1 . While markets suffered recession, a number of groups enjoyed record growth. Here we list some of the top 100 company winners in a bad year.
1. Xiaomi Corporation
Sector: Technology HQ: Beijing, China
Huawei’s horrible year has been a windfall (意外之财) for China’s other big smartphone makers. With Washington’s Huawei sanctions (制裁) forcing Android users to turn to Xiaomi’s devices, it has risen above Apple to take third place in global smartphone market share. Its stock was added to Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and it crossed the $100bn market cap mark last month.
2. Pinduoduo
Sector: E-commerce HQ: Shanghai, China
The e-commerce group’s rise was accelerated by the pandemic as hundreds of millions of Chinese shoppers turned to their smartphones rather than malls. The economic downturn raised demand for Pinduoduo’s extremely cheap goods with sales up 70 percent in the first nine months of the year. It also came closer to profitability as it set strict rules in discounts, and an antitrust investigation into its chief competitor Alibaba also helped.
3. Meituan
Sector: E-commerce HQ: Beijing, China
China’s “everything app” was hit hard by lockdown, as authorities closed restaurants and consumers shied away from food delivery. But Meituan bounced back in the second half of 2020 with growth at its food delivery business making up for declining travel sales. Investors are betting better days lie ahead — it now boasts 477m annual users.
4. Tesla
Sector: Automotive HQ: Palo Alto, US
Some thought Tesla’s $75bn valuation (估价) at the start of 2020 was looking impossible. By the time it entered the S&P 500 in December, it was almost nine times higher — more than the next seven car-makers combined. Tesla is expected to have produced about 500,000 cars over the year. But the industry shift to electric vehicles is unquestioned and investors believe its technology is years ahead of the competition.
1. What was Xiaomi’s original rank in global smartphone market share?| A．2nd | B．3rd | C．4th | D．5th |
| A．The economic downturn | B．Alibaba’s being investigated |
| C．Its strict rules in discounts | D．People’s avoidance of food delivery |
①industrial trend ② core technology
③economical products ④ good competitive strategies
| A．①② | B．②③ | C．①③ | D．③④ |
2 . With Covid-19 Under Control, China's Economy Surges Ahead
As most of the world still struggles with the coronavirus pandemic, China is showing once again that a fast economic rebound is possible when the virus is brought firmly under control.
The Chinese economy
Many of the world's major economies have climbed quickly out of the depths of a contraction last spring, when shutdowns caused output to
China's lead could widen further in the months to come. It has almost no local transmission of the virus now,
The vigorous expansion of the Chinese economy means that it is set to dominate global growth—
China's economic recovery has also been dependent for months on huge investments in highways, high-speed train lines and other infrastructure. And in recent weeks, the country has seen the beginning of a recovery in
Determined to keep local transmission of the virus at or near zero, China has resorted to
| A．dived | B．plunged | C．raised | D．skyrocketed |
| A．advancement | B．growth | C．progress | D．promotion |
| A．fail | B．jump | C．rise | D．expand |
| A．arriving at | B．catching up | C．going beyond | D．running after |
| A．as | B．when | C．while | D．since |
| A．accounting for | B．holding up | C．pointing out | D．taking on |
| A．exports | B．imports | C．inputs | D．outcomes |
| A．accommodation | B．demand | C．need | D．supply |
| A．eased | B．reserved | C．reversed | D．turned |
| A．Besides | B．Nevertheless | C．Therefore | D．Thus |
| A．accelerator | B．access | C．barrier | D．brake |
| A．aboriginal | B．coastal | C．domestic | D．overseas |
| A．accessed | B．controlled | C．disappeared | D．emerged |
| A．comprehensive | B．popular | C．timeless | D．whole |
| A．as opposed to | B．by means of | C．in response to | D．with reference to |
3 . With economies in free fail, managers need up-to-date information about what is happening to their businesses, so that they can change course rapidly if necessary. Cisco, an American network-equipment giant, has invested over many years in the technology needed to generate such data. Frank Caideroni, the firm's CEO, says that every day its senior executives can track exactly what orders are coming in from sales teams around the world, and identify emerging trends in each region and market segment. And at the end of each month, the firm can get reliable financial results within four hours of closing its books. Most firms have to wait days or even weeks for such certainty.
Admittedly, Cisco's financial results have not made happy reading recently because, in common with many other large technology companies, it has been demand for its products drop in the downturn. In early February it announced that its fiscal second-quarter revenues of %9.1 billion were 7.5% lower than the same period in 2019 and that its profit had fallen by 27%, to $1.5 billion.
