Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Just five one-hundredths of an inch thick, light golden in color and with a perfect “saddle curl,” the Lay’s potato chip seems an unlikely weapon for global domination. But its maker. Frito-Lay. Thinks otherwise. “Potato chips are a snack food for the world,” said Salman Amin, the company’s head of global marketing. Amin believes there is no corner of the world that can resist the charms of a Frito-Lay potato chip.
Frito-Lay is the biggest snack maker in America, owned by PepsiCo. And accounts for over half of the parent company’s $3 billion annual profits. But the U.S. snack food market is largely saturated, and to grow, the company has to look overseas.
Its strategy rests on two beliefs: first a global product offers economies of scale with which local brands cannot compete. And second, consumers in the 21st century are drawn to “global” as a concept. “Global” does not mean products that are consciously identified as American, but ones than consumes-especially young people-see as part of a modem, innovative (创新的) world in which people are linked across cultures by shared beliefs and tastes. Potato chips are an American invention, but most Chinese, for instance, do not know than Frito-Lay is an American company. Instead, Riskey, the company’s research and development head, would hope they associate the brand with the new world of global communications and business.
With brand perception a crucial factor, Riskey ordered a redesign of the Frito-Lay logo (标识). The logo, along with the company’s long-held marketing image of the “irresistibility” of its chips, would help facilitate the company’s global expansion.
The executives acknowledge that they try to swing national eating habits to a food created in America, but they deny that amounts to economic imperialism. Rater, they see Frito-Lay as spreading the benefits of free enterprise across the world. “We’re making products in those countries, we’re adapting them to the tastes of those countries, building businesses and employing people and changing lives,” said Steve Reinemund, PepsiCo’s chief executive.
21. It is the belief of Frito-Lay’s head of global marking that ________.
A) potato chips can hardly be used as a weapon to dominate the world market
B) their company must find new ways to promote domestic sales
C) the light golden color enhances the charm of their company’s potato chips
D) people the world over enjoy eating their company’s potato chips(D)
22. What do we learn about Frito-Lay from Paragraph 2?
A) Its products use to be popular among overseas consumers.
B) Its expansion has caused fierce competition in the snack marker.
C) It gives half of its annual profits to its parent company.
D) It needs to turn to the word market for development.(D)
23. One of the assumptions on which Frito-Lay bases its development strategy is that ________.
A) consumers worldwide today are attracted by global brands
B) local brands cannot compete successfully with American brands
C) products suiting Chinese consumers’ needs bring more profits
D) products identified as American will have promising market value(A)
24. Why did Riskey have the Frito-Lay logo redesigned?
A) To suit changing tastes of young consumers.
B) To promote the company’s strategy of globalization.
C) To change the company’s long-held marketing image.
D) To compete with other American chip producers.(B)
25. Frito-Lay’s executives claim that the promoting of American food in the international market ________.
A) won’t affect the eating habits of the local people
B) will lead to economic imperialism
C) will be in the interest of the local people
D) won’t spoil the taste of their chips(C)
这是一篇介绍某薯片公司海外发展战略的短文。文章开头以新颖的方式引出中心论题：先是对Lay公司出品的薯片本身做以描述，而后自然发出对这种食品能否风行全球的疑问(seems an unlikely weapon for global domination)，最后推出厂商代表对此疑问进行反驳(no corner of the world that can resist)，实现一种对比反差效果，使人对该公司印象深刻，同时也引起人们对公司代表因何如此信心十足的探究，为下文详加叙述铺平了道路。
第一段透露出几点信息，首先是文章内容范畴限定在薯片，第二是对薯片制造公司的介绍仅限于Lay公司。可见这是一篇商业推广性质的文章，目的是给Lay做广告宣传。第三是该公司的目标是征服全球。
为了回应第一段内容所引起的读者们的疑问，第二段马上对Lay公司进行了介绍：百事子公司，美国最大零食企业，百事公司一半以上的年利润由它带来(accounts for over half of the parent company)。这最后一种说法具有震撼效果，因为谁都知道百事是做碳酸饮料的企业，很少人能够想到其超过一半的利润竟然是薯片带来的。之后，文章对第一段中关于该企业把目标定在全球市场这一信息做出回应：原因是国内市场饱和(largely saturated)，需要开拓海外市场(has to look overseas)。
第三段详细介绍了该公司开拓海外市场的战略思想。共有两点，一是全球产品的经济总量是当地企业无法比拟的(offers economies of scale with which local brands cannot compete)，意即该公司的资金量巨大，当地企业无法与其竞争。二是21世纪的消费者们认同一种全球化概念，意即公司可以打全球牌，使消费者认为Lay薯片是一种全球共享的产品。之后文章对这一概念做了详细解释。先是对global做出定义：一个现代的、创新的、超越文化的世界(a modem, innovative world in which people are linked across cultures)，而后以中国为例，证明人们对全球化概念的认同程度。
接下来的一段说到Lay公司的具体行动——采用新的公司标示，并称该标示将与“难以抗拒的诱惑”这一公司形象一起，共同促进其全球策略开展。
最后一段，为了不使全球化战略显得过于霸道、势利，否认经济帝国主义的存在(deny that amounts to economic imperialism)，文章搬出公司高管的名言对占领全球市场这一“野心”进行粉饰：在当地制造，以当地人口味为准改造产品，在当地建立公司，雇用当地人，改变当地人的生活。
