①The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed.②The process sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might.③Many in these countries are looking at this process and worrying: "Won't the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollable anti-competitive force?"

go through  经历

merger  n. （企业或公司之间的）合并

acquisition  n. 收购

witness  v. 经历，见证

sweep  v. 席卷

hyperactive  a. 极其活跃的

unsurpassed  a. 未被超出的

might  n. 力量

世界正在经历一场有史以来最大的并购浪潮。这股浪潮源于异常活跃的美国，横扫欧洲并波及新兴国家，威力无可比拟。这些国家的许多人正关注着这一进程，忧心忡忡：“这种企业合并的浪潮难道不会演变成一种无法控制的反竞争力量吗?”

①There's no question that the big are getting bigger and more powerful.②Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% of international trade in 1982.③Today the figure is more than 25% and growing rapidly.④International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment of production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment.⑤In Argentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationals went from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largest firms.⑥This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smaller economic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of the world economy.

multinational  a. 跨过的/ n. 跨国公司

account for  占……比例

corporation  n. 大公司，集团公司

affiliate  n. 分公司，隶属机构

segment  n. 部分，份

Argentina  n. 阿根廷

phenomenon  n. 现象

ultimate  a. 终极的，根本的

毫无疑问，大企业正在变得更大、更强。1982年，跨国公司占有国际贸易不到20%的份额。目前，这个数值却已超过25%，并且还在迅速上升。国际子公司在那些对外开放并欢迎外资的经济体中所占产量份额快速增长。例如，在阿根廷，经过90年代初的改革之后，在200家大型企业中，跨国公司的工业产量从43%增加到近70%。这种现象使人们对小型赢利企业、民族商人的作用，以及世界经济的根本稳定极为担扰。

①I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&A wave are the same that underlie the globalization process: falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers' demands.②All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers.③As productivity grows, the world's wealth increases.

massive  a. 巨大的

underlie  v. 构成……的真正起因；构成（某人行动、理论等）的基础

communication  n. 通讯

barrier  n. 障碍，屏障

enlarged  a. 扩大了的

operation  n. 经营，业务

detrimental  a. 不利的，有害的

我认为，推动这股巨大并购浪潮的最主要力量，也是推动全球化进程的力量：运输与通讯成本的降低，贸易与投资壁垒的减少，以及要求扩大经营规模以满足顾客需求的扩大的市场。所有这些对消费者来说都是有益而不是有害的。随着生产力的提高，全世界的财富也在增长。

①Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave are scanty.②Yet 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.③The mergers of telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress.④On the contrary, the price of communications is coming down fast.⑤In cars, too, concentration is increasing-witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan-but it does not appear that consumers are being hurt.

scanty  a. 缺乏的，不足的

trust  n. 托拉斯（为减少竞争、操纵价格等而非法联合的企业组织）

break sth. up  结束，关闭，解体

telecom＝telecommunication  n. 电信

目前证明这股合并浪潮是利还是弊的实例并不多。不过，很难想象如今几家石油公司的兼并会再次对竞争构成近一个世纪前美国人担心的那种威胁，那时标准石油托拉斯被迫解体。像美国世界通信公司这样的电信公司的兼并，似乎没有给消费者带来更高的费用，或者减缓技术进步的速度。恰恰相反，通信费用正在迅速下降。在汽车行业，合并也逐渐在增加——看看戴姆勒与克莱斯勒，雷诺与日产，但消费者的利益似乎并未受到损害。

①Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched.②A few weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the banking industry.③Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate aslender of last resort with the gigantic banks that are being created?④Won't multinationals shift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict about infringements to fair competition?⑤And 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 ?

lender of last resort  最后贷款人

defend competition  保护竞争

warn sb. against sth.  警告某人不要

megamerger  n. 大型合并

supervise  v. 监督

lender  n. 出借人，贷方

resort  n. 求助、求援；求助的人或事物

infringement  n. 违反，侵害

take sth. on/upon oneself  擅自作主，越权承担

不过真实的情况是，我们必须留心这场兼并运动。几星期以前，艾伦·格林斯潘曾对银行业的大型兼并发出了警告。谁来充当最后贷款人，监督、规范和运营正在出现的特大银行?当一个国家对违反公平竞争的行为控制过于严格时，跨国公司难道不会将其生产地从一个地方转移到另一个地方?在那些会给许多其他国家造成影响的问题上，如美国政府诉讼微软公司的案件那样，一个国家是否应该擅自担起“保护竞争”的职责?

33. 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.

34.According to the author, one of the driving forces behind M&A 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.

35.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 Standard Oil trust might have threatened competition

36.Toward the new business wave, the writer's attitude can he said to be _______.

[A] optimistic                   

[B] objective

[C] pessimistic                  

[D] biased

CADB

33、首段指出“世界正在经历一场有史以来最大的并购浪潮”，并介绍其影响范围，第二段指出其结果“大企业变得更大、更强”。整合可推知，现代企业的发展趋势就是通过兼并以使自己变得越来越强大，[C]正确。

34、根据题干关键词forces behind M&A wave定位至第三段首句。该句指出， 造成并购浪潮的重要原因和推动经济全球化进程的因素是一样的，包括：运输与通讯成本的降低，贸易与投资壁垒的减少，以及能够满足顾客需求的扩大的市场。显然，[A]为上面提到的第三个因素，为正确答案。

35、第四段②句指出，很难想象如今几家石油公司的兼并会再次对竞争构成近100年前美国人担心的那种威胁，那时标准石油托拉斯被迫解体，言外之意是100年前标准石油托拉斯对竞争构成威胁，致使人们恐慌，最终被迫解体。[D]符合文意。

36、末三段作者就企业并购浪潮发表评论：此次并购浪潮的推动因素是积极正面的，这一次的浪潮并未威胁竞争、损害消费者权益，末段转而提请人们留意此次浪潮以免带来不良影响。可见，作者从正反两方面对并购浪潮进行分析，就事论事，所以作者的态度应该是客观的，[B]正确。