【正文】 2012年12月英語四級考試閱讀真題練習第十七篇　Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.　　Highquality customer service is preached (宣揚) by many, but actually keeping customers happy is easier said than done.　　Shoppers seldom plain to the manager or owner of a retail store, but instead will alert their friends, relatives, coworkers, strangers—and anyone who will listen.　　Store managers are often the last to hear plaints, and often find out only when their regular customers decide to frequent their petitors, according to a study jointly conducted by Verde Group and Wharton School.　　“Storytelling hurts retailers and entertains consumers,” said Paula Courtney, President of the Verde Group. “The store loses the customer, but the shopper must also find a replacement.”　　On average, every unhappy customer will plain to at least four others, and will no longer visit the specific store. For every dissatisfied customer, a store will lose up to three more due to negative review. The resulting “snowball effect” can be disastrous to retailers.　　According to the research, shoppers who purchased clothing encountered the most problems. Ranked second and third were grocery and electronics customers.　　The most mon plaints include filled parking lots, cluttered (塞滿了的) shelves, overloaded racks, outofstock items, long checkout lines, and rude salespeople.　　During peak shopping hours, some retailers solved parking problems by getting moonlighting (業(yè)余兼職的) local police to work as parking attendants. Some hired flag wavers to direct customers to empty parking spaces. This guidance eliminated the need for customers to circle the parking lot endlessly, and avoided confrontation between those eyeing the same parking space.　　Retailers can relieve the headaches by redesigning store layouts, prestocking sales items, hiring speedy and experienced cashiers, and having sales representatives on hand to answer questions.　　Most importantly, salespeople should be diplomatic and polite with angry customers.　　“Retailers who’re responsive and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those who aren’t so friendly,” said Professor Stephen Hoch. “Maybe something as simple as a greeter at the store entrance would help.”　　Customers can also improve future shopping experiences by filing plaints to the retailer, instead of plaining to the rest of the world. Retailers are hardpressed to improve when they have no idea what is wrong.62. Why are store managers often the last to hear plaints?　　A) Most customers won’t bother to plain even if they have had unhappy experiences.　　B) Customers would rather relate their unhappy experiences to people around them.　　C) Few customers believe the service will be improved.　　D) Customers have no easy access to store managers.63. What does Paula Courtney imply by saying “…the shopper must also find a replacement” (Line 2, Para. 4)　　A) New customers are bound to replace old ones.　　B) It is not likely the shopper can find the same products in other stores.　　