Tesco ispreparing a legal battle to clear its name of involvement in the dairyprice-fixing scandal that has cost consumers £270 million. Failure to provethat it had no part in collusion with other supermarkets and dairy processorsmay land it with a fine of at least £80 million. The Office of Fair Trading(OFT) said yesterday that Asda, Sainsbury’s and the former Safeway, plus thedairy companies Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company, had admitted being ina cartel to fix prices for milk, butter and cheese. They were fined a total ofjust over £116 million as part of a leniency deal offered by the watchdog to companiesthat owned up quickly to anti-competitive behaviour.

　　Officials atthe OFT admitted privately that they did not think they would ever discoverwhich company or individual had initiated the pricing formula. But the watchdogrecognises that at the time supermarkets were under pressure from politiciansand farmers to raise the cost of milk to save dairy farming, though it is notcertain that money found its way to farmers. The OFT claimed in September thatit had found evidence that the retail chains had passed future milk prices todairy companies, which then reached a fixed price among themselves.

　　The averagecost to each household is thought to be £11.25 over 2002 and 2003. Prices wentup an extra 3p on a pint of milk, 15p on a quarter of a pound of butter and 15pon a half pound of cheese. There is no direct recompense for consumers,however, and the money will go to the Treasury. The National Consumer Councilgave warning that the admissions would dent consumer confidence in leading highstreet names and that people would become sceptical of their claims. FarmersFor Action, the group of farmers that has led protests over low milk pricessince 2000, is seeking legal advice on whether it can now bring a claim forcompensation.

　　The OFTinvestigation is continuing, however, in relation to Tesco, Morrisons and thedairy group Lactalis McLelland, and any legal action is expected to be delayeduntil that is completed.

　　Tesco wasdefiant and said that it was preparing a robust defence of its actions. LucyNeville-Rolfe, its executive director, said: "As we have always said, weacted independently and we did not collude with anyone. Our position isdifferent from our competitors and we are defending our own case vigorously.Our philosophy is to give a good deal to customers."

　　Morrisons hassupported the OFT in inquiries into the former Safeway business that it tookover, but in a statement said that it was still making "strongrepresentations" in its defence. A spokeswoman for Lactalis McLelland saidthat the company was "co-operating" with the OFT. Industry insiderssuggested that the three companies were deliberately stalling the OFTinvestigation.

　　Sainsbury’s admitted yesterday that it hadagreed to pay £26 million in fines, but denied that it had sought to profiteer.Justin King, the chief executive, said he was disappointed that the company hadbeen penalised for actions meant to help farmers but recognised the benefit ofa speedy settlement. Asda declined to say how much it would pay in fines andalso said that its intention had been to help farmers under severe financialpressure.

　　1. From thefirst paragraph, we may infer that _____

　　[A] Tesco hascost consumers £270 million.

　　[B] Tesco hascolluded with Asda, Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company in fixing the dairyprice.

　　[C] Tescowill be offered a leniency deal of £80 million.

　　[D] Tesco istrying its best to prove its innocence of the scandal.

　　2. Who ismost probably the initiator of the pricing formula?

　　[A] retail chains.

　　[B] farmers.

　　[C] dairycompanies.

　　[D]politicians

　　3. The word"defiant" (Line 3, Paragraph 4)most probably means _____.

　　[A]resisiting

　　[B] angry

　　[C] deficient

　　[D] confident

　　4. We mayinfer from Morrisons’ statement that _____.

　　[A] Morrisons was uncooperative with OFT.

　　[B] Morrisons was reluctant to support the inquiries into the former Safewaybusiness.

　　[C] Morrisonswas trying to delay the OFT investigation.

　　[D] Morrisonswas working hard to defend its interests.

　　5. The writer’s attitude to Tesco can be said tobe _____.

　　[A] biased.

　　[B]objective.

　　[C]sympathetic.

