In 1998, consumers could purchase virtually anythi...

第1题

In 1998 consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books, compact disc

s, and even stocks were available from World Wide Web Sites that seemed to spring up almost daily. A few years earlier, some people had predicted that consumers accustomed to shopping in stores would be reluctant to buy things that they could not see or touch in person. For a growing number of time-starved consumers, however, shopping from their home computer was proving to be a convenient alternative to driving to the store.

A research estimated that in 1998 US consumers would purchase $ 7.3 billion of goods over the Internet, double the 1997 total. Finding a bargain was getting easier, owing to the rise of online auctions and Web sites that did comparison shopping on the Internet for the best deal.

For all the consumer interest, retailing in cyberspace was still a largely unprofitable business, however. Internet pioneer Amazon. com, which began selling books in 1995 and later branched into recorded music and videos, posted revenue of $153.7 million in the third quarter, up from $37.9 minion in the same period of 1997. Overall, however, the company's loss widened to $45.2 million from $9.6 million, and analysts did not expect the company to turn a profit until 2001. Despite the great loss, Amazon. com had a stock market value of many billions, reflecting investors' optimism about the future of the industry.

Internet retailing appealed to investors because it provided an efficient means for reaching millions of consumers without having the cost of operating conventional stores with their armies of salespeople. Selling online carried its own risks, however. With so many companies competing for consumers' attention, price competition was intense and profit margins thin or nonexistent. One video retailer sold the hit movie Titanic for $9.99, undercutting the $19.99 suggested retail price and losing about $6 on each copy sold. With Internet retailing still in its initial stage; companies seemed willing to absorb such losses in an attempt to establish a dominant market position.

Which of the following is true, according to the writer？

A．Consumers are reluctant to buy things on the Internet.

B．Consumers are too busy to buy things on the Internet.

C．More and more consumers prefer Internet shopping.

D．Internet retailing is a profitable business.

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第2题

In 1998 consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books, compact disc

s, and even stocks were available from World Wide Web sites that seemed to spring up almost dally. A few years earlier, some people had predicted that consumers accustomed to shopping in stores would be reluctant to buy things that they could not see or touch in person. For a growing number of time-starved consumers, however, shopping from their home computer was proved to be a convenient alternative to driving to the store.

A research estimated that in 1998 US consumers would purchase $ 7.3 billion of goods over the Internet, double the 1997 total. Finding a bargain was getting easier owing to the rise of online auctions and Web sites that did comparison shopping on the Internet for the best deal.

For all the consumer interest, retailing in cyberspace was still a largely unprofitable business, however. Internet pioneer Amazon. com, which began selling books in 1995 and liter branched into recorded music and videos, posted revenue of $ 153.7 million in the third quarter, up from $ 37.9 million in the same period of 1997. Overall, however, the company's loss widened to $ 45.2 million from $ 9.6 million, and analysis did not expect the company to turn a profit until 2001. Despite the great loss, Amazon. com had a stock market value of many billions, reflecting investors' optimism about the future of the industry Internet retailing appealed to investors because it provided an efficient means for reaching millions of consumers without having the cost of operating conventional stores with their armies of salespeople. Selling online carried its own risks, however. With so many companies competing for consumers' attention, price competition was intense and profit margins thin or nonexistent. one video retailer sold the hit movie Titanic for $ 9. 99, undercutting (削价) the $ 19.99 suggested retail price and losing about $ 6 on each copy sold. With Internet retailing still in its initial stage, companies seemed willing to absorb such losses in an attempt to establish a dominant market position.

Which of the following is TRUE according to the writer？

A．Consumers are reluctant to buy things on the Internet.

B．Consumers are too busy to buy things on the Internet.

C．Internet retailing is a profitable business.

D．More and more consumers prefer Internet shopping.

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第3题

What Is a Tour Operator？ Tour operators are busine...

