TEXT ELEVEN

Despite bulging order books, the mood at Airbus and Boeing is far from celebratory. Both aviation giants are moaning loudly that their production systems and supply chains are flawed, albeit for ostensibly different reasons. This week Louis Gallois, the boss of EADS, the Franco-German aerospace consortium that owns Airbus, added substance to warnings a week earlier by the planemaker's chief executive, Tom Enders, that the dollar's decline was “life-threatening” for the firm. Mr Gallois said it was no longer just a possibility that Airbus would have to move a large part of its production to “the dollar zone” or low-cost countries, but a certainty.

Airbus is already in the middle of Power8, a big restructuring plan that involves the loss of 10,000 jobs and the sale of several plants, which is meant to offset the losses caused by the delays in delivering the A380 superjumbo. But Power8 assumed that a euro was worth $1.35, not today's $1.47. Mr Gallois estimates that each 10-cent rise in the euro costs Airbus ?1 billion. At present, Airbus makes 76% of its purchases within Europe, but generates over 60% of its sales elsewhere. It must now shift some production abroad.  

Airbus is now likely to forge ahead much further. Mr Gallois suggests that when the A350 enters service in 2013, 70% of it will have been “purchased” in dollars, against 50% for the A380 and an average 24% of Airbus production today. Because Airbus insists that some of its European suppliers price in dollars that means about 50% of the A350's production will be outsourced. New aircraft, such as the A320's successor, may be made almost entirely outside the euro-zone.

Airbus maintains that exchange rates are not the only reason for outsourcing: it is keen to tap into composite-manufacturing expertise wherever it exists. It also insists that it will not repeat the mistakes Boeing has made with its new 787 Dreamliner, about 80% of which has been outsourced. A few weeks ago Mike Bair, the executive responsible for the 787 programme, who was recently moved sideways after mounting production delays, launched a withering attack on some of the companies recruited to build the plane. He said that in future Boeing would not entrust design work to partners who “proved incapable of doing it”, and would make suppliers build factories close to Boeing's main assembly operation, rather than flying semi-finished sections of the aircraft round the world on huge Dreamlifter transporters.

It is too early to conclude that the two rivals are heading in opposite directions—Boeing renouncing the global supply chain just as Airbus adopts it. Each company has its own axe to grind. Airbus needs greater flexibility, and the weak dollar provides helpful cover as it takes on its grumbling unions. Boeing, for its part, wants to shift the blame for delays to the 787 on to its partners. The logic of global outsourcing in the aerospace industry remains powerful. Whatever they may be saying now, Airbus and Boeing are more likely to converge than to diverge.

1. Airbus carries out Power 8 because_____

[A] it cannot make up the deficits caused by the dalays in delivering A380.

[B] it wants to move its production abroad to handle the problem of dollar’s decline.

[C] it has not predicted the dollar decline at the beginning.

[D] it wants to raise money to build new production sector in low-cost countries.

 2. The lesson Airbus learns from Boeing’s case of 787 Dreamliner is_____.

[A] it should not adopt outsourcing at all given its uncertainty and insecurity.

[B] it should not coopearte with partners in designing.

[C] it should not waste time in flying the semi-finished sections of the aircraft.

[D] it should  make use of the local manufacturing expertise instead of international partners.

 3. According to the passage, the 787 programme is delayed probably because_____.

[A] the parteners are not incapable of building the plane.

[B] The suppliers are far away from the main assembly operation.

[C] 80% of it has been outsourced to other countries which affected efficiency.

[D] the executive is not qualified incapable of finding qualified partners.

 4. The word “converge” (Line 5, Paragraph 5) most probably means_____.

[A] unite

[B] combine

[C] meet

[D] coopearte

5. Why Airbus and Boeing are more likely to converge than to diverge?

[A] Boeing quits the global supply chain while Airbus adopts it.

[B] Both of them need to adopt greater flexibility in the working process.

[C] Both of them need to make their foreign purchases and outsourcing more skillful and powerful.

