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1、2018年可锐考研英语阅读真题范文（八）Chain reactionThe great manufacturers in the Yorkshire and Lancashire districts tell me that, under modern conditions, they have got into the habit of laying in supply not for a period of two to five months but they are dependent week by week on the importation of the raw materia
2、l. So Sir George Parkin described the alarming business practices found in Britain at the dawn of the 20th century. As a leader of the Imperial Federation League, he sought to replace the British empire with a bigger group of trading partners, so as to guarantee supplies. A hundred years on, Sir Geo
3、rge would have marvelled at globalisation, but been aghast that todays manufacturers measure their inventories in only a few hours of production.The great manufacturers now have amazingly lean operations. They have outsourced business to contractors that can do the work more efficiently, often in pl
4、aces where wages are lower. A huge logistics industry has sprung up to move stuff around the world at dazzling speed.Contain erisation has slashed the cost of shipping. Express air freight has made overnight delivery possible to most places on earth. Moreover, such services are within the grasp not
5、just of the supply departments of giant multinationals but also of anyone trading on eBay from the spare bedroom.The logistics business is one of the marvels of commerce, but it is not without its risks. Supply chains have become ever more complex and extended. Some great manufacturers and great ser
6、vice companies may have become too lean in their relentless drive to reduce costs, outsourcing not just their non core activities but essential ones too. If one link of a companys supply chain snaps, the consequences can be grave. Ericsson and Nokia found this out when they both relied on the same s
7、upplier for a special chip in their mobile phones. After the chipmakers factory was hit by lightning, Nokia swiftly locked up all the alternative supplies whereas Ericsson suffered a severe parts shortage and later quit making handsets on its own.A companys best protection from its own supply chain
8、is to expect failure, not to hide from it. Toyota last year narrowly escaped a parts shortage when an American supplier went bankrupt. The carmaker has now introduced an early warning system in Europe to try to detect any looming problems with suppliers before they bring production lines to a halt.T
9、he good news is that many companies are now trying to identify the choke points and weak links in their supply chains. What about Sir Georges concern-the wider threat to national economies? With so many people worrying about oil supplies and a bird flu pandemic, the prospect of supply chains collaps
10、ing around the world can seem a scary idea.It shouldnt be. There are a few industries where it makes sense for governments to keep some emergency stocks of a few essentials such as energy, munitions and medicines. But the logistical apocalypse is not a good way for politicians to think about everyda
11、y life, let alone to start interfering in markets.Natural disasters are not, in fact, a common cause of supply chain disruptions. Most are the result of humdrum internal problems, like bad planning or the choice of an unreliable subcontractor. That can be terrible for a particular company, but hardl
12、y poses a threat to society at large. After all, if Ericsson and Nokia cannot supply you with a mobile phone, Samsung would be only too happy to get one to you tomorrow.二Democrats and global warmingA RECENT sketch on Saturday Night Live suggested how the world would be if Al Gore had won the preside
13、ncy in 2000. In the last six years we have been able to stop global warming, intoned Mr Gore. No one could have predicted the negative results of this. Glaciers that once were melting are now on the attack.Nerdy environmentalism is Mr Gore s forte. He would have ridden that hobby horse in the 2000 c
14、ampaign, according to Joe Klein in Politics Lost , if his political consultants had not muzzled him. Now, almost alone, he has brought his favourite issue back into the political spotlight. His film about the horrors of global warming, An Inconvenient Truth , opened this week in Los Angeles and New
15、York.With it comes inevitable talk of another try at the presidency. Mr Gore consistently waves that away. But other prominent Democrats are raising their voices for the cause. This week Senator Hillary Clinton urged action on global warming in a big speech on energy policy in Washington, DC. Notabl
16、y, she praised Mr Gore as a committed visionary on global warming for more than two decades . Last week, her husband Bill told graduates at the University of Texas s public affairs school in Austin-as temperatures outside soared to 34C-that Climate change is more remote than terror, but a more profound threat.Do voters care? Although a Gallup poll this spring found that 67% of respondents thought the qualit
