单选题Lord Percy of Newcastle, Britain"s minister of education in 1924-29, was no fan of the fad for happy-clappy "progressive" education that spread among the country"s schools on his watch. He declared that it was all nonsense: "a child ought to be brought up to expect unhappiness." This columnist feels the same suspicion of the fashion for happy clappy progressive management theory that is rushing through the world"s companies and even some governments. The leading miscreant is Zappos, an online shoe shop. The firm expects staff to be in a state of barely controlled delirium when they sell shoes. Air stewards are trained to sound mellifluous but those at Virgin Atlantic seem on the verge of breaking out into a song-and-dance routine. Google until recently had an in-house "jolly good fellow" to spread mindfulness and empathy.
A weird assortment of gurus and consultancies is pushing the cult of happiness. Shawn Achor, who has taught at Harvard University, now makes a living teaching big companies around the world how to turn contentment into a source of competitive advantage. One of his rules is to create "happiness hygiene". Zappos is so happy with its work on joy that it has spun off a consultancy called Delivering Happiness. It has a chief happiness officer (CHO), a global happiness navigator, a happiness hustler, a happiness alchemist and, for philosophically minded customers, a happiness owl. Plasticity Labs, a technology firm, says it is committed to supporting a billion people on their path to happiness. The trend is not confined to the private sector. Several governments now publish for the benefit of their citizens regular reports on levels of national well-being.
Businesspeople have long known there is money to be made in the field. Dale Carnegie, a leadership guru, said the best way to win friends and influence people was to seem upbeat. Disneyland is still "the happiest place on earth". One of the sharpest books published on the phenomenon is "The Managed Heart", in which sociologist Arlie Hochschild noted that many employers demanded "emotional labour" from workers in the form of smiles with "positive emotion". Firms are keen to extract still more happiness from their employees as the service sector plays an ever greater role in the economy. Run-of-the-mill service firms are fighting for their lives against discounters. As customers, most people prefer their service with a smile rather than a snarl.
Some firms are trying to create some wellbeing, too, showering their employees with mindfulness courses, yoga lessons and anything else that proves that managers are interested in "the whole person". Only happy fools would take that at face value. Management theorists note that a big threat to corporate performance is widespread disengagement among workers. Happy people are more engaged and productive, say psychologists. Gallup claimed in 2013 that the "unhappiness" of employees costs the American economy $500 billion a year in lost productivity.
One problem with tracking happiness is that it is such a vague metric: it is difficult to prove or disprove Gallup"s numbers since it is not entirely clear what is being measured. Companies would be much better off forgetting wishy-washy goals like encouraging contentment. They should concentrate on eliminating specific annoyances, such as time-wasting meetings and pointless memos. Instead, they are likely to develop ever more sophisticated ways of measuring the emotional state of their employees. They might even start measuring workplace euphoria via apps, cameras and voice recorders.
The idea of companies employing jolly good fellows and "happiness alchemists" may be cringe-making, but is there anything else really wrong with it? Various academic studies suggest that "emotional labour" can bring significant costs. The more employees are obliged to fix their faces with a rictus smile or express joy at a customer"s choice of shoes, the more likely they are to suffer problems of burnout. And the contradiction between companies demanding more displays of contentment from workers, even as they put them on miserably short-term contracts, is becoming more stark.
But the biggest problem with the cult of happiness is that it is an unacceptable invasion of individual liberty. Many companies are already overstepping the mark. A large American health-care provider, Ochsner Health System, introduced a rule that workers must make eye contact and smile whenever they walk within ten feet of another person in the hospital. Pret A Manger sends in mystery shoppers to visit every outlet regularly to see if they are greeted with the requisite degree of joy. Pass the test and the entire staff gets a bonus—a powerful incentive for workers to turn themselves into happiness police. Companies have a right to ask their employees to be polite when they deal with members of the public. They do not have a right to try to regulate their workers psychological states and turn happiness into an instrument of corporate control.
