og－36－２２８ 一句话的理解。

哪位ＸＤＪＭ帮忙看看，想了好久：

Passage 36

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, (5) 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 (10) 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 (15) 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 (20) 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。

我的问题是针对加粗的部分。

２２８．The passage suggests that bank managers failed to consider whether or not the service improvement mentioned in line 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 （D）

(E) was adequate to bring the bank’s general level of service to a level that was comparable with that of its competitors

我对这句话的理解是：

Nor did they analyze their service improvement to determine whether it（their service improvement） would attract new customers by producing a new standard of service that would excite customers or ｛it（their service improvement） would attract new customers｝by proving difficult for competitors to copy.

句中所要表明的只是：manager没有分析它应该采用哪种方法来吸引新顾客。这样一来，我就对答案C不理解了。OG上的解释也看了，但还是一头雾水。考虑句子重心所在，我根本体会不到原文有说manager没有考虑这个improvement是不是其他银行可以模仿。

望各位不吝赐教。谢谢！

我居然把proving堪称providing了...难怪一直不能了解

翻译一下：

他们也没有通过分析服务改进来判断，（通过创造能让顾客兴奋的新服务标准或通过证明该服务改进很难被竞争对手模仿），服务改进是否能吸引更多的顾客。

所以，他们没有创造让顾客兴奋的新服务标准，也没有证明该服务改进很难被竞争对手模仿...

我做的时候觉得很糊涂，是不是改写：

Original passage:

the service improvement would attract new customers by proving difficult for competitors to copy.

Option D

the service improvement was an innovation that competing banks could have imitated.

但是从文章证据话的用意来看，并没有想表达D选项所表达的意思呀？

高手都去过圣诞了？帮忙看看吧。

实际上，原文那句话包含了几层含义：

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.

没错，这句话的本意是说明他们的目的是whether by... or by... 那么，事实上，从这句话可以看出（引伸出），他们要么produced new standard，要么proved difficult for competitors。显然，他们做到了前者，而没有做到后者。

偶做这道题时也做错了，主要是没有都懂题，不知它在考什么，看到大家的解释仔细想了想得出了答案，不知能否抛砖引玉。

我认为是改写，正如上面朋友所言，但是一开始我糊涂的是原文中是： difficult for competitors to copy. 而选项中说的是： that competing banks could have imitated. 这不是正相反么。

然而当我仔细看题目：whether or not, 意味着后面的是正还是反都不影响结果。所以D 是对的。

关于C选项的意思是“19行提到的经理们没有考虑到提高服务被（如果客户数量极大的增加）来支持。”试想，客户数量是否极大的增加了这个事实能证明银行经理的采用的方法是正确的，而不是错误的。

我是这么理解的，不知道各位高手有何高见。

我是这样理解的：

文中说managers没有分析服务改进来决定是否通过produce new standard 还是proving difficult for competitors to copy来吸引客户，C说吸引客户来维持服务改进，不是同一问题。而D是文章的同义变换。所以OG说：Choices A, B, and C each raise an issue that could conceivably have been overlooked by the managers of the regional bank. However, the passage failed to consider any of these issues.

to be discussed