单选题 Reebok executives do not like to hear their stylish athletic shoes called "footwear for yuppies". They contend that Reebok shoes appeal to diverse market segments, especially now that the company offers basketball and children's shoes for the under-18 set and walking shoes for older customers not interested in aerobics or running. The executives also point out that through recent acquisitions they have added hiking boots, dress and casual shoes, and high-performance athletic footwear to their product lines, all of which should attract new and varied groups of customers.
Still, despite its emphasis on new markets, Reebok plans few changes in the upmarket (高档消费人群的)retailing network that helped push sales to $ 1 billion annually, ahead of all other sports shoe marketers. Reebok shoes, which are priced from $ 27 to $ 85, will continue to be sold only in better specialty, sporting goods, and department stores, in accordance with the company' s view that consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution.
In the past few years, the Massachusetts-based company has imposed limits on the number of its distributors (and the number of shoes supplied to stores), partly, out of necessity. At times the unexpected demand for Reebok' s exceeded supply, and the company could barely keep up with orders from the dealers it already had. These fulfillment problems seem to be under control now, but the company is still selective about its distributors. At present, Reebok shoes are available in about five thousand retail stores in the United States.
Reebok has already anticipated that walking shoes will he the next fitness-related craze, replacing aerobics shoes the same way its brightly colored, soft leather exercise footwear replaced conventional running shoes. Through product diversification and careful market research, Reebok hopes to avoid the distribution problems Nike came across several years ago, when Nike misjudged the strength of the aerobics shoe craze and was forced to unload huge inventories of running shoes through discount stores.

单选题 One reason why Reebok' s managerial personnel don' t like their shoes to be called "footwear for yuppies" is that ______.
A. they believe that their shoes are popular with people of different age groups
B. new production lines have been added to produce inexpensive shoes
C. "yuppies" usually evokes a negative image
D. the term makes people think of prohibitive prices
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 这是一道细节题。
[详细解答] 题干中的“managerial personnel”即为第一段的executives,因此可知本题答案在第一段且为该段之主题:目标市场为多大,高层领导们当然不希望自己的产品仅供应一些雅皮士,再由下文之“children’s shoes for the under-18 set and walking shoes for older customers”更可知其目标消费是多高层次的。容易错选的选项B侧重公司的生产策略,故不妥。
单选题 Reebok's view that "consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution" (Para. 2) implies that __.
A. the quality of a brand is measured by the service quality of the store selling it
B. the quality of a product determines the quality of its distributors
C. the popularity of a brand is determined by the stores that sell it
D. consumers believe that first-rate products are only sold by high-quality stores
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 这是…道理解题。
[详细解答] 题干引号中那部分在第二段,答案当然应在第二段,而该段主要沦及高档消费群体的零售网,只在精品专卖店、体育用品专卖店及大百货商场销售。
单选题 Reebok once had to limit the number of its distributors because ______.
A. its supply of products fell short of demand
B. too many distributors would cut into its profits
C. the reduction of distributors could increase its share of the market
D. it wanted to enhance consumer confidence in its products
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 这是一道理解题。
[详细解答] 根据题干中“limit the number of distributors”确定答案在第三段,该段论及即使产品供不应求时,也要对批发商有所选择。
单选题 Although the Reebok Company has solved the problem of fulfilling its orders, it ______.
A. does not want to further expand its retailing network
B. still limits the number of shoes supplied to stores
C. is still particular about who sells its products
D. still carefully chooses the manufacturers of its products
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 这是一道细节题。
[详细解答] 题干中的“although”与短文第三段倒数第二句之“but,”相呼应,答案即为该句的复述。
单选题 What lesson has Reebok learned from Nike's distribution problems?
A. A company should not sell its high quality shoes in discount stores.
B. A company should not limit its distribution network.
C. A company should do follow-up surveys of its products.
D. A company should correctly evaluate the impact of a new craze on the market.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 这是一道理解题。
[详细解答] 由Nike(耐克)一词确定答案位置在最后一段,市场预测与决策。Nike公司正是由于当时错误地判断了健身鞋流行的程度而导致了老产品(running shoes)的积压而不得不打折销售——这是市场预测不准确导致的。