阅读理解 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 re-position 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.

单选题 According to the passage, when people grow fond of one particular brand of a product, its sales will ________.

单选题 The first paragraph tells us that a new product is ________

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】推断题。题目询问文章第1段告诉了我们有关新产品的什么情况。在第1段，作者以速溶咖啡为例，向我们介绍了新产品的四个不同销售时期。特别根据第2句“当速溶咖啡刚刚上市时，大多数人并不像喜欢‘普通，咖啡那样喜欢它，几年之后人们才普遍接受它(熟悉接受期)”。可见，需要花很长的时间新产品才能为公众所接受，即D项。

单选题 Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to ________

单选题 The author mentions the example of "backpacks" ( Line 4, Para. 2 ) to show the importance of________

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】推断题。题目询问作者举“背包”这个例子是要表明什么的重要性。例子一般用于证明其前面一句话或段落主题句。根据backpacks所在句子的前一句，即第2段第3句“其中一种策略叫做市场调整，这就是说营销经理寻找新的顾客和市场”。显然，“背包”这个例子就是用来说明开发新的市场的重要性。故选B项

单选题 In order to recover their share of the world market, U.S. auto makers are ________

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】推断题。题目询问为了重新获得世界市场的占有率，美国汽车制造商做了些什么。根据题目中的U．S．auto makers查找到最后一段第3句“American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture world markets．”故选含有关键词quality的A项。