¡¡¡¡Levin would not comment on the debate last week, but there were signs that the chairman was backing off his hard line stand, at least to some extent. During the discussion of rock singing verses at last month's stockholders' meeting, Levin asserted that"music is not the cause of society's ills"and even cited his son, a teacher in the Bronx, New York, who uses rap to communicate with students. But he talked as well about the"balanced struggle"between creative freedom and social responsibility, and he announced that the company would launch a drive to develop standards for distribution and labeling of potentially objectionable music.

¡¡¡¡The 15 member Time Warner board is generally supportive of Levin and his corporate strategy. But insiders say several of them have shown their concerns in this matter."Some of us have known for many, many years that the freedoms under the First Amendment are not totally unlimited,"says Luce."I think it is perhaps the case that some people associated with the company have only recently come to realize this."

¡¡¡¡63.Senator Robert Dole criticized Time Warner for _____.

¡¡¡¡A)its raising of the corporate stock price

¡¡¡¡B)its selfª²examination of soul

¡¡¡¡C)its neglect of social responsibility

¡¡¡¡D)its emphasis on creative freedom

¡¡¡¡64.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

¡¡¡¡A)Luce is a spokesman of Time Warner.

¡¡¡¡B)Gerald Levin is liable to compromise.

¡¡¡¡C)Time Warner is united as one in the face of the debate.

¡¡¡¡D)Stever Ross is no longer alive

¡¡¡¡65.In face of the recent attacks on the company, the chairman _____.

¡¡¡¡A)stuck to a strong stand to defend freedom of expression

¡¡¡¡B)softened his tone and adopted some new policy

¡¡¡¡C)changed his attitude and yielded to objection

¡¡¡¡D)received more support from the 15ª²member board

¡¡¡¡66.The best title for this passage could be _____.

¡¡¡¡A)A Company under Fire

¡¡¡¡B)A Debate on Moral Decline

¡¡¡¡C)A Lawful Outlet of Street Culture

¡¡¡¡D)A Form of Creative Freedom

¡¡¡¡Passage 5

¡¡¡¡Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as"steering the economy to a soft landing"or"a touch on the brakes", makes it sound like a precise science. Nothing could be further from the truth. The link between interest rates and inflation is uncertain. And there are long, variable lags before policy changes have any effect on the economy. Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rear view mirror and a faulty steering wheel.

¡¡¡¡Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 2.5% this July. This is a long way below the double digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.

¡¡¡¡It is also less than most forecasters had predicated. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America's inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 2.6% in August, and expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.