2012年厦门大学241英语(二外)考研真题及详解【圣才出品】

2012年厦门大学241英语（二外）考研真题及详解
Part I Reading Comprehension (每小题2分，共40分)
Directions: There are 4 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
Passage One
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.
We can see how the product life cycle works by looking at the introduction of instant coffee. When it was introduced, most people did not like it as well as “regular”coffer, and it took several years to gain general acceptance (introduction stage). At one point, though, instant coffee grew rapidly in popularity, and many brands were introduced (stage of rapid growth). After a while people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off (stage of maturity). Sales went into a slight decline when freeze-dried coffees were introduced (stage of decline).
The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marking managers look for new users and market sections. Did you
know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the military?
Market modification also means searching for increased usage among resent customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the product to appeal to new market sections.
Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changing product 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 world markets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year to year 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. become unstable
C. improve enormously
D. remain at the same level
2. The first paragraph tells us that a new product is _____.
A. usually introduced to satisfy different tastes
B. often more expensive than old ones
C. often inferior to old ones at first
D. not easily accepted by the public
3. Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to _____.
A. work out marketing policies
B. increase its popularity
C. promote its production
D. speed up its life cycle
4. The author mentions the example of “backpacks”(the last sentence, Paragraph
2) to show the importance of _____.
A. increasing usage among students
B. exploring new market sections
C. pleasing the young as well as the old
D. serving both military and civil needs
5. In order to recover their share of the world market, US auto makers are _____.
A. improving product quality
B. modernizing product style
C. re-positioning their product in the market
D. increasing product features
【答案与解析】
1. D 由文中第一段倒数第二句“After a while people became attached to one brand
and sales leveled off (stage of maturity)”可知，经过一段时间之后，人们就会认同喜爱某个品牌，销售水平就会保持稳定。

level off 趋平，呈现某种平稳状态。

2. D 根据第一段第二句“When it was introduced, most people did not like it as well
as ‘regular’coffer, and it took several years to gain general acceptance
(introduction stage)”，以消费者接受新咖啡的时间长为例，展开论述，表明大众接
受某种新产品需要花费较长的时间。

3. A 根据文中第二段第一句话“The importance of the product life cycle to marketers
is this: different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies.”可知，在不同的产品生命周期需要采取不同的策略，所以营销者需要知道产品所处的四个时期以便做出对应的营销策略。

4. B 由第二段倒数第三句和第二句“One strategy is called market modification. It
means that marking managers look for new users and market sections”可知，市场修正策略主要是开发新的消费者人群和新市场。

而将书包的应用扩展到学生人群，正是这一策略成功实施的例子，显示出其重要性。

5. A 最后一段第三句“American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement
as one way to recapture world markets”中的“quality improvement”清楚表明美国汽车市场是以提高汽车的质量来赢得市场的。

Passage Two
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.
Play is the principal business of childhood, and more and more in recent years research has shown the vital importance of play in the development of a human being. From earliest infancy, every child needs adequate opportunity and the right material for play, and the main tools of play are toys. Their main function is to suggest, encourage and assist play. To succeed in this they must be good toys, therefore it is important to choose suitable toys for different stages of a child’s development.
In recent years research on infant development has shown the standard a child is likely to reach, within the range of his inherited abilities, is largely determined in the first three years of his life. The right play materials for a baby should be things to touch, things to listen to, and things to watch. At no time in his life will a child develop as fast as now; in the first two years each month brings a change in what he can do and what he needs. A baby who is encouraged and stimulated, talked to, and shown things and played with, has the best chance of growing up successfully. There is no doubt that he right play materials and opportunities are of the utmost importance.
The next stage, from three to five years old, is the heyday for toys, and at this stage curiosity knows no bounds. Every type of suitable toy should be made available to the child; bricks and jigsaws and construction toys; are concerned and serious when they play, for to them play is a serious business, and through it they are learning about the world and growing up.
By the third stage of play development—from five to seven or eight year—the child is at school. But for a few more years play is still the best way of learning, at home or at school. The right toy at this stage can sometimes lead to the choice of a career.
Until the age of seven or eight, play and work mean much the same thing to a child. But once reading has been mastered, then books and school become the main source of learning. Toys are still interesting and valuable, but their significance has changed—to a child of nine or ten years, toys and games mean, as to adults,
relaxation and fun.
6. From the passage we understand that a child _____.
A. tends to be interested in toys
B. matures through playing over and over
C. cannot mature without toys
D. has to be taught how to play
7. In the writer’s opinion the right kind of play materials for infants _____.
A. stimulate the talents
B. encourage visual awareness
C. develop the touching sense
D. assist the aural responses
8. Children of three to five years old find play a serious business because they _____.
A. are developing their muscles
B. are exercising their imagination
C. are acquiring knowledge through play
D. are learning how to grow up
9. Once a child has learned to read, he usually _____.
A. stops playing with toys
B. learns less from his toys
C. only gets information from books
D. only learns when at school
10. It seems that older children and adults consider toys and games should _____.。