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单选题Question 26-30
Which is safer--staying at home, traveling to work on public transport, or working in the office? Surprisingly, each of these carries the same risk, which is very low: However, what about flying compared to working in the chemical industry? Unfortunately, the former is 65 times riskier than the latter! In fact, the accident rate of workers in the chemical industry is less than that of almost any of human activity, and almost as safe as staying at home.
The trouble with the chemical industry is that when things go wrong they often cause death to those living nearby. It is this which makes chemical accidents so newsworthy. Fortunately, they are extremely rare. The most famous ones happened at Texas City (1947), Flixborough (1974), Seveso (1976), Pemex (1984) and Bhopal (1984).
Some of these are always in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small. No one died at Seveso, and only 28 workers at Flixborough. The worst accident of all was Bhopal, where up to 3,000 were killed. The Texas City explosion of fertilizer killed 552. The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs of Mexico City took 542 lives, just a month before the unfortunate event at Bhopal.
Some experts have discussed these accidents and used each accident to illustrate a particular danger. Thus the Texas City explosion was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate, which is safe unless stored in great quantity. The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management, which took risks to keep production going during essential repairs. The Seveso accident shows what happens if the local authorities lack knowledge of the danger on their doorstep. When the poisonous gas drifted over the town, local leaders were incapable of taking effective action. The Pemex fire was made worse by an overloaded site in an overcrowded suburb. The fire set off a chain reaction of exploding storage tanks. Yet, by a miracle, the two largest tanks did not explode. Had these caught fire, then 3,000 strong rescue team and fire fighters would all have died.
单选题"They treat us like mules," the guy installing my washer tells me, his eyes narrowing as he wipes his hands, I had just complimented him and his partner on the speed and assurance of their work. He explains that it"s rare that customers speak to him this way. I know what he"s talking about. My mother was a waitress all her life, in coffee shops and fast-paced chain restaurants. It was hard work, but she liked it, liked "being among the public", as she would say. But that work had its sting, too—the customer who would treat her like a servant or, her biggest complaint, like she was not that bright.
There"s a lesson here for this political season: the subtle and not-so-subtle insults that blue-collar and service workers endure as part of their working lives. And those insults often have to do with intelligence.
We like to think of the United States as a classless society. The belief in economic mobility is central to the American Dream, and we pride ourselves on our spirit of egalitarianism. But we also have a troubling streak of aristocratic bias in our national temperament, and one way it manifests itself is in the assumptions we make about people who work with their hands. Working people sense this bias and react to it when they vote. The common political wisdom is that hot-button social issues have driven blue-collar voters rightward. But there are other cultural dynamics at play as well. And Democrats can be as oblivious to these dynamics as Republicans—though the Grand Old Party did appeal to them in St. Paul.
Let"s go back to those two men installing my washer and dryer. They do a lot of heavy lifting quickly—mine was the first of 15 deliveries—and efficiently, to avoid injury. Between them there is ongoing communication, verbal and nonverbal, to coordinate the lift, negotiate the tight fit, move in rhythm with each other. And all the while, they are weighing options, making decisions and solving problems—as when my new dryer didn"t match up with the gas outlet.
Think about what a good waitress has to do in the busy restaurant: remember orders and monitor them, attend to a dynamic, quickly changing environment, prioritize tasks and manage the flow of work, make decisions on the fly. There"s the carpenter using a number of mathematical concepts—symmetry, proportion, congruence, the properties of angles—and visualizing these concepts while building a cabinet, a flight of stairs, or a pitched roof.
The hairstylist"s practice is a mix of technique, knowledge about the biology of hair, aesthetic judgment, and communication skill. The mechanic, electrician, and plumber are troubleshooters and problem solvers. Even the routinized factory floor calls for working smarts. When has any of this made its way into our political speeches? From either party. Even on Labor Day.
