Despitebulging order books, the mood at Airbus and Boeing is far from celebratory.Both aviation giants are moaning loudly that their production systems andsupply chains are flawed, albeit for ostensibly different reasons. This weekLouis Gallois, the boss of EADS, the Franco-German aerospace consortium thatowns Airbus, added substance to warnings a week earlier by the planemaker's chief executive, Tom Enders,that the dollar's decline was "life-threatening" for the firm. Mr Gallois saidit was no longer just a possibility that Airbus would have to move a large partof its production to "the dollar zone" or low-cost countries, but acertainty.

Airbus isalready in the middle of Power8, a big restructuring plan that involves theloss of 10,000 jobs and the sale of several plants, which is meant to offsetthe losses caused by the delays in delivering the A380 superjumbo. But Power8assumed that a euro was worth $1.35, not today's $1.47. Mr Gallois estimates thateach 10-cent rise in the euro costs Airbus �1 billion. At present, Airbusmakes 76% of its purchases within Europe, but generates over 60% of its saleselsewhere. It must now shift some production abroad.

Airbus is nowlikely to forge ahead much further. Mr Gallois suggests that when the A350enters service in 2013, 70% of it will have been "purchased" indollars, against 50% for the A380 and an average 24% of Airbus productiontoday. Because Airbus insists that some of its European suppliers price indollars that means about 50% of the A350's production will be outsourced.New aircraft, such as the A320's successor, may be made almost entirely outside the euro-zone.

Airbusmaintains that exchange rates are not the only reason for outsourcing: it iskeen to tap into composite-manufacturing expertise wherever it exists. It alsoinsists that it will not repeat the mistakes Boeing has made with its new 787Dreamliner, about 80% of which has been outsourced. A few weeks ago Mike Bair,the executive responsible for the 787 programme, who was recently movedsideways after mounting production delays, launched a withering attack on someof the companies recruited to build the plane. He said that in future Boeingwould not entrust design work to partners who "proved incapable of doingit", and would make suppliers build factories close to Boeing's main assembly operation, ratherthan flying semi-finished sections of the aircraft round the world on hugeDreamlifter transporters.

It is tooearly to conclude that the two rivals are heading in opposite directions-Boeingrenouncing the global supply chain just as Airbus adopts it. Each company hasits own axe to grind. Airbus needs greater flexibility, and the weak dollarprovides helpful cover as it takes on its grumbling unions. Boeing, for itspart, wants to shift the blame for delays to the 787 on to its partners. Thelogic of global outsourcing in the aerospace industry remains powerful.Whatever they may be saying now, Airbus and Boeing are more likely to convergethan to diverge.

1. Airbuscarries out Power 8 because_____

[A] it cannotmake up the deficits caused by the dalays in delivering A380.

[B] it wantsto move its production abroad to handle the problem of dollar's decline.

[C] it hasnot predicted the dollar decline at the beginning.

[D] it wantsto raise money to build new production sector in low-cost countries.

2. The lessonAirbus learns from Boeing's case of 787 Dreamliner is_____.

[A] it shouldnot adopt outsourcing at all given its uncertainty and insecurity.

[B] it shouldnot coopearte with partners in designing.

[C] it shouldnot waste time in flying the semi-finished sections of the aircraft.

[D] itshould make use of the local manufacturing expertise instead ofinternational partners.

3. Accordingto the passage, the 787 programme is delayed probably because_____.

[A] theparteners are not incapable of building the plane.

[B] The suppliersare far away from the main assembly operation.

[C] 80% of ithas been outsourced to other countries which affected efficiency.

[D] theexecutive is not qualified incapable of finding qualified partners.

4. The word"converge" (Line 5, Paragraph 5) most probably means_____.

[A] unite

[B] combine

[C] meet

[D] coopearte

5. Why Airbusand Boeing are more likely to converge than to diverge?

[A] Boeingquits the global supply chain while Airbus adopts it.

[B] Both ofthem need to adopt greater flexibility in the working process.

[C] Both ofthem need to make their foreign purchases and outsourcing more skillful andpowerful.

[D] Both ofthem have to take measures to deal with problmes caused by weak dollar.

