Passage One
In recent years, Israeli consumers have grown more demanding as they’ ve become wealthier and more worldly-wise. Foreign travel is a national passion；this summer alone, one in 10 citizens will go abroad. Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere, Israelis are returning home expecting the same. American firms have also begun arriving in large numbers. Chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are setting a new standard of customer service, using strict employee training and constant monitoring to ensure the friendliness of frontline staff. Even the American habit of telling departing customers to “Have a nice day” has caught on all over
Privatization, or the threat of it，is a motivation as well. Monopolies（垄断者）that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry, a marketing professor, calls“the revengeful（报复的）consumer”. When the government opened up competition with Bezaq, the phone company, its international branch lost 40% of its market share, even while offering competitive rates. Says Perry,“People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service.” The electric company, whose monopoly may be short-lived, has suddenly stopped requiring users to wait half a day for a repairman. Now, appointments are scheduled to the half-hour. The graceless El Al Airlines, which is already at auction (拍卖), has retrained its employees to emphasize service and is boasting about the results in an ad campaign with the slogan, “You can feel the change in the air.” For the first time, praise outnumbers complaints on customer survey sheets.
1. It may be inferred from the passage that .
A. customer service in
B. wealthy Israeli customers are hard to please
C. the tourist industry has brought chain stores to
D. Israeli customers prefer foreign products to domestic ones
2. In the author’ s view，higher service standards are impossible in Israel .
A. if customer complaints go unnoticed by the management
B. unless foreign companies are introduced in greater numbers
C. if there’s no competition among companies
D. without strict routine training of employees
3. If someone in
A. they can have it fixed in no time
B. it’s no longer necessary to make an appointment
C. the appointment takes only half a day to make
D. they only have to wait half an hour at most
4. The example of El Al Airlines shows that .
A. revengeful customers are a threat to the monopoly of enterprises
B. an ad campaign is a way out for enterprises in financial difficulty
C. a good slogan has great potential for improving service
D. staff retraining is essential for better service
5. Why did Bezaq’ s international branch lose 40% of its market share？
A. Because the rates it offered were not competitive enough.
B. Because customers were dissatisfied with its past service.
C. Because the service offered by its competitors was far better.
D. Because it no longer received any support from the government.
Passage Two
We can see how the product life cycle works by looking at the introduction of instant coffee. When it was introduced, most people did not like it as well as “regular” coffee and it took several years to gain general acceptance（introduction stage）. At one point, though, instant coffee grew rapidly in popularity and many brands were introduced（stage of rapid growth）. After a while people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off（stage of maturity）. Sales went into a slight decline（衰退）when freeze-dried coffees were introduced（stage of decline）.
The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: Different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Did you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the military？
Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may reposition the product to appeal to new market sections.
Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changing product quality, features, or style to attract new users or more usage from present users. American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture world markets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year to year to keep demand from falling.
6. According to the passage，when people grow fond of one particular brand of a product，its sales will .
A. decrease gradually
B. improve enormously
C. become unstable
D. remain at the same level
7. The first paragraph tells us that a new product is .
A. usually introduced to satisfy different tastes
B. often inferior to old ones at first
C. often more expensive than old ones
D. not easily accepted by the public
8. Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to .
