Unit 11
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
(35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
It is said that the public and Congressional concern about deceptive (欺骗性的) packaging rumpus(喧嚣) started because Senator Hart discovered that the boxes of cereals consumed by him, Mrs. Hart, and their children were becoming higher and narrower, with a decline of net weight from 12 to 10 1/2 ounces, without any reduction in price. There were still twelve biscuits, but they had been reduced in size. Later, the Senator rightly complained of a store-bought pie in a handsomely illustrated box that pictured, in a single slice, almost as many cherries as there were in the whole pie.
The manufacturer who increases the unit price of his product by changing his package size to lower the quantity delivered can, without undue hardship, put his product into boxes, bags, and tins that will contain even 4-ounce, 8-ounce, one-pound, two-pound quantities of breakfast foods, cake mixes, etc. A study of drugstore(杂货店) and supermarket shelves will convince any observer that all possible sizes and shapes of boxes, jars, bottles, and tins are in use at the same time, and, as the package journals show, week by week, there is never any hesitation in introducing a new size and shape of box or bottle when it aids in product differentiation. The producers of packaged products argue strongly against changing sizes of packages to contain even weights and volumes, but no one in the trade comments unfavorably on the huge costs incurred by endless changes of package sizes, materials, shape, art work, and net weights that are used for improving a product's market position.
When a packaging expert explained that he was able to multiply the price of hard sweets by 2.5, from $1 to $ 2.50 by changing to a fancy jar, or that he had made a 5_ounce bottle look as though it held 8 ounces, he was in effect telling the public that packaging can be a very expensive luxury. It evidently does come high, when an average family pays about $ 200 a year for bottles, cans, boxes, jars and other containers, most of which can't be used for anything but stuffing the garbage can.
21. What started the public and Congressional concern about deceptive packaging rumpus?
A) Consumers' complaints about the changes in package size.
B) A senator's discovery of the tricks in packaging.
C) Expensive packaging for poor quality products.
D) The rise in the unit price for many products.
22. The word “undue”(Line 2,Para.2) means“ ”.
A) improper
B) adequate
C) excessive
D) unexpected
23. Consumers are concerned about the changes in package size, mainly because .
A) the unit price for a product often rises as a result
B) they hate to see any changes in things they are familiar with
C) they have to pay for the cost of changing package sizes
D) this entails an increase in the cost of packaging
24. According to this passage, various types of packaging come into existence to .
A) meet the needs of consumers
B) suit all kinds of products
C) introduce new products
D) enhance the market position of products
25. The author is critical mainly of .
A) inferior packaging
B) dishonest packaging
C) the changes in package size
D) exaggerated illustrations on packages Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work-force skills, American firms have a problem. Human-resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labour is simply another factor of production to be hired — rented at the lowest possible cost — much as one buys raw materials or equipment.
The lack of importance attached to human-resource management can be seen in the corporate hierarchy. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in command. The post of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human-resource management is central — usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm's hierarchy.
While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work forces, in fact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies.
As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed with which new equipment can be employed. The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the bottom half of the population affect the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can't effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.
26.Which of the following applies to the management of human resources in American companies?
A) They hire people at the lowest cost regardless of their skills.
B) They only hire skilled workers because of keen competition.
C) They attach more importance to workers than to equipment.
D) They see the gaining of skills as their employees' own business.
27. What is the position of the head of human-resource management in an American firm?
A) He is one of the most important executives in the firm.
B) His post is likely to disappear when new technologies are introduced.
C) He has no say in making important decisions in the firm.
D) He is directly under the chief financial exective.
28. The money most American firms put in training mainly goes to .
A) technological and managerial staff
B) workers who can operate new equipment
C) workers who lack basic background skills
D) top executives
29. According to the passage, the decisive factor in maintaining a firm's competitive advantage is .
A) the introduction of new technologies
B) the improvement of workers' basic skills
C) the rational composition of professional and managerial employees
D) the attachment of importance to the bottom half of the employees
30. What is the main idea of the pa
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