2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 38

Unit 38

SoftBank of Japan is making its biggest gamble yet: entering the American cellphone market. SoftBank’s complex $20.1 billion deal to buy majority control of Sprint Nextel will unite Japan’s fastest-growing cellphone service provider with one of the United States’ most troubled. The idea is to provide Sprint with a stronger, deeper-pocketed partner that can help finance its network overhaul and, eventually, pursue additional mergers. But SoftBank, an Internet and communications company, is making a risky wager that it can break the dominance of Verizon and AT&T in the United States the way it did a similar duopoly that long reigned over the Japanese market.

“SoftBank brings so much more to Sprint than money,” Daniel R. Hesse, Sprint’s chief executive, said on an analyst call. “This investment provides the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of a leader in mobile Internet technology with a proven track record of challenging larger incumbent carriers.” Together, the two companies would have $80 billion in revenue and $18 billion in earnings before interest and taxes. And they would nearly double Sprint’s customer base to 96 million, giving the company greater purchasing power. SoftBank’s founder and chief executive, Masayoshi Son, was blunt in his goal: creating the biggest and fastest wireless network in the United States. It is the strategy his own company is pursuing in Japan, aimed at drawing in users of the latest smartphones. Sprint is only beginning to roll out its next-generation Long Term Evolution network, trailing Verizon Wireless and AT&T. “U.S. citizens don’t have this experience of high speed,” Mr. Son said on the analyst call. “We’re going to bring that to the States.”

Shareholders in Sprint and SoftBank appeared less pleased by the transaction. Sprint’s shares closed down slightly on Monday, at $5.69, while SoftBank’s stock tumbled 5.3 percent, to 2,268 yen（$28.92）. While infusing Sprint with cash, the deal would slow SoftBank’s efforts to repay its own hefty debt load, which stood at nearly $13 billion as of June 30. Mr. Son has said that he has already repaid much of the debt his company took on when it bought Vodafone’s Japan arm in 2006 and has done it well ahead of schedule.

The deal on Monday was a welcome development for the financial advisers involved in a year starved for deal activity. If completed, Monday’s transaction would be the biggest deal by a Japanese company in the United States in more than three decades, according to data from Thomson Reuters. It would also be the biggest deal so far this year involving a foreign investment in an American company.

注（1）：本文選自The New York Times;

注（2）：本文習題模仿對象：本文習題的第1、2、5題模仿2011年真題Text 1的第1、4、5題，第3、4題模仿2011年真題Text 2的第3、4題。

1. We can learn from Para. 1 that entering the American cellphone market, Softbank has ______.

A) incurred criticism

B) raised suspicion

C) faced risks

D) aroused curiosity

2. What can’t Sprint benefit from Softbanks?

A) Much money and more customers.

B) Knowledge and expertise.

C) Greater purchasing power.

D) Biggest and fastest wireless network in the United States.

3. The word “tumble”（Line 2, Paragraph 3）most probably means ______.

A) decrease

B) increase

C) reach

D) keep

4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.

A) the deal was a welcome development

B) the transaction was the biggest deal in more than three decades

C) it would be the biggest deal so far

D) the transaction features in historic significance

5. From the text we can see that the writer seems ______.

A) positive

B) negative

C) uncertain

D) neutral

篇章剖析

本文是一篇說明文，主要介紹日本軟銀進軍美國手機市場的情況。文章第一段首先講述了日本風險投資公司做了最大的賭注：進入美國手機市場；第二段說明了軟銀帶給Sprint的諸多益處；第三段介紹了軟銀股票下跌致使股東不滿；最后一段總結軟銀購買Sprint股票對美國來說意義非凡。

詞匯注釋

overhaul /??uv??h??l/ n. 全面修改v. 徹底檢修

wager /?we?d??(r)/ n. 賭博 v. 打賭

duopoly /dju???p?li/ n. 兩強壟斷市場

incumbent /?n?k?mb?nt/ adj. 現(xiàn)任的，在職的

blunt /bl?nt/ adj. 直率的；不鋒利的，生硬的

tumble /?t?mbl/ v. 暴跌；跌倒，摔倒

infuse /?n?fju?z/ v. 灌輸；使獲得

hefty /?hefti/ adj. 大量的；強壯的，肌肉發(fā)達的

難句突破

But SoftBank, an Internet and communications company, is making a risky wager that it can break the dominance of Verizon and AT&T in the United States the way it did a similar duopoly that long reigned over the Japanese market.

主體句式：But SoftBank is making a wager...

