考研英语阅读理解精读100篇unit5
Open-outcry trading is supposed to be a quaint, outdated practice, rapidly being replaced by sleeker, cheaper electronic systems. Try telling that to the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the world's largest commodities exchange. On November 1st the NYMEX opened an open-outcry pit in Dublin to handle Brent crude futures, the benchmark contract for pricing two-thirds of the world's oil.
The NYMEX is trying to snatch liquidity from London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), which trades the most Brent contracts; the New York exchange has hitherto concentrated on West Texas Intermediate, an American benchmark grade. The new pit is a response to the IPE's efforts to modernise. On the same day as NYMEX traders started shouting Brent prices in Dublin, the IPE did away with its morning open-outcry session: now such trades must be electronic, or done in the pit after lunch.
The New York exchange claims that customers, such as hedge funds or energy companies, prefer open-outcry because it allows for more liquidity. Although most other exchanges are heading in the opposite direction, in commodity markets such as the NYMEX, pressure from "locals"--self-employed traders--is helping to prop up open-outcry, although some reckon that customers pay up to five times as much as with electronic systems. Even the IPE has no plans to abolish its floor. Only last month it signed a lease, lasting until 2011, for its trading floor in London.
Dublin's new pit is "showing promise", says Rob Laughlin, a trader with Man Financial, despite a few technical glitches. On its first day it handled 5,726 lots of Brent (each lot, or contract, is 1,000 barrels), over a third of the volume in the IPE's new morning electronic session. By the year's end, predicts Mr Laughlin, it should be clear whether the venture will be viable. It would stand a better chance if it moved to London. It may yet: it started in Ireland because regulatory approval could be obtained faster there than in Britain.
Ultimately, having both exchanges offering similar contracts will be unsustainable. Stealing liquidity from an established market leader, as the NYMEX is trying to do, is a hard task. Eurex, Europe's largest futures exchange, set up shop in Chicago this year, intending to grab American Treasury-bond contracts from the Chicago Board of Trade. It has made little headway. And the NYMEX has dabbled in Brent contracts before, without success.
Given the importance of liquidity in exchanges, why do the IPE and the NYMEX not band together? There have been merger talks before, and something might yet happen. Some say that the freewheeling NYMEX and the more staid IPE could never mix. For now, in any case, the two exchanges will slug it out--across the Irish Sea as well as across the Atlantic.
注（1）：本文选自Economist；11/6/2004, p78-78, 1/2p, 1c；
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿2001年真题text 2第1题（1），text 4第2题（2），text 1第2题（4），2002年真题text 2第2题（3），text 3第4题（5）；
1. The NYMEX and IPE are___________.
[A] both using open outcry trading as a major trading form
[B] partners that are reciprocal in their business activities
[C] rivals that are competing in the oil trading market
[D] both taking efforts to modernize their trading practice
2. According to the author, one of the reasons that the NYMEX takes open-outcry trading
is__________.
