Part A: Reading Comprehension

Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

Text 4

From the early days of broadband, advocates for consumers and web-based companies worried that the cable and phone companies selling broadband connections had the power and incentive to favor affiliated websites over their rivals’. That’s why there has been such a strong demand for rules that would prevent broadband providers from picking winners and losers online, preserving the freedom and innovation that have been the lifeblood of the internet.

Yet that demand has been almost impossible to fill—in part because of pushback from broadband providers, anti-regulatory conservatives and the courts. A federal appeals court weighed in again Tuesday, but instead of providing a badly needed resolution, it only prolonged the fight. At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality, adopted on a party-line vote in 2017. The Republican penned order not only eliminated the strict net neutrality rules the FCC had adopted when it had a Democratic majority in 2015, but rejected the commission’s authority to require broadband providers to do much of anything. The order also declared that state and local governments couldn’t regulate broadband providers either.

The commission argued that other agencies would protect against anticompetitive behavior, such as a broadband-providing conglomerate like AT&T favoring its own video-streaming service at the expense of Netflix and Apple TV. Yet the FCC also ended the investigations of broadband providers that imposed data caps on their rivals’ streaming services but not their own.

On Tuesday, the appeals court unanimously upheld the 2017 order deregulating broadband providers, citing a Supreme Court ruling from 2005 that upheld a similarly deregulatory move. But Judge Patricia Millett rightly argued in a concurring opinion that “the result is unhinged from the realities of modern broadband service,” and said Congress or the Supreme Court could intervene to “avoid trapping internet regulation in technological anachronism.”

In the meantime, the court threw out the FCC’s attempt to block all state rules on net neutrality, while preserving the commission’s power to preempt individual state laws that undermine its order. That means more battles like the one now going on between the Justice Department and California, which enacted a tough net neutrality law in the wake of the FCC’s abdication.

The endless legal battles and back-and-forth at the FCC cry out for Congress to act. It needs to give the commission explicit authority once and for all to bar broadband providers from meddling in the traffic on their network and to create clear rules protecting openness and innovation online.

36. There has long been concern that broadband providers would

[A]

show partiality in treating clients. 

[B]

bring web-based firms under control. 

[C]

slow down the traffic on their network. 

[D]

intensify competition with their rivals. 

37. Faced with the demand for net neutrality rules, the FCC

[A]

sticks to an out-of-date order. 

[B]

has allowed the states to intervene. 

[C]

has issued a special resolution. 

[D]

takes an anti-regulatory stance. 

38. What can be learned about AT&T from Paragraph 3?

[A]

It is in pursuit of quality service. 

[B]

It is under the FCC’S investigation. 

[C]

It protects against unfair competition. 

[D]

It engages in anti-competitive practices. 

39. Judge Patricia Millett argues that the appeals court’s decision

[A]

conveys an ambiguous message. 

[B]

is out of touch with reality. 

[C]

is at odds with its earlier rulings. 

[D]

focuses on trivialities. 

40. What does the author argue in the last paragraph?

[A]

Broadband providers’ rights should be protected. 

[B]

The FCC should be put under strict supervision. 

[C]

Congress needs to take action to ensure net neutrality. 

[D]

Rules need to be set to diversify online services. 

答案与解析 (Answers)

36. [A] show partiality in treating clients.
解析：第一段首句明确指出倡导者的担忧：“the cable and phone companies selling broadband connections had the power and incentive to favor affiliated websites over their rivals’（...有权力和动机偏袒其附属网站而打击竞争对手）”。favor... over（偏袒）完美对应选项 A 中的“show partiality（表现出偏袒）”。

37. [D] takes an anti-regulatory stance.
解析：第二段后半部分说明了 FCC 在面对网络中立性要求时的做法。2017年的命令不仅废除了2015年通过的严格的网络中立规则（eliminated the strict net neutrality rules），还“rejected the commission’s authority to require broadband providers to do much of anything（拒绝了委员会要求宽带提供商做任何事情的权力）”，并宣布地方政府也不能监管。这清楚地表明 FCC 采取了一种“反监管的立场（takes an anti-regulatory stance）”。

38. [D] It engages in anti-competitive practices.
解析：第三段提到 FCC 认为其他机构会防范“anticompetitive behavior（反竞争行为）”，然后举了 AT&T 的例子：“such as a broadband-providing conglomerate like AT&T favoring its own video-streaming service at the expense of Netflix and Apple TV（例如提供宽带的企业集团AT&T，以牺牲奈飞和苹果TV为代价偏袒自己的流媒体服务）”。这说明 AT&T 从事了反竞争的做法，故选D。

39. [B] is out of touch with reality.
解析：第四段中法官 Patricia Millett 指出：“the result is unhinged from the realities of modern broadband service（这一结果与现代宽带服务的现实相脱节）”。“unhinged from the realities”与选项 B 中的“is out of touch with reality（脱离现实）”为同义替换。

40. [C] Congress needs to take action to ensure net neutrality.
解析：最后一段第一句发出呼吁：“The endless legal battles and back-and-forth at the FCC cry out for Congress to act（FCC无休止的法律战和反复无常迫切需要国会采取行动）”。接下来指出国会需要赋予委员会明确的权力以禁止宽带提供商干预流量，“制定保护在线开放和创新的明确规则”，这正是为了确保网络中立性（ensure net neutrality）。因此选C。

核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)

1. 宾语从句与动名词复合结构：
"From the early days of broadband, advocates for consumers and web-based companies worried that the cable and phone companies selling broadband connections had the power and incentive to favor affiliated websites over their rivals’."
【解析】that 引导宾语从句说明担心的内容。从句中 selling broadband connections 是现在分词短语作后置定语修饰 companies。favor A over B 意为“偏袒A胜过B”。
【翻译】从宽带的早期开始，消费者和网络公司的倡导者就担心，销售宽带连接的有线和电话公司有权力和动机偏袒附属网站，而非其竞争对手的网站。

2. 倒装结构与过去分词作定语：
"At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality, adopted on a party-line vote in 2017."
【解析】这是一个完全倒装句，由于表语部分（At issue...）较长且为了强调，将其提前，谓语 was 放在主语 the latest take 前。adopted... 是过去分词短语作后置定语修饰 the latest take。
【翻译】在美国哥伦比亚特区巡回上诉法院审理的争议焦点，是联邦通信委员会（FCC）关于网络中立性的最新举措，该举措于2017年按党派路线投票通过。

3. 并列结构与不定式的运用：
"It needs to give the commission explicit authority once and for all to bar broadband providers from meddling in the traffic on their network and to create clear rules protecting openness and innovation online."
【解析】主语 It 指代 Congress。to bar 和 to create 是并列的动词不定式短语，作 explicit authority 的后置定语。bar... from... 意为“禁止/阻止...做...”。
【翻译】它（国会）需要一劳永逸地赋予该委员会明确的权力，以禁止宽带提供商干预其网络上的流量，并制定清晰的规则来保护在线的开放和创新。