Part B
Directions:
The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For
Questions 41-45, you are required to reorganize these paragraphs
into a coherent text by choosing from the list A-G to fill in each
numbered box. The first and the last paragraphs have been placed
for you in boxes. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.(10
points)
[A] But Hodge is hardly the only one worried about London’s
Olympicnomics. In May, Moody’s issued a report suggesting that
London’s Olympics boom may come to an end not long after the
event’s closing ceremonies. “Overall, we think that the Olympics
are unlikely to provide a substantial boost to the UK economy,” a
Moody’s official said in a statement.
[B] Hosting the Olympics is generally seen as a giant boon for
the host city and cities lobby hard to get themselves picked. But
if you look at the historical record, the actual economic impact of
the Olympics on their host cities and countries has been decidedly
mixed. And there are good reasons to think that whatever economic
benefits London gets from hosting the Olympics will be short-lived
at best. So what exactly is there to worry about? Well, hosting the
Olympics is an extremely costly business: Existing infrastructure
needs to be upgraded, new sports facilities need to be built;
security needs to be tight. And it almost invariably ends up
costing much, much more than expected.
[C] The 2008 Olympics in Beijing is the current king of cost
overruns: It was supposed to cost a mere $1.6 billion — but the
Chinese ended up shelling out a staggering $40 billion for
what turned into a lavish propaganda extravaganza, according to
economist Brad Humphreys at the University of Alberta, an expert on
the economics of sports. The 2004 Olympics in Athens was also
expected to cost $1.6 billion, and ended up costing ten times that,
contributing to Greece’s current debt crisis. Meanwhile, many of
the sports facilities built for the Athens Games are underused and
already falling apart.
[D] Back in 2009, as London began preparing in earnest for the
Games, Britain’s Olympics Minister boasted that the event would
“provide economic gold at a time of economic need.” With costs
rising and hopes shrinking, it’s looking like the best London can
hope for is a Bronze.
[E] London isn’t expected to go quite so far over budget, but its
Olympics are turning out to be a lot pricier than the frugal $5
billion affair the government originally promised. And the Brits
are already feeling more than a little defensive about the cost
overruns. When Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge
reported in March that the event was likely to end up costing
closer to $17 billion, she found herself pilloried in the
press.
[F] This is true. Even London’s hotels — which you would expect
to profit massively from a flood of tourists with money — aren’t
doing as well as expected. After raising their rates in
anticipation of a flood of visitors, London’s hotels are having
trouble filling their rooms, with roughly a third of their rooms as
yet unbooked during the Games. Indeed, with some potential tourists
deliberately staying away from London in order to avoid the
Olympics-sized hassles that invariably accompany the Games, the
U.K’s World Travel Tourism Council expects that total tourist
spending in the U.K. this year will only be a tiny bit higher than
last year.
[G] With the start of the London Summer Olympics drawing ever
nearer, some Londoners are wondering if the whole thing is worth
the hassle — or the cost. They’ve got good reasons to worry.
Order: G →41.
→42.
→43.
→44.
→45. →D
Part B
文章结构直击
本文取材于2012年6月Time(《时代周刊》)上的一篇文章,原文题目为London’s Olympics Won’t
Deliver Economic Gold(《伦敦奥运会不会给经济发展带来黄金》)。题材为商业经济类。
本文采用“总—分—总”的结构,运用举例和引证的论证方法,主要论述了伦敦奥运是否会给伦敦经济发展带去很大的推动作用。第一段开门见山地提出伦敦人对奥运经济的怀疑和担忧。
第二、三段承接上一段,通过对往届奥运会的回顾,指出具体担忧的是什么,即花费比预想的多很多。
第四至六段分析了伦敦奥运会对伦敦经济可能产生的影响。
末段照应开头,指出:奥运会不能给伦敦经济发展带来辉煌。
答案精解
41.
选[B]。考查上下文逻辑衔接和线索词语。浏览首尾两段及其他各段的首句可知,本文主要跟伦敦奥运会有关。文章谈到了奥运会可能给经济带去的影响以及奥运的花费等问题。文章第一段总领全文,谈到随着奥运的临近,人们开始怀疑这次奥运会是否值得他们花费如此的代价和金钱。这里if
the whole thing is worth …the
cost是主题。很自然地,接下来的内容应该就上述问题进行具体的阐述。浏览选项,只有[B]和第一段衔接最紧密。该段中,重点是But之后的内容。其中economic
impact …mixed, 和[G]中的if …worth the cost上下呼应。[B]的结论句说:…costing much,
much more than expected, 这样 cost就成为表示前后承接关系的线索词。此外,选项[B]中的to
worry也不失为一种提示。所以[B]为本题答案。
42.