21. It is the belief of Frito-Lay’s head of global marking that ________.
A) potato chips can hardly be used as a weapon to dominate the world market
B) their company must find new ways to promote domestic sales
C) the light golden color enhances the charm of their company’s potato chips
D) people the world over enjoy eating their company’s potato chips(D)
本题问Frito-Lay公司全球市场总监相信什么。
A,马铃薯片很难成为统治世界市场的武器。
B,他们公司必须发现更多办法来提升国内销售。
C，金黄的颜色使得他们公司的薯片更具魅力。
D，全世界的人们喜欢他们公司的薯片。
全文中提到全球市场总监的地方(head of global marking)只有一处，就是第一段后半部分。而至于他的观点如何，文中有两处可供分析，一是引号内的原话，二是最后一句“Amin believes……”。前面一句话是Potato chips are a snack food for the world，马铃薯片是全世界的零食。后一句是there is no corner of the world that can resist the charms of a Frito-Lay potato chip，第二句是世界上没有哪个角落能够抗拒Lay公司的马铃薯片。
从这两句话可以看出，这位总监对公司的薯片能否征服全球市场是持肯定态度的，而四个答案中只有D表达了这个意思。
A的说法与总监的想法恰好相反，文中也已经显而易见地指出了这一点：But its maker Frito-Lay thinks otherwise。B的内容来源于第二段，snack food market is largely saturated, and to grow, the company has to look overseas，但这里只是说零食市场在国内已经饱和，需要开拓海外市场以图发展，暗含的意思就是再努力提高国内销售也是徒然，与B的说法相反。C的说法来源于文中对对该公司马铃薯片外形的描述，不过文中没有提到颜色对其魅力的影响，说总监有此想法就更加牵强了。
22. What do we learn about Frito-Lay from Paragraph 2?
A) Its products used to be popular among overseas consumers.
B) Its expansion has caused fierce competition in the snack marker.
C) It gives half of its annual profits to its parent company.
D) It needs to turn to the world market for development.(D)
题目问从第二段我们可以得知Frito-Lay的什么情况。
既然已经指明考查的是第二段，我们就可以把全部注意力放在对第二段的理解上。Frito-Lay is the biggest snack maker in America, owned by PepsiCo. And accounts for over half of the parent company’s $3 billion annual profits. But the U.S. snack food market is largely saturated, and to grow, the company has to look overseas。第二段只有两句话，也非常好理解，第一句是“该公司是美国最大的零食制造商，归百事所有，母公司30亿美元的年利润中有一半多是它贡献的。”这里存在的唯一难点是account for这个词组的意义，这个词组有两个含义，一个是“构成决定性的或主要的因素”，如Bad weather accounted for the long delay，长期的延迟是坏天气导致的;另一个意思是“做出解释，提出理由”，那么在句中的意思应该是第一个，即这个公司是百事公司一半多利润的决定因素。第二句是“美国零食市场已经很大程度上饱和了，为了发展，公司必须瞄准海外市场。
A，它的产品过去在海外消费者中非常受欢迎。Used to是过去常如何如何的意思，从文意可知该公司正准备抢占国际市场，说它过去即受到海外消费者的欢迎是无中生有的。
B，它的扩张已经引起零食制造商们的激烈竞争。B的推断很可能来自于the U.S. snack food market is largely saturated这句话，因为市场的饱和说明竞争推广销售非常到位，已经把潜在需求发掘殆尽。不过仅从这句话也很难推断出是否发生过激烈竞争，该公司完全可以一头独大，把国内市场发掘完毕。另外expasion一词在第二段更可能指的是海外扩张，而从第二段的信息可知，公司只是在look overseas，还没有真正参与海外竞争。
C，它把年利润的一半上交给母公司。从the parent company’s $3 billion annual profits这句话中的’s可知年利润是指百事的年利润，而half of the parent company中的of则表明这里的一半是指母公司的一半。连起来就是母公司年利润的一半，是说这个公司的利润占到百事总利润的一半多，而不是把自己的一半多上交到百事。
