Passage 2
According to the traditional belief of visitors that Sydney was a good place for a holiday rather than somewhere to make money—an activity better fitted to Singapore and Hong Kong. But “that viewpoint is now outdated,“ says New South Wales Premier Bob Carr. He wants to reposition Sydney as a strategic center for global financial services by taking advantage of international finance restructuring and the recent Asian economic crisis. Becoming a regional hub for mega(巨大的)-banks, funds managers and insurance groups would attract other (telecommunications providers, law firms, chartered accountants), create jobs, stimulate construction. ”We want to become the Wall Street of East Asia,“ says Federal Finance Services Minister Joe Hockey.
Australia traditionally made a living by using its buried treasures rather than its brains. The drive to make Sydney a financial center is part of the country’s shift from resources to knowledge-intensive services. And the politicians are basing their promotional pitch(计划) on the sweeping（大规模的） policy reforms that have turned Australia from one of the world’s most insular and protected economies into one that is open and entrepreneurial. But despite recent tax changes and Hockey calls “the most significant undertaken in our history”, some senior industry figures say Sydney may not have all it takes to outdo the attractions of Australia’s regional rivals. “We are a relatively small country a long way from the major population centers and hence the customers that drive activity,” Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Battelino told a recent Senate hearing on financial services. The politicians disagree: communications technology, they insist, is making Australia’s location irrelevant.
50.Communication technology may overcome the disadvantage of Australia’s location.
A、True
B、False
【正确答案】：A
【名师解析】:根据文章内容，新南威尔士州总理Bob Carr希望将悉尼重新定位为全球金融服务的战略中心，利用国际金融结构调整和最近的亚洲经济危机。联邦金融服务部长Joe Hockey表示，他们希望悉尼成为东亚的华尔街。文章中提到，澳大利亚传统上依靠其自然资源而不是智力来生存，现在正从资源密集型经济转向知识密集型服务。政治家们基于大规模的政策改革来推广悉尼，这些改革已经将澳大利亚从一个世界上最封闭和受保护的经济体转变为一个开放和具有企业家精神的经济体。
然而，尽管有最近税收变化和Hockey所说的“我们历史上最重要的变化”，一些行业资深人士表示，悉尼可能没有足够的吸引力来超越澳大利亚区域竞争对手的吸引力。澳大利亚储备银行助理州长Battelino在最近的一次金融服务参议院听证会上说：“我们是一个相对小的国家，远离主要的人口中心，因此也远离推动活动的顾客。”但是政治家们不同意这一点：他们坚持认为，通信技术正在使澳大利亚的地理位置变得无关紧要。
根据这些信息，选项A "True" 是正确的，因为文章中明确提到政治家们认为通信技术正在使澳大利亚的地理位置变得无关紧要，这表明通信技术可能会克服澳大利亚地理位置的劣势。