Last week, the GOP masterfully invoked some old cultural suspicions: country folk versus city and east-coast versus heartland education. But these are symbolic populist gestures, not the stuff of true engagement. Judgments about intelligence carry great weight in our society, and we have a tendency to make sweeping assessments of people"s intelligence based on the kind of work they do.
Political tributes to labor over the next two months will render the muscled arm, sleeve rolled tight against biceps. But few will also celebrate the thought bright behind the eye, or offer an image that links hand and brain. It would be fitting in a country with an egalitarian vision of itself to have a truer, richer sense of all that is involved in the wide range of work that surrounds and sustains us.
Those politicians who can communicate that sense will tap a deep reserve of neglected feeling. And those who can honor and use work in explaining and personalizing their policies will find a welcome reception.
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Journalists who write about families as
well as social and cultural issues can count on receiving an annual barrage of
public relations pitches for Valentine's Day. The PR blitz begins right after
Christmas and continues almost until the big day itself. Daily, sometimes
hourly, e-mails pop up on my computer screen, as publicity agents propose
stories on a variety of love-rated subjects. Some suggest
traditional topics. How about interviewing the author of a new book on how to
find the perfect mate? Or what about a story offering ideas on the best gifts to
give to your heartthrob? Other suggestions take a thoroughly modern approach to
romance. Publicists would be happy to provide information about the newest
matchmaking website or the hottest dating coach. There's even a "psychic medium"
who promises to tell radio and television audiences about their "current and
future relationships". Individually, these story promotions
could be taken for what they are. just another day, another client, another
dollar in the life of publicity agents. But collectively, they signal more than
simply a desire to capitalize on a holiday that has mushroomed into a $17
billion industry. In their varied forms, these promotions reflect the urgency of
the quest for love and companionship in a society where one-quarter of all
households now consist of single people. These pitches also
serve as a measure of how much Valentine's Day itself has changed. They can
impel long-married observers to look back with a certain nostalgia to a time
several decades ago when Feb. 14 didn't carry such intensity—and when courtship
didn't cost quite so much. That was a time before men were expected to spend two
months' worth of their salary for an engagement ring, before men and women
decided they would settle for nothing less than a "soul mate", and before it was
necessary to seek advice from an army of self-help gurus bearing titles such as
"relationship and interpersonal communication expert". That was also an era when
many hopeful Prince Charmings could show their love with a card or a
heart-shaped box of drugstore chocolates, and when even a single rose could melt
a young woman's heart. What a contrast to today, when anything
less than a dozen long-stemmed roses can risk making a sender appear frugal, and
when an ardent suitor who wants to make an impression will buy chocolates from
Belgium, whatever the cost. This year the average man will spend $120 and the
average woman $ 85, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Is this love, or obligation? For some men, it might even include a bit of
guilt. As Tracy Mullin, CEO of the NRF, notes, presumably with tongue planted
firmly in cheek, some men "may be looking at Valentine's Day as a way to make up
for that HDTV they splurged on for the Super Bowl". As one public radio station
announcer put it during a Valentine's Day fundraiser offering long-stemmed
roses. "This is a perfect way to fulfill your Valentine's obligations." Another
host making a similar appeal urged listeners to "take care of your Valentine's
Day duties". And if you don't? One relationship expert quoted in
a Valentine's Day press release offers the stern warning that "if a guy doesn't
come through on Valentine's Day, it means he doesn't care about you," so just
say goodbye and move on. But assuming he does care, another PR firm suggests a
high-tech approach to the day. "This year, think outside the box and send a
Video Valentine!" the e-mail pitch begins. "Too shy to say those three little
words in person? Profess your love on video! Or use your cellphone to record
yourself shopping for the perfect gift." Diamonds, anyone?
