题文
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) .
小题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.小题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小题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小题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
题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:C
小题3:A
小题4:B
解析
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。
小题1:主旨题：从第一段的主题句：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.可知是提供美国公司的规模的信息。选 C
小题2:细节题：从第二段的内容：可知从东向西排列顺序是C. New York, Columbus, Reno, San Francisco 选C
小题3:细节题：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。选A
小题4:细节题：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。选B
点评：本文较难，难在题目设置新，信息量大，但考查的都是细节题，要求考生仔细阅读全文，做好相应的标志，以提高阅读的效率和速度
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“Suppose that we line.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
