Margarite Santos is a 21-year-old senior at USC. She began college as a biology major butfound she was “really bored with bacteria.” So she took a class in gerontology and discoveredthat she lied it. She says, “I did volunteer work in retirement homes and it was very satisfying.”

　　1. “...Old is suddenly in” (Line 1, Para. 1) most probably means “________”.

　　A) America has suddenly become a nation of old people

　　B) gerontology has suddenly become popular

　　C) more elderly professors are found on American campuses

　　D) American colleges have realized the need of enrolling older students

　　2. With the aging of America, lawyers can benefit ________.

　　A) from the adoption of the “elder law”

　　B) from rendering special services to the elderly

　　C) by enriching their professional knowledge

　　D) by winning the trust of the elderly to promote their own interests

　　3. Why can businessmen make money in the emerging elder market?

　　A) Retirees are more generous in spending money.

　　B) They can employ more gerontologists.

　　C) The elderly possess an enormous purchasing power.

　　D) There are more elderly people working than before.

　　4. Who can make big money in the new century according to the passage?

　　A) Retirees who are business-minded.

　　B) The volunteer workers in retirement homes.

　　C) College graduates with an MBA or law degree.

　　D) Professionals with a good knowledge of gerontology.

　　5. It can be seen from the passage that the expansion of America’s elderly population________.

　　A) will provide good job opportunities in many areas

　　B) will impose an unbearable burden on society

　　C) may lead to nursing home abuse and age discrimination

　　D) will create new fields of study in universities

　　參考答案：

　　1. B 2. B 3. C 4.D 5. A

　　We can see how the product life cycle works bylooking at the introduction of instant coffee. When itwas introduced, most people did not like it as well as“regular” coffee, and it took several years to gaingeneral acceptance (introduction stage). At onepoint, though, instant coffee grew rapidly inpopularity, and many brands were introduced(stage of rapid growth). After a while, people becameattached to one brand and sales leveled off (stage of maturity). Sales went into a slightdecline (衰退) when freeze-dried coffees were introduced (stage of decline).

　　The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: Different stages in the productlife cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profitsdo not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managerslook for new users and market sections. Did you know, for example, that the backpacks that somany students carry today were originally designed for the military?

　　Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customersor going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the productto appeal to new market sections.

　　Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changingproduct quality, features, or style to attract new users or more usage from present users.American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture worldmarkets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year toyear to keep demand from falling.

　　1. According to the passage, when people grow fond of one particular brand of a product,its sales will ________.

　　A) decrease gradually

　　B) remain at the same level

　　C) become unstable

　　D) improve enormously

　　2. The first paragraph tells us that a new product is ________.

　　A) not easily accepted by the public

　　B) often inferior to old ones at first

　　C) often more expensive than old ones

　　D) usually introduced to satisfy different tastes

　　3. Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to ________.

　　A) promote its production

　　B) work out marketing policies

　　C) speed up its life cycle

　　D) increase its popularity

　　4. The author mentions the example of “backpacks” (Line 4, Para. 2) to show theimportance of ________.

　　A) pleasing the young as well as the old

　　B) increasing usage among students

　　C) exploring new market sections

　　D) serving both military and civil needs

　　5. In order to recover their share of the world market, U.S. auto makers are ________.

　　A) improving product quality

　　B) increasing product features

　　C) modernizing product style

　　D) re-positioning their product in the market

　　參考答案：

　　1. D 2. D 3. A 4.B 5. A