2020考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 38

Unit 38

SoftBank of Japan is making its biggest gamble yet: entering the American cellphone market. SoftBank’s complex $20.1 billion deal to buy majority control of Sprint Nextel will unite Japan’s fastest-growing cellphone service provider with one of the United States’ most troubled. The idea is to provide Sprint with a stronger, deeper-pocketed partner that can help finance its network overhaul and, eventually, pursue additional mergers. But SoftBank, an Internet and communications company, is making a risky wager that it can break the dominance of Verizon and AT&T in the United States the way it did a similar duopoly that long reigned over the Japanese market.

“SoftBank brings so much more to Sprint than money,” Daniel R. Hesse, Sprint’s chief executive, said on an analyst call. “This investment provides the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of a leader in mobile Internet technology with a proven track record of challenging larger incumbent carriers.” Together, the two companies would have $80 billion in revenue and $18 billion in earnings before interest and taxes. And they would nearly double Sprint’s customer base to 96 million, giving the company greater purchasing power. SoftBank’s founder and chief executive, Masayoshi Son, was blunt in his goal: creating the biggest and fastest wireless network in the United States. It is the strategy his own company is pursuing in Japan, aimed at drawing in users of the latest smartphones. Sprint is only beginning to roll out its next-generation Long Term Evolution network, trailing Verizon Wireless and AT&T. “U.S. citizens don’t have this experience of high speed,” Mr. Son said on the analyst call. “We’re going to bring that to the States.”

Shareholders in Sprint and SoftBank appeared less pleased by the transaction. Sprint’s shares closed down slightly on Monday, at $5.69, while SoftBank’s stock tumbled 5.3 percent, to 2,268 yen（$28.92）. While infusing Sprint with cash, the deal would slow SoftBank’s efforts to repay its own hefty debt load, which stood at nearly $13 billion as of June 30. Mr. Son has said that he has already repaid much of the debt his company took on when it bought Vodafone’s Japan arm in 2006 and has done it well ahead of schedule.

The deal on Monday was a welcome development for the financial advisers involved in a year starved for deal activity. If completed, Monday’s transaction would be the biggest deal by a Japanese company in the United States in more than three decades, according to data from Thomson Reuters. It would also be the biggest deal so far this year involving a foreign investment in an American company.

注（1）：本文選自The New York Times;

注（2）：本文習(xí)題模仿對(duì)象：本文習(xí)題的第1、2、5題模仿2011年真題Text 1的第1、4、5題，第3、4題模仿2011年真題Text 2的第3、4題。

1. We can learn from Para. 1 that entering the American cellphone market, Softbank has ______.

A) incurred criticism

B) raised suspicion

C) faced risks

D) aroused curiosity

2. What can’t Sprint benefit from Softbanks?

A) Much money and more customers.

B) Knowledge and expertise.

C) Greater purchasing power.

D) Biggest and fastest wireless network in the United States.

3. The word “tumble”（Line 2, Paragraph 3）most probably means ______.

A) decrease

B) increase

C) reach

D) keep

4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.

A) the deal was a welcome development

B) the transaction was the biggest deal in more than three decades

C) it would be the biggest deal so far

D) the transaction features in historic significance

5. From the text we can see that the writer seems ______.

A) positive

B) negative

C) uncertain

D) neutral

篇章剖析

本文是一篇說(shuō)明文，主要介紹日本軟銀進(jìn)軍美國(guó)手機(jī)市場(chǎng)的情況。文章第一段首先講述了日本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司做了最大的賭注：進(jìn)入美國(guó)手機(jī)市場(chǎng)；第二段說(shuō)明了軟銀帶給Sprint的諸多益處；第三段介紹了軟銀股票下跌致使股東不滿；最后一段總結(jié)軟銀購(gòu)買Sprint股票對(duì)美國(guó)來(lái)說(shuō)意義非凡。

詞匯注釋

overhaul /??uv??h??l/ n. 全面修改v. 徹底檢修

wager /?we?d??(r)/ n. 賭博 v. 打賭

duopoly /dju???p?li/ n. 兩強(qiáng)壟斷市場(chǎng)

incumbent /?n?k?mb?nt/ adj. 現(xiàn)任的，在職的

blunt /bl?nt/ adj. 直率的；不鋒利的，生硬的

tumble /?t?mbl/ v. 暴跌；跌倒，摔倒

infuse /?n?fju?z/ v. 灌輸；使獲得

hefty /?hefti/ adj. 大量的；強(qiáng)壯的，肌肉發(fā)達(dá)的

難句突破

But SoftBank, an Internet and communications company, is making a risky wager that it can break the dominance of Verizon and AT&T in the United States the way it did a similar duopoly that long reigned over the Japanese market.

主體句式：But SoftBank is making a wager...

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這個(gè)長(zhǎng)句看上去結(jié)構(gòu)復(fù)雜，其實(shí)主句非常短。an Internet and communications company作同位語(yǔ)補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明SoftBank，后接一個(gè)包含兩個(gè)that的長(zhǎng)句。前一個(gè)that是一個(gè)典型的同位語(yǔ)從句的引導(dǎo)詞，用來(lái)具體說(shuō)明日本軟銀正在進(jìn)行什么樣的賭博，it代替句首的SoftBank；后一個(gè)that則是定語(yǔ)從句的引導(dǎo)詞，先行詞是duopoly。

句子譯文：但對(duì)于軟銀這樣一家網(wǎng)絡(luò)通訊公司而言，試圖打破威瑞森電信和AT&T在美國(guó)通訊市場(chǎng)上兩強(qiáng)壟斷的局面如同一次危險(xiǎn)的賭博，這種兩強(qiáng)壟斷的局面正如它們過(guò)去長(zhǎng)期對(duì)日本無(wú)線通訊市場(chǎng)的壟斷一樣。

