题文
The United States is already one year into a depression That was the news this week from the Na-tional Bureau of Economic Research. The downturn is the longest since a depression that began in 1981and lasted sixteen months.
Economists generally wait for production to shrink for six months in a row before they declare a re-cession. But the bureau, a private group, uses a wider set of information to measure the economy. Thenews only confirmed what many people already knew: that the world's largest economy is weak and maynot recover soon.
Worsening conclitions have led to a big drop in spending, especially on costly products like new cars. Even Japanese automaker Toyota saw its sales fall thirty - four percent in the United States in November from a year ago.
The heads of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors retumed to Congress this week to again ask for federal aid. Congressional leaders denounced(指责) them two weeks ago after they came in private jets with no clear plans for saving their industry. This time, the chiefs drove to Washington in fuel- saving hybrid vehicles. And their companies presented detailed restructuring plans. The reguest for aid has risen from twenty-five billion dollars two weeks ago to thirty-four billion in loans and credit lines.
G.M. wants almost half of that, and says it needs four billion dollars this month. It warned that without support it cannot continue to operate.
Ford is in a better position, But the sharing of suppliers means it could be affected if G.M. or
Chrysler fails. Ford is asking for a nine billion dollar credit line in case it needs it.
Chrysler is the smallest and most trouble of America's Big Three. It says it needs a seven billion dollar loan by the end of the month.
Two days of congressional hearings began Thursday in the Senate Banking Committee. The chairman, Democrat Chris Dodd, said he would support helping the automakers for the good of the economy.
But the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continued to express opposition to a bailout(贿政援助）．
A main root of the world financial crisis is the weak housing market in the United States. The Trea-sury Department has been under pressure to help troubled homeowners. Now comes news that the depart-ment is developing a plan aimed at reducing interest rates on mortgage loans(汽车贷款) for some buyers of homes. That could be good for homeowners trying to sell.
小题1:From the first two paragraphs, we know .A．the United States is expected to recover soonB．the depression has lasted more than 16 monthsC．the depression is much more severe than expectedD．the depression will last no more than 6 months小题2:Why were the automakers refused for federal aid two weeks ago?A．Because the government had no extra money to help.B．Because they didn't have a ciear plan to save their industry.C．Because they had wasted too much on costly new cars.D．Because they had enough money to save their industry.小题3:Which of the following is asking for the largest federal aideA．G.M.B．Toyota.C．Chrysler.D．Ford.小题4:From the passage we may know Richard Shelby tile automakers' request for federal aid?A．was forB．was againstC．didn't care aboutD．took no notice of小题5:Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?A．The hearings on Thursday agreed on a federal aid to the automakers.B．The main cause of the crisis is weak housing market in the U.S..C．The government is taking measures to save t he housing market.D．The Treasury Department had to help the troubled homeowners. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:A
小题4:B
小题5:A
解析
本文是关于美国经济复苏无力，大公司寻求政府救助的文章。小题1:主旨大意题。由1,2段可知美国经济复苏无力，情况比预料的还要严重。
小题2:细节题。根据文章第四段Congressional leaders denounced(指责) them two weeks ago after they came in private jets with no clear plans for saving their industry.
小题3:细节题。第四段中The reguest for aid has risen from twenty-five billion dollars two weeks ago to thirty-four billion in loans and credit lines.这些企业要求的贷款大约是340亿美元。第五段G.M. wants almost half of that。第六段Ford is in a better position, Chrysler is the smallest and most trouble of America's Big Three. B项丰田公司是日本的。所以选择A。
小题4:细节题。根据倒数第二段But the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continued to express opposition to a bailout(贿政援助）．
小题5:细节题。文章倒数2,3段清楚显示并非完全同意，有人反对。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“The United States is.....”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。