In response to hard times, Cisco plans to cut $1 billion from its costs this year by, among other things, making use of its own video-conferencing and other communication technologies to reduce the amount its executives travel. It is also using these facilities to convey information from employees on the ground to its senior managers, and to get instructions from Cisco's leaders back out to its staff of 67,000. A rapid exchange information and instructions is especially valuable if the company wants to alter course during stormy times.
If everybody in a company can rapidly grasp what they have to do and how it is changing, they are more likely to get the job done. But some firms are reluctant to share their goals with the wider world. Unilever, a big Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods group, has decided against issuing a 2020financial forecast to investors, arguing that it is difficult to predict what is going to happen, given the dangerous state of the world economy. "We're not just going to provide numbers for the sake of it," explains James Allison, the company's head of investor relations. Other companies that have decided not to provide annual earnings estimates for 2020 include Costco, a big American retailer, and Union Pacific, an American railway company.
Some firms, such as Intel, seem to have chosen to take things quarter by quarter. The giant chip maker said in January that it would not issue an official forecast for the first quarter of 2020 after its fourth-quarter 2019 profit decreased by 90%. Several retail chains have also stopped providing monthly sales estimates because they cannot see what the future holds. Retailers, chip makers and firms in many other industries may have to wait a while before the economic fog finally lifts.
1. What can we learn about Cisco from the passage?| A．It plans to cut $1 billion in costs by solely relying on its own technologies. |
| B．It will keep a record of the orders from its sales teams. |
| C．Only employees can use the video-conferencing technologies to pass on information. |
| D．Unlike other technology companies, its financial reports are encouraging. |
| A．Issuing its financial reports faster. | B．Predicting what is going to happen in the future. |
| C．Obtaining up-to-data information of its business. | D．Waiting until the economic fog finally lifts. |
| A．Employees who are willing to share their goals can do the job well. |
| B．Unilever is unwilling to forecast its finances due to its poor performance. |
| C．Those who refuse to update will be eliminated from their companies. |
| D．Economic prospects play a key role in investment decisions. |
| A．Intel's profits had greatly decreased in the last quarter of 2019. |
| B．Intel chain stores used to report sales estimates by the year. |
| C．Only retailers and chip makers have been affected by the economic downturn. |
| D．It did not issue a first-quarter forecast because of its big decrease in profit in January. |
How Much Understanding Opportunity Cost
Decisions, decisions! Every day we come across situations in
A simple choice between buying a dinner in an expensive restaurant and at a
5 . Owning a home will make you £326,000 wealthier over a 30-year period than renting, before potential house price growth is even considered, a report has suggested.
The Equity (股本) Release Council, a trade body, found that nearly one in three homeowners saw their mortgage (按揭贷款) as an investment in their future. Nearly half of homeowners with a mortgage also agreed they were able to save more because their loan was cheaper than renting, thanks to unprecedented (没有先例的) low interest rates. About 40 per cent added that they believed having a mortgage in later life was becoming more acceptable and 57 percent said that they were looking at ways to release equity from their properties.
The report Home advantage: intergenerational perspectives on property wealth in later life examined trends that have changed the financial landscape for pensions and home ownership over the past three decades. The survey covered 5,000 UK adults questioned in May 2021. It compared the cost of renting privately with paying a mortgage on the average first-time buyer. It assumed that average rents rise by 2 per cent each year and that the homeowner takes a 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgage on a £220,000 home. It takes account of other costs of owning, such as maintenance. Owning a home is expected to become more critical to families’ financial security and wellbeing in later life, but the report also warned of lifelong inequality for those — generally younger people — unable to buy.
David Burrowes, the Equity Release Council chairman, said: “For those who manage to buy their own home during their working lives, the extra confidence and flexibility this provides will be even more critical to their financial wellbeing than it is today.”
1. What is the first paragraph intended for?| A．Being an evidence. | B．Coming straight to the point. |
| C．Acting as an example. | D．Being a detail. |
| A．To show the difficulty for younger people to rent a home. |
| B．To explain why younger people own a home. |
| C．To voice his views on mortgage . |
| D．To show the difficulty for younger people to own a home |
| A．Encouraging. | B．Disturbing. |
| C．Discouraging. | D．Surprising. |
| A．Cost of Renting Higher than Owning |
| B．Cost of Owning Higher than Renting |
| C．Owning Your Home Makes You Wealthier than Renting |
| D．Renting Makes You Wealthier than Owning Your Home |
6 . Like the move from horse-drawn carriages to vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines, the change from cars powered by fossil fuels to electric vehicles (EVs) will have a profound effect on personal transport. The Epidemic worldwide caused a 20% drop in global light vehicle sales in 2020, to about 70m, but they pick up in 2021. And the proportion of vehicles powered by batteries will grow quickly.
