Soft-drink sales have been declining for nine straight years. This is much more than a trend—it' s a fundamental shift in consumer tastes that【C1】______a major problem for soda makers, no matter how【C2】______their product combination might be. The latest numbers are astonishing, but not surprising. Sales of soda fell 3 %【C3】______volume in 2013 , to the lowest levels since 1995 , 【C4】______to a report from Beverage Digest issued on Monday. That would be a big【C5】______no matter what, and it' s more than double 2012 ' s decline. People are moving away from soda at a(n)【C6】______rate. At this point, companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsico must be【C7】______not on what they' re doing to save their flagship brands, but on how well they're【C8】______those brands' decline. Of course that' s not easy for companies that are named for those very brands, so they're still crazily trying to【C9】______how to at least stop the losses, even as they wisely continue to invest in【C10】______like energy drinks, sports drinks, and flavored water. Pepsico took measures such as trying a new bottle design and signing with Beyoncd, 【C11】_______sales have continued to decrease. And the hoped-for savior of the business—diet drinks with【C12】______sweeteners—are no help. Up until a few years ago, sales of diet sodas were falling at about the same rate as the sugar-filled ones. Now they're actually falling faster【C13】______consumers continue to hear about health【C14】______. Just yesterday, a study was released indicating that consumption of diet soda can【C15】______the risk of cardiovascular disease in older women. But health concerns are not the only problem. If they were, it would seem【C16】______that energy drinks, sports beverages, coffee-based beverages, and flavored waters would be taking up the slack. But they are. That' s a further【C17】______that what' s doing soda in is the increase of【C18】______in the beverage aisle, especially those【C19】______at young people, a growing number of whom think of Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Pepsi—Beyond notwithstanding—【C20】______the stuff their grandparents drank in the old days.
单选题
【C1】
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：本题考查动词辨析。此处意为“这个转变对汽水生产商们——重大的问题”，纵观四个选项，只有pose a problem“提出问题”为常见搭配，指汽水销量下滑的现状给生产商们带来了问题，因此B．poses符合题意。make a problem“制造问题”，与原文不符。put与forward搭配意为“提出”，不能单独与problem搭配，offer不与problem连用。
【答案解析】解析：本题考查介词辨析。此处Sales of soda fell 3％______volume in 2013的大意为“2013年，汽水在销量方面下跌了3％”，介词by有“依，按照”之意，符合题意，此处by volume可译为“在销量方面”，因此C．by为正确答案。of, at，on均没有此含义，故排除。
【答案解析】解析：本题考查名词辨析。根据语境，本句的that应指上文的Sales of soda fell 3％by volume in 2013，再观察选项可知此处需要填入一个表示数据变化的名词。既然上文有fell，那么对应的下文应该是表示“下降”之意，因此B．drop正确。loss“损失”与题意无关，change“变化"太笼统，无法表示增长或降低，rise“上升”与题意相反。