大学英语六级考试拓展阅读练习(18)

　　inhibit v. 抑制，约束

　　astute adj. 机敏的

　　难句突破：

　　So when Mr Murdochs News Corporation offered in April to buy Dow Jones, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, he was already pretty sure that the reply, which eventually came in the early hours of August 1st, would be yesand it was.

　　[主体句式] So when Mr Murdochs News Corporation offered to, he was already sure that

　　[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，when 引导的是句子的时间状语从句;that 引导的是宾语从句，在该从句中which引导的是定语从句用来修饰前面的replay。

　　[句子译文] 因此，当Murdoch先生的资讯集团四月份开始收购《华尔街杂志》的主家道琼斯时，他已经确定答复会是肯定的，而事实也正是如此，他于8月1号的早上得到了这个答复。

　　He also agreed to various measures to safeguard the Wall Street Journals editorial independence that were just sufficient to salve enough Bancroft consciences, without meaningfully inhibiting his ability to do as he pleases.

　　[主体句式] He also agreed to safeguared, without inhibiting

　　[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，that 引导的定语从句用来修饰independence, 后面的分词结构作为句子的伴随状语。

　　[句子译文] 他也同意采取各种措施来保证《华尔街杂志》编辑的独立性，这些措施足以缓解Bancroft在道德上的不安，同时也不会约束他想做任何事的能力。

　　题目分析：

　　1. Mr Murdoch could successfully purchased Dow Jones at his offer because of the following reasons except_____ 1. Murdoch 先生可以成功地以他的出价收购道琼斯因为除了____外的原因。

　　[A] he had the situations of the Bancroft family conflicts at his fingertips. [A] 他完全掌握了Bancroft家族的内部斗争

　　[B] his $5 billion offer far exceeded other bidders and was difficult to be refused. [B] 他50亿美元的出价比其他的出价者要高，很难被拒绝

　　[C] he promised that the editors would be entitled to a large degree of freedom. [C] 他承诺让编辑能享有很大的自由

　　[D] he would not interfere with the internal issues as he pleases. [D] 他不会按自己的喜好来插手内部事情

　　[答案]D

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 细节题。从文章第一段可以看出，他之所以能成功收购有几个原因，掌握了内部情况，出价高，保证编辑的独立性，A、B、C选项是正确的;D选项的错误在于文章第一段提到了他也可以随心所欲地插手内部事情。

　　2.The word inhibiting most probably means _____ 2. inhibiting 最有可能的意思是_____

　　[A] giving full swing to. [A] 放任自流。

　　[B] reducing. [B] 减少。

　　[C] restraining. [C] 遏制。

　　[D] depriving. [D] 剥夺。

　　[答案] C

　　[难度系数] ☆

　　[分析] 猜词题。根据上下文He also agreed to various measures to safeguard the Wall Street Journals editorial independence that were just sufficient to salve enough Bancroft consciences, without meaningfully inhibiting his ability to do as he pleases，虽然Murdoch先生同意给予编辑自由，但是他不会约束他自己随心所欲地权利。因此，选项中C最为符合。

　　3.The problems Dow Jones were facing when Mr Murdoch decided to buy it were the following ones except _____ 3.Murdoch先生决定要收购道琼斯时，道琼斯所面临的问题不是_____

　　[A] there was divergence between different generations of the Bancroft family. [A] Bancroft家族不同代之间的成员存在分歧。

　　[B] the board had some difficulties in making strategic decisions. [B] 董事会下决策时面临很多困难。

　　[C] the new chief executive was not allowed sufficient time to demonstrate his capability of managing the company. [C] 新的首席执行官没有得到足够的时间来展示他管理公司的能力。

　　[D] the Bancroft came to the awareness that the company was already trapped into severe problems. [D] Bancroft家族意识到公司已经陷入了严重的问题中。

　　[答案] B

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 细节题。文章提到了公司面临的一些问题，其中文章第二段提到He read the internal politics of the sprawling Bancroft clan, which owns a controlling stake in Dow Jones, perfectlyperhaps better than he reads his own family，对应于A选项。第三段谈到The timing of the offer was equally astute, coming after the family had realised that the company faced huge strategic problems, but before the new chief executive they appointed last year had had time to show he could solve them, and so enable Dow Jones to prosper as an independent business，分别对应于C和D选项。而B选项并不是公司面临的重大问题，因此是正确答案。

　　4.Pearson and General Electric will probably impede Mr. Murdochs purchase of Dow Jones because _____ 4.Pearson 和通用电气可能会阻碍Murdoch先生收购道琼斯，因为_____

　　[A] acquisition of Dow Jones would bring any bidder great profit in the future. [A] 收购道琼斯可以为任何出价人带来巨大的利润。

　　[B] Dow Jones would be more competitive after the purchase to threat their business. [B] 道琼斯在被收购后会更有竞争力，威胁到他们的商业。