The increasing share price of Tesla, provides a big motivation for newcomers to catch up. Tesla may lead in battery technology and software, but to make those advantages stick, it must prove that “production hell” is behind it. Scaling up manufacturing has caused Tesla its biggest headaches.
Big name carmakers face an equally discouraging challenge: Learning how to write software. Electric cars require integrated software, not just to ensure that batteries and motors work together to provide the best performance, but to connect the car to the outside world.
And what of the Tesla followers, from China’s li, Nio and Xpeng to American firms such as Fisker, Lucid and Nikola? Cash from excitable investors has poured in and it is the same with big name carmakers—as are tech giants, keen to get involved as transport goes digital. Can the followers persuade investors that they have patent technology that will give them a long-term advantage?
Eye-catching Advertisements of vehicles are one thing, but as the industry’s trouble shows, working out how to make cars at scale, when softwares are as important as brakes and bodywork, is quite another. The coming year will make clearer which of Tesla’s competitors, new and old, can stay in race.
1. What is the trend of electric cars industry?| A．Uncertain. | B．Challenging. | C．Promising. | D．Disappointing. |
| A．Learning how to write the software. | B．Expanding its production capacity. |
| C．Connecting the car to the outside world. | D．Competing with many newcomers. |
| A．Their share prices are catching up with those of Tesla. |
| B．They are mostly established companies. |
| C．Their biggest problem is technical one like improving brakes and bodywork. |
| D．They are attracting investment. |
| A．The Battle Within the Electric-Vehicle Industry |
| B．Expanding Production Capacity—the Headache of Electric Cars Industry |
| C．New Companies Are Catching up in Electric-Vehicle Industry |
| D．Electric Cars—Your Future Choice |
Today's teen consumer market is the most profitable it has ever been. It is estimated that about 20% of the teen population is
Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger,
8 . Dow (道琼斯指数) closes below 20,000, wiping out nearly all the gains of Trump’s presidency (总统任期)
Stocks nosedived (暴跌) on Wednesday following the fourth trading halt (跌停) in two weeks, with Wall Street spooked (惊吓) by the deepening economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. President Donald Trump earlier in the day announced that U.S. and Canada will block “non-essential (不必要的) traffic” from traveling across the northern border (边界) to control the disease’s spread.
The Dow fell 1,335, or 6.3%, to close at 19,903. Earlier in the day, stocks tumbled more than 10%, triggering (导致) the market’s “circuit breaker” that halts trading for 15 minutes. Trading is stopped when stocks decline by 7%, 13% or 20% in a single session. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 5.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 4.7%.
“Markets were quick to give back Tuesday’s gains, with equities (股市) returning to a sea of red,” TD Securities analysts said.
Wednesday’s slump wipes out roughly three years of stock market gains, with the Dow closing below 20,000 for the first time since 2017. On January 20, 2017, the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the index closed at 19,827. The S&P 500, which ended Thursday at 2,398, is just 227 points above its level when Mr. Trump formally took office.
The decline is noteworthy for its speed, with the losses mounting over the course of four weeks. The Dow had hit an all-time record on February 12, a little over a month ago, with the S&P and Nasdaq peaking a week later.
The widening pandemic, which has led to at least 109 deaths in the U.S., is prompting cities and states across the U.S. to order residents to stay home and to shut restaurants and bars and other gathering places. Those measures are spiraling through the economy,leading to layoffs and sharp declines in revenue for many consumer-focused businesses. The U.S. is likely already in a recession, according to Oxford Economics.
“We now see a severe global recession occurring in the first half of 2020,” Deutsche Bank’s economists wrote in a research note. “The quarterly declines in GDP growth we anticipate substantially exceed anything previously recorded going back to at least World War II.”
1. What caused Trump took measures with Canada Government?| A．Controlling the disease’s spread. | B．The pandemic becoming worse. |
| C．The declining stocks. | D．The declining economic. |
| A．tremble | B．strengthen |
| C．fall | D．stabilize |
| A．It states that the stocks will return to normal eventually. |
| B．It shows that there will be some uncertainties during the trading. |
| C．It shows that the whole process is flexible and floating. |
| D．It explains that the whole trading tendency is declining. |
| A．It indirectly shows that America’s GDP has fallen down since World War II. |
| B．It indirectly states that the economic level of America has fallen down to such a low level. |
| C．It illustrates that America’s GDP will be lower and lower. |
| D．It can state that Germany has the power to replace America. |
9 . Early in the year, the hope was that the bottlenecks that messed up the global supply chain in 2020 would be mostly cleared by now. They've actually only gotten much worse and evidence is mounting that the holiday season is at risk.