[A] the preference of its customers
[B] the standard practice of energy exchange
[C] the long tradition of this trading practice
[D] the nostalgic feeling it arouses
3. The word “glitches” (Line 2, Paragraph 4) most probably means_________.
[A] backwardness
[B] disappointments
[C] engineers
[D] problems
4. From Paragraph 4 we can infer that_________.
[A] trading volume in the IPE's new morning electronic session is falling
[B] London is a better business location for energy exchanges than Dublin
[C] Britain’s regulators are less efficient than those of Ireland
[D] the Dublin pit of the NYMEX will be more prosperous next year
5. We can draw a conclusion from the text that___________.
[A] it’s very unlikely that the NYMEX and the IPE could combine their businesses
[B] the NYMEX will fail in Ireland as many precedents have shown
[C] the two energy exchanges will figure out a way to cooperate with each other
[D] the market environment for both energy exchanges is getting better
答案：C A D B A
篇章剖析
本文介绍了两家能源交易所之间的商战。第一段介绍了纽约商品交易所在都柏林的交易所采用公开叫价的交易形式。第二段介绍了纽约商品交易所和伦敦国际石油交易所之间的竞争。第三段介绍了纽约商品交易所采用公开叫价交易方式的原因。第四段介绍了目前都柏林这个交易所的经营情况。第五段对这种能源交易所之间的竞争前景进行了简单的分析。最后一段总结全文，两个交易所都会在这张商战中放手一搏。
词汇注释
open-outcry: n. 公开叫价
quaint: [kweint] adj. 古怪有趣的
sleek: [sli:k] adj. 时髦的
pit: [pit] n. 期货交易场
Brent crude futures：北海布伦特原油期货
benchmark: [5bentFmB:k] n. 基准点；可依照做出衡量和判断的标准
liquidity: [li5kwiditi] n. 流动资金；资产折现力
West Texas Intermediate: 西德州轻质原油
hedge fund: 对冲基金
prop up: v. 支撑, 支持
glitch: [^litF] n. 小故障，小毛病
lot: [lCt] n. 一批（在一起）拍卖的物品
viable: [5vaiEbl] adj. 可行的；可实施的
unsustainable: [7QnsEs5teinEbl] adj. 无法维持的
treasury-bond: 国库券
headway: [5hedwei] n. 前进；进展
dabble: [5dAbl] v. (作为兴趣或爱好)随便搞搞, 涉猎
难句突破
Although most other exchanges are heading in the opposite direction, in commodity markets such as the NYMEX, pressure from "locals"--self-employed traders--is helping to prop up open-outcry, although some reckon that customers pay up to five times as much as with electronic systems.
主体句式：pressure …is helping to prop up open-outcry
结构分析：这是一个复杂句，包含两个由although引导的让步状语从句。prop up的意思是“支持”。
句子译文：虽然其它绝大多数交易所正在取消这种公开叫价的交易方式，在纽约商品交易所这类商品市场里，来自“本地人”---那些自营商---的压力却起到了支持公开叫价的作用，尽管一些人估计客户为此要支付五倍于使用电子系统的费用
题目分析
1. 答案为C，属事实细节题。根据文章第二段“纽约商品交易所试图抢走IPE的交易量”和“新开张的交易所回应了伦敦国际石油交易所进行的现代化努力”两句来看，这两家交易所是竞争石油交易的对手。
2. 答案为A，属事实细节题。根据文章第三段，NYMEX声称“对冲基金或者能源公司这样的客户更喜欢公开叫价”可知，顾客的喜好是他们考虑采用公开叫价方式的原因之一。
3. 答案为D，属猜词题。根据文章第四段，除了一些技术上的“glitches”之外，新交易所让人们看到了希望。显然，glitches应该是不利的方面，四个选项中，只有B的意义最符合上下文。
4. 答案为B，属推理判断题。根据文章第四段，如果NYMEX把在都柏林的交易所开在伦敦的话，“it would stand a better chance”。可见，伦敦是能源交易所更好的业务场所。
5. 答案为A，属推理判断题。根据文章最后两段，两家能源交易所因为交易内容相似，且两家都是著名交易所，这种市场局面最终将难以维系。作者提出了两家能否联手的问题，但两个交易所一静一动，很难合并。
参考译文
公开叫价交易被认为是一种奇怪而过时的做法，应该很快被更加时髦，更加廉价的电子系统所取代。但纽约商品交易所（NYMEX）这个世界上最大的商品交易所却反其道而行。11月1日，纽约商品交易所在都柏林的期货交易所开张，并以公开叫价的方式交易作为世界三分之二原油的定价基准的布伦特原油期货。
大部分布伦特合约都是在伦敦国际石油交易所（IPE）进行交易的；纽约商品交易所试图抢走IPE的交易量；因此纽约交易所把注意力都集中在了西德州轻质原油这个美国交易基准上。新开张的交易所回应了伦敦国际石油交易所进行的现代化努力。同一天，当纽约商品交易所的交易员开始在都柏林高喊布伦特原油期货价格的时候，伦敦国际石油交易所废除了上午的公开叫价交易：现在这类的交易都必须实行电子化，或者在午饭之后才能在交易所进行。
纽约商品交易所声称对冲基金或者能源公司这样的客户更喜欢公开叫价，因为这种方式照顾到了更多的流动资金。虽然其它绝大多数交易所正在取消这种公开叫价的交易方式，在纽约商品交易所这类商品市场里，来自“本地人”---那些自营商---的压力却起到了支持公开叫价的作用，尽管一些人估计客户为此要支付五倍于使用电子系统的费用。甚至伦敦国际原油交易所也没有打算放弃其交易厅。上个月他们才刚刚签署一项租约，将其在伦敦交易大厅的租期延续到2011年。