Whatever the approach, couples might do well to follow the advice of a
group of husbands in Japan who say they know the answer to wedded bliss. In an
effort to communicate better with their wives, they offer Three Principles of
Love: Say "sorry" without fear, say "thank you" without hesitation, and say "I
love you" without shame. It's a trio of sentiments that women could adopt as
well. Tomorrow all the unsold Valentines with their declarations
of love and affection will disappear from card racks, to be replaced by Easter
messages featuring eggs and bunnies. Long stemmed roses will begin to open,
boxes of chocolate will be nibbled away, and cards with sentimental messages
will be propped on desks and dressers. Whatever hopes and expectations are
fulfilled—or not—today, the celebration offers a touching reminder that when it
comes to matters of the heart, the approaches might change, but the yearning for
love and companionship doesn't. Above all, it offers this comforting
reassurance: Cupid lives.
单选题According to the passage, why is the inequality-adjusted income per head in France higher than in America?
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Questions
23-26
单选题Questions 19-22
单选题According to Mike Wallace, there will be fewer problems _______.
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单选题In Idaho's Snake River Valley, where potato farmers depend on electric pumps to water their crops, the state's largest power company hopes to stand tradition on its head and profit by selling farmers less, not more, electricity. To do that, Idaho Power is vastly expanding its energy-efficiency programs for 395,000 residential customers, small businesses, and farmers. Usually the more customers save, the less utilities make. But under an innovative deal with state regulators in March, Idaho Power gets paid for its plants and equipment and boosts profits by winning incentive payments for reducing electric demand. It's an idea that appears to be catching on as legislatures fret about global warming and utilities scramble to meet rising demand without the increasing harassment and cost of building new power plants. Idaho is among 13 states whose regulators have either adopted or proposed measures in the past year to decouple utility profit from electricity production. Decoupling is advancing even faster for natural-gas utilities, with 25 states either adopting or proposing decoupling plans in recent years. "This wave toward 'decoupling' is clearly gathering momentum," says Martin Kushler of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington. "More states seem to be calling every week to find out about this." Although California pioneered the idea 25 years ago—and strengthened incentives and penalties last month—interest is picking up again because of global warming, experts say. The main idea is that by rearranging the incentive structure, regulators can give utilities clear incentives to push energy efficiency and conservation without hurting their bottom lines. Under the new rules in California, for example, electric utilities could make as much as $150 million extra if they can persuade Californians to save some $2 billion worth of power, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. "This is a vital step in the global-warming fight," says Audrey Chang, an NRDC researcher. "It represents, we hope, a historic shift toward decoupling that is going to help bend the energy demand curve downwards." Beside Idaho, states that this year adopted decoupling for some or all of its electric power industry include New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. At least nine other states have seen major decoupling proposals this year. Idaho Power is happy that its key fixed costs—plants and equipment—are now separated from variable costs of electricity sales such as fuel. Regulators annually readjust those fixed rates—up or down—a maximum of 3 percent to ensure that the company gets no more or less than it has been regulated to receive. But customers should benefit, too, as utility efficiency programs cut energy use and energy bills—something the company is trying hard to do so it can win a bonus if it meets or exceeds energy—cutting goals. "Before there was almost a disincentive to go hard at efficiency because we weren't recovering our fixed costs," says Mike Youngblood, an analyst for Idaho Power. "Now the anticipation is that we will recover our fixed cost, no more or less. And our customers will see their bill go down if they invest in energy efficiency." One key reason utilities are often willing to decouple or even leading proponents of the proposals is because the costs of building a power plant has risen dramatically. A 500- megawatt coal-fired plant that cost $1 billion just a few years ago might