2001ÄêÈ«¹ú˶ʿÑо¿ÉúÓ¢ÓïÊÔÌâ¼°²Î¿¼´ð°¸

¡¡¡¡Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave are scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms today could re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly a century ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergers of telecom coMPAnies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary, the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration is increasing-witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan-but it does not appear that consumers are being hurt.

¡¡¡¡Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. A few weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the banking industry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of last resort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won't multinationals shift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict about infringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself the role of defending competition on issues that affect many other nations, as in the U.S. vs. Microsoft case?ª¤

¡¡¡¡63.What is the typical trend of businesses today?

¡¡¡¡[A]to take in more foreign funds

¡¡¡¡[B]to invest more abroad

¡¡¡¡[C]to combine and become bigger

¡¡¡¡[D]to trade with more countries

¡¡¡¡64.According to the author, one of the driving forces behind M wave is _________.

¡¡¡¡[A]the greater customer demands

¡¡¡¡[B]a surplus supply for the market

¡¡¡¡[C]a growing productivity

¡¡¡¡[D]the increase of the world's wealth

¡¡¡¡65.From paragraph 4 we can infer that _________.

¡¡¡¡[A]the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers

¡¡¡¡[B]WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs

¡¡¡¡[C]the costs of the globalization process are enormous

¡¡¡¡[D]the Stanard Oil trust might have threatened competition

¡¡¡¡66.Toward the new business wave, the writer's attitude can be said to be _________.

¡¡¡¡[A]optimistic¡¡¡¡[B]objective¡¡¡¡[C]pessimistic¡¡¡¡[D]biased

¡¡¡¡Passage 5

¡¡¡¡When I decided to quit my full time employment it never occurred to me that I might become a part of a new international trend. A lateral move that hurt my pride and blocked my professional progress prompted me to abandon my relatively high profile career although, in the manner of a disgraced government minister, I covered my exit by claiming I wanted to spend more time with my family.

¡¡¡¡Curiously, some two-and-a-half years and two novels later, my experiment in what the Americans term downshifting has turned my tired excuse into an absolute reality. I have been transformed from a passionate advocate of the philosophy of having it all,preached by Linda Kelsey for the past seven years in the page of She magazine, into a woman who is happy to settle for a bit of everything.