2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 30

Unit 30

At the end of last week, Bodega Aurrerá, a Mexican subsidiary of the world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, opened a new store in the village of San Juan Teotihuacán, just north of Mexico City. Normally, such an event would cause little stir. Wal-Mart is already Mexico’s biggest retailer too. And its shops seem to go down very well with its millions of bargain-hungry customers. ① But this particular opening was, in fact, the culmination of months of protests, legal actions, hunger strikes and hyperbole by those determined to stop it.

The reason is the location. Just 2.5km（1.6 miles）away is the ancient city of Teotihuacán, probably Mexico’s most famous archaeological site. Amongst other attractions, it boasts the third-largest（by volume）pyramid in the world.② For many Mexicans, the ancient site, abandoned by its mysterious inhabitants centuries before the Spanish conquerors arrived, remains the ultimate symbol of Mexican identity and nationhood. Thousands troop up to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun to celebrate the summer solstice.

To them, the idea of having a Wal-Mart next door is abhorrent. In the words of Homero Aridjis, a writer and one of the leading opponents, “it is like driving the stake of globalisation into the heart of old Mexico.” The controversy is only the latest in a string of protesters’ attempts to save Mexican culture from what they see as a creeping menace. They won a famous victory by blocking a McDonalds restaurant from opening in the main square of the pretty southern colonial town of Oaxaca.

But this time they were on much thinner ground. For a start, Wal-Mart went through all the appropriate regulatory hoops, even getting permission from the Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites, which judged that the store would cause no harm to the nearby ruins. A small stone platform was indeed found during construction of the new car park, but was preserved.

Just as importantly, the claim that the new store spoils the famous view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun is clearly bogus, as anyone who cares to get to the top can testify. The problem is not so much that you can see the Wal-Mart, but one of trying to distinguish it from the 30-odd other ugly, squat buildings that litter the surrounding countryside—to say nothing of the car parks, the electricity pylons and the large power station. Sadly, unrestricted building long ago ruined this particular view, as well as many others in Mexico.

To the diehards, the issue counts more than the view. But neither mattered much to the hundreds of locals who queued up for the opening, delighted to be freed of the small and expensive local shops. Despite a legal case pending against Wal-Mart and local officials, brought by an irate local left-wing politician, this is one battle that the American retailer has probably won.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為2001年真題Text 4（由于此部分真題只有4個題目，所以本文第4題模仿對象為2003年真題Text 1的第4題）。

1. Why did the opening of Wal-Mart cause stir?

A) Wal-Mart would have severe competition with the local stores.

B) War-Mart would provide customers with a larger choice and more benefits.

C) It was said to have ruined the scene of the ancient site.

D) There shouldn’t be a store near the ancient site.

2. From Paragraph 2 we can infer that ______.

A) the ancient city means a lot to the Mexicans

B) a store will be too noisy for the ancient city

C) the ancient city is very mysterious

D) the pyramid is a good place for holding a big ceremony

3. According to Wal-Mart, it has a good reason to build a store there because ______.

A) it proves no harm to the nearby ruins

B) the scene of the ancient sites has been damaged

C) customers want to buy some cheap products

D) it has been widely accepted by the customers there

4. It can be learned from Paragraph 5 that ______.

A) the famous view is not as good as it used to be

B) the city lacks planning in building

C) the ancient site is littered with ugly buildings

D) Wal-Mart shouldn’t be fully responsible for the ruined view

5. Toward the fate of Wal-Mart, the writer’s attitude can be said to be ______.

A) objective

B) optimistic

C) pessimistic

D) biased

篇章剖析

本文采用提出問題—分析問題的模式，指出世界上最大的零售商沃爾瑪在墨西哥開設分店時所遇到的麻煩、問題產生的原因以及最終的結果。第一段指出沃爾瑪設在墨西哥的子公司Bodega Aurrerá在墨西哥城北部的圣胡安特奧帝瓦坎村開了一家新店所引起的強烈反對；第二段指出事件產生的原因；第三段指出反對者的看法及舉動；第四段指出沃爾瑪充分的前期工作；第五段指出這座古城的實際情況；第六段指出這個事件最有可能的結果是什么。

詞匯注釋

subsidiary /s?b?s?d??ri/ n. 子公司

retailer /?ri?t?l?(r)/ n. 零售商人

go down with為…所接受，為…相信

culmination /k?lm??ne??(?)n/ n. 頂點；結果

hyperbole /ha??p??b?li/ n. （修辭學中的）夸張法

summer solstice 夏至

creeping /?kri?p??/ adj. 爬行的；在一段時間內逐步發(fā)展的

bogus /?b??ɡ?s/ adj. 〈美〉假的，偽造的

diehard /?da?hɑ?d/ n. 頑固分子

irate /a??re?t/ adj. 發(fā)怒的；生氣的

難句突破

① But this particular opening was, in fact, the culmination of months of protests, legal actions, hunger strikes and hyperbole by those determined to stop it.

主體句式：This opening was the culmination.

