2016年考研英语阅读理解精读100篇（高分版）TEXT18

2016年考研英语阅读理解精读100篇（高分版）TEXT18,标签：考研英语真题,考研英语真题下载,考研英语历年真题,http://www.duoxue8.com
TEXT EIGHTEEN
　　Richard Burton probably knew nothing of the small South African town of Cullinan when he bought yet another chunky diamond for Elizabeth Taylor in 1969. Now the Cullinan mine itself, like so many of the diamonds unearthed there, is about to change hands. On November 22nd De Beers, the diamond giant that has owned the mine since 1930, said it was selling it to a consortium led by Petra Diamonds, one of South Africa’s emerging diamond producers, for 1 billion rand in cash. Provided regulators approve the deal, the transfer should take place by the middle of next year.
　　De Beers is selling because the mine is no longer profitable, despite attempts to turn it around. But Petra reckons the mine still has another 20 years of production in it and plans to extract at least 1m carats a year. The unexploited "Centenary Cut" deposit, which lies under the existing mine, could yield a lot more. This is good news for the mine’s 1,000 or so employees and for the town, which has depended on the diamond business since Sir Thomas Cullinan discovered a prospect there in 1898 that contained kimberlite, a rock that can be rich in diamonds. The mine, established in 1903, is one of 30 or so kimberlite diamond mines in the world, and is believed to be still the world’s second-most-valuable diamond resource
　　Petra is a relatively small outfit, listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, that specialises in buying mines that bigger companies see as marginal. Its trick is to extract better returns by rationalising production and processing, and keeping operating costs and overheads down. Petra has already bought two of De Beers’s loss-making South African mines-both of which are now profitable-and is finalising the 78.5m rand acquisition of the group’s underground operation in Kimberley, which stopped working in 20xx.
　　It already operates four mines in South Africa and has promising exploration in Angola (a joint-venture with BHP Billiton), Sierra Leone and Botswana. Petra expects to produce over 1m carats by 20xx-quite a jump from 180,474 carats in the year to June. The company has yet to make a profit, but expects to be making money by the middle of next year.
　　In the 1990s De Beers decided that it was no longer a good idea to try to monopolise the diamond market. It started focusing on higher returns rather than market share, and has been revamping its mine portfolio, selling off mines that are no longer profitable and investing in more enticing operations, such as its mine off the west coast of South Africa, its Voorspoed operation in the Free State province, and two new mines in Canada.
　　This has opened the way for a new class of diamond firm that operates in the vast middle ground between the world’s handful of large producers and a multitude of much smaller exploration firms. The Cullinan deal should entrench Petra in this middle tier, alongside firms such as Kimberley Diamond and Trans Hex. But even if it does reach its target of 1m carats a year, Petra will still not be able to match the sparkle of the giants. Last year De Beers produced 51m carats from its mines in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania, which amounted to 40% of the world’s diamonds by value.
　　1. The Cullinan mine was named after_____.
　　[A] the original name of the town
　　[B] the name of its first owner
　　[C] the name of its discoverer
　　[D] the name of the town’s first colonist
　　2.   Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the Cullinan mine?
　　[A] The mine is the only business of the town which employs most of the local residents
　　[B] It can be mined for another 20 years given Petra’s advanced technology
　　[C] It is the world’s second largest diamond mine with a yearly capacity of 1m carats
　　[D] Whether the mine will maintain its profitability is yet to know.
　　3.  Petra’s opearting philosophy can be said as _____.
　　[A] to make profits by reducing the costs
　　[B] to exploit the surrounding areas of an existing mine
　　[C] to integrate the resources of all the money-losing small mines
　　[D] to restructure the mine portfolio and to optimize the process management
　　4. De Beers has made changes on its development stratege because_____.
　　[A] it plans to shrink its market share and ends its long-term monopoly
　　[B] it wants to open the way for the middle tier of diamond market
　　[C] it switches its attention to making larger profits
　　[D] it wants to turn around the loss-making mines by cooperating with companies of smaller size.
　　5.  The future of the new class of diamond firm is _____.
　　[A] promising
　　[B] dim
　　[C] unknown
　　[D] frustrating
　　文章剖析：
　　文章从Petra公司收购矿产为契因，介绍了钻石矿业新兴的一个中间阶层。第一段讲述了Cullinan矿将要转手的消息；第二段介绍了De Beers公司之所以将矿转手的原因；第三段、第四段介绍Petra公司的一些经营方式和情况；第五段讲述De Beers公司的运营调整；第六段介绍了钻石矿业的新阶层。
　　词汇注释：
　　chunky adj. 含小而厚的块：
　　consortium n. 财团
　　kimberlite n. 金伯利岩
　　entrench v. 确立，使处于牢固地位
　　portfolio n. 组合
　　enticing adj. 引诱的, 迷人的, 动人心目的
　　难句突破：
　　(1)   This is good news for the mine’s 1,000 or so employees and for the town, which has depended on the diamond business since Sir Thomas Cullinan discovered a prospect there in 1898 that contained kimberlite, a rock that can be rich in diamonds.
　　[主体句式] This is good news for ...
　　[结构分析] 这是一个简单句，for后面的宾语比较复杂，which 引导的非限定性定语从句修饰the town，在该从句中有一个since引导的状语从句；在该状语从句中，that 引导的定语从句修饰prospect, a rock...是kimberlite的同位语。
　　[句子译文] 这对于这个矿的1000名左右的雇工以及这个小镇来说是个好消息，这个小镇从1898年Thomas Cullinan爵士发现该矿含有金伯利岩（可能富含钻石的一种岩石）后，就一直依赖钻石生意存活。
　　(2) It started focusing on higher returns rather than market share, and has been revamping its mine portfolio, selling off mines that are no longer profitable and investing in more enticing operations, such as its mine off the west coast of South Africa, its Voorspoed operation in the Free State province, and two new mines in Canada.
　　[主体句式]It started focusing on..., and has been...
　　[结构分析] 这是一个并列句，由连词and 连接，后半分句结构比较复杂；has been 后面带有三个并列的成分，第二个成分selling off mines后面有that 引导的定语从句，第三个成分中such as 后面都是用来修饰operations的。
　　[句子译文] 它开始修关心更高的回报率而不是市场份额了，也一直在修改它的矿产组合，卖掉不再盈利的矿产，投资更让人动心的项目，如南非西海岸的矿产、自由州省的Voorspoed项目、加拿大的两处新矿。
　　题目分析：
　　1. The Culliman mine in deal was named after_____.1. 正在交易的矿是以_____命名的。
　　[A] the original name of the town[A]小镇原来的名字
　　[B] the name of its first owner[B] 第一个矿主的名字
　　[C] the name of its discoverer[C] 矿场发现者的名字
　　[D] the name of the town’s first colonist[D] 小镇第一个殖民者的名字

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