篇章剖析：

這篇文章主要介紹了空中客車目前生產(chǎn)和采購(gòu)方面的一些新的動(dòng)向和調(diào)整，也提到了波音公司的一些調(diào)整。第一段講述空中客車和波音兩大飛機(jī)公司目前在生產(chǎn)、供應(yīng)方面都面臨一些新的問(wèn)題，空中客車已決定要采取海外計(jì)劃;第二段講述空中客車目前的一些問(wèn)題;第三段講述空中客車將來(lái)在采購(gòu)方面的計(jì)劃;第四段講述空中客車海外計(jì)劃的另外一個(gè)原因;第五段講述空中客車和波音公司雖然表面看起來(lái)采取的措施不同，但其海外采購(gòu)的大方向是確定的。

詞匯注釋：

albeit conj. 雖然

ostensiblyadv. 表面上

consortium n.社團(tuán)，協(xié)會(huì)

outsource v. 外部買辦，采購(gòu)

superjumbo n.巨型噴氣式飛機(jī)

forge aheadv. 向前邁進(jìn)

tap into v. 接入

grumblingadj. 嘟嘟囔囔的, 抱怨的; 疼痛的

converge v. 會(huì)聚，會(huì)合

renounce v. 放棄

難句突破：

(1) This week Louis Gallois, the boss of EADS, the Franco-German aerospaceconsortium that owns Airbus, added substance to warnings a week earlier by theplanemaker's chief executive, Tom Enders, that the dollar's decline was"life-threatening" for the firm.

[主體句式] Louis Gallois added substance towarnings.

[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個(gè)復(fù)合句，the boss of EADS是主語(yǔ)的同位語(yǔ)，而the Franco-German aerospaceconsortium that owns Airbus又是EADS的同位語(yǔ);最后that引導(dǎo)的定語(yǔ)從句是用來(lái)修飾前面的warnings。考試大(www.Examda。com)

[句子譯文]法德航天財(cái)團(tuán)EADS(空中客車屬于該財(cái)團(tuán))老總路易斯·Galloi本周強(qiáng)調(diào)了一周前飛機(jī)制造首席執(zhí)行官湯姆·恩德斯的警告，恩德斯指出美元的貶值對(duì)于公司有生命威脅。

(2) A few weeks ago Mike Bair, the executive responsible for the 787 programme, whowas recently moved sideways after mounting production delays, launched awithering attack on some of the companies recruited to build the plane.

[主體句式] Mike Bair launched ...

[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個(gè)復(fù)合句，短語(yǔ)the executive...是主語(yǔ)的同位語(yǔ)，后面who 引導(dǎo)的定語(yǔ)從句是修飾主語(yǔ)的。

[句子譯文]負(fù)責(zé)787項(xiàng)目的主管邁克·Bair因?yàn)檠诱`了生產(chǎn)近期被移往別處了，幾周前他對(duì)一些已被征募造該飛機(jī)的公司進(jìn)行了毀滅性的攻擊。

題目分析：

1. Airbuscarries out Power 8 because_____1.空中客車實(shí)行能量8計(jì)劃是因?yàn)開____。

[A] it cannotmake up the deficits caused by the delays in delivering A380.[A]公司無(wú)法彌補(bǔ)因延遲交付A380而造成的損失。

[B] it wantsto move its production abroad to handle the problem of dollar's decline.[B]它想要將自己的生產(chǎn)移到海外以應(yīng)對(duì)美元貶值問(wèn)題。

[C] it hasnot predicted the dollar decline at the beginning.[C] 在一開始它沒(méi)有估計(jì)到美元貶值。

[D] it wantsto raise money to build new production sector in low-cost countries.[D]它想要籌集資金在低成本國(guó)家建立新的生產(chǎn)部門。

[答案]B

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆

[分析]推理題。文章第一段指出Gallois已經(jīng)決定將一大部門生產(chǎn)放到海外，同時(shí)第二段緊接著就說(shuō)空中客車已經(jīng)實(shí)施能量8計(jì)劃了，目的就是要彌補(bǔ)因?yàn)?A380交付延誤造成的損失。那么，答案A最為符合文章內(nèi)容。B選項(xiàng)不是實(shí)施這一計(jì)劃的直接原因，可以排除。C選項(xiàng)是無(wú)中生有，而最后一個(gè)選項(xiàng)是該計(jì)劃的一個(gè)結(jié)果之一，而不是原因。

2. The lesson Airbus learns from Boeing's case of787 Dreamliner is_____.2.從波音787"夢(mèng)之機(jī)"事件中空中客車得到的教訓(xùn)是_____。

[A] it should not adopt outsourcing at all given its uncertainty andinsecurity.[A] 由于各種不確定和不安全因素，公司根本不應(yīng)當(dāng)實(shí)行海外采購(gòu)。

[B] it should not coopearte with partners in designing.[B] 它不應(yīng)當(dāng)在設(shè)計(jì)方面和合伙人合作。

[C] it should not waste time in flying the semi-finished sections ofthe aircraft.[C]它不應(yīng)當(dāng)浪費(fèi)時(shí)間運(yùn)輸飛機(jī)的半成品部件。

[D] it should make use of the local manufacturingexpertise.[D] 它應(yīng)當(dāng)利用當(dāng)?shù)氐闹圃旒夹g(shù)。

