Modern manufacturers, who need reliable sources of materials and technologically advanced components to operate profitably, face an increasingly difficult choice between owning the producers of these items (a practice known as backward integration) and buying from independent producers. Manufacturers who integrate may reap short-term rewards, but they often restrict their future capacity for innovative product development.
Backward integration removes the need for some purchasing and marketing functions, centralizers overhead, and permits manufacturers to eliminate duplicated efforts in research and development. Where components are commodities (ferrous metals or petroleum, for example), backward integration almost certainly boosts profits. Nevertheless, because product innovation means adopting the most technologically advanced and cost-effective ways of making components, backward integration may entail a serious risk for a technologically active company-for example, a producer of sophisticated consumer electronics.
A company that decides to make rather than buy important parts can lock itself into an outdated technology. Independent suppliers may be unwilling to share innovations with assemblers with whom they are competing. Moreover, when an assembler sets out to master the technology of producing advanced components, the resulting demands on its resources may compromise its ability to assemble these components successfully into end products. Long-term contracts with suppliers can achieve many of the same cost benefits as backward integration without compromising a company’s ability to innovate.
However, moving away from backward integration is not a complete solution either. Developing innovative technologies requires independent suppliers of components to invest huge sums in research and development. The resulting low profit margins on the sale of components threaten the long-term financial stability of these firms. Because the ability of end-product assemblers to respond to market opportunities depends heavily on suppliers of components, assemblers are often forced to integrate by purchasing the suppliers of components just to keep their suppliers in business.
259. Which of the following best describes the way the last paragraph functions in the context of
the passage?
(A) The last in a series of arguments supporting the central argument of the passage is presented.
(B) A viewpoint is presented which qualifies one presented earlier in the passage.
(C) Evidence is presented in support of the argument developed in the preceding paragrap.
(D) Questions arising from the earlier discussion are identified as points of departure for further study of the topic.
(E) A specific example is presented to illustrate the main elements of argument presented in the earlier paragraphs.
我觉得这篇文章的结构属于结论解释型，第一段提出总结论，Modern manufacturers面临两难选择integration还是buying，第二段陈述了integration的优势即一些劣势，第三段继续陈述integration 的劣势，第四段讲了buying存在的问题。所以我觉得259题应该选A啊！请大家帮忙指点一下，我的思路有什么问题？谢谢！ | 
京公网安备11010202008513号 京ICP证101109号 京ICP备12012021号
发表于 2005-8-1 18:25:00
楼主
