35. For Alice, putting lost teeth under a pillow for money is not
A just a beautiful dream.
B a way to be away the cheating.?
C a way to be away the lust .?
D a way to prevent one from illness.
Text 4
FEW people, except conspiracy theorists, would have expected so public a spat as the one this week between the two ringmasters of Formula One (F1) motor racing. Bernie Ecclestone, a fabulously wealthy British motor sport entrepreneur, is at odds, it would seem, with his longstanding associate, Max Mosley, president of F1's governing body, the Federation International de l'Automobile (FIA).
Ostensibly, the dispute has broken out over what looked like a done deal. Last June, the FIA voted unanimously to extend Mr. Ecclestone's exclusive rights to stage and broadcast F1 racing, which expire in 2010, by 100 years. For these lucrative rights, Mr. Ecclestone was to pay the FIA a mere $360m in total, and only $60m immediately. The FIA claims that Mr. Ecclestone has not made the payment of $60m, a claim denied by Mr. Ecclestone, who insists the money has been placed in an escrow account. Mr. Mosley has asked Mr. Ecclestone to pay up or risk losing the deal for the F1 rights after 2010, perhaps to a consortium of car makers that own F1 teams. For his part, Mr. Ecclestone has, rather theatrically, accused Mr. Mosley of "trying to do some extortion".
What is going on? Only three things can be stated with confidence. First, the idea that Mr. Ecclestone cannot find the $60m is ludicrous: his family trust is not exactly short of cash, having raised around $2 billion in the past two years. Second, it would not be in Mr. Ecclestone's long-term financial interest to forgo a deal which could only enhance the value of his family's remaining 50% stake in SLEC, the holding company for the group of companies that runs the commercial side of F1. Third, the timing of the dispute is very interesting.
Why? Because the other 50% stake in SLEC, owned by EM. TV, a debt- ridden German media company, is up for sale. EM. TV badly needs to sell this stake in the near future to keep its bankers at bay. The uncertainty created by the dispute between Mr. Ecclestone and Mr. Mosley might depress the value of EM. TV's holding. Could that work to Mr. Ecclestone's advantage? Quite possibly. The lower the value of EM. TV's stake, the higher the relative value of an option Mr. Ecclestone holds to sell a further 25% of SLEC to EM. TV for around $1 billion--and the better the deal Mr. Ecclestone might be able to extract for surrendering the option. Whoever buys EM. TV's stake in SLEC will have to negotiate with Mr. Ecclestone over this instrument. The Economist understands that Mr. Ecclestone has the right to veto a plan proposed last December by Kirch, a privately owned German media group, to buy half of EM. TV's holding for $550m.
In the coming weeks, Mr. Ecclestone will doubtless be deploying his formidable negotiating skills to best advantage. It would be rash to bet against his securing a good deal out of EM. TV's difficulties. His dispute with the FIA may then be easily resolved. As usual, he holds all the cards.
36. FIA would give its partner the right to stage the racing till
A Mr. Ecclestone gave all the money.
B The contract time is reached.
C The 100th year after 2010.
D Mr. Ecclestone gave it 60m$.
37. The word “extortion”(last line, para 2 ) means
A abjection
B negotiation
C cheating
D racketeering
38. Which statement is probably true?
A Mr. Ecclestone just wanted to get more benefits through the EM.TV sale.
B Mr. Ecclestone wanted to give up the benefits from the contract.
C The timing of the dispute is very improper.
D Mr. Ecclestone cannot afford the money.
39. The last sentence of the passage implies
A Mr. Ecclestone can win at cards.
B Mr. Ecclestone will achieve great success in the negotiation.
C Mr. Ecclestone cheated all his partners.
D Mr. Eccestone will lose the whole contract with FIA.
40. According to the last paragraph, “he holds all the cards” as
A. he deploys to best advantage
B. he wins all the cards
C. he never fails himself
D. he takes the cards in hand
Part B
Directions:
In the following text, some sentences have removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into of the numbered blank there are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1. (10 points)
AFTER its misadventures in 1993, when American marines were driven out of Somalia by skinny gunmen, America has used a long spoon in supping with Somalia's warlords. This, like so much else, changed on September 11th.(41) .
Clandestine, up to a point: within hours of the arrival in Baidoa of nine closely cropped Americans sporting matching satellite phones and shades, their activities were broadcast. After meeting various warlords, the group inspected a compound that had apparently been offered to them as their future base. They also saw an old military depot. Neither can have been encouraging: the compound has been taken over by war-displaced families, and the depot by thorn-scrub.