What Is a Tour Operator？ Tour operators are businesses that combine two or more travel services (e.g. transport, accommodation, catering, entertainment, sightseeing) and sell them through travel agencies or directly to final consumers as a single product (called a package tour). The components of a package tour might be preestablished, or can result from an“a la carte” procedure, where the visitor decides the combination of services she/he wishes to acquire. A tour operator is often described as an intermediary. As Cooper et al. (1998) have said: “ The principal role of intermediaries is to bring buyers andsellers together, either to create markets where they previously did not exist, or to make existing markets work more efficiently and thereby to expand marketsize... In all industries the task of intermediaries is to transform goods and services which consumers do not want, to a product that they do want.” Tour operators are the crucial link in the distribution chain,representing thecentral connection between customers and providers of services and therefore having the power to influence both sides, the demand and the supply, according to their interests. The product that a tour operator offers to the customer is the “inclusivetour”, i.e. the packaged combination of transport, accommodation and services. Due to bulk buying, the tour operator is able to offer this package at a cheaper price than the customer would have been able to achieve dealing directly with suppliers. This package is distributed to the customer either directly (e.g.direct sell, internet) or via a “middleman' tne travel agent,who arranges the sale the package for commission, usually 10% of the retail price. Tour operatorsan travel agents thus have very ditterent roles. The product that a tour operator offers to the customer is the “inclusive tour”, including () .

A、transport

B、accommodation

C、services

D、all of the above

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第4题

The digital revolution in consumer electronics, including personal computer gadgets, began

to gain momentum in 1998, and is expected to take a stronger hold of the market this year (1999).

In 1998 the consumer electronics industry set the groundwork for the switch to digital products from analogue products, as companies formed alliances and introduced new products in the personal computer gadget, digital camera and digital television arenas. Digital technology produces sharper, higher-resolution images and crisper sound.

Personal computer-type gadgets are perhaps most reflective of the oncoming digital age, and 3 Com Corp’s Palm Pilot is everyone's favorite example. It offers calendar and address book functions and the latest version will allow access to the Internet and real-time data such as stock quotes.

As PC gadgets become hot items, home networking will grow, and may eventually reach a level in which everything in the home is computerized.

In the near-term, however, networks that enable users to connect multiple PCs to printers and other PC gadgets in the home will grow, especially as users get broadband Internet access, analysts said.

Other digital products that have received attention recently include CD-writeable products, which allow consumers to record on compact discs, and minidisk players.

Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc. has elicited an uproar from record studios with its device that allows music to be downloaded from the Internet.

"We will see more varieties of products and different storage capacities coming to market-provided Diamond survives the litigation process here," said Kevin Hause, an analyst at International Data Corp. "It's going to be an interesting race to watch."

On the video end there is DVD, which is entering the home entertainment realm. However, Paine Webber said in its 1999 technology forecast that DVD will not make major progress in the market against CD-ROMs due to continued vendor wrangling over standardization.

Still, the products are attracting users. In the first 18 months of sales, 365,000 people started using CDs, 394,000 VCRs and 1.07 million DVDs, said Jeff Joseph of the Consumer Electronics Manufacturing Association (Cema).

Digital Video Disk Recorders are expected to be the next hot video item, as consumers become attracted to their real-time pause and personalized viewing abilities.

And then there was this past autumn's high-definition TV launch. The year 1998 witnessed digital TV's first steps toward the mainstream, with manufacturers and networks putting forth high-definition television (HDTV).

In November, digital signals were transmitted in major US markets and stores began carrying high-priced HDTV sets for curious consumers. Although some in the industry are pegging the advent of digital TV to be as momentous as the introduction of color TV, many industry analysts expect it to be a long time for the now costly technology to have any impact on the mainstream consumer.

Cema expects the industry to have sold about 150,000 HDTV sets by the end of 1999. However, other analysts are more conservative, saying it will take at least until 2(D2 or 2003 for all the issues involved to be set- fled and standardization to occur.

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage？

A．The digital revolution began in U.S..

B．Gadget products are welcomed by everyone.

C．The digital gadgets are expected to take a stronger hold of the market this year.

D．Only scientists are aware of the advantages of the digital products.

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第5题

The Microsoft antitrust trial inched close to a final ruling from U. S. District Judge Tho

mas Penfield Jackson on Tuesday, as the software vendor fried a brief refuting his contention that the company has a monopoly in PC operating systems. Microsoft also claimed that U. S. government prosecutors have not satisfied the burden of proof for any of their antitrust claims. Microsoft made the arguments in its proposed conclusions of law—a document of more than 100 pages—fried with the court Tuesday stating the company's interpretation of how antitrust law should be applied to Jackson's findings of fact. The software giant said having an extremely popular product—Windows—does not make it a monopolist. In his findings of fact issued November 5, 1999, Jackson said Microsoft "enjoys a monopoly" in the personal computer market. A month later the government and 19 U. S. states alleged in their proposed conclusions of law that Microsoft engaged in illegal "monopoly maintenance" to protect and extend Windows' dominance and then tried to monopolize the Internet browser market.

