Part B

Directions:

For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable paragraphs from the list A-G and fill them into the numbered boxes to form a coherent text. Paragraph E has been correctly placed. There is one paragraph which dose not fit in with the text. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1. (10 points)

[A] The first and more important is the consumer’s growing preference for eating out; the consumption of food and drink in places other than homes has risen from about 32 percent of total consumption in 1995 to 35 percent in 2000 and is expected to approach 38 percent by 2005. This development is boosting wholesale demand from the food service segment by 4 to 5 percent a year across Europe, compared with growth in retail demand of 1 to 2 percent. Meanwhile, as the recession is looming large, people are getting anxious. They tend to keep a tighter hold on their purse and consider eating at home a realistic alternative.

[B] Retail sales of food and drink in Europe’s largest markets are at a standstill, leaving European grocery retailers hungry for opportunities to grow. Most leading retailers have already tried e-commerce, with limited success, and expansion abroad. But almost all have ignored the big, profitable opportunity in their own backyard: the wholesale food and drink trade, which appears to be just the kind of market retailers need.

[C] Will such variations bring about a change in the overall structure of the food and drink market? Definitely not. The functioning of the market is based on flexible trends dominated by potential buyers. In other words, it is up to the buyer, rather than the seller, to decide what to buy .At any rate, this change will ultimately be acclaimed by an ever-growing number of both domestic and international consumers, regardless of how long the current consumer pattern will take hold.

[D] All in all, this clearly seems to be a market in which big retailers could profitably apply their scale, existing infrastructure and proven skills in the management of product ranges, logistics, and marketing intelligence. Retailers that master the intricacies of wholesaling in Europe may well expect to rake in substantial profits thereby. At least, that is how it looks as a whole. Closer inspection reveals important differences among the biggest national markets, especially in their customer segments and wholesale structures, as well as the competitive dynamics of individual food and drink categories. Big retailers must understand these differences before they can identify the segments of European wholesaling in which their particular abilities might unseat smaller but entrenched competitors. New skills and unfamiliar business models are needed too.

[E] Despite variations in detail, wholesale markets in the countries that have been closely examined-France, Germany, Italy, and Spain-are made out of the same building blocks. Demand comes mainly from two sources: independent mom-and-pop grocery stores which, unlike large retail chains, are two small to buy straight from producers, and food service operators that cater to consumers when they don’t eat at home. Such food service operators range from snack machines to large institutional catering ventures, but most of these businesses are known in the trade as “horeca”: hotels, restaurants, and cafes. Overall, Europe’s wholesale market for food and drink is growing at the same sluggish pace as the retail market, but the figures, when added together, mask two opposing trends.

[F] For example, wholesale food and drink sales come to $268 billion in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom in 2000-more than 40 percent of retail sales. Moreover, average overall margins are higher in wholesale than in retail; wholesale demand from the food service sector is growing quickly as more Europeans eat out more often; and changes in the competitive dynamics of this fragmented industry are at last making it feasible for wholesalers to consolidate.

[G] However, none of these requirements should deter large retailers (and even some large good producers and existing wholesalers) from trying their hand, for those that master the intricacies of wholesaling in Europe stand to reap considerable gains.

Part B

一、試題解析

41. 【答案】 B

【考點】文章結構

【解析】本題要求找出文章的首段，可用排除法做。首先 A 選項中提到“the first and more important…”中的“more”應該在前文中提到，故排除。B 選項首句就提出了歐洲食品零售所面臨的問題，根據文章結構法：提出問題—分析問題—解決問題，此段符合首段要求，即提出了文章的中心問題，而且本選項中也沒有明顯的需要和上文銜接的關系詞，而其它選項都有明顯的與上文銜接的信息詞，不能在首段出現，故 B 為正確答案。

42. 【答案】 F

【考點】段落一致性

【解析 】首段一旦確定，本段內容便可根據上文順藤摸瓜，第一段最后一句話“but”后指出了雖然食品零售商面臨著“at a standstill (幾乎停止發展)”的問題，他們卻忽略了一個潛在的市場即他們身邊的“wholesale food and trade(食品批發市場)”。而 F 選項首句便舉例說明法國、德國、意大利等的食品批發產業的市場規模比食品零售產業要大 40%。而且在“moreover”后又進一步說明批發的利潤比零售大很多。因此可以判斷此選項是對第一段的例證說明。其中“for example”是明顯的信息提示詞。

