阅读理解
A supermarket is a large-area, low-cost, high-volume, self-service operation designed to serve the consumers'' various needs for food, clothes and other useful products in our daily life. A supermarket store can be independently owned, although most supermarket stores are operated by supermarket chains.
Supermarkets have moved in several directions to further build their sales volume. They have opened much larger stores, with today''s selling space occupying about 18,000 square feet as compared to 11,700 square feet in the 1950s. Most of the supermarket chains now operate fewer but larger stores. Supermarkets deal in a great number and variety of items. A typical supermarket handled 3,000 items in 1946 and now handles around 8,000.
Nowadays, supermarkets have been hit hard by a number of competitors meeting better defined customer needs with respect to the variety of products and price levels. So they are trying to improve their marketing positions. The most important increase has been in the number of non-food items such as carried-drugs, beauty aids, magazines, books and toys— which now account for 8 percent of the whole supermarket sales. This trend is continuing, and many supermarkets are moving into records, sporting goods, hardware, fresh flowers, garden supplies, and even cameras, hoping to find high profit lines. Supermarkets are also improving their jobs through more expensive locations, larger parking lots, longer store hours and Sunday openings, and a wide variety of customer services, such as check cashing, rest rooms, and background music.
Supermarkets have also increased selling competition in the form of heavy advertising, trading stamps, and games of chance. Supermarket chains are now trying to expand their sales volume in Asian countries where economic growth is stronger.
单选题
At present, most supermarket chains operate______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】事实细节题。文章第二段第三句提到Most of the supermarket chains now operate fewer but larger stores．大多数超市连锁店减少但店面扩大。由此可判断A为正确答案。
单选题
What is the impact supermarkets suffer nowadays?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】事实细节题。文章第三段的第一句话提到“目前，超市遇到了强有力的冲击，许多竞争对手可以在销售品种和价格水平(the variety of products and price levels)上更好地满足顾客需要。”由此可知B为正确答案。选项A、C在文中没有提及，可直接排除；D是在超市遭受冲击后所采取的具体措施之一，与题意不符。
单选题
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】推理判断题。由第一段最后一句可知，大多超市都以连锁店方式经营，故A不符合文意；根据第三段第一句“Nowadays，supermarkets have been hit hard by a number of competitors”可判断出B不正确；从文中可知，非食品商品并不是超市赚钱的主要途径，故排除C；最后一段指出超市正致力于将销售范围扩展到亚洲国家，由此可知D为正确答案。
单选题
Many supermarket chains choose to enter into Asia market to seek the further development because______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】事实细节题。本文最后一句话给出了本题的提示，该句的定语从句指出了本题的原因economic growth is stronger，D为其同义转述，是答案。A、B两项在文中没有提到；C项夸大其词，文中虽说超市面临激烈的竞争，但是还没到不能生存的地步，故C错。
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that the author holds a(n)______view on the development of the supermarket.