Question

【题目】 Suppose that we lined up our roughly 14 million United States businesses in order of size, starting with the smallest, along an imaginary road from San Francisco to New York. There will be 4,500 businesses to the mile, or a little less than one per foot. Suppose further that we planted a flag each business. The height of the flag pole represents the yearly volume of sales (销量) , each $ 10, 000 in sales in shown by one foot of pole.

The line of flagpoles is a very interesting sight. From San Francisco to about Reno, it is almost unnoticeable, a row of poles about a foot high. From Reno eastward the poles increase in height until, near Columbus, Ohio - about four - fifths of the way across the nation - flags fly about 10 feet in the air.

But as we approach the eastern terminus (终点) , the poles suddenly begin to mount (升高) . There are about 300, 000 firms in the country with sales over $ 500, 000. These firms take up the last 75 miles of the 3,000 - mile road. There are 200, 000 firms with sales over $ 1 million. They take up the last 50 miles. Then there are 1, 000 firms with sales of $ 50, 000, 000 or more. They take up the last quarter of a mile before the city limits, flags flying at cloud height, 5 , 000 feet up .

At the very gate of New York, on the last 100 feet of the last mile , we find the 100 largest industrial firms . They have sales of at least $ 1.5 billion, so that their flags are already miles high. Along the last 10 feet of road , there are 10 largest companies . Their sales are roughly $ 10 billion and up : their flags fly 190 miles in the air , almost in the stratosphere (平流层) .

【1】What is the author’s main purpose in this passage?

A.To tell the reason why the largest firms are in New York.

B.To show the geographical distribution (分布) of the United States businesses.

C.To provide a general idea of the size of businesses in the United States.

D.To tell us how the United States businesses are arranged.

【2】What’s the correct order of the following places from east to west?

A.San Francisco, Reno, New York, Columbus.

B.San Francisco, Reno, Columbus, New York.

C.New York, Columbus, Reno, San Francisco

D.New York, Reno, Columbus, San Francisco

【3】Among the four parts of the imaginary road , which part , considering all the firms in it , has the largest total volume of sales ?

A.The last 75 miles.B.The last 50 miles.

C.The last 100 feet of the last mile.D.The last quarter of a mile

【4】Which of the following diagrams (图表) shows the right order of size of the US businesses , according to the text ?

S =" San" Francisco R =" Reno" C =" Columbus" N =" New" York H =" height" F = feet

A.B.C.D.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】C

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章通过想象了一条从西向东的路，在路上插旗子来表示美国公司的销售规模，结果显示，从西向东规模越来越大。

【1】推理判断题。第一段Suppose that we lined up our roughly 14 million United States businesses in order of size, starting with the smallest, along an imaginary road from San Francisco to New York.（假设我们将大约1400万家美国企业按照规模排序，从最小的开始，沿着一条想象中的从旧金山到纽约的道路排列。）是全文的主题句，结合全文内容，可知作者写这篇文章的主要目的是是提供美国商业规模的大致概念。故选 C。

【2】细节理解题：From San Francisco to about Reno, it is almost unnoticeable, a row of poles about a foot high. From Reno eastward the poles increase in height until, near Columbus, Ohio - about four - fifths of the way across the nation - flags fly about 10 feet in the air.可知从东向西排列顺序是C. New York, Columbus, Reno, San Francisco。故选C

【3】细节理解题：从第三段的句子：These firms take up the last 75 miles of the 3,000 - mile road.可知最后的75英里的公司销售额最大。故选A

【4】细节理解题：从第二段的内容可知San Francisco是一英尺，从Reno到Columbus上升至10 英尺，第三段可知New York是5，000英尺。故选B