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  3. 共用题干 How Technology Pushes Down Prices1 Prices have fallen in the food busin...

共用题干 How Technology Pushes Down Prices1 Prices have fallen in the food busin...

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问题 共用题干
How Technology Pushes Down Prices

1 Prices have fallen in the food business because of advances in food production and distribution tech-
nology.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 there-
fore 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 super-
markets get bigger,the prices get lower.
3 Huge retail companies such as Wal-Mart have tremendous power and they can put pressure on pro-
ducers 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 per cent of its 133 factories and cut 10 per cent 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 com-
panies certainly think that giving people more food for their money makes them buy more.Giving people big-
ger 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 80z(225g)cans in the past,then 120z(350g),and
now come in 200z(550g)cans.If a company can sell you an 80z portion for$7,they can sell you a 120z
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.
选项 Besides cutting its workforce,Unilever also abandoned its _________.
A:their workforce
B:huge portions
C:large quantities
D:their money
E:a good bargain
F:minor brands
答案F
解析文章第一段的主题句是第一句。这段主要讲食物价格下降的原因是生产和分配技术 的发展。
文章第二段主要讲的是超级市场因为规模大，能引进先进技术，故能提供低价格的 商品。
由文章第三段主题句“Huge retail companies...can put pressure on producers to cut their margins.”可知，超级零售商能迫使生产商降低商品价格。
文章第四段讲的是，食品公司给顾客提供每份量大的商品，能很容易使顾客感觉到他 们得到了一个大的折扣，这样顾客会买更多的商品。因此每份量大的食品价格便宜。
文章第二段提到“And their size allows them to buy in bulk.”其中in bulk = in large quantities。
文章第三段提到“As a result, some producers have had to make cuts."make cuts的意思 是“降价”。
文章第三段提到“Unilever...dropped lots of its minor brands...”由此可知答案为F。
文章第四段提到“Giving people bigger portions is an easy way of making them feel they have got a better deal.”其中a better deal = a good bargain。第4部分：阅读理解第一篇 本篇文章主要讲述的是奥莎拉·麦卡迪把一生的积蓄全部奉献给了那些她并不认识却需要 帮助才能完成学业的年轻人，同时也证明了人间真正无私的存在。
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