A. work out marketing policies
B. promote its production
C. increase its popularity
D. speed up its life cycle
9. The author mentions the example of “backpacks”（Line 4，Para.2 ）to show the importance of .
A. increasing usage among students
B. exploring new market sections
C. pleasing the young as well as the old
D. serving both military and civil needs
10. In order to recover their share of the world market,
A. improving product quality C. repositioning their product in the market
B. modernizing product style D. increasing product features
参考答案
Passage One
［短文大意］这是一篇说明文，主要介绍以色列服务质量提高的原因。文章第一段介绍了服务质量之所以能够得到提高是因为当今的消费者更为富有和挑剔，同时还因为竞争机制的存在。第二段主要介绍了以色列服务质量提高的另一个重要原因：一些私营业主或垄断企业由于害怕消费者的“报复”而改善服务质量。
［题目解释］
1. A. 归纳推断题。首先，从原文第一段第三句“Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere，Israelis are returning home expecting the same”可知：由于在国外享受到了更高质量的服务，以色列人回到国内后也要求同样质量的服务。其次，从第一段所举的已落脚以色列的肯德基、麦当劳等国外连锁店优质服务也给以色列的服务行业带来了竞争和压力。基于这两方面的原因，可以推断出：以色列的服务质量正在提高。因此，正确答案是A选项，而其他选项均与原文表述不符。
2. C. 细节题。可套用公式正确答案≈原文中含有题干关键词的一句话—题干关键词。根据对原文第一段主要意思的把握和对第26题的分析可知：题干关键词“higher service standards are impossible”等同于原文第一段最后一句“Nothing happens without competition”中的“Nothing happens”。因此，去掉该词后所剩部分“without competition”就是答案所在，据此可找到答案选项中与它同义的表达C选项。从原文无法推出其他三个选项所表达的含义。
3. D. 细节题。可套用公式正确答案≈原文中含有题干关键词的一句话—题干关键词。 根据题干关键词“a repairman in case of a power failure”可迅速找到它在原文中的出处——第二段第五句。题干中的“a power failure”（停电）对应的是原句中的“The electric company”。但是，该句本身只是概括地介绍了现在不需要使用者等待半天的时间，并没有说明现在究竟要等多长时间。真正的答案出现在第六句“Now，appointments are scheduled to the half-hour”。因此，正确答案是D选项。
4. A. 细节题中的例子说明题型。可套用公式正确答案≈具体事例前的概述语。El Al Airlines的例子和前面的Bezaq电话公司、电力公司例子一样都是用来说明第二段的主要内容：第二段第二句“Monopolies（垄断者）that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry，a marketing professor，calls‘the revengeful（报复的）consumer.’”的具体事例。因此，正确答案是A选项。
5. B. 细节题。可套用公式正确答案≈原文中含有题干关键词的一句话—题干关键词。根据题干关键词“Bezaq’s international branch lose 40% of its market share”可迅速找到它在原文中的出处——原文第二段第三句。正确答案在紧随其后的第四句“People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service”中。据此可在答案选项中寻找相似的表达。因此，正确答案是B选项。
Passage Two
［短文大意］本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍了产品生命周期的四个阶段以及销售者应当采取的可以延长产品销售周期的策略。文章第一段以速溶咖啡的销售为例介绍了一个产品的销售周期通常经历的四个阶段：推出期、增长期、成熟期和衰退期。第二、第三段介绍了为了延长产品的销售周期，销售者采取的市场调节措施；第四段介绍了销售者采取的产品调节措施。
［题目解释］
6. D. 细节题。可套用公式正确答案≈原文中含有题干关键词的一句话-题干关键词。根据题干关键词“people grow fond of one particular brand of a product”可以迅速找到本题在原文中的出处——第一段倒数第二句。该句去掉和题干关键词同义的“people became attached to one brand”后所剩的“sales leveled off”就是答案。本题的关键就是要清楚“level off”是“稳定”的意思。因此，正确答案应是D选项。如果不知道“level off”的意思，也可以通过上下文来猜测。根据原文该句后面所跟的括号中“stage of maturity”（成熟期），并结合前后的两个阶段分别是迅速增长期和衰退期，可以判断第三个阶段应当是平稳期。
7. D. 推断题。第一段以速溶咖啡的销售为例介绍了推出一个新产品通常要经历的四个销售阶段：推出期、增长期、成熟期和衰退期。答案选项中和该段意思相符的是D选项，它指的是在推出期，一个新产品通常并不容易为大家接受。原文中的依据是第一段第二句。
8. A. 细节题。可套用公式正确答案≈原文中含有题干关键词的一句话—题干关键词。首先根据题干关键词“Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in”找到本题在原文中的出处——第二段第一句。然后去掉该句中和原文同义的部分。这时，该句所剩的“Different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies”就是答案所在。这就是销售者需要了解这四个阶段的意义：要相应地调整市场策略。据此可以判断A选项是正确答案。
9. B. 细节题中的例子说明题。可套用公式正确答案≈例子前的一句概述的话。根据题干中给出的位置提示可以轻松地找到本题在原文中的出处——第二段最后一句。这是事例本身。它之前的概述“It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections”就是这个例子要说明的问题。据此可以判断B选项是正确答案。作者举现在年轻人用的背包最初来自军用背包的这个例子来说明销售者要不断寻找新的消费者、开拓新的消费市场的重要性。
10. A. 细节题。可套用公式正确答案≈原文中含有题干关键词的一句话—题干关键词。根据很有提示意义的题干关键词“U.S. auto makers”可以迅速找到本题在原文中的出处——最后一段的倒数第二句。该句去掉和题干重复的部分后所剩的“using quality improvement”就是答案所在。据此很容易找到正确答案A选项。在做这道题的时候要特别注意同义替换的现象。题干中用makers替换了原文中的manufacturers；用recover their share of the world market替换了recapture world markets；正确答案用动宾结构替换了原文的名词词组。
