单选题 In the first episode of "Six Feet Under", a popular American television show aired earlier this decade, a large corporation tries to buy a family-owned funeral home (even making overtures at the patriarch's own burial). The owners of Salem Funerals & Cremations, based in Winston-Salem, can relate to that. In 1991 Service Corporation International (SCI), the largest funeral chain in America, bought their formerly family-owned business, one of the oldest in America. But last year they broke free from SCI and started Salem, which is now using low prices and simple services to wrest market share from their cross-town corporate rival.
Thus continues the unending tug-of war between corporate and family-owned funeral homes in America. It is a strange industry: more than 85% of funeral homes are still owned by families or independent firms (similar perhaps to dry-cleaning shops but not much else). Just 3,000 of 22,000 funeral homes are owned by big corporations, estimates George Clarke, executive director of an association of independent funeral homes. Houston-based SCI is the biggest of the corporates, claiming a 14% share of revenues from "death care", as they tactfully call their business.
Public death-care companies are not exactly in rude health themselves. SCI's share price, despite nearly doubling in the past year, stands at less than one-third of its level in the late 1990s; its biggest rival, Stewart Enterprises, is just over $7, down from $28 at its peak in 1998. The trouble was a wave of consolidation during the 1980s and 1990s. Funeral-home companies thought they could grow by acquisition and cut costs through consolidation. But they overpaid amid a scramble to buy independent funeral homes, and found that they could not wring big savings out of them.
Death, although recession-proof, is not a growth business (even though baby boomers are getting on), so SCI is trying to increase its margins. In recent years it has adopted a new strategy, cutting prices for caskets and urns while concentrating on selling bundles of services, says David Hass, a managing director. In 2005-06, average revenues per funeral service at SCI rose by an impressive 9% (or $394 per service), whereas the number of funeral services performed fell by 5.8%. SCI has also gone for branding. Its chain of "Dignity Memorial" funeral homes offers such services as a "24- hour compassion helpline" and advice on securing bereavement fares from airlines. The company says the brand is doing well: it is rolling out a Hispanic version, Funeraria del Angel, targeted at Latinos, complete with bilingual staff and the option of 24-hour viewing of the deceased.
Independents say that the corporates' prices are too high, and that their service is too impersonal for such a delicate business. "Everything is bottom-line oriented," complains Jim Weeks, who recently bought back the funeral home once owned by his family in Savannah, Georgia, from SCI.
Whatever the price, both corporates and independents will be troubled by the growing popularity of cremations. These are much less costly than burials. Richard Puryear of Salem Funerals and Cremations estimates that a typical burial costs $6,400, whereas cremations average at best $2,800. In 2005 about 32% of funerals in America were cremations, up from 26% in 2000, according to the Cremation Association of North America. It expects the number to rise to 46% by 2025. SCI is responding by withdrawing from the cheapest cremations and going for more lucrative packages. Already 41% of its business comes from cremations (above the national average because its business is concentrated along the coast, where cremations are especially popular). "We expect it could be 50% in the next five to ten years," if not higher, says Mr.Hass.
Family operators face an extra hurdle. It is hard to persuade young people to get involved in the business, which is not just gloomy but also grueling: undertakers are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most of the staff of independent funeral homes are 45 or older, says Mr.Puryear. So death could yet be their undoing.
单选题 The first episode of "Six Feet Under" is mentioned in the first paragraph to
  • A. introduce the topic of funeral home.
  • B. relate the owners of Salem Funerals & Cremations.
  • C. show the popularity of an American television show.
  • D. bring about the history of family-owned funeral homes.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。文章首句提到了《六英尺下》这部美剧。该句说，在该剧的第一集中，有个大公司打算买下一家由家庭经营的殡仪馆；接着第二句又说，这实际是在影射……。联系全文主题，可知作者提到这部美剧的目的是为了引出殡仪馆这一话题，故A正确。B的内容虽与原文第二句相符，但犯了就事论事的错误，没有联系文章主题。C“表明美剧的流行程度”、D”引出家庭式殡仪馆的历史”也脱离了文章的主题。
单选题 What makes funeral business a strange industry?
  • A. Smaller funeral homes occupy a very large market share.
  • B. Family operators or independents take a large proportion in funeral business.
  • C. Funeral business has a lot in common with dry-cleaning shops.
  • D. Big corporations are also involved in funeral business.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。由题干关键词strange industry将信息定位于第二段第二句。该句冒号后面的内容解释了殡葬服务业是一个奇特的产业的原因，即85%的殡葬业是由家庭或独立的公司所有，B与此相符，故为答案。A“小的殡仪馆占有很大的市场份额”是对原句的过度推断。文中提到“家庭或独立公司在殡葬业中占有很大市场份额”这一点与干洗店类似，故排除C“殡葬业与干洗店有很多的共同之处”是对原句括号里的内容的曲解，明显与原文相悖。D“大公司也涉足殡葬行业”是根据该段后两句设置的干扰，显然也不是题干问及的原因。
单选题 "In rude health" in the first sentence of Paragraph Three probably means
  • A. in bad health.
  • B. strong and healthy.
  • C. profit-making.
  • D. loss-making.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 语义理解题。题干关键词出现在第三段第一句，即段落主题句中。接着，该段后面的内容通过举SCI、斯图尔特和家庭式殡葬公司的例子说明了他们都面临困难。由此看出，整个殡葬业的情况不容乐观。所以首句要表达的也应该正是这一层含义。既然are not exactly in rude health意为“情况不好”，那么in rude health就应该表示“情况妤”之意故答案为B。C有一定的干扰性，但该段并没有谈到“盈利”的问题，故不选。
单选题 To cope with the difficulty that funeral business faces, SCI has done the following EXCEPT
  • A. to lower the prices of some funeral goods.
  • B. to provide various related services.
  • C. to open more chain stores.
  • D. to build a brand.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。浏览选项后，可将信息定位于第四段。由该段第二句可知，A、B都是SCI采取过的措施。该段第四句又说，SCI还努力树立品牌，这与D的内容也一致。故本题选C，选项中的chain出自该段第五句，但选项所述内容“开更多的连锁店”在原文找不到依据。
单选题 The problem threatening big corporations and independents is that
  • A. they are criticized for high prices.
  • B. cremations are gradually replacing burials.
  • C. the average costs of cremations are growing.
  • D. they are suffering from a shortage of manpower.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。原文第六段首句谈到大公司和私人公司都会因为火化的不断普及而遇到困难；该段后面的内容具体淡到火化的普及是怎样影响这些公司的。由此可见，大公司和私人公司所面临的共同威胁就是B。A利用第五段第一句中的prices are too high设置干扰，但criticized纯属无中生有。文中并没有提到火葬的平均成本在增长，故C也不对。D“它们遭受劳动力短缺”是尾段所谈到的家庭式经营所面临的问题，故也应排除。