Microsoft refuted all those claims in its brief Tuesday, citing numerous cases and court findings over the past 30 years. The company said the case law demonstrates that it did not engage in anticompetitive conduct that contributed significantly to the maintenance of a monopoly. Microsoft also cited the June 1998 Appeals Court ruling that called the union of Windows and Internet Explorer "a genuine integration" The brief comes one week after reports began circulating that the government is preparing to propose the breakup of Microsoft into two or three parts.

It restates many of Microsoft's defenses, claiming that the integration of Web browsing software into Windows benefited millions of consumers and that the software vendor did not prevent users from obtaining Netscape Navigator. Jackson's findings of fact expressly found that "many—if not most—consumers can be said to benefit from Microsoft's provisions of Web browsing functionality with its Windows operating system at no additional charge," the document says. The brief further states that the findings of fact did not say that Microsoft acted with a specific intent to obtain monopoly power in the market for Web browsers. "The Court instead found that Microsoft attempted to increase Internet Explorer's usage share to such a level as would prevent Netscape Navigator… from becoming the 'standard' Web browsing software," the Microsoft brief said.

While the government argues that Microsoft's actions may have made it more difficult for Netscape to use certain channels of distribution, Microsoft's filing cites numerous cases that demonstrate that its actions were within the bounds of competition defined by the law. Microsoft also rejects the government's claim that its licensing agreements illegally prevent computer manufacturers from modifying the first screen that a user sees when Windows launches, saying the license merely restate rights that Microsoft enjoys under federal copyright law. The two sides in the trial, which began in October 1998, can now submit rebuttals to each other's conclusions of law. Oral arguments are scheduled for February 22, and a ruling is expected in the spring.

What conclusion did the government and 19 states draw on Microsoft's case？

A．Judge Jackson in his findings of fact issued November 5, 1999 said Microsoft "enjoys a monopoly" in the personal computer market.

B．Microsoft engaged in illegal "monopoly maintenance" to protect and extend Windows dominance and then tried to monopolize the Internet browser market.

C．The antitrust law should be applied to Jackson's findings of fact on Microsoft.

D．All of the above.

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第6题

After Tesco entered the Thai market in 1998 with its brand of colorful, well-stocked super

stores, angry local competitors tried to impede the powerhouse UK-based retailer's progress with a wall of lawsuits--including one that would have forced Tesco Lotus, the company's regional subsidiary, to shut off air-conditioning because chilly stores posed a public health hazard to the equatorial Thai people. Frivolous legal actions were a minor nuisance compared with what came next. Over a five-month period last year, two Tesco Lotus outlets were bombed, another peppered with automatic weapons fire and yet another hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Despite threats by governments to ban them, chains including France's Carrefour and U.S.-based Wal-Mart are ramping up plans to hundreds of new outlets throughout the region over the next several years. The onslaught threatens to run local retailers right out of business. Local retailers are not the only ones displaced when the superstore comes to town. Because of their high turnover, hypermarkets can throw their weight around with local suppliers by demanding lower prices. Costco buys directly from manufacturers to stock its two stores in Japan-a practice that disrupts the country's entrenched but inefficient distribution networks. That's not to say the foreigners are unstoppable. Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, tried and failed to crack the Hong Kong market in the 1990s. Hong Kong consumers seemed to prefer familiar neighborhood chain stores.

Undeterred, foreign hypermarkets have learned to adapt, often by forming joint ventures with domestic partners and by stocking local wares. "A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that when Wal-Mart comes to town, we set up exactly the same system as we do everywhere," says Holley of Wal-Mart. "But we take our best practices and customize it to each market."

Mike Sinegal, head of Costco's Japan operations, agrees that stores must trim their sails according to prevailing winds, but dismisses the notion that Asian consumers are very different from shoppers in, say, Los Angeles. When Costco entered Japan, he says, local suppliers insisted American shampoos wouldn't sell because Japanese hair is different. But Costco's private-label brand quickly became one of its top-selling products. "The bottom line is that the uniqueness of these markets is overrated," says Sinegal.

