Excess inventory, a massive problem for many busi- nesses, has several causes, some of which are unavoidable. Overstocks may accumulate through production overruns or errors. Certain styles and colors prove unpopular. With (05) some products—computers and software, toys, and books—last year’s models are difficult to move even at huge discounts. Occasionally the competition introduces a better product. But in many cases the public’s buying tastes simply change, leaving a manufacturer or distributor with (10) thousands (or millions) of items that the fickle public no longer wants. One common way to dispose of this merchandise is to sell it to a liquidator, who buys as cheaply as possible and then resells the merchandise through catalogs, discount (15) stores, and other outlets. However, liquidators may pay less for the merchandise than it cost to make it. Another way to dispose of excess inventory is to dump it. The corporation takes a straight cost write-off on its taxes and hauls the merchandise to a landfill. Although it is hard to believe, (20)there is a sort of convoluted logic to this approach. It is perfectly legal, requires little time or preparation on the company’s part, and solves the problem quickly. The draw- back is the remote possibility of getting caught by the news media. Dumping perfectly useful products can turn into a (25)public relations nightmare. Children living in poverty are freezing and XYZ Company has just sent 500 new snow- suits to the local dump. Parents of young children are barely getting by and QPS Company dumps 1,000 cases of disposable diapers because they have slight imperfections. (30) The managers of these companies are not deliberately wasteful; they are simply unaware of all their alternatives. In 1976 the Internal Revenue Service provided a tangible incentive for businesses to contribute their products to char- ity. The new tax law allowed corporations to deduct the (35)cost of the product donated plus half the difference between cost and fair market selling price, with the proviso that deductions cannot exceed twice cost. Thus, the federal government sanctions—indeed, encourages—an above-cost federal tax deduction for companies that donate inventory to charity. 184. The passage suggests that which of the following is a kind of product that a liquidator who sells to discount stores would be unlikely to wish to acquire? (A) Furniture (B) Computers (C) Kitchen equipment (D) Baby-care products (E) Children’s clothing 答案选B，但我不知道如何得出来的。 OG的解释说： This question requires you to identify a kind of product that information in the passage suggests a liquidator selling to discount stores in UNLIKELY to want to buy. About computers, lines 4-7 state that “last year’s models are difficult to move even a huge discount.” A liquidator buying excess inventory for resale to discount stores would therefore probably avoid buying computers because demand for them would be low; thus, the passage suggests choice B. 但不知道为什么computers可能是last year's models，而其它几种就不可能是呢？
我不是在说对是否是商品感到质疑，而是说题目中“The passage suggests that which of the following is ...”就决定了只有文中提到的东东才是答案，只有computers一个，虽然其它几个也有可能是last year's model或是demand for them would be low（比如furnitur和children's clothing,凭常识也知道的），但文中没提到，因此不能选。
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发表于 2005-6-12 20:54:00
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