考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇【信息技術(shù)類】

考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇unit40
Unit 40
Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard's chief executive, came out fighting on November 14th. In a conference call with analysts, she announced better-than-expected quarterly results, even though profits were down. Ms Fiorina also reiterated why she believes her $24 billion plan to acquire Compaq is the best way forward for HP, despite objections by Hewlett and Packard family members. Last week Walter Hewlett, whose father co-founded the company, expressed concern that the merger would increase HP's exposure to the shrinking PC market and would distract managers from the more important task of navigating through the recession.
 
There are two ways to defend the deal. One is to point out its advantages, which is what Ms Fiorina did this week. Merging with Compaq, she said, would enable HP to reach its goals faster than it could on its own. The deal would improve HP's position in key markets such as storage and high-end computing, as well as the economics of its PC business. It would double the size of HP's sales force and broaden its customer base, providing more potential clients for its services and consulting arms. It would improve cashflow, margins and efficiency by adding "breadth and depth" to HP. "Having spent the last several months planning the integration of these two companies, we are even more convinced of the power of this combination," Ms Fiorina concluded.
 
It sounds too good to be true, and it almost certainly is. But the other way to defend the deal is to point out that, even if it was a bad idea to start with, abandoning it could be even worse--a view that, unsurprisingly, Ms Fiorina chose not to advance, but is being quietly put forward by the deal's supporters.
 
Scrapping the merger would be extremely painful for a number of reasons. Since the executive teams of both firms have committed themselves to the deal, they would be utterly discredited if it fell apart, and would probably have to go. Under the terms of the merger agreement, HP might have to pay Compaq as much as $675m if it backed out. The two firms would be considerably weakened; they would also be rivals again, despite having shared confidential technical and marketing information with each other over the past few months. In short, it would all be horribly messy. What can be done to save the deal? Part of the problem is that HP has no plan B. "They need a brand-recovery effort immediately," says one industry analyst. HP must give the impression that it is strong and vital, rather than desperate, and that its future is not dependent on the deal going forward. That could make the merger look more attractive and bring investors back on board.
 
This week's results will certainly help. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which owns just over one-tenth of HP's shares, will decide whether to back the merger in the next few weeks, and HP's shareholders are to vote on it early next year. The more credible HP's plan B, the less likely it is that it will be needed.
 
注（1）：本文選自Economist; 11/17/2001, p58, 1/2p, 1 graph；
注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象2004年真題Text 1；
 
1.       What is Ms Fiorina’s attitude toward the merging of HP and Compaq?
 
[A]Reserved consent.
[B]Strong disapproval.
[C]Enthusiastic support.
[D]Slight contempt.
 
2.       Which of the following is not the good reason to promote the merger?
 
[A]The majority of the firm are in favor of the merger.
[B]No combination is even worse than merger.
[C]It can bring about a lot of advantages.
[D]There is no plan B to save the firm from trouble.
 
3.       The expression “The more credible HP's plan B, the less likely it is that it will be
needed.”(Last Line, Last Paragraph) most probably indicates _____________.
 
[A]plan B can win people’s trust
[B]the merger needs people’s trust in plan B
[C]the reliance on plan B determines the success of the merger
[D]appearing not to be dependent on the merger will make the merger go well
4.       What can we learn from paragraph 4?
 
[A]The executive teams of both firms can benefit a lot from the merger.
[B]The future of HP depends much on the merger.
[C]The two sides are eager to make this deal.
[D]Plan B can save HP out of trouble.
 
5.       What is the author’s attitude toward the merger of HP?
 
[A]Negative.
[B]Supportive.
[C]Objective.
[D]Apprehensive.
 
答案：CADBC
 
篇章剖析
本文主要闡述了已陷入困境的惠普公司意欲收購康柏公司這一事件，其中包括計劃的原因、股東的態(tài)度以及計劃失敗會造成的后果。第一段指出惠普公司首席執(zhí)行官和惠普股東對收購問題的不同看法；第二段和三段指出有兩種辦法可以維護這一協(xié)議；第四段指出這一方案失敗將會造成什么樣的后果以及惠普公司如何能促成這一方案；最后一段：對最終的結(jié)果大家拭目以待。
 
詞匯注釋
Hewlett-Packard休利特-帕卡德公司(也就是中國人習慣稱為惠普公司)
denounce[]vt.公開指責, 公然抨擊, 譴責
Compaq  n.美國COMPAQ電腦公司；美國康柏公司，世界著名的電腦生產(chǎn)廠家
conference call  n.電話會議
reiterate[]vt.反復(fù)地說, 重申, 重做
merger[]n.合并, 歸并
scrap []vt.扔棄, 敲碎, 拆毀
commit oneself to 致力于
discredit[]vt.不信, 懷疑, 使丟臉
confidential[]adj.秘密的, 機密的
back out  v.收回, 停止不干
 
難句突破
Walter Hewlett, whose father co-founded the company, expressed concern that the merger would increase HP's exposure to the shrinking PC market and would distract managers from the more important task of navigating through the recession.
主體句式：Walter Hewlett expressed concern that …
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是一個定語從句�！皐hose father co-founded the company”是主語“Walter Hewlett”的同位語；that引導(dǎo)賓語從句，在這里應(yīng)注意從句中一些單詞的用法：exposure to的意思是“使受影響”；shrinking的意思是“萎縮的”；“navigating”的意思是“引領(lǐng)，駕駛，操縱”；“recession”的意思是“不景氣”。
句子譯文：上周，沃爾特•休利特—他的父親曾組建了惠普公司---表達了他的憂慮，他擔心公司的合并將會使惠普公司在應(yīng)對萎縮的電腦市場時增加財政損失的風險，并且這將會使公司經(jīng)理在擔當引領(lǐng)公司度過低靡期這一更為重要的任務(wù)時分心走神。
 
