Imagine waking up and finding the value of your assets has been halved. No, you’re not an investor in one of those hedge funds(对

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问题     Imagine waking up and finding the value of your assets has been halved. No, you’re not an investor in one of those hedge funds(对冲基金)that failed completely. With the dollar slumping to a 26-year low against the pound, already-expensive London has become quite unaffordable. A coffee at Starbucks, just as unavoidable in England as it is in the United States, runs about $ 8.
    The once all-powerful dollar isn’t doing a Titanic against just the pound. It is sitting at a record low against the euro and at a 30-year low against the Canadian dollar. Even the Argentine peso and Brazilian real are thriving against the dollar.
    The weak dollar is a source of humiliation(屈辱), for a nation’s self-esteem rests in part on the strength of its currency. It’s also a potential economic problem, since a declining dollar makes imported food more expensive and exerts upward pressure on interest rates. And yet there are substantial sectors of the vast U. S. economy — from giant companies like Coca-Cola to mom-and-pop restaurant operators in Miami — for which the weak dollar is most excellent news.
    Many Europeans may view the U. S. as an arrogant superpower that has become hostile to foreigners. But nothing makes people think more warmly of the U. S. than a weak dollar. Through April, the total number of visitors from abroad was up 6. 8 percent from last year. Should the trend continue, the number of tourists this year will finally top the 2000 peak. Many Europeans now apparently view the U. S. the way many Americans view Mexico — as a cheap place to vacation, shop and party, all while ignoring the fact that the poorer locals can’t afford to join the merrymaking.
    The money tourists spend helps decrease our chronic trade deficit. So do exports, which, thanks in part to the weak dollar, soared 11 percent between May 2006 and May 2007. For first five months of 2007, the trade deficit actually fell 7 percent from 2006.
    If you own shares in large American corporations, you’re a winner in the weak-dollar gamble. Last week Coca-Cola’s stock bubbled to a five-year high after it reported a fantastic quarter. Foreign sales accounted for 65 percent of Coke’s beverage(饮料)business. Other American companies profiting from this trend include McDonald’s and IBM.
    American tourists, however, shouldn’t expect any relief soon. The dollar lost strength the way many marriages break up — slowly, and then all at once. And currencies don’t turn on a dime. So if you want to avoid the pain inflicted by the increasingly pathetic dollar, cancel that summer vacation to England and look to New England. There, the dollar is still treated with a little respect.
What does the author imply by saying "currencies don’t turn on a dime"(Para. 7)?

选项 A、The dollar’s value will not increase in the short term.
B、The value of a dollar will not be reduced to a dime.
C、The dollar’s value will drop, but within a small margin.
D、Few Americans will change dollars into other currencies.

答案A

解析 推理题。末段首句提到American tourists不能指望soon(短期内)就有relief的感觉,紧接着后面两句解释原因。第二句提到,美元失去强势地位就像婚姻解体——先是慢慢地变化,然后一下子结束(暗示不会一朝一夕便有所恢复)。本题考查的短语出现在第三句中,由And顺接,解释的是第二个原因。由首句的soon及前句的语义推测,本句应该说的是美元的价值不会短期内就增长,故A项为正确答案。
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