单选题What Do Customers Really Want? What happens when you combine product design virtuosity, high-powered market research techniques, and copious customer data? Too often, the result is gadgets that suffer from "feature creep" or the return of billions of dollars' worth of merchandise by customers who wanted something different at all. That kind of waste is bad enough in normal times. but in a downturn it can take a fearsome toll. The trouble is that most customer-preference rating tools used in product development today are blunt instruments, primarily because customers have a hard time articulating their desires. Asked to rate a long list of product attributes on a scale of 1 (completely unimportant) to 10 (extremely important), customers are apt to say they want many or even most of them. To crack that problem, companies need a way to help customers sharpen the distinction between "nice to have" and "gotta have". Some companies are beginning to pierce the fog using a research technique called "Maximum Difference Scaling". "MaxDiff" was pioneered in the early 1990s by Jordan Louviere, who is now a professor at the University of Technology, Sydney. (As with most cutting-edge academic developments, it took time to translate Louviere's research into practical tools.) MaxDiff requires customers to make a sequence of explicit trade-offs. Researchers begin by amassing a list of product or brand attributes—typically from 10 to 40—that represents potential benefits. Then they present respondents with sets of four attributes at a time, asking them to select which attribute of each set they prefer most and least. Subsequent rounds of mixed groupings enable the researchers to identify the standing of each attribute relative to all the others by the number of times customers select it as their most or least important consideration. A popular restaurant chain recently used MaxDiff to understand why its expansion efforts were misfiring. In a series of focus groups and preference surveys, consumers agreed about what they wanted: more healthful meal options and updated décor. But when the chain's heavily promoted new menu was rolled out, the marketing team was dismayed by the mediocre results. Customers found the complex new choices confusing, and sales were sluggish in the more contemporary new outlets. The company's marketers decided to cast the range of preferences more broadly. Using MaxDiff, they asked customers to compare eight attributes and came to a striking realisation. The results showed that prompt service of hot meals and a convenient location were far more important to customers than healthful items and modern furnishings, which ended up well down on the list. The best path forward was to improve kitchen service and select restaurant sites based on where customers worked. The ability to predict how customers will behave can be extremely powerful—and not just when budgets are tight. Companies planning cross-border product rollouts need a tool that is free of cultural bias. And as customer tastes fragment, product development teams need reliable technique for drawing bright lines between customer segments based on the features that matter most to each group. Companies are starting to apply MaxDiff analysis to those issues as well.

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单选题According to the passage, why so many family-run businesses fail to survive?

单选题·For each question 13—18, mark one letter (A. B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose. {{B}}Cruise Ship: Where to Go{{/B}}Passengers on cruise ship holidays, as they are described on TV programs and films, usually appear to be both wealthy and elderly. Such people do not, however, accurately represent the 6.8m passengers who took this kind of holiday last year. Over the last few years the world cruise industry has concentrated on appealing to younger, less wealthy people, giving them an experience more like a floating disco than the traditional quiet holiday on a luxury ship. Even families with young children are no longer so rare on cruise ships. Partly as a result, the number of passengers taking a cruise has increased by an average of 8.5% a year since 1990.Cruise Star is now the world's largest cruise line. The other two major companies are Intersail and Seaways. Together these three carry nearly half the world's cruise passengers and make almost all the industry's profits. For the 30 or so smaller firms, life is much tougher. That is because sheer size brings so many benefits to the large firms. They can negotiate bulk discounts on supplies such as food and fuel, and even, if they order enough of them, on ships. A secondary disadvantage for the smaller operators is that they cannot spread overheads such as marketing as broadly. A significant part of the cost of sending people on a cruise happens before they go on board the ship. The three large companies between them spend more than $100m a year on TV advertising in America. They employ armies of salesmen. Delivering passengers to the ship is part of the package deal and, once again, volume means savings: Cruise Star is the biggest single buyer of airline tickets in America.Cruise Star has ten ships, with four more on order for delivery by 1999. Intersail is building at a similar rate, hoping to expand today's fleet of ten ships to 14 by 1998. Seaways will add three more ships to its present nine. The 30 ships on order throughout the industry will increase cruising capacity by 40% by 1998. Some analysts suspect that even the big companies will find it difficult to fill all those extra cabins. They make a comparison with the overcapacity in the airline market in the early 1990s, When aircraft ordered at a time of growth arrived during the recession. And they point out that, after steady growth, the American market was flat in 1995, with firms offering discounts up to 30% in order to fill cabins.The big firms reckon that this pessimism is overdone. This year has started well. But if the industry's outlook ends up being rougher than it hopes, many smaller firms will face a choice: go for specialized business, go out of business, or get taken over by a larger business. Already more than 40 small companies offer an increasing variety of cruises, ranging from archaeological tours of the Black Sea to ecological cruises to the Galapagos Islands. This trend seems set to continue, although in fast-growing Asis, a few mid-sized firms may one day rise to challenge the top three. However, in more established markets, smaller firms are being squeezed out. For instance, Gentle Waves, which has debts of $850m, has already been approached by Cruise Star, who wanted to buy a majority share of the company. The negotiations came to nothing, but analysts think they will revive if Gentle Waves' problems go on.