題目分析
1．答案為C，屬情感態(tài)度題。從文章中三個地方：“Ms Fiorina also reiterated why she believes her $24 billion plan to acquire Compaq is the best way forward for HP”、“One is to point out its advantages, which is what Ms Fiorina did this week.”和“"Having spent the last several months planning the integration of these two companies, we are even more convinced of the power of this combination," Ms Fiorina concluded.”我們可看出Fiorina對收購康柏的態(tài)度。
2. 答案為A，屬事實細節(jié)題。選項B對應(yīng)的信息是“even if it was a bad idea to start with, abandoning it could be even worse”；選項C對應(yīng)的信息是“One is to point out its advantages”；選項D對應(yīng)的信息是“Part of the problem is that HP has no plan B.”。從文章中我們可看出有支持這一方案的，也有反對的，我們無從判斷公司的大多數(shù)人是否都支持這一方案。
3. 答案為D，屬推理判斷題。從文章中我們知道，惠普公司實際上沒有可供選擇的B方案，但它一定得使人感覺到它的強大和富有活力，而不能給人留下孤注一擲的印象，并且它的未來發(fā)展前景也不是取決于這項協(xié)議的。這樣做的效果是會使合并計劃更富有吸引力，也會使投資者重返董事會。因此，使人們相信惠普還有路可走，還有計可施，才能使收購計劃順利進行，而不再去想別的辦法。
4. 答案為B，屬事實細節(jié)題。原文對應(yīng)信息是“Part of the problem is that HP has no plan B.”。實際上惠普公司已無計可施，只能仰仗收購計劃，但它又不能表現(xiàn)出來。
5. 答案為C，屬情感態(tài)度題。文章作者在闡述整個收購事件（其中包括公司內(nèi)部股東的態(tài)度，收購帶來的好處以及收購失敗的壞處）時，態(tài)度是非�？陀^的。
 
參考譯文
惠普公司首席執(zhí)行官卡莉•費奧利娜11月14日開始行動。在同分析員召開的電話會議上，她通告說，雖然所獲利潤有所下降，但是這一季度取得了超乎預(yù)料的結(jié)果。費奧利娜女士也重申了為什么她認為240億美元收購康柏公司將是惠普公司進一步發(fā)展的最佳辦法，盡管這一做法招到了來自休利特和帕卡德家族成員的反對。上周，沃爾特•休利特—他的父親曾組建了惠普公司---表達了他的憂慮，他擔心公司的合并將會使惠普公司在應(yīng)對萎縮的電腦市場時增加財政損失的風險，并且這將會使公司經(jīng)理在擔當引領(lǐng)公司度過低靡期這一更為重要的任務(wù)時分心走神。
 
有兩種方法能維護這一協(xié)議。一種是指出它的優(yōu)勢所在，這也正是費奧利娜女士這周做的事情。她認為，比起依靠自己的力量，同康柏公司的合并能夠使惠普公司更快地達到自己的目標。這項協(xié)議將提升惠普公司在一些主要市場，比如存儲和頂級運算方面的市場，以及個人電腦商業(yè)經(jīng)濟中的地位。這將擴大銷售人員的規(guī)模，拓寬消費者范圍，為客戶服務(wù)部門和咨詢部門提供更多潛在的客戶。通過給惠普公司增添如此的“廣度和深度”，這還會改善其資金流轉(zhuǎn)、利潤、效率等問題。費奧利娜女士得出的結(jié)論是：“通過兩家公司就合并問題長達幾個月時間的策劃，我們對合并后公司的實力深信不疑�！�
 
這些好處聽起來有些讓人難以置信，但事實卻是如此。另一種辦法是要指出這一點：盡管重新組建一個新公司不是一個好主意，但總比放棄它要好一些。對費奧利娜女士來說，她自然是不會這樣提議的，但支持這一協(xié)議的人私底下卻是這樣建議的。
 
放棄這一合并計劃將會非常棘手。這有很多原因。由于雙方管理層全力以赴都想談攏這一協(xié)議，如果談不攏的話，他們必將名譽掃地，很可能不得不卷鋪蓋走人。依據(jù)合并協(xié)議條款，如果惠普公司打退堂鼓的話，它就得支付康柏公司高達6.75億美元的補償。兩家公司的實力都將大大削弱。雖然過去幾個月它們在機密技術(shù)和市場信息方面實行了資源共享，但它們也可能再度成為競爭對手。簡言之，這將造成混亂可怕的局面。那么怎么做才能保全這一協(xié)議呢？一部分問題在于惠普公司沒有可實施的B方案。一位企業(yè)分析員說：“他們急需馬上恢復(fù)其品牌形象�！被萜展�司一定得使人感覺到它的強大和富有活力，而不能給人留下孤注一擲的印象，并且它的未來發(fā)展前景也不是取決于這項協(xié)議的。這樣做會使合并計劃更富有吸引力，也會使投資者重返董事會。
 
這周的結(jié)果肯定會有用的。持有惠普公司十分之一股權(quán)的大衛(wèi)和露希爾帕卡德基金會在接下來的幾周里，將決定是否支持合并計劃。惠普公司的股東明年將就此計劃進行投票表決�；萜展�司B方案的可信度越高，使用它的可能性也就越小。

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