单选题Passage 10 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 else where, 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 Israel. "Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, 'Let's be nicer,'" says Itsik Cohen, director of a consulting firm. "Nothing happens without competition." Privatization, or the threat of it, is a motivation as well. Monopolies 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 E1 A1 Airlines, which is already at auction, 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.
单选题
It may be inferred from the passage that A. customer service in Israel is now improving. B. wealthy Israeli customers are hard to please. C. the tourist industry has brought chain stores to Israel. D. Israeli customers prefer foreign products to domestic ones.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】推论题。纵观全文可知,本文主要谈论的正是近年来以色列服务水平的提高,所以A项正确。文章第一句话是说消费者对厂家和商家的要求日益提高,而不是消费者很难被取悦(hard to please),所以B不对;文中是说去国外旅游的人增多了,大量美国公司进入以色列,但并没有说旅游业将连锁店(chain store)带入了以色列,所以C也不对;文中只是说以色列入出国享受到好的服务后,也希望在国内享受到同样的服务水平,并不是说更喜欢国外的产品,所以D也不对。
单选题
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.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题。文中第一段最后一句话说“Nothing happens without competition.”。这说明C项正确。文中没有提到A;国外公司大量进入可以形成竞争,但不是高标准服务的直接、根本原因,所以B不对;文中是说对服务标准的高要求导致了商家对员工的严格培训,而不是相反,所以D也不对。
单选题
If someone in Israel today needs a repairman in case of a power failure, 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.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】细节题。文章第二段第六句话说“Now,appointments are scheduled to the half-hour.”,这与D项的意思相符。A、B、C都与文章的意思不符。
单选题
The example of E1 A1 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.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】结构题。例子出现在第二段,根据该段中的“…monopolies that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear…”可知,A项正确。举出夸张的广告词只是说明它们受到的冲击和影响有多大,而不是说打广告本身的作用,所以B不对;C、D也与文章的意思不符。
单选题
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.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】细节题。文中Perry的评论“People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service.”就是对Bezaq's international branch lost 40% of its market share的解释。B项正是对Perry的话的改写,并且根据前面的the revengeful customer也可知B正确。A与文章的意思相反;文中是说该电话公司以前的服务不好,但不能说明国外的公司就特别好,所以C不对;文中没有说明该公司业务下降是否和government有关,所以D也不对。