　　[C] their joint bid would turn out to be more acceptable to the Bancroft family than Mr. Murdoch. [C] 比起Murdoch先生来说，Bancroft 家族更加受欢迎。

　　[D] they were the most powerful rivals of Mr. Murdochs media corporation. [D] 他们是道琼斯最为有力的对手。

　　[答案] B

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆☆

　　[分析] 细节题。根据第四段，是因为道琼斯被收购后会更具竞争力，从而威胁到他们的生意，所以他们才阻挠收购，因此，答案为B选项。C选项具有一定的干扰性，但是文章倒数第二段最后一句话指出Yet despite rumours of a joint Pearson-GE bid, no such offer materialised，也就是说尽管有传闻说Pearson和通用会联合竞价，但是实际上还没有这样做，因此他们的竞价是否更好是不得而知的。

　　5.Which one of the following statements is NOT true of Mr Murdochs offer for Dow Jones? 5.关于Murdoch先生给道琼斯的出价，下列哪个陈述是正确的?

　　[A] News Corporations shareholders think Mr Murdochs offer was not so reasonable. [A] 新公司的股票持有人认为Murdoch先生的出价不那么合理。

　　[B] News Corporations shareholders suspect that his offer was only a start of an ambitious plan. [B] 新公司的股票持有人怀疑他的出价只是更加有野心的计划的开始而已。

　　[C] Mr Murdoch will make up his loss in the offer by reducing the cost of running Dow Jones. [C] Murdoch先生会减少运营道琼斯的费用来弥补自己的损失。

　　[D] Mr Murdochs offer was higher than what the business had expected. [D] Murdoch先生的出价要比公司预想的要高。

　　[答案] A

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 细节题。根据最后一段，股票持有人认为他出价过高，因此怀疑是个借口，后面有更大的野心，那么B选项是正确的。A选项，文中并未说是不合理的;C选项，通过严格管理来降低成本;D选项在文中没有提到。因此，B选项为正确答案。

　　参考译文：

　　资讯报道认为到问题的结果还是个未知数，但是Rupert Murdoch的景仰者却坚信他会获胜。因此，当Murdoch先生的资讯集团四月份开始收购《华尔街杂志》的主家道琼斯时，他已经确定答复会是肯定的，而事实也正是如此，他于8月1号的早上得到了这个答复。

　　Murdoch先生很成功地完成了一项艰难的任务。他研究了复杂的Bancroft家族的内部政治，该家族在道琼斯拥有绝对的股票，而Murdoch对其了解的程度不亚于对自己家族的了解。他出的50亿美元高价已经足够将Bancrofts的两代政治都玩弄于股掌之中。在公司的长期财务管理员续任之前，他引诱家族中年轻的成员把钱放到了重要位置。而当家族的某些成员要Murdoch先生提高出价时，他会有力地拒绝并威胁要放弃收购，使他们同意他最初的出价。他也同意采取各种措施来保证《华尔街杂志》编辑的独立性，这些措施足以缓解Bancroft在道德上的不安，同时也不会约束他想做任何事的能力。

　　Murdoch对收购时间的选择也颇具技巧，正好是在该家族意识到自己面临着巨大的决策问题之后，而在他们去年指定的新任首席执行官有时间来显示自己可以解决这些问题、让道琼斯作为一个独立的企业兴盛起来之前。当道琼斯董事会承认合并可能是对公司最好的战略时，Murdoch才最终确保了他的胜利，谈判也是从那时开始的。

　　Murdoch先生最大的风险就是可能会有另外一个该家族比较喜欢的买家出现。但是他的高出价吓跑了私募基金的出价者。Murdoch先生唯一的担忧就是有两家因他收购道琼斯而蒙受巨大损失的公司会来出家拆台，它们分别是拥有《金融时报》的Pearson公司和拥有商业资讯频道CNBC的通用电气公司。有Murdoch先生做后台，《华尔街时报》肯定会成为《金融时报》强有力的竞争对手，而道琼斯的资源也可以让资讯集团于10月份开播的资讯商业电视频道对CNBC造成巨大的威胁。尽管有传闻说Pearson和通用会联合竞价，但是实际上他并没有这么做。

　　但是Murdoch先生已经给道琼斯支付了昂贵的价格，至少有10亿美元，也可能是20亿美元，这比该行业基本认可的价格要高得多。因此资讯公司的股票所有人会认为Murdoch的胜利是付出了昂贵代价的。毫无疑问Murdoch先生的严格管理会降低一些成本，但是扩张《华尔街杂志》、并将其与自己其他网上和广播实体结合起来，这种加速发展的计划并不是很让人信服。这也就是为什么一些资讯公司的股票持有人怀疑这些只是借口而已，Murdoch先生长的远计划是要拥有世界上最大的资讯报纸，在这方面他要比金钱看重得多。