Local retailers assert that they are more aware of the local people and their consumption customs compared with the foreigners. Shoppers, however, don't seem to care. Because of economic globalization, it doesn't matter whether you are a foreign store or a domestic store. What's important is that you provide what local customers really need at a price that most people can afford.

What is the passage mainly about？

A．The influence of foreign superstores on Asia's economy.

B．The challenges that foreign superstores face in Asia.

C．The marketing strategies of famous foreign superstores in Asia.

D．The role of famous hypermarkets in the process of economic globalization.

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第7题

Section BDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by som

Section B

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.

Is there enough oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(保护区)(ANWR)to help secure America's energy future？ President Bush certainly thinks so. He has argued that tapping ANWR's oil would help ease California's electricity crisis and provide a major boost to the country's energy independence. But no one knows for sure how much crude oil lies buried beneath the frozen earth, with the last government survey, conducted in 1998, projecting output anywhere from 3 billion to 16 billion barrels.

The oil industry goes with the high end of the range, which could equal as much as 10% of U. S. consumption for as long as six years. By pumping more than 1 million barrels a day from the reserve for the next two to three decades, lobbyists claim, the nation could cut back on imports equivalent to all shipments to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. Sounds good. An oil boom would also mean a multibillion-dollar windfall(意外之财)in tax revenues, royalties(开采权使用费)and leasing fees for Alaska and the Federal Government. Best of all, advocates of drilling say, damage to the environment would be insignificant. "We've never had a document case of oil rig chasing deer out onto the pack ice," says Alaska State Representative Scott Ogan.

Not so fast, say environmentalists. Sticking to the low end of government estimates, the National Resources Defense Council says there may be no more than 3.2 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain of ANWR, a drop in the bucket that would do virtually nothing to ease America's energy problems. And consumers would wait up to a decade to gain any benefits, because drilling could begin only after much bargaining over leases, environmental permits and regulatory review. As for ANWR's impact on the California power crisis, environmentalists point out that oil is responsible for only 1% of the Golden State's electricity output and just 3% of the nation's.

What does President Bush think of tapping oil in ANWR？

A．It will exhaust the nation's oil reserves.

B．It will help secure the future of ANWR.

C．It will help reduce the nation's oil imports.

D．It will increase America's energy consumption.

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第8题

Is there enough oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge （ANWR)to help secure Ameri

Is there enough oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)to help secure America's energy future？ President Bush certainly thinks so. He has argued that tapping ANWR's oil would help ease California's electricity crisis and provide a major boost to the country's energy independence. But no one knows for sure how much crude oil lies buried beneath the frozen earth, with the last government survey, conducted in 1998, projecting output anywhere from 3 billion to 16 billion barrels.

The oil industry goes with the high end of the range, which could equal as much as 10% of U.S. consumption for as long as six years. By pumping more than 1 million barrels a day from the reserve for the next two to three decades, lobbyists claim, the nation could cut back on imports equivalent to all shipments to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. Sounds good. An oil boom would also mean a multibillion-dollar windfall(意外之才) in tax revenues, royalties (开采权使用费)and leasing fees for Alaska and the Federal Government. Best of all, advocates of drilling say, damage to the environment would be insignificant. "We've never had a documented case of an oil rig chasing deer out onto the pack ice," says Alaska State Representative Scott Ogan.

Not so fast, say environmentalists. Sticking to the low end of government estimates, the National Resources Defense Council says there may be no more than 3.2 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain of ANWR, a drop in the bucket that would do virtually nothing to ease America's energy problems. And consumers would wait up to a decade to gain any benefits, because drilling could begin only after much bargaining over leases, environmental permits and regulatory review. As for ANWR's impact on the California power crisis, environmentalists point out that oil is responsible for only 1% of the Golden State's electricity output—and just 3% of the nation's.

What does President Bush think of tapping oil in ANWR？

A．It will exhaust the nation's oil reserves.

B．It will help secure the future of ANWR.

C．It will help reduce the nation's oil imports.

D．It will increase America's energy consumption.

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第9题

6. Helping consumers develop interest is about _______.

A、Inviting consumers to use their own resources to look into the offer

B、giving consumers reasons to want to research further into the company’s offer

C、letting consumers know about the product

D、encouraging consumers to own the product

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第10题

A．clientsB．consumersC．merchantsD．businesses

A.clients

B.consumers

C.merchants

D.businesses

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In 1998, consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books, compact dis