PASSAGE 16 
Don’t Mind if I Smoke

　　The French surprised even themselves when they banned tobacco ads three years ago, and created smoke-free zones in public spaces. Even then, ___(1)___ seemed a little too American. Now some French lawmakers are preparing to end the act as reform that simply can’t work in a country __(2)___.
　　Law or no law, smokers¹ and nonsmokers mingle² __(3)__, whose owners generally ignore requirements to create separate no-smoking sections. French smokers __(4)___, in hospitals and directly under no -smoking signs. There are stiff fines for violating the smoke-free areas, but they are never imposed. "We have more important things to do", says a Paris official.
　　The 1992 law’s most controversial provision is the tobacco-ad ban. An exception has been made for motor sports, which are underwritten by tobacco firms. And fans shouted angrily when French TV blacked out a soccer game from abroad because of "secondary" tobacco and liquor ads at the local stadium. Still, those __(5)___ credit the ad ban for a 15 percent drop in smoking among French teens in the last three years.
EXERCISE:
A) without apparent friction³ in Paris café and restaurants
B) light up in train stations
C) doing great harm to the smoker’s health
D) the attempt to legislate⁴ good health
E) who are against smoking
F) that has always aided life’s petty vices⁵
KEY:D F A B E 

PASSAGE 17 
Mergers⁸

　　The most common kind of consolidation⁹ today is the merger⁷. A merger occurs ____(1)____.
　　With the deregulation of natural gas, the nation’s 20 interstate pipeline¹⁰ companies became fearful of cutthroat competition. Some felt that they could increase their efficiency and improve their market flexibility¹¹ by merging¹². In 1985 Internorth of Omaha paid $2.3 billion for Houston Natural Gas Corporation, ____(2)____. The system connected markets from coast to coast and raised sales to $10 billion.
　　On occasion, mergers have occurred between smaller companies in an industry dominated by a few giant firms. These smaller companies claim that they need to merge⁶ to become more efficient and effective in competing against the biggest corporations. They maintain that such action increases competition instead of reducing it. The Antitrust Division of the Justice Department has not always agreed with them.
　　Four major waves of mergers have taken place in this country. The first started in 1887, just prior to the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act, and ended in 1904. It involved such giants as United States Steel and Standard Oil trying to create monopolies in their industries. From the end of World War I until the 1930s, large firms swallowed smaller firms to create oligopolies. The monopoly had no chance and the oligopoly little chance of succeeding today under present antitrust policy.
　　The third major merger movement began in the 1960s, reached a peak in 1969, ____(3)____. Many of the acquisitions involved giant firms in one industry buying up large companies in totally unrelated industries. Such mergers are called conglomerate¹³ mergers. A classic example is Mobil Oil Corporation’s purchase of the huge retail¹⁴ chain Montgomery Ward¹⁵ & Company.
　　Mergers in the last ten years were in the thousands. More important is the value of the transactions, which has risen sharply. The number of mergers and acquisitions apply ____(4)____. The petroleum¹⁶ industry had mergers and acquisitions valued at closed to $80 billion between 1981 and 1984. Other industries ____(5)____ were banking¹⁷ and finance, insurance, mining and mineral, processed foods. 
A thereby¹⁸ gaining control of the world’s longest pipeline
B and then gradually declined
C experiencing large takeovers
D resulting in combinations of small firms
E only to those valued at $100 million or more
F when two or more companies get together to form one company
KEYS: FABEC
 
PASSAGE 18 
The Dollar in World Markets

　　According to a leading German banker, the U.S. dollar is "the most frequently discussed economic phenomenon of our times." He adds, "…the dollar’s exchange rate is at present the most important price in the world economy…". Because the dollar acts as a world currency, ___(1)___. The central banks of many countries hold huge reserves of dollars, and over half of all world trade is priced in terms of dollars. Any shift in the dollar’s exchange rate will benefit some and hurt others. Some people suggest, therefore, ____(2)___.
　　The dollar’s exchange rate has been too volatile¹⁹ and unpredictable. Several years age the dollar was rapidly declining in value. This made it ___(3)___. The rise in the price of foreign goods made it possible for U.S. businesses to raise the price of competing foods produced here, thus worsening inflation. Foreigners who dealt in dollars or who held dollars as reserves were hurt. People in the United States who had borrowed foreign currencies found that they had to pay back more than they borrowed ___(4)___. The United States lost face in the eyes of the rest of the world.
　　The dollar went soaring upward, and the situation was reversed. United States exporters found it hard to sell abroad because foreigners would have to pay more for U.S. dollars. People in the United States now bought the relatively²⁰ cheaper foreign goods, and U.S. manufacturers complained that they could not compete. Job losses were often blamed on the "overvalued" dollar. Poor nations ___(5)___ found it difficult to repay both the loans and the interest because they had to use more and more of their own currencies to obtain dollars. The solution to this problem is to end the system of floating exchange rates and return to fixed²¹ rates. We might even return to the gold standard.
　　Fixed exchange rates did not work in the past. Currency values should be determined²² by market conditions. A drop in the exchange value of a nation’s currency means that it is importing too much, that it is too inefficient²³ to compete in world markets, that it is permitting a high rate of inflation which makes its goods too expensive, that it is going too deeply in debt, or that others have lost confidence in the nation’s stability. A nation should bring its exchange rate back up by addressing these problems, not by interfering²⁴ with the money market. 
A. that had borrowed dollars
B. that the dollar’s value should be more tightly controlled
C. because the declining dollar would buy fewer units of the foreign money
D. its value affects many nations
E. difficult for Americans to purchase foreign goods and services
F. that have a lot of U.S. dollars
KEY: DBECA

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