复合题

Directions: Read the following passages and then answer the questions which follow each passage. Use only information from the passage you have just read and write your answer in the corresponding space on your answer sheet.

Reebok executives do not like to hear their stylish athletic shoes called “footwear for yuppies” . They contend that Reebok shoes appeal to diverse market segments, especially now that the company offers basketball and children’ s shoes for the under-18 set and walking shoes for older customers not interested in aerobics or running. The executives also point out that through recent acquisitions they have added hiking boots, dress and casual shoes, and high-performance athletic footwear to their product lines, all of which should attract new and varied groups of customers.

Still, despite its emphasis on new markets, Reebok plans few changes in the upmarket retailing network that helped push sales to $1 billion annually, ahead of all other sports shoe marketers. Reebok shoes, which are priced from $27 to $85, will continue to be sold only in better specialty, sporting goods, and department stores, in accordance with the company’ s view that consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution.

In the past few years, the Massachusetts-based company has imposed limits on the number of its distributors (and the number of shoes supplied to stores) , partly out of necessity. At times the unexpected demand for Reebok’ s exceeded supply, and the company could barely keep up with orders from the dealers it already had. These fulfillment problems seem to be under control now, but the company is still selective about its distributors. At present, Reebok shoes are available in about five thousand retail stores in the United States.

Reebok has already anticipated that walking shoes will be the next fitness-related craze, replacing aerobics shoes the same way its brightly colored, soft leather exercise footwear replaced conventional running shoes. Through product diversification and careful market research, Reebok hopes to avoid the distribution problems Nike came across several years ago, when Nike misjudged the strength of the aerobics shoe craze and was forced to unload huge inventories of running shoes through discount stores.

问答题 What does Reebok’ s view imply that “consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution” (Line 5, Para. 2) ?

【正确答案】Consumers believe that first-rate products are only sold by high-quality stores.

【答案解析】文章第二段第二句“Reebok shoes, which are priced from$27 to $85, will continue to be sold only in better specialty, sporting goods, and department stores, in accordance with the company’ s view that consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution” 提到锐步鞋的售价从27到85美元，将继续只在高档专卖店、体育用品商店和百货公司出售，因为公司认为消费者根据分销商的档次来判断品牌的质量，即一流商品只在高档商店出售。

问答题 What lesson has Reebok learned from Nike’ s distribution problems?

【正确答案】A company should correctly evaluate the impact of a new craze on the market.

【答案解析】原文最后一句“…when Nike misjudged the strength of the aerobics shoe craze and was forced to unload huge inventories of running shoes through discount stores. ” 提到耐克几年前错误地估计了有氧运动鞋狂潮的力量，被迫从折扣商店卸掉很大库存量的跑鞋，因此锐步从中学习到的是应该正确评估市场中狂潮的影响。