曼氏金融公司的交易员罗布·拉夫林说，虽然出现了一些技术故障，但都柏林的这个新建交易所正在“崭露头角”。在开张当天布伦特原油的成交量就达到了5726手（每一手就是一份合约，相当于1000桶），是伦敦国际原油交易所当天上午更换电子交易成交量的三分之一。拉夫林预测，这一次投机是否可行到了年底就会见分晓。如果交易所迁到伦敦，则成功的机会更大。也许最终它会被迁到伦敦：不过它在爱尔兰开张就是因为那里比伦敦能更快获得监管部门的批准。
两家交易所交易相似期货合同的局面最终将难以维系。纽约商品交易所想和一个老牌市场领袖叫板谈何容易。欧洲最大的期货交易所欧洲期货交易所（Eurex）今年在芝加哥设立分店，打算从芝加哥期货交易所的美国国库卷交易里分一杯羹，但进展不大。纽约商品交易所以前也曾涉足布伦特原油期货交易，但无功而返。
考虑到交易中资金折现力的重要性，为什么伦敦国际原油交易所和纽约商品交易所不联合起来呢？以前有过合并商谈，不过也许时机还没到。有人说纽约商品交易所和伦敦国际原油交易所一动一静，水火不容。现在，无论如何，这两家交易所都要放手一搏---战场横跨爱尔兰海洋和大西洋。
考研英语阅读理解精读100篇unit6
Unit 6
Thanks to slumping markets, investment banks are shedding many of their highly-paid traders. When markets recover, the banks might be tempted to replace them with rather cheaper talent. One alternative has been around for a while but has yet to catch on: autonomous trading agents-computers programmed to act like the human version without such pesky costs as holidays, lunch breaks or bonuses. Program trading has, of course, been done before; some blamed the 1987 stockmarket crash on computers instructed with simple decision-making rules. But robots can be smarter than that.
Dave Cliff, a researcher at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Bristol, England, has been creating trading robots for seven years. In computer simulations he lets them evolve "genetically", and so allows them to adapt and fit models of real-world financial markets. His experiments have suggested that a redesign of some markets could lead to greater efficiency. Last year, a research group at IBM showed that Mr Cliff's artificial traders could consistently beat the human variety, in various kinds of market. Nearly all take the shape of an auction. One well-known type is the English auction, familiar to patrons of the salesrooms of Christie's and Sotheby's, where sellers keep mum on their offer price, and buyers increase their bids by stages until only one remains.
At the other extreme is the Dutch auction, familiar to 17th-century tulip-traders in the Netherlands as well as to bidders for American Treasury bonds. Here, buyers remain silent, and a seller reduces his price until it is accepted. Most markets for shares, commodities, foreign exchange and derivatives are a hybrid of these two types: buyers and sellers can announce their bid or offer prices at any time, and deals are constantly being closed, a so-called "continuous double auction".
Mr Cliff's novel idea was to apply his evolutionary computer programs to marketplaces themselves. Why not, he thought, try and see what types of auction would let traders converge most quickly towards an equilibrium price? The results were surprising. In his models, auctions that let buyers and sellers bid at any time like most of today's financial exchanges were less efficient than ones that required relatively more bids from either buyers or sellers. These "evolved auctions" also withstood big market shocks, such as crashes and panics, better than today's real-world versions. Mr Cliff's most recent results, which will be presented in Sydney, Australia, on December 10th, show that the best type of auction for any market depends crucially on even slight differences in the number of buyers and sellers.
