Day 19

英文重现

For example, a plant situated near a number of larger noncompliant competitors is less likely to attract the attention of local regulators than is an isolated plant, and less attention means lower costs. Additionally, large plants can spread compliance costs such as waste treatment across a larger revenue base; on the other hand, some smaller plants may not even be subject to certain provisions such as permit or reporting requirements by virtue of their size.

——GMAT OG 2015, Reading Comprehension, Passage 13

解析

1.“situated near…competitors”是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰前面的“a plant”；比较级中的“than”引导的平行结构要保持比较对象的词性及其在语法结构上的一致性，如此处的“is less likely to attract the attention of local regulators”和“is an isolated plant”（省略了“likely to attract the attention of local regulators”，把“is”提前了，正常的句子应该

是“an isolated plant is likely to attract the attention of local regulators”。

2.最后一个句子中有一个“on the other hand”引出的“large plants”和“some smaller plants”的对比，两个分句中的“such as”后面的内容分别对前面的“compliance costs”和“provisions”进行举例说明，所以可将两个对比的分句简化为“large plants can spread compliance costs across a larger revenue base; on the other hand, some smaller plants may not even be subject to certain provisions”。

3.词组“be subject to”意思是“经受；遭受；受……支配”，后面跟动词时要用动名词形式，即“-ing”形式。

4.第二个“such as”后面的连词“or”前后两个部分，即“certain provisions”和

“reporting requirements”，构成并列/平行结构，也就是说这两个成分都跟在“be subject to”后面，这也是“report”用动名词形式的原因。

5.“by virtue of sth./doing”意思是“因为；由于；凭借……的力量”。

词义辨析

参考翻译

例如，一个坐落在一些更大的、不遵守规则的竞争对手旁边的工厂比一个孤立的工厂吸引当地监管机构注意的可能性要小；而较少的注意力意味着较低的费用。此外，大的工厂需要在更高的收入基础上支出废物处理等合规成本，另一方面，一些较小的工厂可能因为它们的规模，甚至都不会受制于许可证或报告要求等条款。

实战演练

Among the myths taken as fact by the environmental managers of most corporations is the belief that environmental regulations affect all competitors in a given industry uniformly. In reality, regulatory costs—and therefore compliance—fall unevenly, economically disadvantaging some companies and benefiting others. For example, a plant situated near a number of larger noncompliant competitors is less likely to attract the attention of local regulators than is an isolated plant, and less attention means lower costs. Additionally, large plants can spread compliance costs such as waste treatment across a larger revenue base; on the other hand, some smaller plants may not even be subject to certain provisions such as permit or reporting requirements by virtue of their size. Finally, older production technologies often continue to generate toxic wastes that were not regulated when the technology was first adopted...

It can be inferred from the passage that a large plant might have to spend more than a similar but smaller plant on environmental compliance because the larger plant is

(A) more likely to attract attention from local regulators.

(B) less likely to be exempt from permit and reporting requirements.

(C) less likely to have regulatory costs passed on to it by companies that supply its raw materials.

(D) more likely to employ older production technologies.

(E) more likely to generate wastes that are more environmentally damaging than those generated by smaller plants.

答案：B

答案解析

题目问的是大公司比一个类似的但是规模较小的公司在环境合规成本上的花费要多，是因为什么，根据大小公司在“environmental compliance”上的对比可定位到文中“Additionally…by virtue of their size”。“Additionally”后面的内容先告诉我们大公司在“compliance costs”方面花费多，但并未提到原因，但后边谈到“小公司可能不会受制于许可证或报告要求等条款”，我们根据逆向思维可以推测出“大公司可能会受制于许可证或报告要求等条款”，因此选项B“大公司不太可能免除许可证和报告要求”应该是正确的。

选项A“大公司更有可能吸引当地监管机构的注意”是最容易选错的选项，很多人会根据第一句话选出这个选项，但是第一句话中其实是将“和几个竞争对手（即同类工厂）坐落在一起的工厂”和“一个孤立的工厂”进行比较，后者比较容易吸引监管机构注意（群体中的个体当然没有单独的个体那么容易受到注意），但它并没有将大公司和小公司进行对比，因此不构成大公司交费多的原因。选项C“大公司不太可能让供应原材料的公司将监管费用转嫁给自己”、D“大公司更有可能使用旧的生产技术”、E“与小公司产生的废物相比，大公司更有可能产生对环境破坏更大的废物”在文中都没提及。