cost $1.5 billion today, industry experts say. Add to that growing uncertainty about future costs. Global- warming legislation could put a price of $ 30 per ton on carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants. That could make coal, the cheapest power today, more costly. Another factor is the rising community opposition to coal-fired power plant construction. In North Carolina, where regulators recently refused a Duke Energy Corp. proposal to build a power plant, the company has instead put forward a controversial decoupling proposal. The plan would pay the company to meet efficiency standards, although consumer advocates and even environmental groups question whether it's a good deal for ratepayers. In fact, some consumer advocates have major reservations about decoupling overall. "Unfortunately, we're seeing utilities trying to use decoupling as a blank check," says Charles Acquard, executive director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates in Silver Spring, Md. "We're not absolutely opposed to decoupling. It's how you do it that's critical./
单选题 "Museum" is a slippery word. It first meant ( in
Greek) anything consecrated to the Muses: a hill, a shrine, a garden, a festival
or even a textbook. Both Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum had a mouseion,
a muses' shrine. Although the Greeks already collected detached works of art,
many temples--notably that of Hera at Olympia (before which the Olympic flame is
still lit)--had collections of objects, some of which were works of art by
well-known masters, while paintings and sculptures in the Alexandrian Museum
were incidental to its main purpose. The Romans also collected
and exhibited art from disbanded temples, as well as mineral specimens, exotic
plants, animals; and they plundered sculptures and paintings (mostly Greek) for
exhibition. Meanwhile, the Greek word had slipped into Latin by transliteration
(though not to signify picture galleries, which were called pinacothecae) and
museum still more or less meant "Muses' shrine". The
inspirational collections of precious and semi-precious objects were kept in
larger churches and monasteries--which focused on the gold-enshrined, bejewelled
relics of saints and martyrs. Princes, and later merchants, had similar
collections, which became the deposits of natural curiosities: large lumps of
amber or coral, irregular pearls, unicorn horns, ostrich eggs, fossil bones and
so on. They also included coins and gems-- often antique engraved ones--as well
as, increasingly, paintings and sculptures. As they multiplied and expanded, to
supplement them, the skill of the fakers grew increasingly refined.
At the same time, the 15th century, visitors could admire the very
grandest paintings and sculptures in the churches, palaces and castles; they
were not "collected" either, but "site-specific", and were considered an
integral part both of the fabric of the buildings and of the way of life which
went on inside them--and most of the buildings were public ones.
In the 17th century, scientific and prestige collecting became so
widespread that three or four collectors independently published directories to
museums all over the known world. But it was the age of revolutions and industry
which produced the next sharp shift in the way the institution was perceived:
the fury against royal and church monuments prompted antiquarians to shelter
them in asylum-galleries, of which the Musee des Monuments Francais was the most
famous. Then, in the first half of the 19th century, museum funding took off,
allied to the rise of new wealth: London acquired the National Gallery and the
British Museum, the Louvre was organized, the Museum-Insel was begun in Berlin,
and the Munich galleries were built. In Vienna, the huge Kunsthistorisches and
Naturhistorisches Museums took over much of the imperial treasure. Meanwhile,
the decline of craftsmanship (and of public taste with it) inspired the creation
of "improving" collections. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London was the
most famous, as well as perhaps the largest of them.
单选题
Question
26-30 Which is safer--staying at home, traveling to
work on public transport, or working in the office? Surprisingly, each of these
carries the same risk, which is very low: However, what about flying compared to
working in the chemical industry? Unfortunately, the former is 65 times riskier
than the latter! In fact, the accident rate of workers in the chemical industry
is less than that of almost any of human activity, and almost as safe as staying
at home. The trouble with the chemical industry is that when
things go wrong they often cause death to those living nearby. It is this which
makes chemical accidents so newsworthy. Fortunately, they are extremely rare.
