2014年教育硕士英语阅读专项练习(13)

　　Just outside the northern Italian town of Bra, there rises a church tower with a clock that is a half hour slow. In Bra, that’s close enough to being right on time. Though not far from the industrial city of Turin, Bra smells of roses, and leisure is the law. It is both the home of an international movement that promotes "slow food" (the opposite of American fast food) and one of 31 Italian municipalities that have joined a sister cause, the "slow cities. " These cities have declared themselves paradises from the accelerating pace of life in the global economy. In Bin, population 27,866, the town fathers have declared that all small food shops be closed every Thursday and Sunday. They forbid cars in the town square. All fruits and vegetables served in local schools must be organic. The city offers cut-rate mortgages to homeowners who do up their houses using a local butter-colored material and reserves choice commercial real estate for family shops selling handmade chocolates or specialty cheeses. And if the movement leaders get their way, the slow conception will gradually spread across Europe.

　　The argument for a Slow Europe is not only that slow is good, but also that it can work. The Slow City movement, which started in 1999, has turned around local economies by promoting local goods and tourism. Young Italians are moving from larger cities to Bra, where unemployment is only 5 percent, about half the nationwide rate. Slow food and wine festivals draw thousands of tourists every year. Shops are thriving, many with sales rising at a rate of 15 percent per year. "This is our answer to globalization," says Paolo Satumini, the founder of Slow Cities.

　　France is the favored proving ground for supporters of what might be called slow economics. Most outsiders have long been doubtful of the French model : short hours and long vacations. Yet the French are more productive on an hourly basis than counterparts in the United States and Britain, and have been for years.

　　The mystery of French productivity has fueled a Europe-wide debate about the merits of working more slowly.

　　1. The church clock that is a half hour slow serves as a symbol of_____.

　　A. industrial development

　　B. slow movement

　　C. global economy

　　D. city growth

　　2. In Bra, local specialty businesses_____.

　　A. are not open on Thursdays and Sundays

　　B. are not allowed in the town square

　　C. enjoy low-rate loans from the bank

　　D. enjoy priority in business sites

　　3. The low unemployment in Bra is mentioned to prove that_____.

　　A. are not open on Thursdays and Sundays

　　B. a good concept works well in its birthplace

　　C. the Slow City movement is successful in Bra

　　D. tourism brings great job opportunities

　　4. It can be inferred from the passage that______.

　　A. British workers work longer hours than the French

　　B. French workers work longer hours than the Italians

　　C. Italian workers are less productive than the Americans

　　D. American workers are more productive than the British

　　5. The increased French productivity tends to_____.

　　A. throw doubt on slow economics

　　B. confirm merits of slow economics

　　C. favor an accelerating pace of life

　　D. encourage a slow economic growth

　　参考答案及解析：

　　1.B推理题。题干为“教堂的钟慢半个小时象征着…”，从第一段前四句话推断是从侧面说明巴腊城的“慢”。故选B。

　　2.D细节题。第一段倒数第二句“me city…reserves choice commercial real estate for family shops selling handmade chocolates or specialty cheeses.”说明市政府对地方特色经济给与优待，故选D。

　　3.C推理题。第二段第三、四行说意大利的年轻人都往巴腊城去，那里的失业率为5%，是全国平均水平的一半。且后面还提到巴腊城吸引了大量旅客，商店的销售额也在大幅增长，这说明巴腊城的“慢城市”运动在经济上取得了很好的效果。故选C。

　　4.A推理题。文章倒数第二段把法国同美国和英国作比较，法国崇尚的是工作时间短假期长的模式，由此可推断法国人工作时间比美国人和英国人都短，故选A。

　　5.B主旨题。题干为“法国生产力提高趋向…”。文章最后一段说法国生产力提高这一神奇的事实在欧洲引发了关于放慢工作速度的激烈辩论，说明这一现象引起了更多人的关注，越来越多的人认为“慢”这一概念是有利的。B选项的意思是“证明‘慢经济’的优点”。符合题意。故选B。