Germany’s chimney sweeps—hallowed as bringers of good luck, with their black top hats and coiled-wire brushes— are under attack. Last week the European Commission’s directorate for the internal market revived proceedings against an antiquated German law that protects sweeps against competition. The country’s chimney sweeps enjoy a near-perfect monopoly. Germany is divided into around 8000 districts, each ruled by its own master sweep who usually employs two more sweeps. Although this is a private enterprise, the maintenance and inspection service provided is compulsory and prices are set by the local authority: sweeps cannot stray outside their district, nor can householders change their sweep even if they loathe him. This rule cuts both ways. "There are some customers I can’t stand either," says one Frankfurt sweep.
The rationale is simple: chimney-sweeping and related gas and heating maintenance in Germany are treated as a matter of public safety. Annual or semi-annual visits are prescribed, keeping the sweeps busy all year round. For centuries, chimney-sweeps in Europe were a wandering breed. But in 1937 the chimney-sweep law was revised by Heinrich Himmler, then the acting interior minister. His roles tied chimney sweeps to their districts and decreed that they should be German, to enable him to use sweeps as local spies.
The law was updated in 1969, leaving the local monopolies in place but opening up the profession, in theory at least, to non-Germ, ans. But in practice few apply. Four years ago a brave Pole qualified as a master in Kaiserslautern, according to a fellow student, and this year an Italian did so in the Rhineland Palatinate. But he, like most newly qualified German masters, will spend years on a waiting list before he gets his own district.
The European Commission would like to see a competitive market in which people can choose their own sweeps, just as they choose builders or plumbers. It first opened infringement proceedings in 2003, and the German government of the time promised to change the law but failed to do so. And despite the huffing and puffing from Brussels, tile government is still reluctant to dismantle its antiquated system on safety grounds. The number of deaths from carbon-monoxide poisoning in Germany is around one-tenth that in France or Belgium, claims the Frankfurt sweep. So Germans are likely to be stock with their neighbourhood Schornsteinfegers—whether they can stand each other or not—for some time to come.
What’s the reason that Germany’s chimney sweeps are under attack（）
A. Chimney sweeps can not be bringers of good luck any more
B. German law that protects sweeps’ competition was accused against last week
C. Germany’s chimney sweeps enjoy a near-perfect monopoly
D. European Commission’s directorate for the internal market hate the chimney sweeps
参考答案：C
解析：
[直击题眼] 第一段前三句：GERMANY’S chimney sweeps...proceedings against an antiquated German law that protects sweeps against competition. The country’s chimney sweeps enjoy a neat-perfect monopoly.
[深层剖析] 文中提到正是因为烟囱清洁工作被垄断，对工人和用户都不讨好，这项清洁工作才被攻击了，故 [C]正确。
[主干扰项分析] 第二句明确提到是反对竞争而非保护烟囱清洁工竞争的法律被控诉，故[B]不正确，排除此选项需要仔细，选项内容跟原文很像；文中介绍说欧盟委员会内部市场理事会控诉的对象是这种过时的法律，而非出于对烟囱清洁工的不满，故[D]不对。
[次干扰项分析] 文中只在第一句提到烟囱清洁工曾被认为能带来好运，但并没有说他们现在受到攻击的原因是再也不能传递好运，故[A]错误。