The most famous ones happened at Texas City (1947), Flixborough (1974), Seveso
(1976), Pemex (1984) and Bhopal (1984). Some of these are always
in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small. No one died
at Seveso, and only 28 workers at Flixborough. The worst accident of all was
Bhopal, where up to 3,000 were killed. The Texas City explosion of fertilizer
killed 552. The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs of
Mexico City took 542 lives, just a month before the unfortunate event at
Bhopal. Some experts have discussed these accidents and used
each accident to illustrate a particular danger. Thus the Texas City explosion
was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate, which is safe unless stored in great
quantity. The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management, which took risks
to keep production going during essential repairs. The Seveso accident shows
what happens if the local authorities lack knowledge of the danger on their
doorstep. When the poisonous gas drifted over the town, local leaders were
incapable of taking effective action. The Pemex fire was made worse by an
overloaded site in an overcrowded suburb. The fire set off a chain reaction of
exploding storage tanks. Yet, by a miracle, the two largest tanks did not
explode. Had these caught fire, then 3,000 strong rescue team and fire fighters
would all have died.
单选题Question 15-18
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单选题It may be the last book you"ll ever buy. And certainly, from a practical standpoint, it will be the only book you"ll ever need. No, it"s not the Bible or some New Age tome promising enlightenment—although it would let you carry around both texts simultaneously. It"s an electronic book—a single volume that could contain a library information or, if your tastes run toward what"s current, every title on today"s bestseller list. And when you"re done with those, you could refill it with new titles.
Why an electronic book? Computers can store a ton of data and their laptop companions make all that information portable. True enough. But laptops and similar portable information devices require a lot of power—and heavy batteries—to keep their LCD screens operating. And LCDs are not easy to read in the bright light of the sun.
Fact is, when it comes to portability, easy viewing, and low power requirements, it"s hard to beat plain old paper. So let"s make the ink electronic.
That"s the deceptively simple premise behind a project currently coming to fruition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some hurdles—mostly having to do with large-scale manufacturing—remain, so it will be a few years before you see an electronic book for sale in stores. But the basic technology already exists, developed at the Institute"s Media Lab by a team led by physicist Joe Jacobson.
Simply put, each page in an electronic book is coated with millions of microscopic particles encased in tiny capsules. Each of these microcapsules can respond independently to an electrical charge: Particles within the capsule moving to the rear appear dark while those moving toward the front look white. The direction in which the particles move depends upon whether a negative (dark) or positive (white) charge is applied. Each microcapsule is about 40 microns in size (that"s a little less than half the thickness of a human hair).
The number of microcapsules used on a given page is enormous. For instance, about 1,000 micor-capsules might be used to create the letter "A" on this page. "The smaller the size of the letter, the more microcapsules you use," says Jacobson, "thereby improving resolution." The target is to have a "paper display" with a resolution higher than that offered by today"s computer screens. More than static letters are at stake: Theoretically, the microcapsules could be programmed to "flip" rapidly between dark and white states, providing, for example, a sense of motion in a diagram showing how a car works.
Thanks to electronic ink, the book essentially typesets itself, receiving instructions for each page via electronics housed in the spine. From a power standpoint, this process makes the electronic book very efficient. Unlike an LCD screen, which uses power all the time, energy is no longer needed to view the electronic book"s pages once they are typeset. Only a small battery would be required, as opposed to the large ones needed to power laptop computers and their LCDs.
Convenience, though, is still the main attraction—and that means more than simple portability. Because the information is in electronic form, it can be easily manipulated. You could, for instance, make the type larger for easier reading. Or you could make notes in the margin with a stylus, your observations being stored on tiny, removable flash-memory cards in the spine.
lt"s likely that electronic books will come preloaded with a selection of titles. New titles could be made available through flash-memory cards, for example. Jacobson, though, thinks the Internet will be the delivery method of choice. Imagine browsing through an online bookstore like www. amazon, com and downloading a novel into your electronic book via the modem in its spine. Transmitting Moby Dick would take about a minute. You could download a few titles, so you"ll have a few good read to choose from while you"re relaxing at the beach. If your first choice is not to your liking, a new title becomes available at the push of button.