[D] Both of them have to take measures to deal with problmes caused by weak dollar.

篇章剖析：

这篇文章主要介绍了空中客车目前生产和采购方面的一些新的动向和调整，也提到了波音公司的一些调整。第一段讲述空中客车和波音两大飞机公司目前在生产、供应方面都面临一些新的问题，空中客车已决定要采取海外计划；第二段讲述空中客车目前的一些问题；第三段讲述空中客车将来在采购方面的计划；第四段讲述空中客车海外计划的另外一个原因；第五段讲述空中客车和波音公司虽然表面看起来采取的措施不同，但其海外采购的大方向是确定的。

词汇注释：

albeit conj. 虽然                                                ostensibly adv. 表面上

consortium n. 社团，协会                                 outsource v. 外部买办，采购

superjumbo n. 巨型喷气式飞机                          forge ahead v. 向前迈进

tap into v. 接入                                                 grumbling adj. 嘟嘟囔囔的, 抱怨的; 疼痛的

converge v. 会聚，会合                                   renounce v. 放弃

难句突破：

(1)    This week Louis Gallois, the boss of EADS, the Franco-German aerospace consortium that owns Airbus, added substance to warnings a week earlier by the planemaker's chief executive, Tom Enders, that the dollar's decline was “life-threatening” for the firm.

[主体句式] Louis Gallois added substance to warnings.

[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，the boss of EADS是主语的同位语，而the Franco-German aerospace consortium that owns Airbus又是EADS的同位语；最后that引导的定语从句是用来修饰前面的warnings。

[句子译文]法德航天财团EADS（空中客车属于该财团）老总路易斯·Galloi本周强调了一周前飞机制造首席执行官汤姆·恩德斯的警告，恩德斯指出美元的贬值对于公司有生命威胁。

(2)    A few weeks ago Mike Bair, the executive responsible for the 787 programme, who was recently moved sideways after mounting production delays, launched a withering attack on some of the companies recruited to build the plane.

[主体句式] Mike Bair launched …

[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，短语the executive…是主语的同位语，后面who 引导的定语从句是修饰主语的。

[句子译文]负责787项目的主管迈克·Bair因为延误了生产近期被移往别处了，几周前他对一些已被征募造该飞机的公司进行了毁灭性的攻击。

题目分析：

[答案]B

[难度系数] ☆☆

[分析]推理题。文章第一段指出Gallois已经决定将一大部门生产放到海外，同时第二段紧接着就说空中客车已经实施能量8计划了，目的就是要弥补因为A380交付延误造成的损失。那么，答案A最为符合文章内容。B选项不是实施这一计划的直接原因，可以排除。C选项是无中生有，而最后一个选项是该计划的一个结果之一，而不是原因。

[答案]D

[难度系数] ☆☆☆

[分析]推理题。第四段中提到了波音787计划，提到其主管指出波音公司今后不会再将设计工作交给不能胜任的合作人，还会在装配车间旁边直接让供应商建工厂以免去运输飞机半成品部件的费用。那么可见波音在该项目中主要的问题就是这两方面的，而本段主要是讲述空中客车指出要海外采购的另外一方面原因是如果当地有制造技术那么就直接运用该技术。从这两方面可以看出，空中客车得到的经验应该是制造方面应利用本地资源。那么，答案D最为符合。

[答案]B

[难度系数] ☆☆☆

[分析]推理题。文章第四段中提到了波音787计划，提到其主管指出波音公司今后不会再将设计工作交给不能胜任的合作人，还会在装配车间旁边直接让供应商建工厂以免去运输飞机半成品部件的费用。那么可以推断，延误的主要原因可能就是这两方面，答案A、B涉及这两个方面，但A与原文不符，原文是合作人在设计飞机方面不能胜任，而不是制造飞机方面；B是原文提到的第二方面，符合题意，为正确答案。C和D选项可以比较容易地排除，首先相关段落没有提到效率的问题，因此可以排除C选项。而D选项利用了文章中executive，qualified partners这些词汇，但组成的句子却是与原文无关的。

