【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 geographic proximity. Nevertheless, it took more than a century to reach agreement. In the mid 1800s, after Great Britain repealed the Corn Laws, Canada proposed bilateral free trade with the United States, and a limited treaty covering natural products only was signed. However, it was abrogated during the Civil War by the United States because of close CanadianBritish ties and British support for the Confederacy. After more than a century of fluctuating sentiments on the issue, the 1988 agreement finally eliminates all bilateral tariffs (in stages to be pleted by 1998) and all quantitative trade restrictions. The agreement, it was thought, would particularly boost trade in agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, poultry),mining products (coal and oil), and services (banking, puter, insurance, professional and telemunications services, plus retail and wholesale trade). Both countries expected gains between $1 :and 3 billion per year. Mexico. Mexico is the third largest . trading partner, accounting for 5 percent of . exports plus imports (Canada and Japan account for 19 percent each)。 the . accounts for twothirds of Mexico39。s foreign trade. In 1987, the United StatesMexico Framework Understanding put in place the first procedures ever for consultations regarding trade and, investment relations between these two countries. The mechanism was set up to resolve disputes and to negotiate the removal of trade barriers as supplement to GATT. In early 1991, genuine free trade discussions were set in motion and soon joined by Canada. The goal was the creation of a hemispheric free trade zone reaching from the Yukon to the Yucatan and enpassing a market of over 360 million people. Analysts foresaw major gains associated with increased specialization and trade. They also predicted major adjustment costs in the United States where lowskill jobs would be lost to thousands of lowwage assembly plants now clustered along the Mexican border, while highskill jobs ranging from architecture to engineering and telemunications would get a noticeable export boost. Another likely consequence is that the future rise in real wages south of the border would slow the flow of illegal aliens into the United States. 49. The main idea of this passage is that __A____. A. the new North American free trade zone will likely have many benefits for the countries involved B. the United States has made great contributions to the establishment of free trade zones C. a North American free trade zone will give the United States significant advantages in its trade with Japan : D. free trade zones will prevent illegal immigrants from entering the United States 50. The details given in the underlined sentences in Paragraph 2 __D____, A. emphasize the important role the United States played in the world trade B. provide evidence supporting a tentative conclusion C. illustrate how a free trade zone has worked in the past D. add believability to the statement that Canada and the United States are important trading partners 51. The author39。s likely purpose in this passage is to ____B___. A. convince B. evaluate C. argue for something D. criticize 52. As used in line 5 Paragraph 3, the word abrogated means __A__. A. abolished B. abridged C. ignited suddenly D. ended formally General Electric has found robots far more productive in some work than human workers In one case, a robot saved enough to pay for itself in ten months: At Ford Motor Company, about fifty small robots are deftlv fitting light bulbs into dashboards and speakers into car radios. The next phase of the puter revolution may well turn out to be the robot revolution Robots have been fixtures in edy and science fiction for a long time, but the first industrial robot wasn39。t used in the United States until 1961. Industrial robots scarcely resemble the stereotyped humanoid with flashing eyes and a binations chest. They39。re basically just binations of a puter with very deft and efficient producing machines. What39。s really new, of course, is the extent to which these electronic wonders are transforming the way people work and the position of the work force, especially in Japan. There are about 36,000 robots working in Japan and approximately 6,500 in the United States. In early i982. Raymond Donovan, . Secretary of Labor, predicted that by 1990 half the workers in . factories would be specialists trained to service and repair robots. It39。s easy to see why these steelcollar workers can be preferable to their human counterparts. They cause fewer personnel problems: they39。re never absent, and the)。 never ask for more holidays, take vacations, or file grievances. They also give more consistent attention to quality control, are more efficient and effective performers, and are definitely cheaper to keep. Robots, which cost about $30,000 to $150,000 each, usually work two shifts a gay. The displaced workers would draw salaries and benefits of about $790,000 a year. However, robots still cannot replace all facets of the human worker. The automated factory is feasible, but when it es to reason and informed decisions, robots are still in the same league with machines, at least for now. 53. The details given in the underlined sentences in Paragraph 2 __B___. A. illustrate the technical superiority of Japanese technology over American technology B. show the growth in acceptance of robot workers worldwide C. demonstrate the need to catch up with Japanese technology D. warn against the possibility that robot workers will displace human workers 54. In line 3 Paragraph 1, the word deftly means D A. clumsily B. swiftly C. expensively D. skillfully 55. In this passage the author shows bias in favor of ___C__