Bank of America has been investigating these new auctions, along with robotic traders, for possible use in electronic exchanges. The hope is that today's financial auctions and online marketplaces might work better by becoming more like their English and Dutch forebears. But what to call such multi-ethnic hybrids? Here's introducing the "Cliffhanger".
注（1）：本文选自Economist；11/30/2002, p65, 1/2p, 1c；
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿2000年真题text 3第1题（1），text 4第3题（2），2004年真题text 4第1题，2001年真题text 1第2题（4），1999年真题text 1第4题（5）；
1. The passage is mainly__________.
[A] a review of two kinds of auctions
[B] an introduction of trading robots
[C] a survey of the trading market
[D] about trading alternatives
2. Which of the following is true according to the text?
[A] David’s robot traders have now been used in real-world markets.
[B] Robot traders can evolve like creatures.
[C] There is room for improvement in efficiency in trading markets.
[D] The English auction is the most popular trading form.
3. If you were trading American Treasury bonds, you would most likely take the trading
form of ___________.
[A] the English auction
[B] the continuous double auction
[C] the Dutch auction
[D] the evolved auction
4. We can infer from the text that______________.
[A] existing auctions can not withstand market shocks
[B] the Dutch auction is better than the continuous double auction
[C] it’s hard for traders to reach an equilibrium price
[D] the best type of auction takes place when the number of the buyers is equal to that of sellers
5. Toward robot traders, the writer’s attitude can be said to be__________.
[A] biased
[B] objective
[C] pessimistic
[D] optimistic
答案：B C C B D
篇章剖析
本篇文章是一篇说明文，介绍了一种机器人交易员。第一段以银行也需要薪资更低廉的交易员开始引入机器人交易员的话题，说明机器人交易员不同于程序交易，是聪明的交易员。第二段介绍了这种机器人交易员的研发过程和其模拟的一种拍卖形式。第三段介绍了其他拍卖形式。第四段介绍了这种机器人交易员在模拟拍卖中的表现。最后一段对这种机器人交易员的前景及影响作了简单评价。
词汇注释
slump: [slQmp] v. (价格等)暴跌, (买卖)清淡; 衰落; 萧条
shed: [Fed] v. 去除除去（不想要或不需要的东西）
pesky: [5peski] adj. 讨厌的，麻烦的
auction: [5C:kFEn] n. 拍卖
patron: [5peitrEn] n. 顾客；主顾
salesroom: n. 拍卖场
mum: [mQm] adj. 沉默的；无言的；不说话的
derivative: [di5rivEtiv] n. 衍生物
hybrid: [5haibrid] n. 混合物
converge: [kEn5vE:dV] v. 达成一致趋于或达成联合、共同结论或者结果
equilibrium: [7i:kwi5libriEm] n. 平衡
forebear: [5fC:bZE] n. 祖先，祖宗
cliffhang: [`klIfhAN] v. 扣人心弦,悬疑
难句突破
In his models, auctions that let buyers and sellers bid at any time like most of today's financial exchanges were less efficient than ones that required relatively more bids from either buyers or sellers.
主体句式：auctions… were less efficient than ones..
