阅读理解 High-quality customer service is preached by many, but actually keeping customers happy is easier said than done
Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a retail store, but instead will alert their friends, relatives, co-workers, strangers and anyone who will listen.
Store managers are often the last to hear complaints, and often find out only when their regular customers decide to frequent their competitors, according to a study jointly conducted by Verde group and Wharton school. "Storytelling hurts retailers and entertains consumers," said Paula Courtney, President of the Verde group." the store loses the customer, but the shopper must also find a replacement."
On average, every unhappy customer will complain to at least four other, and will no longer visit the specific store for every dissatisfied customer, a store will lose up to three more due to negative reviews. The resulting "snowball effect" can be disastrous to retailers. According to the research, shoppers who purchased clothing encountered the most problems, ranked second and third were grocery and electronics customers.
The most common complaints include filled parking lots, cluttered (塞满了的)
shelves, overloaded racks, out-of-stock items, long check-out lines, and rude salespeople. During peak shopping hours, some retailers solved the parking problems by getting moonlighting local police to work as parking attendants. Some hired flag wavers to direct customers to empty parking spaces. This guidance eliminated the need for customers to circle the parking lot endlessly, and avoided confrontation between those eyeing the same parking space.
Retailers can relieve the headaches by redesigning store layouts, pre-stocking sales items, hiring speedy and experienced cashiers, and having sales representatives on hand to answer questions. Most importantly, salespeople should be diplomatic and polite with angry customers. "Retailers who're responsive and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those who aren't so friendly." said Professor Stephen Hoch. "Maybe something as simple as a greeter at the store entrance would help."
Customers can also improve future shopping experiences by filing complaints to the retailer, instead of complaining to the rest of the world. Retailers are hard-pressed to improve when they have no idea what is wrong.

单选题 21.Why are store managers often the last to hear complaints?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】本题是问为什么商场经理总是最后才听到顾客的抱怨。根据题干信息词定位至原文第三段第一句。从其前面的一句话里我们看到：Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a retail store，hut instead will alert their friends，relatives，co-workers，strangers—and anyone who will listen．这一句给出了答案，要特别注意转折连词but instead，表示消费者很少直接投诉，他们更倾向的做法是提醒自己的亲朋好友，也就是选项[B]的同义替换。其他三个选项都属于主观臆测，文章中并没有提及。

单选题 22.What does Paula Courtney imply by saying "... the shopper must also find a replacement" (Paragraph 3)?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据题干定位至原文第三段最后一句，不难看出某个商店因为让顾客不满而失去该顾客，顾客还是会找到其他商店消费，replacement本身就表示替代物，证明消费者在不同的商店可以找到类似的东西，所以选项[C]正确。选项[A]偏离题意，选项[B]和[D]都在说顾客改变商家会很难找到替代物或者会给自己添麻烦，均不符合文章传达的信息。

单选题 23.Shop owners often hire moonlighting police as parking attendants so that shoppers______.

单选题 24.What contributes most to smoothing over issues with customers?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】本题的解题要点在于发现题干中的明确要求What contributes most，即要找出最奏效的方案，虽然文章中提到了很多问题和很多的解决途径，但是原文中传递的最高级信息才是考生需要关注的地方。当我们看到原文倒数第二段第二句出现Most importantly的表达时，就应该知道其后的内容才是答案所在，根据后面的内容不难看出，be diplomatic and polite是解决问题的关键，这一信息与选项[A]最为对应。故答案为[A]。

单选题 25.To achieve better shopping experiences, customers are advised to______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据题干定位至原文最后一段的第一句：Customers can also improve future shopping experiences by filing complaints to the retailer，instead of complaining to the rest of the world．这里要重点区分instead of前后内容的根本区别，鉴于这个词组表达出的否定转折含义，自然可以了解作者是鼓励顾客向商家直接投诉，而不是四处抱怨。所以答案是选项[C]，其他三个选项有的是对原文细节的篡改，有的是根据常识的其他做法，均不符合题意。