单选题 {{B}}练习八{{/B}}

The competition among producers of personal computers is essentially a race to get the best, most innovative products to the marketplace. Marketers in this environment frequently have to make a judgement as to their competitors' role when making marketing strategy decisions. If major competitors are changing their products, then a marketer may want to follow suit to remain competitive. Apple Computer, Inc. has introduced two new, faster personal computers, the Mackintosh II and Mackintosh SE, in anticipation of the introduction of a new PC by IBM, one of Apple's major competitors.
Apple's new computers are much faster and more powerful than its earlier models. The improved Mackintosh is able to run programs that previously were impossible to run on an Apple PC, including IBM-compatible (兼容的) programs. This compatibility feature illustrates computer manufacturers' new attitude of giving customers the features they want. Making Apple computers capable of running IBM computers and thus more popular in the office, where Apple hopes to increase sales. Users of the new Apple can. also add accessories (附件) to make their machines specialize in specific uses, such as engineering and writing.
The new computers represent a big improvement over past models, but they also cost much more. Company officials do not think the higher price will slow down buyers who want to step up to a more powerful computer. Apple wants to stay in the high-price end of the personal computer market to finance research for even faster, more sophisticated computers.
Even though Apple and IBM are major competitors, both companies realize that their competitor's computers have certain features that their own models do not. The Apple line has always been popular for its sophisticated color graphics (图形) , whereas the IBM machines have always been favored in offices. In the future, there will probably be more compatibility between the two companies' products, which no doubt will require that both Apple and IBM change marketing strategies.

单选题 According to the passage, Apple Computer, Inc. Has introduced tile Mackintosh II and the Mackintosh SE because ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据题中的信息得知，第一段最后一句，特别其中是in anticipation of the introduction of a new PC by IBM，one of Apple's major competitors部分为解此题的依据。In anticipation of意思是：“抢先，占……之先”。苹果公司推出新产品是为了“在其主要竞争对手IBM公司推出新的个人微机前抢先一步”，也即要在充满竞争的计算机市场中走在IBM前面，因此C为正确选项。

单选题 Apple hopes to increase Mackintosh sales chiefly by ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据题中的信息找到第二段的倒数第二句为解此题的依据。此句结构比较复杂，它包含一个由where引导的状语从句，该从句修饰限定at making the Mackintosh compatible with IBM computers and thus more popular in the office。该状语从句的意思是：“使Mackintosh计算机兼容IBM计算机，从而使它更受办公人员青昧，苹果公司希望借此来提高它的销量。”四个选项中，只有A表达了同样的意思，即：“苹果公司希望主要通过使其新的计算机品种能够运行 IBM的软件来提高其销量。”因此A为正确答案。

单选题 Apple sells its new computers at high prices because ______.

单选题 It can be inferred that both Apple and IBM try to gain a competitive advantage by ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】此题问：从文章中可以看出，IBM和Apple公司都想通过什么方式保持各自的竞争优势?将四个选项逐一与原文对照，A和C显然错。通过抄袭彼此的技术，或使计算机的价格更昂贵来保持竞争优势，这不符合常理，原文也未提及，因此A和C可以排除。D选项虽然乍一看似有道理，但回顾全文，文章并未将这一点作为保持竞争优势的方法提出，因此也可排除。文章最后一段的第一句后面部分说：“两个公司都意识到，它们的竞争对手生产的计算机具有某些它们自己的品种所不具备的特点”，即彼此都具备某些对方所不具备的特点，以此保持它们各自的竞争优势，这与B所表达的意思基本相符，因此B为正确选项。

单选题 The best title for the passage would be ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】此题为中心思想题。纵观全文，一开始作者就提出个人计算机生产者之间的竞争是生产最好、最新计算机产品的竞争，然后主要介绍Apple公司是如何推出新的计算机产品以保持其与IBM公司的竞争优势的，最后又指出，将来这两家公司的计算机产品的兼容性将加大，它们都需要调整营销策略(以保持它们的竞争优势)。通篇都谈到竞争，而竞争是两种事物的竞争，因此A为正确答案。B、C和D都只提到一方，因此作为标题都偏题，都可排除。