2. 外语
  3. (1)The Muslim calendar, now in its 1,431st year, follows the cycle of the moon rather than the sun. This means it shifts by 11 d

(1)The Muslim calendar, now in its 1,431st year, follows the cycle of the moon rather than the sun. This means it shifts by 11 d

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问题     (1)The Muslim calendar, now in its 1,431st year, follows the cycle of the moon rather than the sun. This means it shifts by 11 days a year in comparison with the Gregorian calendar, completing a full cycle in about 33 years. And it ignores the seasons. Ramadan(斋月), the month of fasting which this year began on August 12th, is now taking place slap in the middle of the Arab world’s summer holiday. Those who observe the fast must not only put up with the heat and the ensuing dangers of dehydration and exhaustion. There are economic costs that did not weigh a generation ago, when consumer culture had yet to take hold. Across the Arab world, for instance, the price of cooking oil shoots up, since fried sweets are a Ramadan speciality. The cost of sugar rises too. So does the price of honey, especially in the Maghreb. Food importers do particularly well out of pistachios(开心果), dates and dried apricots. Caf6s close by day but often make up for that with late-night revels. Many big new television shows are launched during Ramadan, accounting for a third of annual advertising revenue for Arab satellite television stations.
    (2)But for many businesses, especially government ones, productivity plummets as the working day shortens by two or three hours. The stock market, however, usually surges, according to a recent study by Ahmad Etebari, a professor at the University of New Hampshire. Studying market patterns in Muslim countries between 1989 and 2007, he found that returns during Ramadan were almost nine times higher than in the rest of the year. The reason, he says, is that the seasonal cheer encourages optimism and thus risk-taking.
    (3)But a summer Ramadan is, overall, bad for the economy. Governments worry about the higher cost of producing more electricity. The lights stay on longer, as people have to eat after nightfall. Kuwait’s electricity ministry has given warning of power cuts and electricity rationing, since more locals will stay at home for Ramadan, with air conditioners on full throttle, rather than go abroad, as many of them usually do in August The authorities in many Arab countries offer food subsidies to ensure that families can afford basic staples. Price controls are often imposed on retailers who are tempted to raise prices to take advantage of increased demand.
    (4)Western tourists hesitate to spend their holidays at a time when food can be hard to find during the day and alcohol sales are suspended, as in Morocco. Muslim tourists may also choose to stay at home for Ramadan. Egypt, where August is a peak month for tourists from other Arab countries, has launched a festival to entice this high-income customers to come and celebrate away from home.
    (5)Visits from the millions of North Africans who work in Europe have been shortened or shifted to earlier dates, as they are less keen to visit their families back home when the weather is scorching. Ferry companies say bookings for Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, which used to peak at the end of August as families returned to Europe for the start of the school year, piled up at the beginning of the month, just before Ramadan. Meanwhile, Arabs who can afford to fly north and west prefer to spend the fasting month in gentler climes.
To ensure the Ramadan run smoothly, the following measures are taken by governments of the Arab countries EXCEPT _____.
选项 A、restricting and planning the electricity use
B、encouraging the citizens to go abroad
C、providing the citizens with food subsidies
D、controlling prices to hinder some opportunists
答案B
解析 定位到第3段。根据第3段最后两句可知，为了将经济影响降到最低，科威特电力部已经发出断电和电力定量配给的警告。很多阿拉伯国家的政府部门提供食品补贴，并对零售商们实施价格监控。因此A(限制和计划用电)、C(为市民提供食物津贴)、D(对物品价格进行控制，以防止投机分子)都是政府在斋月期间采取的有利经济的措施，而B(鼓励市民出国)并非政府的措施，文中提到的go abroad是人们以往在8月份的做法，并非受到政府的鼓励，因此选B。
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