考研英语：历年真题阅读要点之1995-Text 1（一）

　　It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable prices, thereby establishing a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living.

　　serve to do“用来”;directly“直接地”，反义词indirectly;assist“促进”，也可以表示“帮助”，名词assistance;distribution“分配”;at reasonable prices“以合理的价格”;thereby“从而，因此”;establish“建立”，名词establishment;firm“稳固的”;home market“国内市场”，也可以用domestic market，海外市场overseas market，写作中涉及过相关的考查;it充当形式宾语，真正的宾语是to do;provide for export“供给出口”，import“进口”，import也可以表示“意义”;at competitive prices“以具有竞争力的价格”：competitive“竞争的”，名词competition，常见搭配in competition with“与...竞争”，动词compete，常见搭配compete with;draw attention to“吸引对...的注意力”;raise standards of living“提升生活水平”。

　　By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labour, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television license would need to be doubled and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 percent more.

　　ensure“保证，确保”;an increased need for labour“对劳动力的不断增加的需求”;an effective way to do“做某事的有效方式”，写作中往往涉及“采取有效措施”take/ adopt effective measures/ steps to do sth.;fight“与...斗争”;unemployment“失业”，unemployment rate“失业率”，unemployment insurance“失业保险”，反义词employment;without表示条件，“如果没有”;其后并列的would cost为虚拟语气;travel by tube“乘地铁”，不认识也无所谓，用or连接，说明tube和bus语义相近;冒号后补充说明冒号前，冒号前后从抽象到具体，所以其实冒号后可以直接略过。阅读过程中，建议大家充分利用标点符号为我们提供的信息。除了冒号之外，两个逗号或破折号之间为插入语的时候，起到补充说明的作用，可以略过;分号前后结构并列或语义并列，以语义并列为主，看懂其一即可。