1994年硕士入学考试英语阅读真题附答案详解:TEXT2

•       第 1 页：真题训练
•       第 2 页：难句解析
•       第 3 页：试题解析
•       第 4 页：全文翻译

      1994 Passage 2
      OnehundredandthirteenmillionAmericanshaveatleastonebank-issuedcreditcard. Theygivetheirownersautomaticcreditinstores, restaurants, andhotels, athome, acrossthecountry, andevenabroad, andtheymakemanybankingservicesavailableaswell. Moreandmoreofthesecreditcardscanbereadautomatically, makingitpossibletowithdrawordepositmoneyinscatteredlocations, whetherornotthelocalbranchbankisopen. Formanyofus, the "cashlesssociety" isnotonthehorizon — it'salreadyhere.
      Whilecomputersoffertheseconveniencestoconsumers, theyhavemanyadvantagesforsellerstoo. Electroniccashregisterscandomuchmorethansimplyringupsales. Theycankeepawiderangeofrecords, includingwhosoldwhat, when, andtowhom. Thisinformationallowsbusinessmentokeeptrackoftheirlistofgoodsbyshowingwhichitemsarebeingsoldandhowfasttheyaremoving. Decisionstoreorderorreturngoodstosupplierscanthenbemade. Atthesametimethesecomputersrecordwhichhoursarebusiestandwhichemployeesarethemostefficient, allowingpersonnelandstaffingassignmentstobemadeaccordingly. Andtheyalsoidentifypreferredcustomersforpromotionalcampaigns. Computersarereliedonbymanufacturersforsimilarreasons. Computer-analyzedmarketingreportscanhelptodecidewhichproductstoemphasizenow, whichtodevelopforthefuture, andwhichtodrop. Computerskeeptrackofgoodsinstock, ofrawmaterialsonhand, andevenoftheproductionprocessitself.
      Numerousothercommercialenterprises, fromtheaterstomagazinepublishers, fromgasandelectricutilitiestomilkprocessors, bringbetterandmoreefficientservicestoconsumersthroughtheuseofcomputers.
      55. Accordingtothepassage, thecreditcardenablesitsownerto ________.
      [A] withdrawasmuchmoneyfromthebankashewishes
      [B] obtainmoreconvenientservicesthanotherpeopledo
      [C] enjoygreatertrustfromthestorekeeper
      [D] cashmoneywhereverhewishesto
      56. Fromthelastsentenceofthefirstparagraphwelearnthat ________.
      [A] inthefuturealltheAmericanswillusecreditcards
      [B] creditcardsaremainlyusedintheUnitedStatetoday
      [C] nowadaysmanyAmericansdonotpayincash
      [D] itisnowmoreconvenienttousecreditcardsthanbefore
      57. Thephrase "ringupsales" (line 2, paragraph 2) mostprobablymeans "________".
      [A] makeanorderofgoods
      [B] recordsalesonacashregister
      [C] callthesalesmanager
      [D] keeptrackofthegoodsinstock
      58. Whatisthispassagemainlyabout?
      [A] Approachestothecommercialuseofcomputers.
      [B] Conveniencesbroughtaboutbycomputersinbusiness.
      [C] Significanceofautomationincommercialenterprises.
      [D] Advantagesofcreditcardsinbusiness.