D，为了发展，它需要转向世界市场。这个说法是to grow, the company has to look overseas的翻版，完全正确。
23. One of the assumptions on which Frito-Lay bases its development strategy is that ________.
A) consumers worldwide today are attracted by global brands
B) local brands cannot compete successfully with American brands
C) products suiting Chinese consumers’ needs bring more profits
D) products identified as American will have promising market value(A)
题目的句式较难理解，which引导的是定语从句，如果which前面有介词，则可把介词放入定语从句中与谓语连接起来理解。这个句子可变为Frito-Lay bases its development strategy on one of the assumptions，谓语是base，句意是该公司以某一设想为其发展战略的基础，这一设想是什么。
根据第三段的叙述，Lay公司的发展战略基于两个设想，一个是经济总量是当地企业无法比拟的(offers economies of scale with which local brands cannot compete)，二是21世纪的消费者们认同一种全球化概念(consumers in the 21st century are drawn to “global” as a concept)。题支的说法只要符合二者其一就是正确的。
A，如今全球的消费者都被全球性品牌吸引。与文中consumers in the 21st century are drawn to “global” as a concept意义一致，是对的。
B，当地品牌与美国品牌竞争不会成功。文中是说全球性品牌可以“offers economies of scale with which local brands cannot compete”，全球性品牌可以是美国的，但美国品牌不都是全球性的，其中的弱小品牌参与国际竞争不会有多大优势。
C，满足中国消费者需求的产品会带来更高的利润。这个题支考查对Potato chips are an American invention, but most Chinese, for instance, do not know that Frito-Lay is an American company一句的理解。这句原文的意思是说大多数中国人不知道Lay是一家美国公司，结合后面的论述可知，文章在这里要表达的意思是中国消费者只会把Lay理解成全球化的品牌加以接受。这里没有提到利润问题，只提到中国人对其产品是“接受”的，那么相信其利润不会比美国高多少。
D，美国产的产品市场价值前景更佳。这个说法与B的说法犯了同样的错误，把美国产品等同于全球化产品。
24. Why did Riskey have the Frito-Lay logo redesigned?
A) To suit changing tastes of young consumers.
B) To promote the company’s strategy of globalization.
C) To change the company’s long-held marketing image.
D) To compete with other American chip producers.(B)
题目问Riskey为什么要重新设计公司标示。
A，为了迎合不断变化的年轻消费者口味。
B，为了推广公司的全球化战略。
C，为了改变公司保持了很长时间的市场形象。
D，为了与其他美国薯片制造商竞争。
文章说到改变公司标示一事是在第四段，关键要理解The logo, along with the company’s long-held marketing image of the “irresistibility” of its chips, would help facilitate the company’s global expansion这句话。为了更好地理解这个长句，可以去掉中间的状语成分，句子就成了The logo would help facilitate the company’s global expansion，意思是标示可以帮助促进公司的全球化扩张。显然，四个答案中B含有这个意思。A和D的描述都是无中生有，C的内容与文章有所关联，与它相关的即是上面去掉的状语成分along with the company’s long-held marketing image of the “irresistibility” of its chips。Along with是“与……一起的意思”，也就是说would help facilitate这个谓语同时也是image的谓语，image——公司形象也是促进海外扩张的因素之一，那么image显然是不能变的。
25. Frito-Lay’s executives claim that the promoting of American food in the international market ________.
A) won’t affect the eating habits of the local people
B) will lead to economic imperialism
C) will be in the interest of the local people
D) won’t spoil the taste of their chips(C)
题目问Lay公司的高管们宣称美国食品在国际市场的推广如何如何。
结合四个答案的意义，可以判断出本题是在考查对最后一段的理解。最后一段旨在解释全球化战略不会带来经济霸权，而是为了spreading the benefits of free enterprise across the world，即让全世界分享自由企业带来的福利。而后用高管们的话具体说明他们这一公司理想。
A，不会对当地人的饮食习惯造成影响。第四段里有一句话：they try to swing national eating habits to a food created in America，高管们承认全球化会把一个国家的饮食口味转向这种美国食品，这与A的说法相反。虽然后面还有一句：we’re adapting them to the tastes of those countries,不过这句话的意思是对薯片的口味稍作改动，而饮食习惯本身的改变指的是让人们都去吃薯片，少吃原来的食品，而不是在薯片成为主流食品时把其口味改动一下。
B，将会走向经济帝国主义。高管们恰好反对经济帝国主义。
C，将会代表当地人的利益。与spreading the benefits of free enterprise across the world所表达的意思一致，同时，building businesses 和employing people这些都是对当地人的贡献，可以说是给当地人带来了利益。
D,不会破坏他们的薯片的口味。这与we’re adapting them to the tastes of those countries(我们会为了那些国家改变口味)的意思相左。
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