International irade fairs have become extremely important venues For conducting business. yet very few domestically based sales organizations have an understanding of how to cake advantage of the opportunities that these shows present. Unlike U.S. trade shows. at which there is an open display of one's goods and services and a 1ot of looking but no buying. a European trade show is relatively closed and only open to those who are there to conduct business.The U.S. company often will spend a lot of money to set up an open display with charming sales people with little seniority or authority. The exhibit is saying. in effect, everyone and anyone is welcome but do not ask too many questions or expect to conduct any serious business. A comparable German exhibit will be more like a fortress where savvy gatekeepers will quickly weed out all but the most important clients who. once allowed into the inner sanctum, will meet directly with senior managers. The message that this exhibit is sending out is that only very special people are welcome and that is its privilege to be allowed to stay.

　　In some societies. the first thing people care about is quality ("Is it the best?"); in other societies, the first thing on a customer's mind is the cost("How cheap is it?"); and in other countries. the concern is style "'How does it look?"). The color. size. and quantity of items need to be. considered in the packaging of any product. The color blue is for funerals in some countries,smaller items are preferred over large items, and number of items in a package can be critical. For example. a golf ball manufacturer unknowingly packaged their golf balls in groups of four and then set 50.000 units to their Asian distributor who promptly sent them all back, advising the manufacturer to repackage the golf balls in packages of three.In many of the countries where the golf balls were to be distributed, the number 4 was equated with death whereas the number 3 is symbolic of long life. For golfers who are known to he superstitious, the number of golf balls in each package was more important to the distributor than the quality of the product.

　　測試題

　　1.The author may most probably agree that the U.S. trade shows are___________.

　　A) unsatisfactorily-conducted B) businessman-targeted

　　C) delicately-decorated D) profit-oriented

　　2.By comparing the U.S. trade shows and the European ones, the author means to________.

　　A) indicate the advantages of the European trade shows

　　B) show the different opportunities provided by the trade shows

　　C) prove different people's preference for different trade shows

　　D) emphasize the importance of international trade shows

　　3.The gatekeepers of the German exhibits can best be described as“______________”.

　　A) restrained B) shrewd C) modest D) decent

　　4.The golf balls were sent back to che manufacturer because_______________.

　　A) the distributor was ignorant of the symbolic meaning of numbers

　　B) the golfer wanted them to be repackaged

　　C) the manufacturer didn’t consider the quantity of items when packaging

　　D) the distributor was not able to sell them all

　　5.It can be inferred from the passage that. when conducting business. one should___________.

　　A) put the quality of the product before any other Factors

　　B) realize the importance of international trade fairs

　　C) employ professional and experienced sales people

　　D) cake people's different beliefs into account

　　答案詳解

　　1.關于美國貿易展，作者最可能同意下列哪種說法?

　　A)運作得不盡人意。 B)針對的是生意人。

　　C)裝飾得很高雅。 D)以營利為導向。

　　[C]從首段第3句中的spend a lot of money及charming sales people可以看出美國的交易會著重的是會場的布置，而非對產品的專業介紹，由此可見，C最適合用于形容美國的交易會。

　　2.作者比較了美國的貿易展和歐洲的貿易展，意圖是__________。

　　A)指出歐洲貿易展的優越性 B)顯示出貿易展所提供的不同的機會

　　C)證明不同的人喜歡不同的貿易展 D)強調國際貿易展的重要性

　　[B]作者在首段分別描述了美國和歐洲商品交易會的舉辦形式，目的是為了說明該段首句的觀點，而在首句中，作者要強調的是yet引出的轉折句，由此可見，我們可以將首句當作觀點，而其他句子是支持該觀點的句子，因此，B是作者的寫作目的。

　　3.形容德國展覽會的看門人最好的詞匯是_____________。

　　A)冷靜的 B)精明的 C)溫和的 D)體面的

　　[B]本題事實上是一道詞匯題，考查對savvy 一詞的詞義推斷。從上下文來看，此處的savvy gatekeepers與美國商品交易會里的charming sales peopie with little seniority or authority形成對比，美國交易會上的銷售人員沒有經驗、不夠精明，而歐洲交易會卻相反。連看門人都很精明，能從眾人中快速挑出最重要的顧客，因此，最能形容看門人的詞是B(精明的)。

　　4.高爾夫球被退回至生產商，因為____________。

　　A)分銷商不知道一些數字的象征性意義

　　B)高爾夫球手希望高爾夫球能夠被重新包裝

　　C)生產商在進行包裝的時候沒有注意產品的數量

　　D)分銷商不能夠銷售掉所有的高爾夫球

　　[C]從第2段第4句開頭的For example可以知道關于高爾夫球的例子是用于支持前一句的觀點，而從例子的具體內容(其中的數字)可知C正確。

　　5.從文章中可以推斷出，在做生意的時候，人們應該______________。

　　A)將產品的質量放在所有因素的首位 B)意識到國際貿易展的重要性

　　C)雇傭專業的、有經驗的銷售人員 D)要考慮到人們不同的信仰

　　[D]作者在第1段提到美國和歐洲交易會的不同，在第2段提到不同的社會群體對產品有不同的要求，綜合來看可以知道作者的觀點是不同的市場對產品的要求不同，選項D就表達了這個觀點，由此也可看出，本題其實是主旨題，需要通篇考慮才能做出正確的選擇。

　　參考譯文

　　[2]國際商品交易會已經成為做買賣的非常重要的場所，但是很少有內銷機構了解如何利用這類交易會提供的機會。美國的商品交易會公開展示企業的商品和服務，許多人參觀但不購買商品中，歐洲的商品交易會則與此不同，它們相對封閉，只對來做買賣的人開放。[1]美國公司常常花大筆錢舉辦公開展覽，并讓許多有魅力卻沒有什么資歷或權威的銷售人員參加。事實上，這種 展覽在告訴人們，無論什么人來參觀都是一律歡迎，但不要提很多問題，也別期望真能做買賣。[3]類似的德國展覽更像一座城堡，精明的守門人很快就能從眾多的人中挑出最重要的顧客，他們一旦被允許進入里面的“密室”，就能直接見到高級經理。這種展覽傳遞的信息是，只有非常特殊的人才受到歡迎，能被允許入內是一種榮幸。

　　在某些社會，人們首先關心的是質量(“它們是最好的嗎?”);而在另一些社會，顧客心中首先想到的是價格(“它有多便宜?”);而在其他國家，人們關心的是款式(“它是什么樣子?”)。[4]任何產品的包裝都需要考慮顏色、尺碼和數量。藍色在一些國家是幸福的顏色，小件比大件更受歡迎，而每包的件數可能是至關重要的。例如，一位不知情的高爾夫球生產商以4個為一套包裝高爾夫球，然后向他們的亞洲批發商發去5萬套，批發商立刻全部退貨，并建議生產商以3個為一套重新包裝。在高爾夫球銷往的許多國家，數字4等同于死亡，而數字3則象征長壽。面對那些有迷信思想的高爾夫球手，對批發商來說，每套高爾夫球的數目比產品的質量更重要。