GMAT 2020OG 新题讲解 —阅读篇

很多学生会问，当我们拿到GMAT阅读的时候究竟是先看题目还是先看文章？答案是先读文章。

其实GMAT阅读的考点贯穿文章整体和细节，因此文章段落信息及结构的快速整合，同时细节题的定位和语义的正确理解是GMAT阅读高分必备能力。

下面，我们以一篇2020OG中的一篇阅读为例，来具体剖析如何读文章和解题。

Arboria is floundering in the global marketplace, incurring devastating losses in market position and profits. The problem is not Arboria's products, but Arboria's trade policy. Arboria faces the prospect of continuing economic loss until Arborian business and political leaders recognize the fundamental differences between Arborian and foreign economic systems. Today the key trade issue is not free trade versus protectionism but diminishing trade versus expanding trade.

结构性阅读该段落，整合出文章引出的话题。Arboria在全球市场中艰难发展，其主要的问题不是其产品，而是其交易政策。紧接着引出Arboria和其它国外经济系统存在不同，以及目前主要的问题是在于贸易紧缩还是贸易扩张。

Arboria is operating with an obsolete trade policy, an artifact of the mid-1940s when Arboria and Whorfland dominated the global economy, tariffs were the principal obstacle to trade, and Arborian supremacy was uncontested in virtually all industries. In the intervening decades, economic circumstances have shifted radically. Arborian trade policy has not.

进一步阐述Arboria过去交易政策的问题：没有紧跟国际市场经济的变化，已经过时了。

Today, Arboria's trade policy seems paralyzed by the relentless conflict between proponents of "free" and "fair" trade. The free traders argue that Arborian markets should be open, and the movement of goods and services across national borders unrestrained. The fair traders assert that access to Arborian markets should be restricted until Arborian businesses are granted equal access to foreign markets. They contend that free trade is impossible while other nations erect barriers to Arborian exports.

引出当前Arboria在交易政策上存在的分歧："free" and "fair" trade。并介绍两种主张的不同点。"free"主张商品自由交易不受限制，而"fair"主张除非国外市场也允许Arboria的产品同样进入，否则Arboria市场应当限制其它产品的流入。

Both are correct: fair trade requires equal access and equal access leads to free trade. But both sides base their positions on the same two outdated premises: 1. Global commerce is conducted under the terms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and dominated by Arboria and similar economic systems abroad. 2. Multilateral negotiations are the most effective way to resolve pressing trade issues. Both assumptions are wrong. The 40-year-old GATT now covers less than 7 percent of global commerce. World trade is no longer dominated by the free trade economies; nearly 75 percent is conducted by economic systems operating with principles at odds with those of Arboria. Forging a multilateral trade policy consensus among so many diverse economic systems has become virtually impossible. And while multilateral talks drag on, Arboria misses opportunities for trade expansion.

评价上文的两种主张：二者的假设条件均存在问题。

同时给出原因：

1、只有7%的全球商业受GATT条款的约束，且自由贸易已经不是国际贸易的主导；

2、Arboria的经济制度与其它商业的不同，很难达成共识；

3、双边谈话在缓慢进行，而Arboria也失去了贸易扩展的机遇。

1、Which of the following best states the difference between  free trade and fair trade, as explained in the passage?【细节题，可定位至第三段的内容】

A、Free trade requires no trade tariffs whatsoever, whereas fair trade assumes multilateral agreement on tariffs for goods of equal worth. equal worth

【未提及，排除】

B、Free trade is based on the unrestricted movement of goods across all national boundaries, whereas fair trade is based on a nation's restriction of commerce with each nation that erects trade barriers to the first nation's exports.

【符合第三段的第二和第三句话的内容，正确答案】

C、The trade policies of countries like Arboria are based on the principles of free trade, whereas the trade policies of other types of world economies are based on fair trade.

【fair和free都是关于Arboria的，与其它经济无关，排除】

D、Free-trade nations negotiate individual trade agreements with each of their trading partners, whereas fair-trade nations conduct multilateral trade negotiations.

【错误原因同上，排除】

E、Free trade assumes a constant level of global commerce, whereas fair trade promotes a steady expansion of international trade.

【文中定位处信息没有对比constant和steady expansion，故排除】

2、It can be inferred that the author of the passage would most likely agree with which of the following statements about multilateral trade negotiations?

【most likely可以直接“取同”，因此我们只需要选择出与“multilateral trade negotiations”定位处信息一致的内容即可。定位点为最后一段的最后一句话，即双边谈话在缓慢进行，而Arboria也失去了贸易扩展的机遇】

A、They are the most effective way to resolve trade problems.

【与定位处内容相反，排除】

B、They are most effective in dealing with fair-trade issues between nations.

【错误原因同上，排除】

C、They have only recently begun to make an impact on world trade. “only recently”

【未提及，排除】

D、Arborian reliance on multilateral trade negotiations, while appropriate in the past, is inadequate for today's global marketplace.

【双边谈话存在问题，符合定位处的内容，正确答案】

E、The principles of multilateral trade negotiations are incompatible with current Arborian foreign trade policy.

