问题
单项选择题
| As Ford Motor’s board of directors gathered to hold its quarterly meeting Thursday, speculation was growing that the world’s No. 2 automaker was prepared to acquire the automotive operations of Sweden’s Volvo. Merger (合并) speculation that has been widespread throughout the industry for months has focused on a possible Volvo-Ford linkup since a report last week that Volvo had hired a Wall Street investment bank to explore a possible sale. Ford’s board meeting was to be held in Dearborn, the Detroit suburb where Ford is headquartered. Chief spokesman Vaughn Koshkarian declined to comment on the agenda or the Volvo rumors. President Jac Nasser, speaking at an industry conference Tuesday night, also declined to say where Ford was negotiating with Volvo. But Nasser again said Ford was open to using its more than $ 20 billion cash reserve to expand the company’s global reach. Last year’s acquisition of Chrysler by Daimler-Benz led to a panic of talks among automakers looking to strengthen their position in an industry beset (困扰) with too much production capacity worldwide. The conventional wisdom is that smaller automakers will be ill-equipped to compete in the 21st century as the industry becomes dominated by several international automakers. Volvo, one of the world’s smaller automakers, produces less than 500,000 vehicles annually. Last year it sold 100,227 cars in the United States, one of its largest markets. Ford reportedly has been courting Nissan Motor which is in debt as well, and turned down an offer last month for a 20% share in the Japanese automaker. Ford also lost in bidding late last year for financially troubled Kia Motors of Korea. Analysts (分析家) say Ford and Volvo are a better fit. "The Volvo thing is more practical than anything else," said analyst David Healy of Burnham Securities. "Ford, which is becoming good at cost-effectively developing a variety of very different cars with the same basic chassis (底盘) and major parts, could help Volvo expand its product line," Girsky said. "If you could bring a premium price," he said, "Ford has similarly expanded Jaguar’s vehicle line since it bought the British Luxury automaker in 1989." Girsky, however, does not expect Ford to overbid for Volvo. "They had every opportunity in the world to buy Kia Motors and they walked away from it because the price got too high," he said. "I don’t think Ford needs Volvo; it would be nice to have Volvo, but only at the right price." |
Which of the following is TRUE about Ford
A．Its last year’s acquisition of Chrysler led to a panic of talks.
B．It is planning to acquire British luxury automaker Jaguar.
C．It has acquired Nissan by constantly paying debt for Nissan.
D．It has failed in acquiring financially troubled Kia of Korea.
答案
参考答案：D
解析：[定位] 由题干中的about Ford和选项里的一些关键同定位到原文第四段第三句Ford reportedly has been courting debt-laden Nissan Motor as well...[精析] 事实细节题【考频：52】。原文第四段尾句说“去年福特也没有在经济陷入困境的韩国起亚汽车公司的竞标中胜出”，说明它在经济困难的韩国起亚公司的并购中失败。故D)与文意相符，为正确答案。[避错] 原文第三段开头说“戴米勒奔驰公司收购了克莱斯勒”，而非福特收购，故排除A)；第五段末句说“福特用相似的方式在1989年扩充了英国豪华汽车美洲虎的生产线”，证明不是在计划，排除B)；第四段中间说“福特一直在向负债累累的尼桑汽车公司表示好感，但是上个月拒绝了该日本公司20%股权转让的提议”，证明没有收购尼桑，故排除C)。