[答案]C

[难度系数] ☆☆☆☆

[分析]猜词题。根据上下文来理解这个词，文章最后一段提到现在就下结论说这两个公司今后会向不同方向发展还为时尚早，虽然他们说法不同，但对于海外采购的态度还是肯定的，因此说它们今后更可能是向同一个方向会合而不是各自走上不同的道路。另外，从最后一句话可以大致分析，converge和diverge应该是相反的意思，那么也可以猜出这个词的意思应当是“会合”，答案C最为符合。

[答案]C

[难度系数] ☆☆

[分析]推理题。文章最后一段提出，表面上看好像它们采取的方法会有很大不同，波音要放弃全球供应链但空中巴士却决定要采取这个方案，但每个公司故事不同，空中客车需要更大的灵活度，而波音却是向要通过这个决定把787项目的责任转移到合作商身上，但其实全球采购这个逻辑在这个行业还是盛行的。可见，它们终究还是需要进行海外采购，同时文章也指出了他们的海外采购需要有所改进，分别都要改进灵活性并且时海外采购变得更加强大。文章最后一句指出，两个公司其实是走得更近而不是兵分两路，也是C选项的佐证。因此，之所以说它们向一个方向会合就是在全球采购这方面而言的，因此，答案为C。

 参考译文：

尽管订单鼓鼓囊囊的，但是空中客车和波音公司中却丝毫没有庆祝的气氛。两个航空巨头都在大声抱怨其生产系统和供应链有缺陷，虽然表面上看起来引发的原因不同。法德航天财团EADS（空中客车属于该财团）老总路易斯·Galloi本周强调了一周前飞机制造首席执行官汤姆·恩德斯的警告，恩德斯指出美元的贬值对于公司有生命威胁。Gallois先生表示，空中客车需要将生产的很大一部分移到“美元区”或低成本国家不再只是一种可能，现在成为一种必然。

空中客车已经在进行能量8计划了，该计划是大型重组计划，将导致丧失一万份工作，卖掉数家工厂，目的是弥补在因延迟交付A380巨型喷气式飞机造成的损失。但是当时能量8假定一欧元对1.35美元，而不是现在实际的1.47美元。Gallois先生估计欧元升值10分，空中客车就要损失10亿欧元。目前，空中客车75%的采购都在欧洲，但60%的销售却在别的地方。现在它必须将一些生产移到海外去。

现在空中客车可能要往前更进一步了。Gallois先生建议2013年A350进入市场后，70%将用美元采购，而目前A380的50%为美元采购，空中巴士生产平均24%为美元采购。因为空中巴士强调其欧洲供应商必须以美元定价，也就是A350 50%的生产将在海外采购。新的飞机，比如A320的下一代可能全部都要在欧元区之外的地方生产。  

空中客车认为汇率并不是海外采购的唯一原因，它还希望接纳复合的制造技术，不管是哪里有这种技术。它还强调不会重复波音在新的787“梦之机”上已经犯过的错误，其80%都在国外采购。负责787项目的主管迈克·Bair因为延误了生产近期被移往别处了，几周前他对一些已被征募造该飞机的公司进行了毁灭性的攻击。他说未来波音公司不会将任何设计工作委托给“被证明不能胜任”的合作者，也会让供应商在波音主要的组装车间旁建立工厂，而不再用大型的Dreamlifter运输机将飞机的半成品部分飞过整个世界。

正当空中客车采用了全球供应链时波音公司却放弃了，但是现在就下结论说这两个对手正向两个不同的方向发展还为时太早。每个公司都有自己的斧头去研磨，空中客车需要更大的灵活性，而正当它雇佣了充满怨气的团体后疲软的美元为它提供了很好的掩盖。而波音却想将787项目延迟的责任推到其合作者身上。航空业全球海外采购逻辑还是非常强大的，不管空中客车和波音公司现在说的是什么，它们其实是走得更近而不是兵分两路了。