【文中定位处信息并未比较双边交易谈话和Arborian foreign trade policy，排除】

3、Which of the following statements best summarizes the author's opinion of "free traders" and "fair traders"?

【作者在第四段很明确地表达了对二者的看法，否定态度，认为二者过时（“two outdated premises”），在这里只有选项E能符合（“out-of-date premises”）】

A、The free and the fair traders' continuing debate provides a healthy and effective forum for examining Arborian trade policy.

B、The proponents of fair trade are essentially correct, while those who advocate free trade are not.

C、The proponents of free trade are better able to deal with current economic problems than are the fair traders.

D、Neither the free nor the fair traders can come up with a workable trade policy because neither takes multilateral negotiations into account.

E、The proponents of both free and fair trade have based their positions on out-of-date premises that do not reflect current economic conditions. 

【正确答案】

4、The author mentions all of the following as characteristic of world trade in the mid-1940s EXCEPT:

【可以根据题干定位，并结合选项，用排除法来解题。根据mid-1940s可直接定位至第二段】

A、Arboria played a major role in the global marketplace.

【第二段line2提及，排除】

B、Whorfland played a major role in the global marketplace.

【第二段line2提及，排除】

C、Tariffs were the main obstacle to trade.

【第二段line2－3提及，排除】

D、Fair-trade economies dominated international trade.

【第二段未提及Fair-trade，正确答案】

E、Arborian manufacturers were unsurpassed in most industries.

【第二段line3提及，排除】

5、In presenting the argument in the passage, the author uses all of the following EXCEPT:

【这道题也需要用排除法来解题，但是也要求我们对整篇文章有一定的了解】

A、statistical information about global commerce

【第四段line6-9提及，排除】

B、definitions of terms concerning world trade

【第三段中有对“free”和“fair”的定义，故排除】

C、generalizations about Arboria's economic system

【第四段line2-4提及，排除】

D、historical background of Arborian trade policy

【第二段的内容，排除】

E、an example of an economic system whose principles differ from those of Arboria

【文中只是在第四段提及了一些商业的经济准则和Arboria不同，但是并未提出具体案例，因此为正确答案】

6、The author asserts which of the following about Arboria's trade policy?

【这道题比较简单，关于Arboria's trade policy，文中在第二段中明确提出，该交易政策是在1940年中期出现，当Arboria主导全球经济时，但是随着经济环境的变化，现在已经过时了，在这里只有C选项的内容符合，因此为正确答案】

A、A dramatic revision of Arboria's trade policy will be necessary unless Arborian manufacturers improve the quality of their goods.

【段已明确表示和产品无关，排除】

B、The most crucial issue facing Arborian trade policymakers is that of free trade versus protectionism.

【段最后一句话说明目前主要的问题是在于减少贸易还是扩张贸易，而不是自由贸易和保护主义，排除】

C、Arboria's current trade policy was essentially developed during the 1940s and has changed little since that time. 

【正确答案】

D、Arboria's trade policy is widely emulated throughout the world, to the extent that most international commerce is modeled on Arboria's principles.

【文中未提及其他商业modeled on Arboria's principles，排除】

E、Arboria's trade policy has evolved gradually over the last eighty years, constantly readjusting itself in response to shifts in global commerce.

【与第二段最后两句话的内容相反，排除】

7、The passage is primarily concerned with

【通过一开始我们对文章内容的分析，我们可知这篇文章主要的描述对象是Arboria的交易政策，以及后文在进一步描述该政策存在的问题 】

A、illustrating the erosion of Arboria's position in the world marketplace

【文章主体对象不符，排除】

B、examining the differences between "free" and "fair" traders

【细节信息，排除】

C、advocating a reassessment of Arboria's trade policy

【符合上文的分析，主体是trade policy，以及强调其存在的问题和建议修正，正确选项】

D、criticizing the terms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

【细节信息，排除】

E、comparing the different economic circumstances of Arboria's trade partners

【文章主体对象并不是Arboria's trade partners，排除】

8、The author implies that the main obstacle to a truly effective Arborian trade policy is the

【这道题是考查Arborian trade policy存在的障碍，也就是为什么该交易政策会存在问题。

其实这里是存在定位点的，文章在段就提出Arboria在全球市场中艰难发展，其主要的问题不是其产品，而是其交易政策。紧接着提到在Arboria和其意识到Arboria和外国经济体系的有根本性的差别之前，未来Arboria面临着经济的持续亏损。因此我们可知，之所以Arboria交易政策存在问题，是因为Arboria和其它经济体系的差异性】

A、weak position that Arboria currently holds in the global marketplace

【因果倒置，应该是trade policy有问题才出现weak position in global market，排除】

B、inability of Arborian leaders to recognize that foreign economic systems are based on principles fundamentally different from their own

【符合上文推理内容，故为正确答案】

C、dominance of the supporters of free trade in the conflict between free-trade and fair-trade advocates

【并未提及free trade占主导，排除】

D、apparent inability of Arborian industries to produce goods that are competitive in the world market

【段已明确表示和产品无关，排除】

E、protectionism that characterizes the foreign trade policies of so many of Arboria's trade partners

【没有提到Arboria's trade partners有保护主义政策，故排除】