单选题 We can see how the product life cycle works by looking at the introduction of instant coffee. When it was introduced, most people did not like it as well as "regular" coffee, and it took several years to gain general acceptance (introduction stage). At one point, though, instant coffee grew rapidly in popularity, and many brands were introduced (stage of rapid growth). After a while, people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off (stage of maturity). Sales went into a slight decline (衰退) when freeze-dried coffees were introduced (stage of decline). The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: Different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Did you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the military? Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the product to appeal to new market sections. Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changing product quality, features, or style to attract new users or more usage from present users. American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture world markets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year to year to keep demand from falling. (262 words)

单选题 According to the passage, when people grow fond of one particular brand of a product, its sales will______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节理解题。文中第一段的“After a while，people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off”表明，当人们对某一产品的某一品牌有特殊的爱好之后，它的销售便会趋于稳定。词组level off本意为“成水平线”，引申义为“持平”。选项D的“remain at the same level”是同义表达，故本题答案应为D。

单选题 The first paragraph tells us that a new product is______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节理解题。第一段以速溶咖啡为例，说明新产品被人们接受要花很长一段时间。“It took several years to gain general acceptance”一句就表明了这一点。A、B、C三项中的内容文中并未涉及，显然不是正确答案，故本题答案为D。

单选题 Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：本题属于综合归纳题。文中第二段开头就谈到营销者必须了解产品的生命周期，这一点非常重要。因为在产品的生命周期的不同阶段，营销者要采取不同的销售策略。稍作分析便可知答案为A。B、C、D三项虽然在文中有所涉及，但均与题意不符，故不能选作正确答案。

单选题 The author mentions the example of " backpacks" (Line 5, Para. 2) to show the importance of______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：本题属于综合归纳题。做此题需联系上下文。作者谈到一个营销战略是市场更新，即营销经理要寻找新的用户和新的市场。然后作者以书包为例来证明这一点：过去军用的袋子现在被学生当做书包用。因此，作者在这里用的写作手法是例证法，先提出观点，然后举例证明，故本题的正确答案为B。

单选题 In order to recover their share of the world market, U.S. auto makers are

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：本题为细节理解题。文中的“American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture world markets”意思是：美国汽车制造商们正在提高产品质量来重新获得世界市场，题干的“recover”和该句中的“recapture”是同义词，所以正确答案为A。