結構分析：本句是一個簡單句。months of protests, legal actions, hunger strikes and hyperbole跟在介詞of后面來修飾culmination；by的意思是“由…”；determined之前省去了who are。

句子譯文：這次開張實際上是那些決心阻止它成立的人數月以來進行抗議、動用法律手段、絕食抗議和其他一些偏激行為無效而落得的最終結果。

② For many Mexicans, the ancient site, abandoned by its mysterious inhabitants centuries before the Spanish conquerors arrived, remains the ultimate symbol of Mexican identity and nationhood.

主體句式：The ancient site remains the symbol of...

結構分析：本句是一個簡單句。abandoned之前省去了which was。

句子譯文：在西班牙征服者到來之前，這座古城被這里的神秘居民遺棄了數百年，但對很多墨西哥人來說它依然是墨西哥民族和國家身份的根本象征。

題目分析

1. C 細節(jié)題。從句子Normally, such an event would cause little stir.，我們可以看出沃爾瑪開業(yè)這樣的事情一般不會引起什么反對的。但是作者筆鋒一轉，用but表明實際有人反對，原因在于the location和倒數第二段提到的the claim that the new store spoils the famous view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun。

2. A 推理題。原文對應信息在第二段：For many Mexicans, the ancient site, abandoned by its mysterious inhabitants centuries before the Spanish conquerors arrived, remains the ultimate symbol of Mexican identity and nationhood.

3. D 細節(jié)題。原文對應信息在第一段：Wal-Mart is already Mexico’s biggest retailer too. And its shops seem to go down very well with its millions of bargain-hungry customers.

4. D 推理題。原文對應信息在倒數第二段：Just as importantly, the claim that the new store spoils the famous view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun is clearly bogus, as anyone who cares to get to the top can testify.文中倒數第二段末句提到破壞景致的是unrestricted building long ago，排除A。同時，這只能推出過去缺乏城市規(guī)劃，而非現在，排除B。文中說的是Wal-Mart被丑陋建筑包圍，排除C。

5. B 情感態(tài)度題。原文對應信息在文章末句：this is one battle that the American retailer has probably won。

參考譯文

上周末，世界最大的零售商沃爾瑪設在墨西哥的子公司Bodega Aurrerá在墨西哥城北部的圣胡安特奧帝瓦坎（San Juan Teotihuacán）村開了一家新店。通常情況下，這樣的事情是不會引起什么反對的。沃爾瑪已經是墨西哥最大的零售商了。新開的商店應該備受那些想買廉價貨的上百萬顧客的歡迎。這次開張實際上是那些決心阻止它成立的人數月以來進行抗議、動用法律手段、絕食抗議和其他一些偏激行為無效而落得的最終結果。

事件的原因在于地段的選擇問題。商店地址選在了離特奧蒂瓦坎古城僅2.5公里（1.6英里）的地方。該古城可能是墨西哥最為出名的古文化遺址，除了別的景觀之外，它還擁有世界上第三大金字塔（從體積上來判斷的話）。在西班牙征服者到來之前，這座古城被這里的神秘居民拋棄了數百年，但對很多墨西哥人來說它依然是墨西哥民族和國家身份的根本象征。每逢夏至都有上千人一起登上太陽金字塔的頂部以示慶祝。

對于這些人來說，在古城附近建沃爾瑪超市這樣的主意簡直太可惡了。奧梅羅·阿里迪斯是一位作家，也是主要的反對者之一，用他的話來說：“這好比是把全球化的樹樁子插到了古老的墨西哥的心臟上?！痹诜磳φ呖磥?，這是一種潛在的危險。為了使墨西哥文化免受危險，他們已做出了一系列努力，這場爭端只是其中最近的一次。他們曾贏過一場令人滿意的勝利，成功阻止了麥當勞餐廳在美麗的南部殖民城鎮(zhèn)瓦哈卡（OaxacA）的主要廣場上開店。

但是這次他們的底氣就沒那么足了。因為從一開始，沃爾瑪就通過了所有相關管理部門的審核，甚至還得到了駐巴黎的國際古跡遺址理事會的認可，他們判定在那里設店對周邊遺跡是不會造成任何損害的。在新停車場施工過程中確實發(fā)現了一個小的石頭平臺，這已被保存起來了。

同樣重要的是，聲稱新店破壞了從太陽金字塔塔頂往下瞭望的良好的視覺效果，這顯然是不對的，任何人只要登上塔頂就可以證實這一點。問題并不在于你能看到沃爾瑪，而是你得從三十多個凌亂地散布在郊區(qū)的丑陋、低矮的建筑中努力去辨認沃爾瑪——更不用提那里還有停車場、電纜塔和大型發(fā)電站了。令人遺憾的是，那些隨意建成的建筑很早以前不但破壞了此處的獨特風景，也毀了墨西哥的其他景觀。

對于頑固分子來說，事件本身要比風景問題重要。但是對于許許多多排隊等候它開業(yè)的當地居民來說，這些都不重要了，因為他們再不用受又小又貴的當地商店的限制而開心不已。雖然當地一名憤怒的左翼政客對沃爾瑪和當地官員提起的訴訟案件還懸而未決，但是在這場戰(zhàn)斗中，美國零售商差不多已勝券在握了。