結構分析：這個長句看上去結構復雜，其實主句非常短。an Internet and communications company作同位語補充說明SoftBank，后接一個包含兩個that的長句。前一個that是一個典型的同位語從句的引導詞，用來具體說明日本軟銀正在進行什么樣的賭博，it代替句首的SoftBank；后一個that則是定語從句的引導詞，先行詞是duopoly。

句子譯文：但對于軟銀這樣一家網(wǎng)絡通訊公司而言，試圖打破威瑞森電信和AT&T在美國通訊市場上兩強壟斷的局面如同一次危險的賭博，這種兩強壟斷的局面正如它們過去長期對日本無線通訊市場的壟斷一樣。

題目分析

1. C 推斷題。作者在第一段中開門見山地說SoftBank of Japan is making its biggest gamble yet: entering the American cellphone market. 還有后面的But SoftBank...is making a risky wager that...從這兩處可以得知，軟銀進入美國市場是存在很多不確定性的，是在冒險下賭注，只有C項符合原文。其余三項并未在文中體現(xiàn)。

2. D 細節(jié)題。A、B和C選項皆在文中有直接體現(xiàn)，而D選項則是軟銀在美國市場的戰(zhàn)略目標，與題意不符。

3. A 語義題。根據(jù)原文Sprint’s shares closed down slightly...while...可知此句中while是個關鍵詞，表示對比，前面說的是Sprint股價稍有下降，以5.69美元收盤，而軟銀的股價卻…2268日元，以此可以推斷出股價是降低了，跌了。

4. D 推斷題。A、B和C均是說這筆交易的重大意義，由這三方面作為論據(jù)推斷出這筆交易有歷史重要性，故本題選D。

5. D 情感態(tài)度題。本文是一篇經(jīng)濟類文章，旨在陳述經(jīng)濟現(xiàn)象，因此作者持中立態(tài)度。

參考譯文

日本風險投資公司——軟銀集團正在進行一場迄今為止最大的賭博：進入美國手機市場。軟銀以201億的價格購買了美國無線運營商Sprint Nextel的大部分股權，這項舉措成為日本發(fā)展最快的手機服務供應商和美國問題最多的運營商的一次聯(lián)姻。這樣做是想使Sprint獲得一個財力更加雄厚的合作伙伴，資助其進行一次徹底的網(wǎng)絡檢修并最終尋得另外的合并公司。但對于軟銀這樣一家網(wǎng)絡通訊公司而言，試圖打破威瑞森電信和AT&T在美國通訊市場上兩強壟斷的局面如同一次危險的賭博，這種兩強壟斷的局面正如它們過去長期對日本無線通訊市場的壟斷一樣。

“軟銀帶給Sprint的遠不止資金?！盨print的CEO丹尼爾·R.赫西在一次分析電話中稱：“這項投資還使Sprint有機會從一個電話網(wǎng)絡技術領頭羊身上學到專業(yè)知識，而這一電話網(wǎng)絡領頭羊曾成功地挑戰(zhàn)了比自己更大的運營商。”Sprint和軟銀在扣除利息和稅費之前總共會有800億美元的銷售總額和180億美元的收入。它們幾乎使Sprint的消費者基數(shù)翻倍至9600萬，同時賦予Sprint更強的購買力。軟銀的創(chuàng)始人兼CEO孫正義對其目的直言不諱：在美國建立最大、最快速的無線網(wǎng)絡。這是他的公司在日本一直追求的戰(zhàn)略目標，旨在吸引最新智能手機的用戶首選其移動網(wǎng)絡。Sprint只是剛開始推廣它的新一代長期演進網(wǎng)絡，緊跟威瑞森電信和AT&T的步伐。孫先生在分析電話中說：“美國公民還從未體驗過這么高速的網(wǎng)絡，我們將會把它引進美國?！?

然而Sprint和軟銀的股東對這一事態(tài)似乎并不那么滿意。周一，Sprint清盤時的股價稍有下降，以5.69美元收盤，而軟銀的股價卻跌至2268日元，約合28.92美元，下跌了5.3%。軟銀在注資Sprint的同時，降低了自身償還高額債款的能力，6月30日，軟銀還欠約130億美元的外債。孫先生說，他其實已經(jīng)還了2006年購買沃達豐日本分支時所欠下的絕大部分債務了，并且這部分債務的償還比原計劃早很多。

這筆周一進行的交易（軟銀購買Sprint股票）對于牽涉其中的財務顧問們來說再好不過了，他們已經(jīng)期盼這類交易一年了。根據(jù)湯姆森路透社的資料，這筆交易如果能夠完成，將是三十多年來日資企業(yè)在美國進行的最大一次投資，同時也是今年為止美國公司融得的最大一筆外資。