OG2020每日閱讀訓練練習D15

Pistachio_lin · 发表于 2022-3-22 07:17:02

Hi 大家好, 閱讀打卡訓練第15天。
Materials/sources: OG2020

Passages:

The fact that superior service can generate a competitive advantage for a company does not mean that every attempt at improving service will create such an advantage. Investments in service, like those in production and distribution, must be balanced against other types of investments on the basis of direct, tangible benefits such as cost reduction and increased revenues. If a company is already effectively on a par with its competitors because it provides service that avoids a damaging reputation and keeps customers from leaving at an unacceptable rate, then investment in higher service levels may be wasted, since service is a deciding factor for customers only in extreme situations.

This truth was not apparent to managers of one  regional bank, which failed to improve its competitive position despite its investment in reducing the time a customer had to wait for a teller. The bank managers did not recognize the level of customer inertia in the consumer banking industry that arises from the inconvenience of switching banks. Nor did they analyze their  service improvement to determine whether it would attract new customers by producing a new standard of service that would excite customers or by proving difficult for competitors to copy. The  only merit of the improvement was that it could easily be described to customers.

簡化/思路

The fact that superior service can generate a competitive advantage for a companydoes not mean that every attempt at improving service will create such an advantage. (先提出一個對比: 說明某件事不等於某件事情).

Investments in service, like those in production and distribution , must be balanced against other types of investments on the basis of direct, tangible benefits such as cost reduction and increased revenues . (此句話目的是接續上一句: 因為作者說了every attemp at improving service不一定會帶來competitive advantage for company; 這一句說在投資時<attempt at improving service>, 投資一定要跟其他種投資作權衡比較, 如何權衡比較? -> 要考慮各別投資能帶來的直接收益像是cost reduction and increased revenues)
   If a company is already effectively on a par with its competitors because it provides service that avoids a damaging reputation and keeps customers from leaving at an unacceptable rate, then investment in higher service levels may be wasted, since service is a deciding factor for customers only in extreme situations.
(這裏對上面那一句的概念進行實際的解釋, 像是一個service本來就已經能避免damaging reputation and keeps customers from leaving at unacceptable rate, 那麼這樣的投資<improving this service>, 是種浪費, 後面說明原因)

This truth was not apparent to managers of one  regional bank, which failed to improve its competitive position despite its investment in reducing the time a customer had to wait for a teller. (舉例子, 對上面說的概念句一個實際的例子)

The bank managers did not recognize the level of customer inertia in the consumer banking industry that arises from the inconvenience of switching banks. (為什麼fail, 原因之一)

Nor did they analyze their   service improvement  to determine whether it would attract new customers by producing a new standard of service that would excite customers or by proving difficult for competitors to copy. (第二個fail的原因; 看到這裡先暫停一下; 第一段說明 investments must be balanced against other types of investments; 這裡給出了實際例子: 1)fail原因之一:沒有去想the level of customer inertia; 也沒有去分析什麼樣的service improvement會帶來新顧客)

The only  merit of the improvement was that it could easily be described to customers. (這個improvement的唯一好處就是可以很簡單的描述給顧客)

段落總結:
第一段: 提出一個概念 <作者認為的事實>; 並說明原因.
第二段: 針對這個概念，給了一個具體例子。

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) contrast possible outcomes of a type of business investment
(B) suggest more careful evaluation of a type of business investment (同大意分析, 作者提出的概念是要我們去權衡不同的投資, 也針對這個概念給出實例)
(C) illustrate various ways in which a type of business investment could fail to enhance revenues
(D) trace the general problems of a company to a certain type of business investment
(E) criticize the way in which managers tend to analyze the costs and benefits of business investments

2. According to the passage, investments in service are comparable to investments in production and distribution in terms of the

(A) tangibility of the benefits that they tend to confer (A跟B談的其實是一樣的; 都只有談到那個投資本身能帶來的效益，但卻沒有跟"其他" (against other types of investment)做出"balanced")
(B) increased revenues that they ultimately produce
(C) basis on which they need to be weighed (正確, investments must be balanced against other types of investments)
(D) insufficient analysis that managers devote to them
(E) degree of competitive advantage that they are likely to provide

3. The passage suggests which of the following about service provided by the regional bank prior to its investment in enhancing that service?

(A) It enabled the bank to retain customers at an acceptable rate (第二段: regional bank which failed to improve its competitive position despite its investment in reducing the time a customer had to wait for a teller, 這裏說明這銀行本來就是on a par with its competitors, 回推到第一段中: If a company is already effectively on a par with its competitors because it provides service that avoids a damaging reputation and keeps customers from leaving at an unacceptable rate)
(B) It threatened to weaken the bank's competitive position with respect to other regional banks
(C) It had already been improved after having caused damage to the bank's reputation in the past.
(D) It was slightly superior to that of the bank's regional competitors.
(E) It needed to be improved to attain parity with the service provided by competing banks.

4. The passage suggests that bank managers failed to consider whether or not the  service improvement  mentioned in lines 19

(A) was too complicated to be easily described to prospective customers
(B) made a measurable change in the experiences of customers in the bank's offices
(C) could be sustained if the number of customers increased significantly
(D) was an innovation that competing banks could have imitated (定位此句: Nor did they analyze their service improvement to determine whether it would attract new customers by producing a new standard of service that would excite customers or by proving difficult for competitors to copy. )
(E) was adequate to bring the bank's general level of service to a level that was comparable with that of its competitors

5. The discussion of the  regional bank (line 13-24) serves which of the following functions within the passage as a whole?

(A) It describes an exceptional case in which investment in service actually failed to produce a competitive advantage.
(B) It illustrates the pitfalls of choosing to invest in service at a time when investment is needed more urgently in another area.
(C) It demonstrates the kind of analysis that managers apply when they choose one kind of service investment over another
(D) It supports the argument that investments in certain aspects of service are more advantageous than investments in other aspects of service.
(E) It provides an example of the point about investment in service made in the first paragraph.  (同句意分析, 接續第一段提出的概念一步一步說明)

6. The author uses the word “only” in line 23 most likely in order to

(A) highlight the oddity of the service improvement
(B) emphasize the relatively low value of the investment in service improvement (先提出了failed的原因, 後面就說了只能很簡單的描述, 主要是說他的價值很低, 也應對作者在第一段說的: ...then investment in higher service levels may be wasted...)
(C) distinguish the primary attribute of the service improvement from secondary attributes
(D) single out a certain merit of the service improvement from other merits
(E) point out the limited duration of the actual service improvement

以上分析，還請大大們不吝分享。謝謝。

[阅读小分队] OG2020每日閱讀訓練練習D15

所属分类: GMAT考试

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