考研英语核心词汇速成胜经Unit 56

一、      真题文章（2000年Text 1）

A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap, but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight ties larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the world's best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.　

    It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea's LG Electronics in July.) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market America's machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.

    All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America's industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.

    How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride." American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, has learnt to be more quick-witted," according to Richard Cavanagh, executive dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government," It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity, says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington, DC. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as" a golden age of business management in the United States."

二、      译文

一段漫长而又不费力成功的历史，可能成为一种可怕的不利因素，但如果处理得当，它也许会转化成一种推动力。二战结束后，美国恰好进入了这样一段辉煌时期，其市场是任何竞争者的八倍，这使其工业经济具有前所未有的经济规模。美国科学家是世界上最优秀的，工人也是技术最为娴熟的。美国的繁荣是那些经济遭到战争破坏的欧亚诸国做梦也未想到的。

当然，不可避免的，随着其他国家逐渐富强起来，美国的这种领先优势在逐渐缩小，而领先优势的丧失不免会令人痛苦。到了80年代中期，美国人发现他们在工业上的竞争力日益减少，而他们也无计可施。一些美国工业的巨头，例如电子工业，在外国竞争面前不断缩小甚至消失。到了1987年，美国电视制造业仅存Zenith 一家公司（现在连这一家也没有了，韩国的LG电子公司在7月份收购了Zenith）。外国生产的汽车和纺织品席卷美国国内市场，美国的机床产业岌岌可危，半导体，这种由美国发明并处于电脑时代核心位置的产业，一度也似乎即将成为下一个牺牲者。

所有的这一切引发了信任危机。美国不再视繁荣为理所当然之事。他们开始相信自己的经营方式不灵了，也相信不久他们的收入也会下降。80年代中期，人们对美国工业衰退的原因进行了一次又一次的调查。而他们的调查结果有时不免危言耸听，但却不乏对海外日益增长的竞争的告诫之词。

情况的变化真是出人意料！到了1995年美国回顾着过去五年的持续增长，而日本开始了挣扎。很少有美国人把这仅仅归结于像美元贬值或商业周期变化这样显而易见的原因。不自信变成了盲目自大。哈佛大学肯尼迪学院院长Richard Cavanaugh 认为：“美国的工业结构发生了变化，精简了机构，头脑也更灵活了。”华盛顿智囊团的一员，Cato 机构的Stephen Moore 说：“看到我们不断提高的生产力，我为自己身为一名美国人而感到骄傲。”哈佛经济学院的William Sahilman 相信当人们回顾这段时期时，会认为它是“美国经济管理的黄金时代”。

三、      考研核心词汇

dreadful  / 5dredful /  adj. 可怕的, <口>讨厌的

[例]  a dreadful story [face, voice]  可怕的故事[脸、声音]

[同义]  awful, bad, detestable, ghastly, horrible, terrible, unpleasant, vile

[派生]  dreadfully  /5dredfJlI/  adv. 可怕地, 庄严地

dread  / dred /  n.恐惧, 恐怖, 可怕的人(或物)  v. 惧怕, 担心

handicap  / 5hAndikAp /  n. 1障碍, 阻碍2障碍赛跑  v. 妨碍, 使不利, 阻碍

[例] Poor eyesight is a handicap to a student.

视力不好对学生来说是一个障碍。

[同义]  burden, disadvantage, hindrance, load

[反义]  advantage  / Ed5vB:ntidV /  n. 优势, 有利条件, 利益

[派生] handicapped  /5hAndIkApt/  n. 残疾人, 身体有缺陷的人  adj. 残废的

handle  / 5hAndl /  n. 柄, 把手, 把柄, 口实, 手感

vt. 触摸, 运用, 买卖, 处理, 操作

vi. 搬运, 易于操纵

n.  [计]句柄

[例] handles problems efficiently.  有效地处理问题

[同义]  carry on, deal in, direct, feel, finger, govern, manage, manipulate

[派生] handleability  / 7hAndlE5biliti /  n. 可操纵性

unparalleled  / Qn5pArEleld /  adj. 无比的, 无双的, 空前的

[例]  unparalleled in history    史无前例的

[同义]  exceptional, extraordinary, incomparable, matchless, remarkable

scale  / skeil /  n. 刻度,衡量,比例,数值范围,比例尺,天平,等级

vt. 依比例决定,攀登,测量

vi. 剥落,生水垢,重,攀登,衡量

[例]  A machine for weighing people has a scale from one pound to 300 pounds on it.   称体重的机器上有从一磅到300磅的刻度。

[同义]  degree, graduation, proportion, ratio

prosperous  / 5prCspErEs /  adj. 繁荣的

[例] a prosperous business  兴旺的事业

[同义]  affluent, comfortable, flourishing, fortunate, opulent, rich, successful

[反义]  unprosperous  /9Qn`prCspErEs/  adj.不茂盛的, 不繁荣的,不成功的,不顺利的

[派生] prosperously  / 5prCspErEsli /  adv. 繁荣地, 幸运地

prosperity  / prCs5periti /  n. 繁荣

prosper  / 5prCspE / v. 成功, 兴隆, 昌盛, (指上帝)使成功, 使昌隆, 繁荣

primacy  / 5praimEsi /  n. 首位

[例] the primacy of the deed over word and thought  行动胜过言语和思想.