Jacobson thinks an electronic book will be affordable—around $200 for a basic readonly model to about 400 $ for one that would record your margin scribbles. Some hurdles remain, though, before you can take an electronic book with you anywhere. Paper is produced in long sheets, and Jacobson is still working on the best method to integrate electronic ink into that process. To avoid having to use thousands of tiny wires on each page, the ink itself must be conductive. Such ink was recently demonstrated in the lab but has yet to be produced in volume. "Essentially," notes Jacobson, "we"re trying to print chips."
Jacobson is confident, however, that this can be done on a large scale. If Jacobson succeeds, he will have the book for the 21st century.
单选题
单选题Questions 23-26
单选题It is possibly the most famous promise in British retailing: "Never knowingly undersold" has been at the heart of John Lewis's business since 1925. But a quietly introduced change has infuriated loyal customers, who claim the price-match promise is now slipping away. For many years John Lewis customers have been safe in the knowledge that if they found their purchase for a lower price elsewhere the company would refund the difference. Carrier bags and marketing campaigns have proudly proclaimed to the world that John Lewis won't be beaten on price. Yet since September some customers who have asked John Lewis to match the price of goods found cheaper elsewhere on the high street have been turned away. A Guardian Money reader from Roydon, Essex, contacted us after he bought a Hotpoint washing machine in John Lewis's Welwyn store for ￡279. A few days later he saw the same model in Argos for ￡219--￡60 cheaper. John Lewis turned down his claim made under the never knowingly undersold policy, because it said it guaranteed the washing machines for two years, while Argos offered only one year. The customer complained--unsuccessfully--that the store wasn't being fair as this was not made clear in the literature. When Money investigated, we found that John Lewis had made a fundamental change to its policy. In a statement in September, which at the time drew positive headlines, it said it would for the first time match online prices from other retailers as long as they also had a physical high street presence. What was made less clear was that the store would no longer match a price unless its rival offers the exact same warranty. The policy change might not sound much, but it in effect allows the store to avoid almost all price matching of electrical items--because John Lewis has adopted a policy of offering two-year warranties on almost every such item. Most stores in the UK offer just one year. When we first raised the reader's complaint with John Lewis it told us. "As part of our commitment to be never knowingly undersold, we match prices based on the combined cost of the product plus charges the competitor may make for a comparable warranty or guarantee. We evaluate price-match claims on a like-for-like basis, and breakdown cover is a crucial part of our proposition to our customers. " What it failed to mention was that prior to the September policy rewrite, it would have paid the complainant the ￡60 difference between the John Lewis and Argos washing machines. Interestingly, the store confirmed it would not price match the cost of buying a product plus a warranty from a third party company, but would consider a claim if the cheaper retailer offered the chance to buy both together. David Suddock, head of buying support at John Lewis, who revised the policy, says. "As a result of our commitment to expand our never knowingly undersold policy to include other retailers with online presences we now put a great deal of resources into checking the prices charged by our rivals and lowering ours where appropriate; Our customers are benefiting through significantly reduced prices. They tell us they value the extra warranty periods we offer, and we think it is only fair we should include that in our price match scheme. The terms of the never knowingly undersold policy are clearly presented in both our stores and on the website. " But if the Money postbag is to be believed, most John Lewis customers were unaware of the change. And Martyn Hocking, editor of Which? says: "John Lewis is known for its great customer service, so the change to its never knowingly undersold policy is very disappointing. Customers would naturally expect any price matching policy to relate to the up-front cost of a product, excluding the value of added extras such as warranties and guarantees. As such, we feel that the amended policy is misleading and will lead to frustration for many shoppers. " But Natalie Berg, research director at retail analysts Planet Retail, says John Lewis/s move was perhaps inevitable. "The internet has put the power to compare prices in the hands of all of us; some shoppers now use smart phones to check prices as they walk around a store. John Lewis has realized that while price is important, it's not the factor in where to buy. The fact that John Lewis has been one of the winners on the high street in recent months suggests consumers are not just looking for the lowest prices, but they want value--and the perception that John Lewis delivers this. /
单选题Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following news.