43. 【答案】 D

【考點】段落連貫性

【解析】 】上段介紹了食品批發商的優勢，而 D 選項第一句“All in all, this clearly seems to be a market in which…”則對上文的內容進行總結，其中 all in all 是較明顯的信息提示詞，“this”指代上文提到的具有優勢的食品批發業。因此 D 項為正確答案。

44. 【答案】 G

【考點】段落連貫性

【解析】 】上段最后一句提出的“particular abilities”以及“new skills and unfamiliar business models are needed.（零售商需要新的技能及不熟悉的商業模式）”表明這句是對大型零售商提出的要求。而 G 選項第一句提到的“these requirements（這些要求）”正能與上段段尾呼應，構成合理的銜接。requirements 與 needed 屬于同義替換。另

外 G 項后半句話“those…reap considerable gains”與 D 項第二句 “Retailers…rake in substantial profits thereby”是同義轉述，這也顯示了兩段前后的銜接關系。

45. 【答案】 A

【考點】段落的一致性

【解析 】從此題前文的已知段落 E 選項中的最后一句“two opposing trends”我們可以推測接下來的段落可能會對這兩種趨勢進行說明。這兩種趨勢在剩余的 A 選項中得到了體現，即一方面由于人們選擇在外就餐而擴大了食品批發的需求，而另一方面人們又開始到“anxious(焦慮)”。而 C 選項第一句提到的“such variations”在上文中并沒有得到體現，因此可以斷定 A 為正確答案。

二、全文翻譯

[B] 在歐洲的最大市場上，飲食零售業現處于停滯狀態，讓歐洲食品零售商渴望獲得成長的機會。大多數領先的零售商已經嘗試過電子商務，但效果甚微，它們也嘗試過海外拓展。但是，幾乎所有的零售商都忽略了在自家后院的巨大獲利機會：食品和飲料的批發行業，這一行業的市場正是零售商所需要的。

[F] 例如，在 2000 年，法國、德國、意大利、西班牙和英國的食品和飲料的批發銷售創收 2680億美元——比零售業額高出 40%還要多。此外，批發的平均利潤比零售的要高; 隨著越來越多的歐洲人更經常的在外面吃飯，食品服務業的批發需求迅速增長；這一零散型產業競爭性動態變化最終使批發商之間的聯合具有了可行性。

[D] 總之，顯然在這一市場中大的零售商可以利用其龐大規模、現有基礎設施，以及在產品范圍、物流、營銷情報方面出色的管理技能，從而獲利。對歐洲批發業的經絡稔熟于心的零售商，可能會因此指望大撈一筆。至少目前整體的趨勢是這樣的。仔細觀察發現，最大的國內市場之間存在重要的差異，尤其是在他們的客戶群體、批發結構以及飲食的競爭動態方面。大型零售商必須了解這些差異，之后才能夠識別歐洲的批發部門，他們獨特的能力可能打敗規模較小，但根深蒂固的競爭者。他們也需要新的技能和不熟悉的商業模式。

[G] 然而，所有這些要求毫不能阻止大型零售商（甚至一些大型食品生產商和現有的批發商）一試身手，因為那些精通歐洲盤根錯節的批發業的零售商正準備獲得可觀收益。

[E] 經過詳細研究的一些（法國、德國、意大利、西班牙）的批發市場其最終構件是一樣的，盡管在細節上存在一些差別。需求主要來自兩方面：一是獨立經營的夫妻雜貨店，不同于大型零售連鎖店，這種夫妻店規模太小而無法從生產商那里直購；二是向不在家吃飯的顧客提供飲食服務的經營者。這種飲食服務經營者的范圍從快餐食品的自動售貨機至大型機關餐飲企業不一而足，但這些業務很大一部分在行業中被稱為 horeca，即賓館、飯店、咖啡店的總稱。總體而言，歐洲的餐飲批發市場正以同零售市場一樣慢的速度增長，但是綜合起來的數字掩蓋了兩種相反的趨勢。

[A] 第一種也是較重要的一種趨勢是，消費者越來越傾向于外出就餐：在外面而非在家的飲食消費總額的比例從 1995 年的 32%增長到 2000 年的 35%，預計 2005 年會接近 38%。在歐洲，這種發展將食品服務業的批發需求每年提高 4%至 5%，相比而言，零售需求的增長是 1%至 2%。同時，被經濟衰退的陰影籠罩著，人們越來越焦慮不安。他們往往更加看緊他們的錢包，并且認為在家就餐是一種現實的轉變。