《考研英语阅读理解100篇 高分版》 Unit 1 - TEXT ONE

In technology today, there's the big three: Microsoft, Google, Apple. Today, Apple is perhaps the most successful company in the world. Google and Microsoft may get less attention and love, but they're still giant players in search and advertising (Google) and PC operating systems and software (Microsoft). Last week, the two behemoths released earnings. And the results suggest that the highly valuable enterprises are showing signs of maturation, and perhaps even age. At both companies, the core businesses that fueled impressive early growth are falling off. To compensate, Google is pushing into lower-margin related businesses.
Google's sagging earnings—accidentally released early because of human clerical error on the part of their filing firm—revealed two worrisome trends for the search-and-advertising giant. Some 96 percent of Google's revenue comes from selling ads and nearly 70 percent of that revenue comes from sites Google owns, like its search page. But Google is plowing cash into hardware like smartphones and tablets. Google CEO Larry Page said in a statement before a call with analysts that “we took a big bet on Android back in 2005,” and that, today, “over half a billion Android devices” have been sold, with 1.3 million coming online every day.
This is all true, Android is the most popular smart phone standard in the world. No one doubts Android's growth or usefulness as a counterweight to Apple in smartphone operating systems. In the words of the Samsung ads, it's not just “the next big thing” but the big thing. But it's still not clear exactly how Google will make money from its foray into smartphone operating systems and handsets. Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola, the handset maker, last May, took a big chunk out of the company's quarterly profits. This was the first quarter that the costs of the Motorola acquisition showed up on Google's earnings. Motorola also helps explain the most impressive number Google could report, a 45 percent growth in revenues over the year. Google's third-quarter revenue jumped from $9.7 billion to $14.1 billion, but $2.58 billion of that came from Motorola—more than half.
Google's core Web-and-search business, despite falling off in profitability, still reported strong results. Revenues from websites Google owns came in at $7.73 billion, about two thirds of Google's total revenue. Less payments to sites in Google's network for driving traffic to Google's ads, revenues came in at $11.33 billion, a 15 percent jump from third quarter of 2011. That's not bad. But it turns out that Google is having to spend more to get traffic. Cost-per-click, the revenue generated by an advertiser every time a user clicks on an ad placed by Google, decreased 15 percent since this time last year.
Which helps explain the foray into hardware. Larry Page, Google's CEO, spent a good chunk of his remarks before the earnings call hyping Google's new hardware: the Nexus 7 and the Chromebook, the ultrathin laptop manufactured by Samsung that bears a certain resemblance to another company's offerings (it's also much, much cheaper).
But here's the problem: hardware is a low-margin, tough industry for everyone besides Apple. IBM, America's original high-tech innovative-growth company, got out of the PC business in 2005, while HP and Dell are struggling. And with the PC market coming under pressure from Apple and smartbooks, Microsoft—the original hypergrowth company—is under pressure and trying to find something else that works. Ironically, Microsoft has been aiming at one of the markets that Google dominates.
As Google and Microsoft slug it out in hardware, online advertising, and search in future, Apple sits in its walled garden, looking on with a mix of indifference and glee.
1. From the first paragraph, we may infer that _____.
[A] Microsoft is still the giant player in search and advertising
[B] Google's core businesses had fueled impressive early growth
[C] lower-margin related businesses would have a bright future
[D] Google's revenue mainly comes from selling ads
2. The word “sagging” (Line 1, Paragraph 2) most probably means _____.
[A] rising
[B] descending
[C] variable
[D] steady
3. What had Google done to push into lower-margin related businesses?
[A] Google accidentally released its sagging earnings.
[B] Google had bought over half a billion Android devices.
[C] Google is investing into hardware.
[D] Google has devised a method to make money from its foray into smartphone operating systems and handsets.
4. We may infer from Google's practices that _____.
[A] the acquisition of Motorola has slashed Google's revenue growth
[B] Google's core business yields much less profits than before
[C] users click the mouse much than before
[D] Google is still backing its foray into hardware
5. The writer's attitude to Google's foray into hardware can be said as _____.
[A] biased
[B] objective
[C] sympathetic
[D] optimistic