Suppose that we lined up our roughly 14 million United States businesses in orde

Suppose that we lined up our roughly 14 million UnitedStates businesses in order of size, starting with the smallest, along animaginary road from San Francisco to New York. There will be 4,500 businessesto the mile, or a little less than one per foot. Suppose further that weplanted a flag each business. The height of the flag pole represents the yearlyvolume of sales (销量) , each $ 10, 000 in sales in shown by onefoot of pole.

The line of flagpoles is a very interesting sight.From San Francisco to about Reno, it is almost unnoticeable, a row of polesabout a foot high. From Reno eastward the poles increase in height until, nearColumbus, Ohio - about four - fifths of the way across the nation - flags flyabout 10 feet in the air.

But as we approach the eastern terminus (终点) , the poles suddenly begin to mount (升高) . There are about 300, 000 firms in the country withsales over $ 500, 000. These firms take up the last 75 miles of the 3,000 - mileroad. There are 200, 000 firms with sales over $ 1 million. They take up thelast 50 miles. Then there are 1, 000 firms with sales of $ 50, 000, 000 ormore. They take up the last quarter of a mile before the city limits, flagsflying at cloud height, 5 , 000 feet up .

At the very gate of New York, on the last 100 feet ofthe last mile , we find the 100 largest industrial firms . They have sales ofat least $ 1.5 billion, so that their flags are already miles high. Along thelast 10 feet of road , there are 10 largest companies . Their sales are roughly$ 10 billion and up : their flags fly 190 miles in the air , almost in thestratosphere (平流层) .

1.What is the author’s main purpose in this passage?

A．To tell thereason why the largest firms are in New York.

B．To show thegeographical distribution (分布) of the United Statesbusinesses.

C．To provide ageneral idea of the size of businesses in the United States.

D．To tell ushow the United States businesses are arranged.

2.What’s the correct order of the following placesfrom east to west?

A．SanFrancisco, Reno, New York, Columbus.

B．SanFrancisco, Reno, Columbus, New York.

C．New York,Columbus, Reno, San Francisco

D．New York,Reno, Columbus, San Francisco

3.Among the four parts of the imaginary road , whichpart , considering all the firms in it , has the largest total volume of sales?

A．The last 75miles.                        B．The last 50miles.

C．The last 100feet of the last mile.            D．The lastquarter of a mile

4.Which of the following diagrams (图表) shows the right order of size of the US businesses ,according to the text ?

S =" San" Francisco  R ="Reno"  C =" Columbus"  N =" New" York H =" height"  F = feet

试题答案

【答案】

1.C

2.C

3.A

4.B 

【解析】

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