America was already convinced of al-Qaeda's presence in Somalia. It had listed a Somali Islamic group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (Islamic Unity), as a terrorist organisation. (42) . It fears that lawless Somalia could become a haven for escapes from Afghanistan. The American navy is currently patrolling the country's long coastline, while spy planes are said to be criss-crossing the heavens.
(43) . With a little bit of help, he told his American visitors, he would be ready "to liberate the country from these evil forces". America had already heard as much through its embassies in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, which maintain contact with the warlords, and from Ethiopia.
The warlords are supported by Ethiopia, which has a historical fear of a strong Somalia, in a bid to oppose the government. But their differing views on where to strike at the "terrorists" reveal that their individual ambitions are even sharper than their dislike of the government.
Mr Ismail says that Merca, which is claimed by his Rahanwein clan, is the capital of terror. (44) . The UN says there is only an orphanage there now. But the island is close to Mr Morgan's home town of Kismaayo, which he failed to capture from a pro-government militia in July, and he is determined not to fail again.
None of this looks good for Somalia's official president, Abdiquassim Salad Hassan, whose government is in control of about half the capital, Mogadishu. He has formed his own anti-terrorism unit, and invited America to send investigators, or even troops. America, armed with stories about the presence of al-Itihaad members held back, but on December 18th sent an envoy to Mogadishu.
Both Mr Hassan and the UN say that al-Itihaad is not a terrorist organisation. It emerged as an armed force in 1991, battling for power in the aftermath of Siad Barre's fall. It had some early successes, briefly taking Kismaayo. But it was always dependent on the blessing of its members' clan elders. When the elders eventually called their fighters back, a hard core of Islamists fled to the Gedo border region where, in 1997, they were crushed by Ethiopian troops(45) .
The Baidoa alliance plainly hopes to be supported as proxies in a fight against "terrorism" and the Mogadishu regime. But the latest intelligence leaks suggest that the first reports may have overestimated al-Qaeda's presence in Somalia. Nor would Mr bin Laden and his henchmen find it easy to lie low in an oral culture that considers rumour-mongering to be a form of manners. Even so, the warlords seem to believe that they have won some promise of help. Soon after the arrival of the American group, they pulled out of the peace talks they had been holding with their government in Nairobi.
A just a beautiful dream.
B a way to be away the cheating.?
C a way to be away the lust .?
D a way to prevent one from illness.
Text 4
FEW people, except conspiracy theorists, would have expected so public a spat as the one this week between the two ringmasters of Formula One (F1) motor racing. Bernie Ecclestone, a fabulously wealthy British motor sport entrepreneur, is at odds, it would seem, with his longstanding associate, Max Mosley, president of F1's governing body, the Federation International de l'Automobile (FIA).
Ostensibly, the dispute has broken out over what looked like a done deal. Last June, the FIA voted unanimously to extend Mr. Ecclestone's exclusive rights to stage and broadcast F1 racing, which expire in 2010, by 100 years. For these lucrative rights, Mr. Ecclestone was to pay the FIA a mere $360m in total, and only $60m immediately. The FIA claims that Mr. Ecclestone has not made the payment of $60m, a claim denied by Mr. Ecclestone, who insists the money has been placed in an escrow account. Mr. Mosley has asked Mr. Ecclestone to pay up or risk losing the deal for the F1 rights after 2010, perhaps to a consortium of car makers that own F1 teams. For his part, Mr. Ecclestone has, rather theatrically, accused Mr. Mosley of "trying to do some extortion".
What is going on? Only three things can be stated with confidence. First, the idea that Mr. Ecclestone cannot find the $60m is ludicrous: his family trust is not exactly short of cash, having raised around $2 billion in the past two years. Second, it would not be in Mr. Ecclestone's long-term financial interest to forgo a deal which could only enhance the value of his family's remaining 50% stake in SLEC, the holding company for the group of companies that runs the commercial side of F1. Third, the timing of the dispute is very interesting.
Why? Because the other 50% stake in SLEC, owned by EM. TV, a debt- ridden German media company, is up for sale. EM. TV badly needs to sell this stake in the near future to keep its bankers at bay. The uncertainty created by the dispute between Mr. Ecclestone and Mr. Mosley might depress the value of EM. TV's holding. Could that work to Mr. Ecclestone's advantage? Quite possibly. The lower the value of EM. TV's stake, the higher the relative value of an option Mr. Ecclestone holds to sell a further 25% of SLEC to EM. TV for around $1 billion--and the better the deal Mr. Ecclestone might be able to extract for surrendering the option. Whoever buys EM. TV's stake in SLEC will have to negotiate with Mr. Ecclestone over this instrument. The Economist understands that Mr. Ecclestone has the right to veto a plan proposed last December by Kirch, a privately owned German media group, to buy half of EM. TV's holding for $550m.