结构分析：这是一个复杂句，句子的主语auctions后面有一个that引导的定语从句对它进行修饰，句子主体结构中包含了一个比较级，在比较的对象ones后面也有一个that引导的定语从句对它进行修饰。
句子译文：在他的模式中，现今大多数金融交易中采用的让买卖双方随时竞价的拍卖方式比起那些需要买卖双方提出更多竞价的模式效率要低下。
题目分析
1. 答案为B，属推理判断题。判断文章主旨要从文章整体来把握。文章第一段说明机器人交易员可以替代人类从事交易工作。接下来作者介绍其研发过程及其模拟的几种拍卖形式以及拍卖中的表现，最后一段对这种机器人交易员的前景进行了展望，可见全文都是在介绍机器人交易员。
2. 答案为C，属事实细节题。根据文章第二段第四行，克里夫的研究表明“对某些市场进行重新设计可能会大幅提高效率。”可见交易市场仍然有提高效率的空间。
3. 答案为C，属事实细节题。文章第三段介绍荷兰式拍卖时说它是“今天竞拍美国国库券竞标人所熟悉的一种拍卖形式。”可见，如果交易美国国库券，最有可能采用荷兰式拍卖方式。
4. 答案为B，属推理判断题。根据文章第四段克里夫的研究发现，现今大多数金融交易中所采用让买卖双方随时竞价的拍卖方式比起那些需要买卖双方提出更多竞价的模式效率要低下。可见荷兰式的拍卖方式比连续双向拍卖。这也可以从文章最后一段中所说的“今天的金融拍卖和网上市场如果能更多地模仿它们的英国和荷兰先祖生意也许就会更好”看出。
5. 答案为D，属推理判断题。作者的态度可以通过材料的选择和措辞来判断。在第一段，作者指出，机器人交易员不同于程序交易，是聪明的交易员。接着作者介绍了IBM的一个研究小组的成果：这种机器人交易员可以在各种市场上击败真人交易员。可见，作者对机器人交易员持积极乐观的态度。
参考译文
由于市场不景气，投资银行辞退了许多高薪交易员。等到市场恢复，银行也许会用薪资更低廉的人才来取代他们。现在他们又多了一个选择：电子交易员---经过编程可以像人一样工作，但却不需要休假，午餐休息或者奖金等烦人的支出的电脑。这种电子交易员已经面世一段时间了，但尚未流行起来。以前当然也出现过程序交易；有人就把1987年的股市崩盘归罪于那些只按照简单决策规则指令工作的电脑。不过机器人会聪明得多。
大卫·克利夫是英国布里斯托惠普实验室的研究员，7年来他一直致力于创造交易机器人。在计算机仿真试验中，他使这些机器人“按照遗传方式”不断发展，以使它们适应并且适合真实金融市场的各种模式。他的实验意味着对某些市场进行重新设计可能会大幅提高效率。去年，IBM的一个研究小组证明克利夫的人造交易员可以在各种市场上击败真人交易员。几乎所有这些实验都是以拍卖的形式进行的。其中一种著名的拍卖形式就是英式拍卖，克里斯蒂和索斯比拍卖行的顾客对此都很熟悉，卖家不报出他们的竞拍价，而买家则不断抬高竞拍价铬，直到只有一位买家出价为止。
另外一种形式是荷兰式拍卖，它是十七世纪荷兰的郁金香商人以及今天竞拍美国国库券竞标人所熟悉的一种拍卖形式。这一回，买家不报价，由卖家不断降价，直到有人接受这个价格为止。大部分股票市场，商品市场，外汇市场和衍生产品市场则采用这两种类型的混合模式：买卖双方可以随时宣布他们的竞价或者报价，交易也随时完成，即所谓“连续双向拍卖”。
克利夫的新思路就是把他研制的可以不断升级的电脑程序应用于市场。他想，为什么不试试看哪种拍卖形式能最快地让交易员趋于一个均衡价格呢？其研究结果令人吃惊。在他的模式中，现今大多数金融交易中采用的让买卖双方随时竞价的拍卖方式比起那些需要买卖双方提出更多竞价的模式效率要低下。这些“进化的拍卖方式”还承受住了大的市场震荡，比如崩盘和恐慌，比真人拍卖表现出色。克利夫将于12月10日在澳大利亚悉尼演示他的最新研究成果，这些成果表明买卖双方人数的轻微差异都会对最好的市场拍卖形式产生影响。
美洲银行已经开始研究这些新型拍卖形式以及机器人交易员，看看是否可能在电子交易中使用。今天的金融拍卖和网上市场如果能更多地模仿它们的英国和荷兰先祖生意也许就会更好。但这种多种类混合体该叫什么呢？ 叫“克利夫悬疑”如何