单选题·Read the advice about cooperation.·Choose the best word to fill each gap, from A, B, C or D on the opposite page.·For each question 19—33 mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.·One answer has been given as an example at the beginning. {{B}}CATSA{{/B}}Gia Andina de Triconos (CATSA), a Bolivian joint venture of the U. S. Dresser Industries and local investors, which had based its investment{{U}} (19) {{/U}}an allocation under the metalworking program, closed its doors after{{U}} (20) {{/U}}to penetrate the Andean market after more than two years in operation.The prospect of{{U}} (21) {{/U}}access to the Andean market, plus protection provided by a 55 percent "ad valorem" common outer tariff on bits sourced from outside the bloc, made the sales outlook seem{{U}} (22) {{/U}}. However, CATSA's "monopoly" position in Ancom proved specious. {{U}}(23) {{/U}}the plant went on stream in 1974, the company was never able to export a single drill bit to the Andean market, and its local sales were{{U}} (24) {{/U}}a state-owned petroleum company. This market was clearly{{U}} (25) {{/U}}, since the operation had been based on exporting the bulk of the plant's 200-unit-per-month capacity to the Andean area.CATSA could not penetrate the Ancom market for several reasons:Although Ancom{{U}} (26) {{/U}}a 55 percent common outer tariff on third-country imports, some Ancom countries had previously{{U}} (27) {{/U}}LAFTA (Latin American Free Trade Association) tariff concessions, which take precedence over the Ancom tariffs.Ancom members simply did not{{U}} (28) {{/U}}the spirit of the metalworking agreement. After the installation of the CATSA facility, plants producing tricorne bits{{U}} (29) {{/U}}in Peru and Venezuela. Under the metalworking program, participating{{U}} (30) {{/U}}were committed to prohibiting new foreign investment in allocations of other Ancom countries. But on the question of new investment by local industry, the obligation was only not to encourage it, with no requirement to prevent it. {{U}}(31) {{/U}}Venezuela, it has no commitment to limit local production or to honour the outer tariff, because it was not yet a member of Ancom when the metalworking agreement was signed and was thus not a{{U}} (32) {{/U}}to the pact. Also, according to Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador employed{{U}} (33) {{/U}}obstacles to avoid applying the common outer tariff.The withdrawal of Chile from Ancom cost Bolivia a lucrative potential market, too.

完形填空Am I Making Any Money? 0 Most people and most businesses are in business to make a profit. At the CORRECT 00 simplest level, profit means making more money than you spend on. Many ON 34 confuse profit with income. As a result, they can''t grasp it why all their income 35 isn''t getting them ahead} why no one wants to invest in their high-sales 36 company; why the bank won''t extend to their line of credit. Most people are very 37 good at tracking their income. When someone pays for you, that is income. 38 Income is usually related to production levels, but is not tied to it directly. You 39 may produce more or less than you sell. For instance, if you have already 100 40 widgets in the warehouse when you receive an order for 150, you only have to 41 produce out 50 additional widgets. If you make widgets for skis, you may make 42 20 widgets every month during the summer even though you don''t sell any, just 43 so that you have enough in the warehouse when winter arrives. So income is 44 something when you actually get paid, not when you make the product you are 45 going to sell. Total income is just the total of all your payments received during the year.

完形填空The Need For a Good Management 0. The need for good managers is not going away. But it is intensifying. With BUT 00. "flatter" organizations and self-directed teams managers becoming common; MANAGERS 34 with personal computers and networks making information available to more 35 people more quickly; the raw number of managers needed is decreasing down. 36 However, the need for good managers, people who can manage themselves 37 and others in an even high stress environment, is increasing. I believe anyone 38 can be a good manager. It is as much very trainable skill as it is inherent ability; 39 as much science as art. You must have confidence in yourself and your abilities. 40 You are happy with who you are not, but you are still learning and getting better. 41 You are something of an extrovert person. You don''t have to be the life of the 42 party, but you can''t be a wallflower. Management is sort a people skill—it''s not 43 the job for someone who doesn''t enjoy liking people. You are honest and 44 straight forward. Your success depends heavily on the trust of others. You are 45 neither an includer not an excluder. You bring others into what you do.

