单选题 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.

单选题 The author mentions each of the following as a cause of excess inventory EXCEPT ______

单选题 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?______

单选题 The passage provides information that supports which of the following statements?______

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】作者支持下面哪个观点?A“insufficient market analysis，”原文未提。B正确。缺陷的产品可能成为积压品。见第一段第二句。C易混。很少有生产者利用的联邦税法的改变。文章只是说一些倾倒积压品的生产者没有了解此项规定，未提其他生产者。范围差异问题。D“often”不对，原文“remote possibilities”。

单选题 The author cites the examples in lines 16～20 most probably in order to illustrate ______

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】作者举第二段倒数第三句的例子是为了：A. fiscal irresponsibilities，从这两个例子看不出。B“waste management problems”，文中未提及。C倾倒的好处。这两个例子显然是说倾倒的负面影响。D媒体会怎样把倾倒当作是对生产者名誉的损害。正确，实际上，这两个例子之前的一句话第二段倒数第四句已给出了总结。