新東方：大學英語四級考試閱讀講義(六)

　　Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage: �お�

　　Reebok executives do not like to hear stylish athletic shoes called “footwear for yuppies(雅皮士，少壯高薪職業(yè)人士)”. They contend that Reebok shoes appeal to diverse market segments. Especially now that the company offers basketball and children's shoes for the under_18 set and walking shoes for older customers not interested in aerobics (健身操) or running. The executives also point out that through recent acquisitions they have added hiking boots, dress and casual shoes, and high-performance athletic footwear to their product lines, all of which should attract new and varied groups of customers.

　　Still, despite its emphasis on new markets, Reebok plans few changes in the unmarked(高檔消費人群的)retailing network that helped push sales to $1 billion annually, ahead of all other sports shoe marketers. Reebok shoes, which are priced from $27 to $85, will continue to be sold only in better specialty, sporting goods, and department stores, in accordance with the company's view that consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution.

　　In the past few years, the Massachusetts-based company has imposed limits on the number of its distributors(and the number of shoes supplied to stores), partly out of necessity. At times the unexpected demand for Reeboks exceeded supply, and the company could barely keep up with orders from the dealers it already had. These fulfillment problems seem to be under control now, but the company is still selective about its distributors. At present, Reebok shoes are available in about five thousand retail stores in the United States.

　　Reebok has already anticipated that walking shoes will be the next fitness-related craze replacing aerobics shoes the same way its brightly colored, soft leather exercise footwear replaced conventional running shoes. Through product diversification and careful market research, Reebok hopes to avoid the distribution problems Nike came across several years ago, when Nike misjudged the strength of the aerobics shoe craze and was forced to unload huge inventories of running shoesthrough discount stores.

　　36. One reason why Reebok's managerial personnel don't like their shoes to be called “footwear for yuppies” is that . ��

　　A) they believe that their shoes are popular with people of different age groups

　　B) new production lines have been added to produce inexpensive shoes

　　C) “yuppies” usually evokes a negative image

　　D) the term makes people think of prohibitive prices

　　37. Reebok's view that “consumers judge the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution” (Line 5, para. 2) implies that . ��

　　A) the quality of a brand is measured by the service quality of the store selling it

　　B) the quality of a product determines the quality of its distributors

　　C) the popularity of a brand is determined by the stores that sell it.

　　D) consumers believe that first-rate products are only sold by high-quality stores

　　38.Reebok once had to limit the number of its distributors because . ��

　　A) its supply of products fell short of demand

　　B) too many distributors would cut into its profits

　　C) the reduction of distributors could increase its share of the market

　　D) it wanted to enhance consumer confidence in its products

　　39. Although the Reebok Company has solved the problem of fulfilling its orders, it .

　　A) does not want to further expand its retailing network

　　B) still limits the number of shoes supplied to stores

　　C) is still particular about who sells its products

　　D) still carefully chooses the manufacturers of its products

　　40. What lesson has Reebok learned from Nike's distribution problems? A) A company should not sell its high quality shoes in discount stores.

　　B) A company should not limit its distribution network.

　　C) A company should do follow-up surveys of its products.

　　D) A company should correctly evaluate the impact of a new craze on the market.