[派生] primary  / 5praimEri /  adj.第一位的, 主要的, 初步的, 初级的, 原来的, 根源的

predominance  /prI`dCmInEns/  n. 优势

[例] there is a predominance of apple tree in this area.

在这一带苹果树占多数

[派生] predominant  / pri5dCminEnt /  adj. 卓越的, 支配的, 主要的, 突出的, 有影响的

predominate  / pri5dCmineit /  vt. 掌握, 控制, 支配 

vi. 统治, 成为主流, 支配, 占优势

shrink  / FriNk / （shrank, shrunk 或 shrunken, shrinking）v.收缩, (使)皱缩, 缩短

[例] The dress shrank when I washed it.  这件衣服洗后缩水了。

[同义]  cringe， dwindle， flinch， pull back， recoil， retreat， shrivel

[反义]  expand  / iks5pAnd /  vt. 使膨胀, 详述, 扩张  vi. 张开, 发展

[派生] shrinkage  / 5FrinkidV /  n. 收缩

shrinkable  / `FrINkEbl/   adj. 会收缩的

vanish  / 5vAniF /  vi. 消失, 突然不见, [数]成为零  n.  [语]弱化音

[例] I thought it would rain, but the clouds have vanished and it's a fine day.

我原以为天要下雨的，可是云消失了，是个好天。

[同义]  disappear， fade， go away， perish

[反义]  appear  / E5piE /  vi. 出现, 看来, 似乎, 公开露面, 出版, 发表

[派生] vanishing  / 5vAniFiN /  消失, 消没, 等于零

textile  / 5tekstail /  n. 纺织品  adj. 纺织的

[例]  textile industry  纺织工业

[同义]  cloth， fabric， goods， material

grant  / ^rB:nt /  vt. 同意, 准予, 承认(某事为真)～

[例] I grant the genius of your plan, but you still will not find backers.

我承认你的计划有创意，但你还是不会找到支持者

[同义]  admit， allot， allow， award， bestow， consent

[反义]  blame  / bleim /  n. 过失, 责备  vt. 责备, 谴责

censure  / 5senFE /  v. 责难  n. 责难

sensational  / sen5seiFEnEl /  adj. 使人感动的, 非常好的

[例] a sensational crime  骇人听闻的罪行

[同义]  exciting， exquisite， glorious， magnificent， marvelous， startling

[派生] sensation  / sen5seiFEn /  n. 感觉, 感情, 感动, 耸人听闻的

solely  / 5sEu(l)li /  adv. 独自地, 单独地

[例]  solely for art's sake  只为了艺术

[派生] sole  / sEul /  adj. 单独的, 唯一的  n. 脚底, 鞋底, 基础  v. 换鞋底

devalue  /di:5vAlju:/  v. (=devaluate) 减值, 贬值[例]

[例] US dollar may devalue further.   美元可能还会贬值。

[派生] devaluate  /di:`vAljJeIt/  v. (使)贬值

devaluation  / 7di:vAlju5eiFEn /  n. (货币)贬值

yield  / ji:ld /  v. 出产, 生长, 生产  vi.(～ to) 屈服, 屈从  n. 产量, 收益

[例] The army yielded when it was attacked.

当这支军队受到进攻时投降了。

[同义]  bear， forego， furnish，give up， grant， part with， produce， provide

dean  / di:n /  n. (大学)院长, 主持牧师, (基督教)教长

[例]  dean of personnel  人事处主任

[派生] deanery  / 5di:nEri /  n. 教区, 院长办公室

四、      强化练习

1. And our hiring is based on qualifications, experiences and skills without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin and _______ or veteran status.

A. accessory      B. handicap       C. abundance      D. domain

2. The trait is needed in my current(or previous) position and I know I can______ it well.

A. hate           B. distort         C. handle         D. deserve

3. With the increasing user demands on new value-added mobile services, it can be seen that services such as the download of full music, mobile E-mail and handset TV, will become the most ___________ mobile services

A. prosperous    B. punctual        C. horizontal      D. prospective

4. China should not attempt to "maneuver toward a _________ of power" in Asia by building separate alliances in Southeast Asia and other areas.

A. inertia        B. installment      C. insulation      D. predominance

5. I will laugh at my failures and they will vanish in clouds of new dreams; I will laugh at my successes and they will________ to their true value.

A. intrigue       B. intrude         C. shrink          D. rebel

6. This firm is a large________ machinery processing enterprise .

A. scale          B. lump          C. hug            D. bunch

7. In 2004, scientists announced their original, ___________discovery of a delicate skull and partial skeleton of a female, nicknamed "Hobbit" and believed to be 18,000 years old.

A. sensitive       B. sensational      C. sensible        D. serious

8. The study of coin hoards (储藏), in conjunction with an understanding of Gresham's Law, can ___________ important historical information

A. suffer          B. confront       C. yield           D. submit

9. It is a regret that China and the United States did not reach any agreement in their fifth round of ________ consultation, Sun Huaibin, spokesman for the China Textile Industry Council.

A. textile          B. recipe          C. reclamation     D. retaliation

10. For your information, we have booked three seminar rooms at the venue to run information sessions throughout the day. One of these rooms will be dedicated _________ to general skilled migration .

A. sullen           B. grimly         C. vulgarly        D. solely

答案：BCADC  ABCAD