C) Most stores provide the same kind of service.　　D) Not plaining to manager causes the shopper some trouble too.64. Shop owners often hire moonlighting police as parking attendants so that shoppers________.　　A) can stay longer browsing in the store　　B) won’t have trouble parking their cars　　C) won’t have any worrier about security　　D) can find their cars easily after shopping65. What contributes most to smoothing over issues with customers?　　A) Manners of the salespeople.　　B) Hiring of efficient employees　　C) Huge supply of goods for sale.　　D) Design of store layout.66. To achieve better shopping experiences, customers are advised to ________.　　A) exert pressure on stores to improve their service　　B) settle their disputes with stores in a diplomatic way　　C) voice their dissatisfaction to store managers directlyD) shop around and make parisons between stores這篇材料講的是超市改善服務的問題，按內容可分為改善原因、改善內容和改善方法三個部分。在前五段作者提出超市服務必須加以改善的原因。第一段僅是引語，第二段告訴我們劣質服務的第一個直接結果：服務顧客會把抱怨向身邊的人傾訴(anyone who will listen)，而不是超市管理人員。下一段是該結果的延伸，即心有不滿的顧客下一步要做的就是轉而光顧其他商場。第五段內容較多，較為詳細地分析了顧客的行為和商場的損失。作者在此后的兩段列舉了商場的種種令顧客不滿的服務，如停車位爆滿(filled parking lots)，貨架擁擠(overloaded racks)，缺貨(outofstock items)等等。最后的五個段落針對引起顧客不滿的各個方面提出了解決辦法。首先是停車場爆滿問題，作者建議雇用一些業(yè)余兼職的當?shù)鼐靵砉芾硗＼噲?getting moonlighting local police to work as parking attendants)，或者安排一些人使用旗子(flag wavers)進行指揮。接下來是貨品擺放、缺貨和排隊問題的解決，作者提出重新擺放、預存、雇用熟練收銀員等辦法(redesigning store layouts, prestocking sales items, hiring speedy and experienced cashiers)。除此之外，作者還特別提到了銷售人員的態(tài)度問題，指出禮貌、圓滑的銷售儀態(tài)相對其他方法要更為重要。以上的幾種解決方案全是從商場角度出發(fā)，在最后一段，作者從顧客的角度提出了一些建議，以改善顧客自身的購物體驗，那就是直接向商場提出自己的意見，而不是向自己身邊的其他人(filing plaints to the retailer, instead of plaining to the rest of the world)。62. B　題目問為什么商場經(jīng)理往往是最后一個聽到抱怨的人。A， 大多數(shù)顧客即便發(fā)生不愉快的經(jīng)歷也不費力去抱怨。B， 顧客寧愿把不愉快的經(jīng)歷說給身邊的人聽。C， 很少有顧客會認為服務能夠改善。D， 顧客很難見到商場經(jīng)理。題目中的關鍵信息是store managers和plaints，在前幾個小段中尋找這兩個關鍵詞，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)第二段講到了plaints，大意是顧客很少會向經(jīng)理們抱怨，而是會提醒(alert)他們的朋友、親戚、同事等。這里的alert也就是向人抱怨、勸其不要去該商場的意思。第三段開頭恰好與題目相合：經(jīng)理們是最后一個聽到抱怨的人。但此后作者沒有解釋原因，而是指出這一現(xiàn)象下一步的后果：老客戶都轉而去了別的商場(frequent their petitors——frequent為“常去某處”的意思)。下面的幾段進一步分析這種現(xiàn)象，也沒有提到原因。這樣的話，只能把第二段but instead后面的句子視為原因，也就是顧客更愿意把牢騷說給身邊的人聽。四個選項中，A的說法和文章內容正好相反，顧客們實際上經(jīng)常抱怨，只是抱怨對象不是經(jīng)理，而是身邊的人。C和D的說法在文中都完全找不到著落點，可以排除。63. D題目問Courtney所說的the shopper must also find a replacement暗示了什么。A， 新顧客必定會取代老顧客。B， 顧客不太可能在其他商場找到相同的商品。C， 多數(shù)商場提供同一類服務。D， 不向經(jīng)理抱怨也給顧客帶來了麻煩。首先了解這句話的字面意思：顧客也必須找到替代者(替代品)。這里的replacement指的應該是其他商場，即顧客尋找新的商場來替代令自己不愉快的商場(這樣就可以排除A，因為A把replacement理解為新顧客替代老顧客)。其次來了解上下文環(huán)境。這一段的開頭說到講故事(即四處訴苦)會傷害商場，同時讓顧客愉悅。四處訴苦會使更多的人不來該商場購物，而顧客訴苦的同時發(fā)泄了情緒，排解了不滿，確實會令其心情愉悅。開頭一句話說得合情合理。后面一句講到商場會失去顧客(loses the customer)，但顧客也必須找到一個替代品。前半句沒有問題，但后半句里的兩個詞值得人尋味，即but和also。在此事中，我們看到受到損失的似乎只有商場，顧客最多只是換一家商場而已，但在此時說話人使用了but在兩句話間表示轉折，同時使用also把顧客和商場放在同等地位上，暗示顧客也同商場一樣受到了損失。損失就是顧客需要重新尋找商場。為什么重新尋找商場就是一種損失呢?是如同B所說的因為在其他商場里少有同樣的商品?還是如同C所說的各商場天下烏鴉一般黑，找到一家令顧客滿意的商場很難?都有可能，但在文中沒有任何有關的信息可以證明B或者C。再看D，“不向經(jīng)理抱怨”反過來就是指“向身邊的人抱怨”，D的意思就相當于向身邊的人抱怨給自己帶來了麻煩，這里