Across Europe, retailers (零售商) can't meet demand because of delivery delays. In the U.S., Nike cut is sales forecast after COVID-19 set off factory closures in Vietnam that wiped out months of production.
Covid outbreaks have affected ports. There still aren't enough containers, causing prices to increase 10 times from a year ago. Labor shortages have delayed trucking and pushed U.S. job openings to all-time highs.
On the supplier side, Jay Foreman's been making toys with manufacturing partners in China for more than three decades, and he's never seen anything like this. His mid-sized toy company, Basic Fun, is on pace for its best year ever. There is no shortage of demand, but a shortage of containers has left thousands of the company's Lite Brites and TinkerToys waiting to be shipped. At just one factory in Shenzhen, there's roughly $8 million worth of finished goods that could fill 140 containers.
The bigger, more systemic risk—one that could hurt every retailer—is that Americans spend less than expected because there isn't enough inventory (库存). The available goods may also not be all that attractive. The sharp increase in shipping prices has forced manufacturers to make hard decisions about what to transport. Hicks, the Academy Sports CEO, predicted that shoppers “will have to settle more because they just won't have as good of a selection.”
Shipping big items and goods with lower value don’t make as much economic sense right now. iPhones are small and pricey, making them an ideal good to ship, but the same case can’t be made for low-end furniture or toys.
“Consumers might see news about port backups (阻塞), but that won’t hit home until they try to buy the toy of the year and can’t get it,” Bartashus, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, said, “That’s when they’ll hit crisis mode.”
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The goods are mounting. | B．Supply chain issues are getting worse. |
| C．The consumers become hopeless. | D．The holiday season hits the bottlenecks. |
| A．Basic Fun lacks orders. |
| B．There exists a shortage of shippers. |
| C．His toy company has its worst year. |
| D．The factory is filled with finished goods. |
| A．Consumers will have limited options. |
| B．Consumers can't afford the attractive goods. |
| C．The shipping company will stop shipping expensive goods. |
| D．The manufactures will have poor selections of shipping companies. |
| A．The port problem will be settled. |
| B．Consumers will prefer to stay at home. |
| C．The government will pass the financial crisis. |
| D．The market will be in various forms of panic. |
10 . China-chic is a term that describes the trend of China-centric design. It demonstrates the rise of Chinese brands. Before we discuss whether or not the term is accurate, and reasons thereof, it is important to first figure out who are the main consumers of these Chinese brands.
Generation Z, the young consumers born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s, have been raised on the Internet and social media. They are gradually moving toward maturity. They have naturally become the main force that drives China’s consumer market.
Most young people earn their own incomes. Even if they don’t, their parents and family members will support them financially. So their purchasing power is stronger than prior generations of youth.
Besides, today’s young people have had access to various domestic and foreign brands since they were born. For them, global brands such as KFC. McDonald’s, L’Oreal and Nike are just everyday consumer goods. Unlike the previous generations in China, they do not look up to global brands with admiration.
As members of Generation Z are taking the center stage in the consumer market, full of confidence, personalities and awareness of investing in themselves, they almost determine its present and the future. This factor plays a key role in the global economy. That is to say, whichever brand, domestic or global, that pays attention to Generation Z first and satisfies the group’s needs will get a head start.
It is the Chinese companies more than others that truly respect the uniqueness of Generation Z’s demands. A typical example is Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning. Although the domestic sportswear market is still dominated by global brands like Nike and Adidas, Li-Ning has succeeded in using “China-chic” as a way to show self-confidence of the Chinese young people. By wearing Li-Ning’s products, a consumer is telling others: “I’m different from you. I have my own personality traits.”
Inspired by Li-Ning, other Chinese brands including Anta and Feiyue also launched products to satisfy the demands of the new generation of consumers.
1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to ______.| A．introduce the topic | B．present an argument |
| C．reach a conclusion | D．propose a definition |
| A．Generation Z make money all by themselves. |
| B．Generation Z have more buying power than their parents. |
| C．Generation Z treat brands at home and abroad equally. |
| D．Generation Z consume global brands every day. |
| A．dominate Chinese sportswear market | B．meet the needs of Generation Z |
| C．learn from Generation Z | D．determine their own future |
| A．It’s a typical Chinese company. |
| B．It is confident of success. |
| C．Chinese brands are starting to respect the unusual needs of Generation Z’s. |
| D．Chinese brands have ruled the domestic sportswear market. |
| A．Why do Chinese brands impress Generation Z? | B．The uniqueness of Generation Z. |
| C．The choice of Generation Z. | D．Sportswear brands and their future. |
