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  3. FAST cars whiz around, malls are full of expensive luxuries and cranes dominate the skyline. But scratch the shimmering surface

FAST cars whiz around, malls are full of expensive luxuries and cranes dominate the skyline. But scratch the shimmering surface

admin2021-06-15  15
问题         FAST cars whiz around, malls are full of expensive luxuries and cranes dominate the skyline. But scratch the shimmering surface of the Gulf and you soon find countries hurting from the low oil price, currently around $40 a barrel Growth is slowing and unemployment is rising. Policy makers even dare utter a "three-letter" word until recently taboo: tax.
        Oil is central to the six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states, which have used the windfall of the past few years to spend lavishly. Unlike many oil exporters, such as Nigeria and Venezuela, they have high foreign-exchange reserves and low debts to cover short-term gaps. But public spending is generous and the private sector is heavily reliant on oil to boot. To be sustainable in an era of lower prices, the rulers must change the structure of their economies.
        The IMF reckons the lower oil price knocked $340 billion off Arab oil-exporting states’ government revenues in 2015. This year is looking worse. Moody’s, a ratings agency, this month downgraded Bahrain and Oman and put on watch the other four GCO states: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. "It’s the end of an era for the Gul, "says Razan Nasser of HSBC in Dubai. "And we’re only just starting to see the effects."
        Oil receipts typically account for more than 80% of GCC government revenues, rising to over 90% of Saudi Arabia’s budget before the crisis. Dubai, one of the emirates making up the UAE, is an exception, with oil accounting for only 5% of revenues. That is because it has successfully diversified: tourism and services account for most of its government revenues.
        Governments are reacting to the squeeze on their incomes with a mixture of strategies, drawing down reserves and taking or debt on the one hand, and imposing spending cuts on the other. Last year they made tweaks, such as curbing benefits for public servants. This year will be tougher. Oman has told all state-owned enterprises to remove perks such as cars. Qatari companies including AI Jazeera and the Qatar Foundation, a cultural organization, have laid off employees. With such tweaks, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar, which have small populations and high foreign exchange reserves, can get by fora decade.
Which deduction may NOT be true?
选项 A、Gulf States used to be promising.
B、The author criticizes GCC’s conventional economic pattern.
C、Dubai used to heavily rely on oil revenue.
D、Oil price doesn’t influence Dubai’s economy.
答案B
解析 细节推断题。根据第二段首句Oil is central to the six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states，which have used the windfall of the past few years to spend lavishly可知，GCC国家曾经利用过去几年的意外之财大肆挥霍，也就是说GCC国家在过去前途光明，故A项正确；根据第四段可知，石油收入通常占GCC国家政府收入的80%以上，在危机前上升至沙特阿拉伯预算的90%以上。而迪拜作为阿联酋的组成部分之一，却是一个例外。石油只占迪拜政府收入的5%，旅游业和服务业却占其政府收入的大部分。由此可知在迪拜没有进行经济改革之前，其对石油收入的依赖性较大，故C项正确。因为政府收入实现了多样化，其对旅游业与服务业的依赖远远超过对石油的依赖，况且石油只占政府收入的5%，所以石油价格波动不会影响迪拜的经济发展，故D项正确；GCC国家的conventional economic pattern(传统的经济模式)指的是什么，在文中没有体现，且作者也只是在客观地阐述问题，并没有criticizes(批判)。C项错误。故本题选C。
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