In the coming weeks, Mr. Ecclestone will doubtless be deploying his formidable negotiating skills to best advantage. It would be rash to bet against his securing a good deal out of EM. TV's difficulties. His dispute with the FIA may then be easily resolved. As usual, he holds all the cards.
36. FIA would give its partner the right to stage the racing till
A Mr. Ecclestone gave all the money.
B The contract time is reached.
C The 100th year after 2010.
D Mr. Ecclestone gave it 60m$.
37. The word “extortion”(last line, para 2 ) means
A abjection
B negotiation
C cheating
D racketeering
38. Which statement is probably true?
A Mr. Ecclestone just wanted to get more benefits through the EM.TV sale.
B Mr. Ecclestone wanted to give up the benefits from the contract.
C The timing of the dispute is very improper.
D Mr. Ecclestone cannot afford the money.
39. The last sentence of the passage implies
A Mr. Ecclestone can win at cards.
B Mr. Ecclestone will achieve great success in the negotiation.
C Mr. Ecclestone cheated all his partners.
D Mr. Eccestone will lose the whole contract with FIA.
40. According to the last paragraph, “he holds all the cards” as
A. he deploys to best advantage
B. he wins all the cards
C. he never fails himself
D. he takes the cards in hand
Part B
Directions:
In the following text, some sentences have removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into of the numbered blank there are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1. (10 points)
AFTER its misadventures in 1993, when American marines were driven out of Somalia by skinny gunmen, America has used a long spoon in supping with Somalia's warlords. This, like so much else, changed on September 11th.(41) .
Clandestine, up to a point: within hours of the arrival in Baidoa of nine closely cropped Americans sporting matching satellite phones and shades, their activities were broadcast. After meeting various warlords, the group inspected a compound that had apparently been offered to them as their future base. They also saw an old military depot. Neither can have been encouraging: the compound has been taken over by war-displaced families, and the depot by thorn-scrub.
America was already convinced of al-Qaeda's presence in Somalia. It had listed a Somali Islamic group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (Islamic Unity), as a terrorist organisation. (42) . It fears that lawless Somalia could become a haven for escapes from Afghanistan. The American navy is currently patrolling the country's long coastline, while spy planes are said to be criss-crossing the heavens.
(43) . With a little bit of help, he told his American visitors, he would be ready "to liberate the country from these evil forces". America had already heard as much through its embassies in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, which maintain contact with the warlords, and from Ethiopia.
The warlords are supported by Ethiopia, which has a historical fear of a strong Somalia, in a bid to oppose the government. But their differing views on where to strike at the "terrorists" reveal that their individual ambitions are even sharper than their dislike of the government.
Mr Ismail says that Merca, which is claimed by his Rahanwein clan, is the capital of terror. (44) . The UN says there is only an orphanage there now. But the island is close to Mr Morgan's home town of Kismaayo, which he failed to capture from a pro-government militia in July, and he is determined not to fail again.
None of this looks good for Somalia's official president, Abdiquassim Salad Hassan, whose government is in control of about half the capital, Mogadishu. He has formed his own anti-terrorism unit, and invited America to send investigators, or even troops. America, armed with stories about the presence of al-Itihaad members held back, but on December 18th sent an envoy to Mogadishu.
Both Mr Hassan and the UN say that al-Itihaad is not a terrorist organisation. It emerged as an armed force in 1991, battling for power in the aftermath of Siad Barre's fall. It had some early successes, briefly taking Kismaayo. But it was always dependent on the blessing of its members' clan elders. When the elders eventually called their fighters back, a hard core of Islamists fled to the Gedo border region where, in 1997, they were crushed by Ethiopian troops(45) .
The Baidoa alliance plainly hopes to be supported as proxies in a fight against "terrorism" and the Mogadishu regime. But the latest intelligence leaks suggest that the first reports may have overestimated al-Qaeda's presence in Somalia. Nor would Mr bin Laden and his henchmen find it easy to lie low in an oral culture that considers rumour-mongering to be a form of manners. Even so, the warlords seem to believe that they have won some promise of help. Soon after the arrival of the American group, they pulled out of the peace talks they had been holding with their government in Nairobi.