考研英语阅读命题思路透析和真题揭秘(38)

One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us the "cashless society" is not on the horizon-it's already here.

While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.

Numerous other commercial enterprise, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.

56. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that __.
[A] in the future all the Americans will use credit cards
[B] credit cards are mainly used in the United States today
[C] nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash
[D] it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before

[答案] C

[解题思路]

第一段最后一句话指出"For many of us the "cashless society" is not on the horizon-it's already here"（ 对于我们很多人来说，"无现钞的社会"不是即将来临，而是已经到来），其中cashless society正好对应于C选项的do not pay in cash，因此C为正确选项。A选项对未来情况的描述并没有出现在文章中，原文说的是现在的情况，因此可以排除该选项。B选项的表述显然不正确，信用卡除了在美国使用之外也在世界很多国家广泛使用。D选项则与原文的句子无关。

[题目译文]

从文章第一段的最后一句话中，我们了解到            。
[A] 将来所有的美国人都会用信用卡
[B] 信用卡现在主要用于美国
[C] 现在很多美国人不用现金付款
[D] 现在用信用卡比以前更加方便