Passage 1
For South Korea as a whole, that seems as much a prophecy as an ambition. Like Japan in the 1960s, the country is poised for an assault on the world’s export markets. Its surging $81 billion economy is churning out a flood of increasingly sophisticated products, from shoes, toys and telephones to video recorders and microprocessors. Korea’s mighty conglomerates dominate Middle East construction, and they command key shares of the world’s shipbuilding, textile and steel industries. Their affiliates, joint ventures and subsidiaries girdle the globe, stretching from Australia, Indonesia and India to Norway, Spain and Gabon, Hyundai and Daewoo, with annual sales of $10 billion and $6 billion respectively, are pushing into the U.S auto market, riveting the attention of American and Japanese manufacturers. Another colossus, the $9 billion Samsung, has started marketing a “supertech” 256K computer chip-encouraging some Koreans to speak confidently of the day 【when】 they will become the world’s second largest manufacturer of basic electronic components, 【outstripping】 America and running just behind Japan.
38.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “outstripping” in the last sentence?
【正确答案】：Surpassing, going beyond, exceeding.
