2012年职称英语综合类A级真题及答案—概括大意|职称英语

第三部分：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

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. Good 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.

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.

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 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.

Does cheap food make people unhealthy? Cheap food may encourage people to eat more. Good 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 8oz (225g) 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.

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

Glossary

Buy in bulk: buy goods in large quantities

Put pressure on: use your power to encourage

Get a better deal:get more value for your money

Paragraph 1 C

Paragraph 2 F

Paragraph 3 A

Paragraph 4 D

A. Huge retailers force producers to cunt costs

B. Consumers like supermarkets

C. Technology helps reduce food prices