选[C]。考查上下文衔接和连贯性。上段末谈到了奥运会的一些开支,并在最后一句提到,举办奥运会最终的结果总是花费的钱财比预想的要多得多。那么接下来的一段最有可能就花费的问题做进一步发挥或举例来进行佐证。浏览选项,首先排除[A]、[E]。因为从上文找不到能与这两项开头衔接的内容。[F]也不正确,因为上文谈论的是奥运会的花费,该项谈论的是伦敦的酒店也没能从奥运会中受益颇多。选项开头的This
is
true并不能正确地衔接上下文,因此排除[F]。选项[C],列举了08年奥运会和04年奥运会的例子,论证了奥运会最终的开支要比预计的多得多。与上段结尾句衔接自然。所以[C]为本题答案。
43.
选[E]。考查上下文衔接和线索词语。[C]主要谈到了08年奥运会和04年奥运会的实际花销要比预计的多很多倍。其中supposed to
cost $1.6 billion就是北京奥运会的budget;而后面also expected to cost $1.6
billion就是雅典奥运会的budget。所以,budget就成为选[E]的线索依据。[E]说预计伦敦奥运会不会超支那么多。该句中go
quite so far over budget与上一段的内容相照应,既能承上,又能启下。故本题选[E]。
44.
选[A]。考查上下文衔接。上一段结尾谈到,霍奇在一份报告中谈到奥运会的最终花销可能会接近170亿。浏览剩余两项,[F]首句中的This若指代上一段的内容,则解释不通。且该项后面谈到的是伦敦的酒店也没能从举办奥运会中得到很多益处,很显然,该段内容不能与上一段很好地衔接。而[A]的首句Hodge照应前一段结尾部分“Hodge”的内容,同时又引出其他方面对奥运经济的担忧。所以[A]为本题答案。
45.
选[F]。考查上下文衔接和代词指代。[E]的结尾谈到,穆迪公司的报告暗示奥运会给伦敦经济带去的繁荣持续时间不长。同时,穆迪公司的一名官员也认为奥运会并不会给经济发展带去什么实质性的推动。[F]中的This
is
true承上启下,一方面对这名官员的看法表示赞同,另一方面又引出伦敦酒店的例子来论证奥运会确实对伦敦经济的发展没有多少实质性的推动作用。
译文对照
[G]随着伦敦夏季奥运会的日益临近,一些伦敦人想知道,这一切是否值得花费如此的代价和金钱。他们的担忧是有道理的。
[B]举办奥运通常会被看作是给主办城市的一项巨大福利。因此,各大城市尽其所能进行游说,以期它们能被选中。但如果你翻阅一下以往的记录,很显然,奥运会给主办城市和主办国家所带去的经济影响是有好也有坏的。因此,我们有充分的理由相信,无论伦敦从举办奥运会这件事上获得什么样的经济利益,在最好的情况下,也不会长久。那么,令人担心的事情具体是什么呢?举办奥运会是一件花费巨大的差事:现有的公共设施需要改善;新的体育设施需要修建;安防需要加强。最终的结果便是,花费的钱财总是要比预想的多得多。
[C]2008年的北京奥运会是目前超支最严重的一届奥运会。阿尔伯塔大学的经济学家布拉德?汉弗莱(Brad
Humphreys)是研究体育经济的一名专家,据他所言,北京奥运会仅计划花费16亿美元,但中国人把这届奥运会变成了一场铺张的布道表演,最终,他们为之付出了令人惊愕的400亿美元。2004年的雅典奥运会也预期花费16亿美元,但最终花费却达到预期的十倍,造成现今的希腊债务危机。此外,为雅典奥运会修建的许多体育设施并未得到充分的利用并且现在早已散架了。
[E]预计,伦敦奥运会并不会超出预算那么多,政府原先也承诺要将奥运会办成一次仅花费50亿美元的节俭大会,但结果显示,此次奥运会的花费仍然要比政府承诺的多得多。对于成本超支,英国人早已戒心十足。今年3月,当政府账目委员会主席玛格丽特?霍奇(Margaret
Hodge)报告称奥运会的花费很可能最终接近170亿美元时,她遭到了媒体的一阵嘲笑。
[A]但担心伦敦奥运经济的绝非霍奇一人。就在5月份,穆迪公司发布了一篇报告,暗示奥运会给伦敦带去的繁荣在奥运会闭幕式之后的不久就会结束。穆迪公司的一名官员在一份申明中谈到:“总的来说,我们认为奥运会不太可能对英国的经济起到实质性的推动作用。”
[F]确实如此。即使伦敦的酒店——一个你认为将从一大帮兜里揣满了钱的游客那里获益颇多的地方——也没有所期望的那样赚钱。想到有大批的游客要来,伦敦的酒店抬高了它们的价格,之后却发现要填充酒店的客房都有困难——大致有三分之一的房间到目前为止都还没有收到房客在奥运期间的预订。事实上,因为奥运会总会带来很多的麻烦,而一些潜在的旅客为了避免这些麻烦有意远离伦敦居住,英国世界旅游旅行理事会预计,今年游客在英国的所有旅游支出将只比去年多一点点。