[答案]D

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

[分析]推理題。第四段中提到了波音787計(jì)劃，提到其主管指出波音公司今后不會(huì)再將設(shè)計(jì)工作交給不能勝任的合作人，還會(huì)在裝配車間旁邊直接讓供應(yīng)商建工廠以免去運(yùn)輸飛機(jī)半成品部件的費(fèi)用。那么可見(jiàn)波音在該項(xiàng)目中主要的問(wèn)題就是這兩方面的，而本段主要是講述空中客車指出要海外采購(gòu)的另外一方面原因是如果當(dāng)?shù)赜兄圃旒夹g(shù)那么就直接運(yùn)用該技術(shù)。從這兩方面可以看出，空中客車得到的經(jīng)驗(yàn)應(yīng)該是制造方面應(yīng)利用本地資源。那么，答案D最為符合。

3. According to the passage, the 787 programme is delayed probablybecause_____.3.根據(jù)文章，787項(xiàng)目被延誤的原因是_____。

[A] the parteners are not incapable of building the plane.[A] 合作商沒(méi)有能力建造飛機(jī)。

[B] The suppliers are far away from the main assembly operation.[B] 供應(yīng)商離主要的組裝車間很遠(yuǎn)。

[C] 80% of it has been outsourced to other countries which affectedefficiency.[C] 80%是依靠海外采購(gòu)，因而影響了效率。

[D] the executive is not incapable of finding qualified partners.[D]主管沒(méi)有能力找到符合條件的合作方。

[答案]B

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

[分析]推理題。文章第四段中提到了波音787計(jì)劃，提到其主管指出波音公司今后不會(huì)再將設(shè)計(jì)工作交給不能勝任的合作人，還會(huì)在裝配車間旁邊直接讓供應(yīng)商建工廠以免去運(yùn)輸飛機(jī)半成品部件的費(fèi)用。那么可以推斷，延誤的主要原因可能就是這兩方面，答案A、B涉及這兩個(gè)方面，但A與原文不符，原文是合作人在設(shè)計(jì)飛機(jī)方面不能勝任，而不是制造飛機(jī)方面;B是原文提到的第二方面，符合題意，為正確答案。C和D選項(xiàng)可以比較容易地排除，首先相關(guān)段落沒(méi)有提到效率的問(wèn)題，因此可以排除C選項(xiàng)。而D選項(xiàng)利用了文章中executive，qualified partners這些詞匯，但組成的句子卻是與原文無(wú)關(guān)的。

4. The word "converge" (Line 5, Paragraph 5) most probablymeans_____.4. "converge"這個(gè)詞最有可能的意思是_____。

[A] unite[A] 聯(lián)合

[B] combine[B] 結(jié)合

[C] meet[C] 會(huì)合

[D] coopearte[D] 合作

[答案]C

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆

[分析]猜詞題。根據(jù)上下文來(lái)理解這個(gè)詞，文章最后一段提到現(xiàn)在就下結(jié)論說(shuō)這兩個(gè)公司今后會(huì)向不同方向發(fā)展還為時(shí)尚早，雖然他們說(shuō)法不同，但對(duì)于海外采購(gòu)的態(tài)度還是肯定的，因此說(shuō)它們今后更可能是向同一個(gè)方向會(huì)合而不是各自走上不同的道路。另外，從最后一句話可以大致分析，converge和 diverge應(yīng)該是相反的意思，那么也可以猜出這個(gè)詞的意思應(yīng)當(dāng)是"會(huì)合"，答案C最為符合。

5. Why Airbus and Boeing are more likely to converge than todiverge?5.為什么說(shuō)空中客車和波音公司更像是要向一個(gè)方向會(huì)聚而不是兵分兩路?

[A] Boeing quits the global supply chain while Airbus adopts it.[A]波音放棄了全球供應(yīng)鏈但空中客車卻采取了這個(gè)方式。

[B] Both of them need to adopt greater flexibility in the workingprocess.[B] 它們都需要在工作流程中增加更多的靈活性。

[C] Both of them need to make their foreign purchases andoutsourcing more skillful and powerful.[C] 它們?cè)谶M(jìn)行海外采購(gòu)時(shí)應(yīng)該更加注重技巧和實(shí)力。

[D] Both of them have to take measures to deal with problmes causedby weak dollar.[D]它們都需要采取措施來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)美元貶值引發(fā)的問(wèn)題。