題目分析

1. C 推斷題。作者在第一段中開門見山地說(shuō)SoftBank of Japan is making its biggest gamble yet: entering the American cellphone market. 還有后面的But SoftBank...is making a risky wager that...從這兩處可以得知，軟銀進(jìn)入美國(guó)市場(chǎng)是存在很多不確定性的，是在冒險(xiǎn)下賭注，只有C項(xiàng)符合原文。其余三項(xiàng)并未在文中體現(xiàn)。

2. D 細(xì)節(jié)題。A、B和C選項(xiàng)皆在文中有直接體現(xiàn)，而D選項(xiàng)則是軟銀在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)的戰(zhàn)略目標(biāo)，與題意不符。

3. A 語(yǔ)義題。根據(jù)原文Sprint’s shares closed down slightly...while...可知此句中while是個(gè)關(guān)鍵詞，表示對(duì)比，前面說(shuō)的是Sprint股價(jià)稍有下降，以5.69美元收盤，而軟銀的股價(jià)卻…2268日元，以此可以推斷出股價(jià)是降低了，跌了。

4. D 推斷題。A、B和C均是說(shuō)這筆交易的重大意義，由這三方面作為論據(jù)推斷出這筆交易有歷史重要性，故本題選D。

5. D 情感態(tài)度題。本文是一篇經(jīng)濟(jì)類文章，旨在陳述經(jīng)濟(jì)現(xiàn)象，因此作者持中立態(tài)度。

參考譯文

日本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司——軟銀集團(tuán)正在進(jìn)行一場(chǎng)迄今為止最大的賭博：進(jìn)入美國(guó)手機(jī)市場(chǎng)。軟銀以201億的價(jià)格購(gòu)買了美國(guó)無(wú)線運(yùn)營(yíng)商Sprint Nextel的大部分股權(quán)，這項(xiàng)舉措成為日本發(fā)展最快的手機(jī)服務(wù)供應(yīng)商和美國(guó)問(wèn)題最多的運(yùn)營(yíng)商的一次聯(lián)姻。這樣做是想使Sprint獲得一個(gè)財(cái)力更加雄厚的合作伙伴，資助其進(jìn)行一次徹底的網(wǎng)絡(luò)檢修并最終尋得另外的合并公司。但對(duì)于軟銀這樣一家網(wǎng)絡(luò)通訊公司而言，試圖打破威瑞森電信和AT&T在美國(guó)通訊市場(chǎng)上兩強(qiáng)壟斷的局面如同一次危險(xiǎn)的賭博，這種兩強(qiáng)壟斷的局面正如它們過(guò)去長(zhǎng)期對(duì)日本無(wú)線通訊市場(chǎng)的壟斷一樣。

“軟銀帶給Sprint的遠(yuǎn)不止資金?！盨print的CEO丹尼爾·R.赫西在一次分析電話中稱：“這項(xiàng)投資還使Sprint有機(jī)會(huì)從一個(gè)電話網(wǎng)絡(luò)技術(shù)領(lǐng)頭羊身上學(xué)到專業(yè)知識(shí)，而這一電話網(wǎng)絡(luò)領(lǐng)頭羊曾成功地挑戰(zhàn)了比自己更大的運(yùn)營(yíng)商?！盨print和軟銀在扣除利息和稅費(fèi)之前總共會(huì)有800億美元的銷售總額和180億美元的收入。它們幾乎使Sprint的消費(fèi)者基數(shù)翻倍至9600萬(wàn)，同時(shí)賦予Sprint更強(qiáng)的購(gòu)買力。軟銀的創(chuàng)始人兼CEO孫正義對(duì)其目的直言不諱：在美國(guó)建立最大、最快速的無(wú)線網(wǎng)絡(luò)。這是他的公司在日本一直追求的戰(zhàn)略目標(biāo)，旨在吸引最新智能手機(jī)的用戶首選其移動(dòng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)。Sprint只是剛開始推廣它的新一代長(zhǎng)期演進(jìn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)，緊跟威瑞森電信和AT&T的步伐。孫先生在分析電話中說(shuō)：“美國(guó)公民還從未體驗(yàn)過(guò)這么高速的網(wǎng)絡(luò)，我們將會(huì)把它引進(jìn)美國(guó)。”

然而Sprint和軟銀的股東對(duì)這一事態(tài)似乎并不那么滿意。周一，Sprint清盤時(shí)的股價(jià)稍有下降，以5.69美元收盤，而軟銀的股價(jià)卻跌至2268日元，約合28.92美元，下跌了5.3%。軟銀在注資Sprint的同時(shí)，降低了自身償還高額債款的能力，6月30日，軟銀還欠約130億美元的外債。孫先生說(shuō)，他其實(shí)已經(jīng)還了2006年購(gòu)買沃達(dá)豐日本分支時(shí)所欠下的絕大部分債務(wù)了，并且這部分債務(wù)的償還比原計(jì)劃早很多。

這筆周一進(jìn)行的交易（軟銀購(gòu)買Sprint股票）對(duì)于牽涉其中的財(cái)務(wù)顧問(wèn)們來(lái)說(shuō)再好不過(guò)了，他們已經(jīng)期盼這類交易一年了。根據(jù)湯姆森路透社的資料，這筆交易如果能夠完成，將是三十多年來(lái)日資企業(yè)在美國(guó)進(jìn)行的最大一次投資，同時(shí)也是今年為止美國(guó)公司融得的最大一筆外資。