpowder from the Chinese via the Muslim world. Landes argues that a systematic resistance to learning from other cultures had become the greatest handicap of the Chinese by the eighteenth century and remains the greatest handicap of Arab countries today. Although his analysis of European
27、 expansion is almost nonexistent, Landes does not argue that Europeans were beneficent bearers of civilization to a benighted world. Rather, he relies on his own commonsense law: “When one group is strong enough to push another around and stands to gain by it, it will do so.“ In contrast to the new
28、school of world historians, Landes believes that specific cultural values enabled technological advances that in turn made some Europeans strong enough to dominate people in other parts of the world. Europeans therefore proceeded to do so with great viciousness and cruelty. By focusing on their vict
29、imization in this process, Landes holds, some postcolonial states have wasted energy that could have been put into productive work and investment. If one could sum up Landess advice to these states in one sentence, it might be “Stop whining and get to work.“ This is particularly important, indeed ho
30、peful, advice, he would argue, because success is not permanent. Advantages are not fixed, gains from trade are unequal, and different societies react differently to market signals. Therefore, not only is there hope for undeveloped countries, but developed countries have little cause to be complacen
31、t, because the current situation “will press hard“ on them. The thrust of studies like Landess is to identify those distinctive features of European civilization that lie behind Europes rise to power and the creation of modernity more generally. Other historians have placed a greater emphasis on suc
32、h features as liberty, individualism, and Christianity. In a review essay, the art historian Craig Clunas listed some of the less well known linkages that have been proposed between Western culture and modernity, including the propensities to think quantitatively, enjoy pornography. and consume suga
33、r. All such proposals assume the fundamental aptness of the question: What elements of European civilization led to European success? It is a short leap from this assumption to outright triumphalism. The paradigmatic book of this school is, of course, The End of History and the Last Man. in which Fr
34、ancis Fukuyama argues that after the collapse of Nazism in the twentieth century, the only remaining model for human organization in the industrial and communications ages is a combination of market economics and limited, pluralist, democratic government. 4 According to Landes, the main reason that
35、some countries are so poor is that _. （ A） they lack work ethic （ B） they are scientifically backward （ C） they lack rationality （ D） they are victimized by colonists 5 Lands believes that _. （ A） Europeans set out to bring civilization to an unfortunate world （ B） the Europeans dominated other coun
36、tries simply because they were strong （ C） the desire of Europeans to colonize other countries stemmed from specific cultural values （ D） the colonized countries themselves were to blame for being victimized by Europeans 6 The cultural elements identified by Landes _ those identified by other histor
37、ians. （ A） subsume （ B） contradict （ C） glorify （ D） complicate 7 “This school“ (para. 5) refers to people who _. （ A） believe in the absolute superiority of Western culture （ B） hold drastically different views from Landes （ C） are very cautious in linking Western culture and modernity （ D） follow
38、in the footsteps of Nazism and communism 8 In discussing Landes work, the authors tone is _. （ A） matter-of-fact （ B） skeptical （ C） reproachful （ D） enthusiastic 专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 20答案与解析 【知识模块】 阅读 1 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 本文主要讨论了如何对产品的抽象属性进行价格定位这一问题。例如，产品的一些属性，如方便性、高档产品的吸引力、美观等，是无法量化的；另外，产品价格的定位光靠价格理论是不行的，还
39、要通过市场竞争来进行捡验。凶此选项 C为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 2 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 该题要求理解第 6、 7段中的内容。产品的许多属性由于无法量化而被忽略 ，这会提高生活水平，特别是当产品质量提高而价格保持不变的时候。选项 D为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 3 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 在这篇文章中，作者主要讨论了产品的价格定位问题。在文章的后半部分，作者说明了产品的价格要通过市场竞争来检验。根据最后一段，当产品的价值超越成本时，经理们将产品定位过高，从而吓跑消费者，苹果公司 Cube一款电脑十分昂贵，从而注定是失败的。选项 C说明了问题的根源，为正确答案。 【
40、知识模块】 阅读 【知识模块】 阅读 4 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 根据第 3段， Landes认为，欧洲之所以与众不同，主要是因为勤劳。个人或国家要在经济上取得成就，必须辛勤劳动、勤俭节约和投资再生产，作者认为这些品质从根本上解释 Landes著作的副标题所提出的问题。 work ethic意为 ”劳动观 ”。因此选项 A为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 5 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 该题要求理解第 4段前半部分的内容，在解释欧洲殖民问题时，Landes依靠的是常识，即弱肉强食。在欧洲科技上的进步使它们得以征服世界上其他地方的人民。因此选项 B为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 6
41、 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 根据第 5段， Landes等学者的研究目标是要确定欧洲文明中的哪些普遍性因素使欧洲得以强大和现代化，而其他学者所列举的是一些更具体的因素。因此选项 A为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 7 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 该题要求理解最后一段的内容。其他历史学家也试图解释西方文化和现代文化之间的关系，但他们的观点有一个前提，即欧洲的成就是欧洲的文明带来的。这表明了他们的一种优越感。例如 Francis Fukuyama认为，在纳粹主义消亡之后，工业和信息时代人类组织模式将是西方的市场经济和有限的、多元的和民主政府的组合，因此选项 A为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 8 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 在讨论 Landes的著作时，作者没有夹带自己的观点，而是用Landes argues, Landes believes, Landes holds等客观引述的结构。选项 A为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读