完形填空Ethics and Mission Statements 0. As business emerged from the profit-oriented 1980s, values and social CORRECT 00. responsibilities were being emphasized on in corporate mission statements. ON 34. Because Greed was out, and ethics were in. Businesses and their employees 35. became actively engaged in less activities that contributed to their communities. 36. To spell out their goals, companies were increasingly developed codes of ethics. 37. Mission statements that were written because they required consensus and 38. commitment. Not everyone who, however, agreed with the trend toward the 39. strong social stances of some public corporations. Respected economist Milton 40. Friedman contended, "Many Few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very 41. foundation of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social 42. responsibility other than to make as much more money for their stockholders as 43. possible." The CEO of Levi Strauss & Go. expressed another one viewpoint about 44. mission statements, saying that "our compliance-based program sent to a 45. disturbing message to our people—We DON''T RESPECT YOUR INTELLIGENCE OR TRUST YOU!"

完形填空Thriving Car Market Still Needs Loyal Consumers 0. China''s thriving car market has huge business opportunities, but automakers CORRECT 00. need to put more effort into the developing customer loyalty, according to a recent THE 34. survey. The survey was done by research firm AC Nielsen in Beijing, or Shanghai 35. and Guangzhou, China''s most three major automobile markets. It said that 36. China''s individual car owners should still have not developed brand loyalty. 37. Though some specific brands have a monopoly in the market here, but they have 38. not completely won favor among local customers. It was revealed that about 11% 39. of the people in Beijing had cars, putting that city in first place among the other 40. three. In Shanghai and Guangzhou, the rates were all 4 and 5 % , respectively. 41. Prices were largely responsible for that. When cars in Beijing are priced around 42. 139, 000 yuan, while in Guangzhou they are at 190, 000 yuan, and in Shanghai, 43. about 220, 00 yuan. Except for the deluxe models, most brands do not have a 44. competitive edge because consumers are not only so aware of the 45. manufacturers. In addition, car dealers need to improve their service to build up brand loyalty. China is expected to produce over 2.8 million cars this year, up from slightly over 2 million last year.

完形填空Marketing Information 0. Sales and marketing messages are illegal if they falsely advertise prices, CORRECT 00. performance capability, quality, or the other product characteristics, or deceive THE 34. the buyer in what any way. A Western Canadian electronics firm was convicted 35. recently of bait-and-switch selling (selling products with deceptive advertising). 36. This practice occurs when a company advertises at a very low price on a 37. product, but the customer has great many difficulty getting the special price. 38. Rather that, the company attempts to sell the customer a similar but 39. higher-priced product or offers a rain check that it will not be honored. This 40. tactic for attracting customers is a form of deceptive marketing. Furthermore, 41. sellers of services must also be cautious about how the language they use to 42. describe what they will do. Letters, reports, and proposals that they describe 43. services to be performed are interpreted as contracts in courts. Sales and 44. marketing messages must not make claims that cannot be verified, so that 45. language must not promise more than which intended.

完形填空Shop-local Group Offers Economic Impact Figures 0. If consumers in Hillsborough County can limited their spending on one Saturday CAN 00. to independent, locally owned businesses instead of chain stores, more than CORRECT 34. $17 million would even remain in the local economy instead of being shipped to 35. outside corporations as overnight deposits. So it say representatives of the 36. Tampa Independent Business Alliance, who base their calculation on studies that 37. made by the American Independent Business Alliance. The national study found 38. that since locally owned businesses began to use goods and services of other 39. businesses in the community, a consumer''s spending circulates 3 up to 31/2 40. times longer locally than if it is spent on at a chain. On Saturday, the local group 41. will be working with the national organization and more than all 25 other 42. communities across the country to broadcast the benefits coming of the 43. shop-local movement. The educational event, "American Unchained, "will be 44. promoted at independent businesses such as Inkwood Books in Tampa. "We 45. want people to think about where their dollars actually end up to," said Carla Jimenez, co-owner of Inkwood and president of Tampa Independent Business Alliance.

完形填空Denying Claims 0. Customers occasionally want something they are not entitled to or that you CORRECT 00. can''t grant. They may misunderstand their warranties or make unreasonable THEIR 34. demands. Because these customers are often unhappy with a product or 35. service, they are emotionally involved in. Letters that say no to emotionally 36. involved receivers will probably be your much most difficult communication 37. task. As if publisher Malcolm Forbes has pointed out, "To be agreeable while 38. be disagreeing—that''s an art." Fortunately, the reasons-before-refusal plan 39. enables you to be empathic and artful in handling with bad news. Obviously, in 40. denial letters you will need to adopt the proper tone. Don''t blame on customers 41. or suggest that the customer does not read or understand what the contract or 42. relative policies, even if they are at fault. Avoid use "you" statements that 43. sound preachy. Instead, the safest path is to use neutral and objective 44. language to explain that why the claim must be refused. Sometimes you may 45. hope consider offering resale information to rebuild the customer''s confidence in your products or organization.

写作题Conversation ? Look at the note below.

写作题Conversation ? Look at the note below.

写作题Conversation ? Look at the note below.