The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions following the passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.
Excess inventory, a massive problem for many businesses, has several causes, some of which are unavoidable. Overstocks may accumulate through production overruns or errors. Certain styles and colors prove unpopular. With some products—computers and software, toys, and books—last year’s models are difficult to move even at huge discounts. Occasionally the competition introduces a better product. But in many cases the public’s buying tastes simply change, leaving a manufacturer or distributor with thousands (or millions) of items that the fickle public no longer wants.
One common way to dispose of this merchandise is to sell it to a liquidator, who buys as cheaply as possible and then resells the merchandise through catalogs, discount stores, and other outlets. However, liquidators may pay less for the merchandise than it cost to make it. Another way to dispose of excess inventory is to dump it. The corporation takes a straight cost write-off on its taxes and hauls the merchandise to a landfill. Although it is hard to believe, there is a sort of convoluted logic to this approach. It is perfectly legal, requires little time or preparation on the company’s part, and solves the problem quickly. The drawback is the remote possibility of getting caught by the news media. Dumping perfectly useful products can turn into a public relations nightmare. Children living in poverty are freezing and XYZ Company has just sent 500 new snowsuits to the local dump. Parents of young children are barely getting by and QPS Company dumps 1,000 cases of disposable diapers because they have slight imperfections.
The managers of these companies are not deliberately wasteful; they are simply unaware of all their alternatives. In 1976 the Internal Revenue Service provided a tangible incentive for businesses to contribute their products to charity. The new tax law allowed corporations to deduct the cost of the product donated plus half the difference between cost and fair market selling price, with the proviso that deductions cannot exceed twice cost. Thus, the federal government sanctions—indeed, encourages—an above-cost federal tax deduction for companies that donate inventory to charity.
The author mentions each of the following as a cause of excess inventory EXCEPT ______.
细节题。第一段第二、三、四三句话中叙述了出现存货过多的原因，故本题选择C项。
The passage suggests that which of the following is a kind of product that a liquidator who sells to discount stores would be unlikely to wish to acquire?
推断题。第二段首句提出：清算商买进这些商品后是想通过其他手段卖出，所以如果些手段仍卖不出去某商品，那么他就不会希望得到。在第一段第四句中作者提到：电脑等产品去年的式样即使大幅打折也卖不出去，所以可以推测零售商不愿意得到计算机，故本题选B项。
The passage provides information that supports which of the following statements?
细节题。第一段第二句中提到：存货过多可能由于生产过剩或生产失误造成，故B项是正确的。
The author cites the examples in lines 12—14 most probably in order to illustrate ______.
推断题。第二段倒数第三句指出：Dumping perfectly useful products can turn into a public relations nightmare，之后作者对这一观点进行了举例说明，故本题应选E项。
By asserting that manufacturers “are simply unaware” (lines 14), the author suggests which of the following?
推断题。第三段第一句指出：这些公司的管理层并非有意浪费，他们只是不清楚可以有别的做法，所以可以推测作者这么说是想说明，如果制造者知道联邦税法的规定，他们就会将过剩产品捐给慈善机构，而不是倾倒掉，故A项是正确的。