I. Reading Comprehension

Text  1

    Competitors complain that Microsoft’s recent settlement of their antitrust case with the federal government will do little to protect them or consumers from the software giant’s monopoly power. But they hold out hope that state attorney generals could make the deal more restrictive. “My guess is that all Bill Gates could do was to suppress a big grin when he held his press conference this morning,” said Mitchell Kertzman, chief executive of Liberate Technologies, a rival provider of software for interactive TV. “This settlement does not come close to matching the scope of the violations of antitrust law that Microsoft has been convicted of, ” he added. “It was an inexplicably bad deal for the government.”

    Microsoft and the Justice Department presented the settlement to a federal judge this Friday, saying it would end the antitrust case in a way that would help the declining economy. U.S. District Judge Kollar-Kotelly agreed to review it and gave the 18 states involved in the case an opportunity until Tuesday to decide whether to accept the plan.

    Several competitors called on the state attorney generals to insist on making changes to the settlement. Sun Microsystems’ general counsel, Michael Morris, said the Justice Department was walking away from a case they had already won.’ Paul T. Cappuccio, the general counsel for AOL Time Warner, said the settlement “does too little to promote competition and protect consumers, and can too easily be evaded by a determined monopolist like Microsoft.”

    The state attorney generals had been pressing for stiffer penalties, but on Friday, several said some progress had been made. Among the key elements of the settlement, Microsoft would have to :

    - Help rivals make products compatible with the Windows operating system, which runs 91% of the world’s computers.

    - Stop using exclusive deals with computer sellers to put competitors at a disadvantage.

    - Let three in-house, independent experts monitor its compliance.

    “We are quite disappointed. We believe that there are a lot of issues that have not been addressed,” said Michael Mace, chief officer of handheld computer maker Palm, which makes an operating system that competes with one from Microsoft. Several tech executives said the settlement was too focused on restricting Microsoft’s Windows monopoly, and not its broader business practices and non-PC initiatives.

    “This is a reward, not a remedy. It fails to terminate the illegal monopoly and fails to free the market from anti-competitive conduct,” said Kelly Jo MacAuthur, general counsel for Real Networks, which makes music and video software threatened by Windows Media Player. “This agreement allows a declared illegal monopolist to determine, at its sole discretion, what goes into the monopoly operating system in the future,” she added.    (443 words)

Notes: antitrust 反托拉斯的。attorney general 首席检察官。grin n. 龇牙裂嘴地笑。inexplicably 无法说明地。walking away from 从…安然脱身。 press for 竭力要求。compatible with与…兼容的。 evade vt. 回避，规避。in-house 机构内部的。declared公然的，公开的。 at its discretion 随它的意思，由它斟酌决定。non-PC initiatives非个人计算机业务。

1. We can infer from the text that the main issue behind Microsoft’s antitrust case is the need __________.

A. to increase the strength of a declining economy in the U.S.
B. to limit the reach of Microsoft’s Windows operating system
C. to prevent Microsoft from monopolizing the computer software industry
D. to assist its competitors in making products compatible with Windows

2. The comments from Michael Morris and Paul T. Cappuccio (Para. 3) imply that the Justice Department __________.

A. had just wrapped up a successful antitrust case
B. missed a chance to more strictly regulate Microsoft
C. was leaving most of the work to the state attorney generals
D. had failed in their mission to protect business competition

3. The fourth paragraph suggests that some of the state attorney generals ___________.

A. felt that the settlement was at least partially successful
B. felt the penalties against Microsoft were too harsh
C. believed that the settlement was a sign of progress for the computer industry
D. were under pressure from the government to demand changes in the settlement

4. Many competitors’ attitude towards Microsoft’s antitrust agreement may be summarized as one of __________.

  A. indignation         B. indifference          C. repentance         D. frustration

5. The text is mainly about __________.

A. Microsoft’s monopoly over the computer industry in the United States
B. Microsoft’s settlement of their antitrust case with the federal government
C. competitors’ response to Microsoft’s antitrust settlement with the Government
D. the role of the federal government in managing disputes in the technology industry