[D]早在2009年伦敦开始为奥运会认真准备之时,英国奥运大臣夸口说奥运会将“恰好能在经济需要之时给经济发展带来黄金”。随着成本的不断增加以及希望的不断破灭,看来伦敦能指望得到的也只是青铜。
词汇宝盒
hassle [''h?sl] n.①麻烦②困难③激战 v.①找麻烦,搅扰②与争辩③使烦恼
overrun [,?uv?''r?n, ''?uv?r?n] n.①超出限度②泛滥成灾v.①泛滥②蔓延③超过
shell out ①付款②还账③为提供
pillory [''pil?ri] v.①使惹人嘲笑②给上颈手枷n.①示众②颈手枷③使嘲笑
in anticipation of ①预期②期待③早于他人完成
boast [b?ust] v.①夸口说,自夸自擂说n.①自夸②值得夸耀的实物
【长难句破解】
1.It was supposed to cost a mere $1.6 billion — but the Chinese
ended up shelling out a staggering $40 billion for what turned into
a lavish propaganda extravaganza, according to economist Brad
Humphreys at the University of Alberta, an expert on the economics
of sports.
【句型结构】并列复合句。破折号后面的but连接两个转折关系的并列分句。第一个分句为简单句。在第二个分句中,what引导的名词性从句作介词for的宾语。according
to...作整个句子的状语,后面的an expert...为Brad Humphreys的同位语。
【参考译文】阿尔伯塔大学的经济学家布拉德?汉弗莱(Brad
Humphreys)是研究体育经济的一名专家,据他所言,北京奥运会仅计划花费16亿美元,但中国人把这届奥运会变成了一场铺张的布道表演,最终,他们为之付出了令人惊愕的400亿美元。
2. London isn’t expected to go quite so far over budget, but its
Olympics are turning out to be a lot pricier than the frugal $5
billion affair the government originally promised.
【句型结构】并列复合句。but连接两个并列的分句。第一个分句为简单句。在第二个分句中,the government
originally promised为省略了关系代词的定语从句,修饰affair。
【参考译文】预计,伦敦奥运会并不会超出预算那么多,政府原先也承诺要将奥运会办成一次仅花费50亿美元的节俭大会,但结果显示,此次奥运会的花费仍然要比政府承诺的多得多。
3. Indeed, with some potential tourists deliberately staying away
from London in order to avoid the Olympics-sized hassles that
invariably accompany the Games, the U.K’s World Travel
Tourism Council expects that total tourist spending in the U.K.
this year will only be a tiny bit higher than last year.
【句型结构】复合句。句子的主干为the U.K’s World Travel Tourism Council
expects that...。此处的that引导宾语从句。句首的with结构作状语,其中,包含in order
to引导的目的状语。在in order to引导的目的状语中,又包含that引导的定语从句,修饰hassles。
【参考译文】事实上,因为奥运会总会带来很多的麻烦,而一些潜在的旅客为了避免这些麻烦有意远离伦敦居住,英国世界旅游旅行理事会预计,今年游客在英国的所有旅游支出将只比去年多一点点。