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Buick in China

The first Buick model off the line was just the beginning of General Motors' long march into the Chinese market. A total of 23,000 cars rolled out of the factory in 1999．This year, Shanghai GM Buick aims to produce 50,000 cars.

It is interesting to review the long negotiations with the Chinese government to set up Shanghai GM Buick. The biggest issue was who would supply the car parts and how the parts would get from the factory to the Buick plant.

A car is made up of more than 30,000 parts. Parts manufacturers in China don't have the technological know-how to make all the necessary parts. Therefore, at the beginning, about half the necessary parts will be shipped to Shanghai from North America. These parts are made at GM's Tillsonburg Ontario facility. The trains carry the parts over 3,000 miles to the Port of Vancouver. From Vancouver, the parts are shipped to Shanghai. All told, the door-to-door delivery time is 17 days. But there may be a 42-day delay between steel plates leaving the steel works in America and arriving in Shanghai. To prevent the long-distance shipping and delay, Shanghai GM Buick has asked Shanghai Baoshan steelworks to produce plates of similar quality.

"Imported car parts are our biggest headache," says Jay Hunt. "local suppliers are very responsive. " To our surprise, however, the cost of localized production is much higher than buying from overseas. The reason is that although labor costs are low in China, wages comprise only 20% of the cost of producing car parts. Small-scale production in China makes production costs very high. The deputy general manager, Laurence Zahner said, "Only if the price of domestic parts drops 30% shall we be able to qualify for the international market. "

Thankfully, a solution has appeared. Foreign car parts makers are coming to the Yangtse River Delta to set up joint ventures. Shanghai GM Buick will depend on those parts makers for car parts. Perhaps the Buick plant will not worry about the agreement with the Chinese partner any longer. The agreement says that in the first year of production, the Buick plant must have 42% of locally made parts, and in the second year, the locally made parts rise to 60%, and in the third year, 80%.

What was the biggest issue in the negotiation between the Chinese government and General Motors?

A．Annual production of cars.

B．The location of Shanghai GM Buick.

C．Car parts and their shipment.

D．The price of domestic car parts.

Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A．China was the first country to use coins in the history of human being.

B．The coins were used in China more widely than European countries.

C．All the Chinese coins, though different in shape, had the pierced hole.

D．Bronze was the only ideal material used to make coins in the early time.

根据以下资料，回答下列各题： The first time I tried shark—fin soup was at Time Warner’s annual dinner in Hong Kong．Shark_fin soup is a luxury item($100 bowl in some restaurants)in Hong Kong and Mainland China，its biggest consumers；it’s a dish that embodies east Asia’s intertwined notions of hospitality and keeping(or losing)“face”．“It’s like champagne”，says Alvin Leung，owner of Be Innovation，a Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong．“You don’t open a bottle of Coke to celebrate．It’s a ritual．” Unfortunately，this gesture of hospitality comes with a price tag much bigger than that$ 100 bowl．All told，up t0 70 million sharks are killed annually for the trade，despite the fact that 30％of shark species are threatened with extinction．“Sharks have made it through multiple mass extinctions on our planet，”says Matt Rand，director of Pew’s Global Shark Conservation division．“Now many species are going to go the way of the dinosaur--for a bowl of soup．” The shark—fin industry has gained notoriety in recent years not just because of what it’s doing to the global shark population but also because of what’s known as finning—the practice of catching a shark，removing its fins and dumping the animal back into the sea． While a pound of shark fin can go for up to$300，most shark meat isn’t particularly valuable，and it takes up freezer space and weight on fishing boats．Today，finning is illegal in the waters of the E．U．，the U．S．and Australia，among others；boats are required to carry a certain ratio of fins to carcasses(尸体)to prevent massive overfishing．But there are loopholes in antifinning laws that are easy to exploit．In the E．U．，for example，ships can land the fins separately from the carcasses，making the job of monitoring the weight ratio nearly impossible．In the U．S．，a boat found carrying nearly 65，000 1b．(30，000 kg)of illegal shark fms won a court case because it was registered as a cargo vessel，which current U．S．finning laws do not cover. Sharks populations can’t withstand commercial fishing the way more fertile marine species can．Unlike other fish harvested from the wild，sharks grow slowly．They don’t reach sexual maturity until later in life—the female great white，for example，at 12 to 14 years—and when they do．they have comparatively few offspring at a time，unlike，say，tunas，which release millions of eggs when they spawn． The shark’s plight is starting to be weighed against the delicacy’s cultural value．The conservation group has lobbied local restaurants that offer the classic nine—course banquet served at Cantonese weddings．of which shark fin is traditionally a part，to offer a n0—shark menu as a choice to couples． After my first encounter with shark．fin soup．I decided that．1ike my colleagues，I would probably skip it next time．Unfortunately，that next time came at an intimate dinner in a small，private dining room，where I was both a guest and a stranger．When the soup-the centerpiece of the meal—was set down before me，I ate it．Apparently，I'm not the only one to cave．“You go to a wedding，and you refused to eat it just because you feel you’re insulted--I'm not that extreme，”Leung，the chef，says．“If other people believe that it brings luck or brings face．I'd be a spoilsport．”To make a dent in the slaughter of the sharks，however，there are going to have to be a lot of people willing to spoil this particular sport． Which of the following statements about shark—fin soup is true?

A.It has a price tag much bigger than$100 bowl．

B.It carries rich cultural meaning．

C.It tastes like champagne．

D.It is expensive for its high nutrition．