同学们,今日讲解一个考研英语真题案例,我们来说一说术语对考研英语阅读理解的影响。现在2019考研英语复习已经进行到后期了,我们还要兼顾报名、现场确认等各种事情,希望同学们能够静下心来不要急。在学习之路上,你迈出的步子不非得很大,只要你是在往正确的方向前进就行,行到最-后自是水到渠成,文都考研会与你一起加油。

考研英语真题案例:术语对阅读理解的影响

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) continues to bleed red ink. It reported a net loss of $5.6 billion for fiscal 2016, the 10th straight year its expenses have exceeded revenue. Meanwhile, it has more than $120 billion in unfunded liabilities, mostly for employee health and retirement costs. There are many bankruptcies. ④Fundamentally, the USPS is in a historic squeeze between technological change that has permanently decreased demand for its bread-and-butter product, first-class mail, and a regulatory structure that denies management the flexibility to adjust its operations to the new reality.

36.The financial problem with the USPS is caused partly by

[A]. its unbalanced budget.

[B] .its rigid management.

[C] .the cost for technical upgrading.

[D]. the withdrawal of bank support.

本题出自2018年阅读理解篇文章,主要讲的是美国邮政公司的财务状况,以及涉及其改革的法案在国会通过的情况。其中段介绍了USPS目前出现了亏损,并指出了其财务的令人堪忧的现状。

在理解方面,有些财经方面的术语需要我们知道。比如 bleed red ink, fiscal year, unfunded liabilities,下面分别解释。 bleed red ink, 其中red ink 字面意思不难理解,是“红色的墨水”,但实际上是财务会计中对于亏损的一种记账方法,如果企业在会计期间出现了亏损,会用红字记账,以示区别。因此 bleed red ink,是说USPS 账面亏损比较严重。第二句It reported a net loss 也是用具体的论据来说明USPS 的亏损情况。 fiscal year 的意思为“财年”,其区别于我们日常生活中的纪年,一年是从1月1号 始,止于12月31号;从财务上讲,财年是企业财务周期的意思,始于根据其在工商部门注册成立日期累积一年,算是一个财年。unfunded liabilities,其中liabilities 的意思是指企业的负债,企业在设立之初需要的资金可以是来自企业所有者,也有可能是他人借出资金给企业的,虽然出资,但并不拥有企业,其只对其借出的资金有在约定时间收回并取得约定利息的权利。企业规模越大,其资金构成中,负债的部分就越大;此外在经营的过程中,也会出现负债的情况,这些负债在到期的时候需要企业有流动资金进行支付,流动资金需要企业去筹集,在本例中USPS 的负债是unfunded,意思是还没有筹集到支付债务的资金。

此外,长难句也是理解的一个障碍。尤其是答案句,第四句Fundamentally, the USPS is in a historic squeeze between technological change that has permanently decreased demand for its bread-and-butter product, first-class mail, and a regulatory structure that denies management the flexibility to adjust its operations to the new reality. 其主句的部分是一个主系表结构,比较复杂的是表语的修饰成分。其中包括一个介词结构between...and... 和两个定语从句,从句① that has permanently decreased demand for its bread-and-butter product, first-class mail 和从句②that denies management the flexibility to adjust its operations to the new reality. 两个从句表明了其所面临的两方面的情况,①句说明其业务量下降,②句介绍其僵化的监管架构限制了管理层灵活应对变化的能力。在理解了上述两个方面的问题后,第39题的答案就非常明显,应该是B。

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