　　[D]optimistic.篇章剖析：

　　本文介紹了目前奶制品公司因內(nèi)部設定價格而面臨受到的調查和處罰的狀況。第一段由Tesco公司目前正在通過法律解決自己面臨的困境引出本文的話題;第二段是追溯牛奶價格上漲的原因;第三段是講述牛奶價格上漲對消費者的損害;第四段又回到Tesco事件上，描述了其態(tài)度;第五段和第六段講述其他相關公司對該事件的看法和態(tài)度。

　　詞匯注釋：

　　processor n. 加工者

　　cartel n. 卡特爾, 聯(lián)合企業(yè), 壟斷集團

　　leniency n. 寬大，慈悲,慈悲寬厚的行為

　　dent v.使凹下, 凹進, 削弱

　　defiant adj.挑戰(zhàn)的, 挑釁的, 目中無人的

　　stall v.(使)停轉, (使)停止, 遲延

　　profiteer vi.牟取暴利

　　難句突破:

　　(1) They werefined a total of just over £116 million as part of a leniency deal offered bythe watchdog to companies that owned up quickly to anti-competitive behaviour.

　　主體句式: Theywere fined a total of just over £116 million as part of a leniency deal...

　　結構分析: 這是一個復合句，其成分比較復雜。offered by the watchdog tocompanies作為一個分詞短語來修飾前面的deal, 而后面that引導的定語從句又修飾companies.

　　句子譯文:他們總共的罰金只有一億一千六百萬多點，這是監(jiān)察部門對積極坦白反競爭行為公司的一種寬大處理。

　　(2) TheNational Consumer Council gave warning that the admissions would dent consumerconfidence in leading high street names and that people would become scepticalof their claims.

　　[主體句式] The National Consumer Councilgave warning...

　　[結構分析] 這是一個復合句，句子的賓語warning 帶著兩個同位語從句，以that 引導;第一個同位語從句中，confidence in 后面是一個分詞短語作介詞的賓語。

　　[句子譯文]全國消費者委員會警告說長此以往會損害消費者的信心，人們也會逐漸懷疑委員會的聲明。

　　題目分析：

　　1. From thefirst paragraph, we may infer that _____由第一段可以推斷出______

　　[A] Tesco hascaused a loss of £270 million to consumers.[A] Tesco 給消費者造成了兩億七千萬的損失。

　　[B] Tesco hascolluded with Asda, Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company in fixing the dairyprice.[B] Tesco 和Asda, Wiseman, Dairy Crest 及 Cheese Company聯(lián)合確定牛奶價格。

　　[C] Tescowill be offered a leniency deal of £80 million.[C]Tesco 會被輕罰八千億元作為寬大處理。

　　[D] Tesco istrying its best to prove its innocence of the scandal.[D] Tesco 竭力證明自己和傳聞無關。

　　[答案] D

　　[分析] 推理題。第一段主要講述了Tesco公司已被卷入和其他公司聯(lián)手劃定牛奶價格的丑聞中，目前正在通過法律手段來證明自己與此無關。選項A, 從本段第一句可以看出給消費者造成損失這一事項還未證實，Tesco 正在訴諸法律手段。選項B, 也是Tesco 可能存在但還未被證實的事項。選項C，是如果Tesco的丑聞被證實后會被處以的處罰，但文章也并未指出是一種寬大措施。選項D，Tesco 正在竭力證明自己和傳聞無關，這正是第一段論述的內(nèi)容。

　　2. Who ismost probably the initiator of the pricing formula?2. 誰最有可能是價格形成的始作俑者?

　　[A]supermarkets.[A] 超市。

　　[B]farmers.[B] 牧場主。

　　[C] dairycompanies.[C]牛奶公司。

　　[D]politicians[D] 政治家。

　　[答案]B

　　[分析] 細節(jié)題。關于價格形成最初由誰引起，第二段和第三段由相關論述。第二段提到，監(jiān)察部門發(fā)現(xiàn)超市受到政治家和農(nóng)民的壓力要求上調牛奶價格，而OFT發(fā)現(xiàn)了零售商將牛奶未來的價格信息傳遞給了牛奶公司，牛奶公司內(nèi)部自己確定了價格。第三段又提到牧場主機構和牧場主一直在抗議低廉的牛奶價格。由此可以推斷，最有可能引發(fā)牛奶價格確定的源頭就是牧場主。

　　3. The word"defiant" (Line 3, Paragraph 4)most probably means _____.3."defiant"(第四段第三行)最可能的意思是______.

　　[A] resisiting[A]抗議的

　　[B] angry[B] 憤怒的

　　[C]deficient[C]不完善的

　　[D]confident[D] 自信的

　　[答案]A