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

There’s no question that the big are getting bigger and more powerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% of international trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growing rapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment of production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. In 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. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smaller economic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of the world economy.

I 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. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. As productivity grows, the world’s wealth increases.

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

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

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. Toward the new business wave, the writer’s attitude can be said to be _________.
[A]optimistic
[B]objective
[C]pessimistic
[D]biased

1. What is the typical trend of businesses today? 今天的商业典型的发展趋势是什么？
[A]To take in more foreign funds 吸收更多外资
[B]To invest more abroad 进行更多对外投资
[C]To combine and become bigger 合并做强
[D]To trade with more countries 与更多国家贸易
【答案】 C
【考点】 事实细节题。
【分析】 文章第一段中说“世界正在经历一场前所未有的最大的的并购浪潮。这个浪潮从异常活跃的美国开始，横扫欧洲，并以不可比拟的威力影响到正在崛起的国家”，因此可以判断正确答案是[C]。

2. According to the author, one of the driving forces behind M&A wave is _______. 根据本文作者，在合并浪潮背后的一个驱动力是______。
[A]the greater customer demands 更大的消费需求
[B]a surplus supply for the market 对市场的剩余供给
[C]a growing productivity 日益增长的生产率
[D]the increase of the world’s wealth 世界财富的增长
【答案】 A
【考点】 事实细节题。
【分析】 根据“合并浪潮的推动力”可以定位到第三段。在作者看来，“日趋下降的运输与通讯费用，较低的贸易与投资壁垒，以及市场的扩大和为满足市场需求而进行的扩大生产，是推动这股巨大的并购浪潮的最主要的力量，也是推动全球化进程的力量”。将四个选项对比这三个因素，只有[A]包括了根据顾客的需要扩大市场这个因素。

3. From paragraph 4 we can infer that _____. 从第四段中我们可以推断出_____。
[A] the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers 日益增长的集中肯定会损害消费者的利益
[B] WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs 世通就是一个合并利与弊的好例子
[C] the costs of the globalization process are enormous 全球化进程的成本很高
[D] the Standard Oil trust might have threatened competition 标准石油托拉斯或许已经威胁到竞争
【答案】 D
【考点】 推断题。
【分析】 [A]“日益增长的集中肯定会损害消费者的利益”与原文第四段第一句不符合，因为作者说“这股合并浪潮是带来益处还是弊端的实例还很少”，因此很难说肯定会带来损害。[B]提到“世通”，说是一个带来利益和降低成本的好例子。这句说是“价格没有随着合并而提高”，并没有提到价格降低问题，因此，合并虽然没有伤害消费者，也没有给他们带来利益。[C]本段没有涉及。[D]可以从文中“很难想像当今的几个石油公司的合并能够再次造成像100年前美国标准石油托拉斯对竞争形成的威胁”，这说明当年这个石油公司肯定曾经对竞争造成巨大威胁。

4. Toward the new business wave, the writer’s attitude can be said to be _____. 作者看待新的商业浪潮的态度可以说是_______。
[A]optimistic 乐观的 [B]objective 客观的
[C]pessimistic 悲观的 [D]biased 歧视的
【答案】 B
【考点】 作者态度题。
【分析】 本题考查考生是否了解作者的态度。文中作者提到了“合并”的益处，但是同时也在第四段中提到“我们必须警惕这样的合并浪潮”。作者是从两个方面来谈论这个问题的，因此我们可以判断作者的态度应该是客观的。