[答案]C

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆

[分析]推理題。文章最后一段提出，表面上看好像它們采取的方法會(huì)有很大不同，波音要放棄全球供應(yīng)鏈但空中巴士卻決定要采取這個(gè)方案，但每個(gè)公司故事不同，空中客車需要更大的靈活度，而波音卻是向要通過(guò)這個(gè)決定把787項(xiàng)目的責(zé)任轉(zhuǎn)移到合作商身上，但其實(shí)全球采購(gòu)這個(gè)邏輯在這個(gè)行業(yè)還是盛行的�？梢�(jiàn)，它們終究還是需要進(jìn)行海外采購(gòu)，同時(shí)文章也指出了他們的海外采購(gòu)需要有所改進(jìn)，分別都要改進(jìn)靈活性并且時(shí)海外采購(gòu)變得更加強(qiáng)大。文章最后一句指出，兩個(gè)公司其實(shí)是走得更近而不是兵分兩路，也是C選項(xiàng)的佐證。因此，之所以說(shuō)它們向一個(gè)方向會(huì)合就是在全球采購(gòu)這方面而言的，因此，答案為C。

參考譯文：

盡管訂單鼓鼓囊囊的，但是空中客車和波音公司中卻絲毫沒(méi)有慶祝的氣氛。兩個(gè)航空巨頭都在大聲抱怨其生產(chǎn)系統(tǒng)和供應(yīng)鏈有缺陷，雖然表面上看起來(lái)引發(fā)的原因不同。法德航天財(cái)團(tuán)EADS(空中客車屬于該財(cái)團(tuán))老總路易斯·Galloi本周強(qiáng)調(diào)了一周前飛機(jī)制造首席執(zhí)行官湯姆·恩德斯的警告，恩德斯指出美元的貶值對(duì)于公司有生命威脅。Gallois先生表示，空中客車需要將生產(chǎn)的很大一部分移到"美元區(qū)"或低成本國(guó)家不再只是一種可能，現(xiàn)在成為一種必然。

空中客車已經(jīng)在進(jìn)行能量8計(jì)劃了，該計(jì)劃是大型重組計(jì)劃，將導(dǎo)致喪失一萬(wàn)份工作，賣掉數(shù)家工廠，目的是彌補(bǔ)在因延遲交付A380巨型噴氣式飛機(jī)造成的損失。但是當(dāng)時(shí)能量8假定一歐元對(duì)1.35美元，而不是現(xiàn)在實(shí)際的1.47美元。Gallois先生估計(jì)歐元升值10分，空中客車就要損失10億歐元。目前，空中客車75%的采購(gòu)都在歐洲，但60%的銷售卻在別的地方�，F(xiàn)在它必須將一些生產(chǎn)移到海外去。

現(xiàn)在空中客車可能要往前更進(jìn)一步了。Gallois先生建議2013年A350進(jìn)入市場(chǎng)后，70%將用美元采購(gòu)，而目前A380的50%為美元采購(gòu)，空中巴士生產(chǎn)平均24%為美元采購(gòu)。因?yàn)榭罩邪褪繌?qiáng)調(diào)其歐洲供應(yīng)商必須以美元定價(jià)，也就是A350 50%的生產(chǎn)將在海外采購(gòu)。新的飛機(jī)，比如A320的下一代可能全部都要在歐元區(qū)之外的地方生產(chǎn)。

空中客車認(rèn)為匯率并不是海外采購(gòu)的唯一原因，它還希望接納復(fù)合的制造技術(shù)，不管是哪里有這種技術(shù)。它還強(qiáng)調(diào)不會(huì)重復(fù)波音在新的787"夢(mèng)之機(jī)"上已經(jīng)犯過(guò)的錯(cuò)誤，其80%都在國(guó)外采購(gòu)。負(fù)責(zé)787項(xiàng)目的主管邁克·Bair因?yàn)檠诱`了生產(chǎn)近期被移往別處了，幾周前他對(duì)一些已被征募造該飛機(jī)的公司進(jìn)行了毀滅性的攻擊。他說(shuō)未來(lái)波音公司不會(huì)將任何設(shè)計(jì)工作委托給"被證明不能勝任"的合作者，也會(huì)讓供應(yīng)商在波音主要的組裝車間旁建立工廠，而不再用大型的 Dreamlifter運(yùn)輸機(jī)將飛機(jī)的半成品部分飛過(guò)整個(gè)世界。

正當(dāng)空中客車采用了全球供應(yīng)鏈時(shí)波音公司卻放棄了，但是現(xiàn)在就下結(jié)論說(shuō)這兩個(gè)對(duì)手正向兩個(gè)不同的方向發(fā)展還為時(shí)太早。每個(gè)公司都有自己的斧頭去研磨，空中客車需要更大的靈活性，而正當(dāng)它雇傭了充滿怨氣的團(tuán)體后疲軟的美元為它提供了很好的掩蓋。而波音卻想將787項(xiàng)目延遲的責(zé)任推到其合作者身上。航空業(yè)全球海外采購(gòu)邏輯還是非常強(qiáng)大的，不管空中客車和波音公司現(xiàn)在說(shuō)的是什么，它們其實(shí)是走得更近而不是兵分兩路了。