四、Read the following passages and answer the questions in English.(本大题共6小题,每小题3分,共18分)
请将答案填写在答题纸相应的位置上。
Passage 1
America wants Japan to meet import targets for some American goods. An unwilling Japan has decided to draw the line.
It is the persistent surplus that has provoked anger in Washington —— and Mr Clinton’s remark that “the possibility of obtaining real, even access to the Japanese market is somewhat remote”. This year the surplus has been growing fast. A Japanese economist estimates that Japan’s surplus could reach $200 billion if the yen stays at current level. With the economy still barely growing, despite two fiscal packages in the past nine months, Japan’s critics say that the country is once more exporting its way out of recession.
MITI argues a persistent surplus is inevitable as long as Japanese households save more than American ones, and America’s budget deficit remains untamed. This is a familiar point: trade balances are determined by macroeconomic factors, not by trade policy.
36. What’s the meaning of “draw the line” here?
37. What’s the meaning of “exporting its way out of recession”?
38. How do you understand the underlined sentence?
Passage 2
The sleeper among the products turns out to be Cherry Coke, which contains no fruit juice at all. Cherry Coke has captured shares of 4% to 8% in test market. The drink probably won’t do as well when it is rolled out nationally, since price promotions have been helping it along. But beverage analysts believe Cherry Coke could eventually displace Dr Pepper as the nation’s fifth-best-selling soft drink.
Even if consumers swill the new sodas by the liter in test market, however, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo still face a struggle in persuading bottlers across the nation to take the products. One of the biggest battles in the soda wars, in fact, may not be for drinkers but for bottlers. Bottlers have a symbiotic but occasionally fractious relationship with the syrup makers. Although Coca-Cola and PepsiCo own some of their own bottling companies, most bottlers are still independent.
39. What’s your understanding of “price promotions” here?
40. What’s the “symbiotic” aspect of the relationship between the bottlers and the syrup makers?
41. What’s the “occasionally fractious” aspect?