阅读理解 In recent years, Israeli consumers have grown more demanding as they''ve become wealthier and more worldly-wise. Foreign travel is a national passion; this summer alone, one in ten citizens will go abroad. Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere, Israelis are returning home expecting the same. American firms have also begun arriving in large numbers. Chains such as KFC, McDonald''s and Pizza Hut are setting a new standard of customer service, using strict employee training and constant monitoring to ensure the friendliness of frontline staff. Even the American habit of telling departing customers to "Have a nice day" has caught on all over Israel. "Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, "Let''s be nicer," says Itsik Cohen, director of a consulting firm. "Nothing happens without competition." Privatization, or the threat of it, is a motivation as well. Monopolies (垄断者) that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry, a marketing professor, calls "the revengeful (报复的) consumer." When the government opened up competition with Bezaq, the phone company, its international branch lost 40% of its market share, even while offering competitive rates. Says Perry, "People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service." The electric company, whose monopoly may be short-lived, has suddenly stopped requiring users to wait half a day for a repairman. Now, appointments are scheduled to the half-hour. The graceless El A1 Airlines, which is already at auction (拍卖), has retrained its employees to emphasize service and is boasting about the results in an ad campaign with the slogan, "You can feel the change in the air." For the first time, praise outnumbers complaints on customer survey sheets.

单选题 It may be inferred from the passage that ________.

单选题 In the author''s view, higher service standards are impossible in Israel ________.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】辨认事实题。题目询问的是根据作者的观点，在什么情况下以色列不可能有较高的服务标准。根据第1段最后一句可知，“Nothing happens without competition. 如果没有竞争，一切就都不会发生”。这里的一切指的就是上文中服务的改善。这与C项“根据作者的观点，如果公司之间没有竞争，较高的服务标准在以色列是不可能的”一致。

单选题 If someone in Israel today needs a repairman in case of a power failure, ________.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】辨认事实题。题目询问的是今天在电路发生故障的情况下，如果一名以色列人需要一名维修工，就会如何。根据文章倒数第3至4句可知，“The electric company... has suddenly stopped requiring users to wait... Now.…to the half-hour在电路发生故障的今天，电力公司不再要求用户等半天的时间来维修，现在只需要半个小时。”这与D项一致。

单选题 The example of El Al Airlines shows that________.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】辨认事实题。题目询问的是E1 A1航空公司的例子表现了什么。根据文章最后三句：已拍卖的El A1航空公司重新培训了雇员，并以口号“你可以感觉到空中的变化”告诉大家其培训的结果(原文air有“空中”的含义，也有“态度”的含义，是个双关语)，因此这与D项“E1 Al航空公司的例子表现了职员的重新培训对于提高服务质量是必须的”一致。