学位英语

第3部分：概括大意和完成句子(第23~30题，每题1分，共8分)

下面的短文后有2项测试任务：(1)第23~26题要求从所给的6个选项中为指定段落每段选择1个小标题;(2)第27~30题要求从所给的6个选项中为每个句子确定一个最佳选项。

How Technology Pushes Down Price

1   Prices have fallen in the food business because of advances in food production and distribution technology. Consumers have benefited greatly from those advances. People who predicted that the world would run out of food were wrong. We are producing more and more food with less and less capital. Food is therefore more plentiful and cheaper than it has ever been. Spending on food compared with other goods has fallen for many years, and continues to drop.

2   Supermarkets have helped push down prices mainly because of their scale. Like any big business, they can invest in IT systems that make them efficient. And their size allows them to buy in bulk. As supermarkets get bigger, the prices get lower.

3   Huge retail companies such as Wal-Mart have tremendous power and they can put pressure on producers to cut their margins. As a result, some producers have had to make cuts. In recent years, Unilever has cut its workforce by 33,000 to 245, 000 and dropped lots of its minor brands as part of its "path to growth"  strategy,  Cadbury has shut nearly 20 percent of its 133 factories and cut 10 percent of its 55, 000 global workforce. These cuts help keep costs down, and the price of food stays low.

4   Does cheap food make people unhealthy? Cheap food may encourage people to eat more.Food companies certainly think that giving people more food for their money makes them buy more.Giving people bigger portions is an easy way of making them feel they have got a better deal.That is why portions have got larger and larger. In America, soft drinks came in  oz(225)cans in the past,then 12oz ( 350g), and now come in 20oz (550g) cans. If a company can sell you an 8oz portion for $ 7,they can sell you a 12oz portion for $8.The only extra cost to the company is the food,which probably costs 25 cents.

5   Now companies are under pressure to stop selling bigger portions for less money.  But it is hard to change the trend.

23. Paragraph 1____  _

24. Paragraph 2____  _

25. Paragraph 3____  _

26. Paragraph 4____  _

A. Bigger supermarkets offer lower prices

B. Chain stores provide better service

C. Technology helps reduce food prices

D. Huge retailers force producers to cunt costs

E. Consumers like supermarkets

F. Food comes cheaper in larger portions

27. Big supermarkets can offer food at lower prices because they can buy in___.

28. Some food producers have reduced___.

29. Besides cutting its workforce, Unilever also abandoned its___.

30. Buyers like bigger portions because they think they have got___.

A. minor brands

B. a good bargin

C. large quantities

D. their workforce

E. huge portions

F. their money

本题分数（8）

第3部分：概括大意与完成句子

23  C  第一段的第一句话说了食品生产和配送技术上的进步是食品价格下降的原因。本段就是以此为中心展开的，所以Technology helps reduce food prices概括了本段内容。

24  A  本段围绕着超市展开，超市可以投资信息技术系统提高它的运作效率，同时它的规模也使它可以大量购入，所以超市越大，价格就越低。Bigger supermarkets offer lower prices归纳了本段的内容。

25  D  本段主要讲的是大的零售商如Wal-Mart通过向Unilever和Cadbury这样的生产商施加压力，迫使其降低利润空间以达到降低食品价格的目的，故Huge retailers force producers to cut costs是本段的标题。

26  F  把食品的包装加大固然是食品商家的一种促销手段，但实际上也使顾客从中得到一些便宜，所以大包装也是使得食品价格降低的一种方法，故Food comes cheaper in larger portions概括了本段的内容。

27  C  文中用的是buy in bulk这个表达方式，意思就是buy in large quantities，大量买进。

28  D  第三段中举了两个例子：Unilever和Cadbury，这两家生产商都裁减了自己的员工workforce，文中用的是cut这个词，问题中用了reduce这个词，意思相同。

29  A  原文中用的是dropped lots of its minor brands，这里用的是abandon这个动词，和drop同义。

30  B  a good bargain便宜货，文中用的是a better deal;a good deal也有“便宜货、好买卖”的意思。

（责任编辑：vstara）

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