og19-118

forgmat66

Passage 19

Seeking a competitive advantage, some professional

service firms(for example, firms providing advertising,

accounting, or health care services) have considered

offering unconditional guarantees of satisfaction. Such

(5) guarantees specify what clients can expect and what the

firm will do if it fails to fulfill these expectations.

Particularly with first-time clients, an unconditional

guarantee can be an effective marketing tool if the

client is very cautious, the firm’s fees are high, the

(10) negative consequences of bad service are grave, or

business is difficult to obtain through referrals and

word-of-mouth.

However, an unconditional guarantee can sometimes

hinder marketing efforts. With its implication that fail-

(15) ure is possible, the guarantee may, paradoxically, cause

clients to doubt the service firm’s ability to deliver the

promised level of service. It may conflict with a firm’s

desire to appear sophisticated, or may even suggest that

a firm is begging for business. In legal and health care

(20) services, it may mislead clients by suggesting that law-

suits or medical procedures will have guaranteed out-

comes. Indeed, professional service firms with outstandin

reputations and performance to match have little to gain

from offering unconditional guarantees. And any firm

(25) that implements an unconditional guarantee without

undertaking a commensurate commitment to quality of

service is merely employing a potentially costly

marketing gimmick.

118. The passage most clearly implies which of the following

about the professional service firms mentioned in line

22?

(A) They are unlikely to have offered unconditional

guarantees of satisfaction in the past.

(B) They are usually profitable enough to be able to

compensate clients according to the terms of an

unconditional guarantee.

(C) They usually practice in fields in which the

outcomes are predictable.

(D) Their fees are usually more affordable than those

charged by other professional service firms.

(E) Their clients are usually already satisfied with the

quality of service that is delivered.

The best answer is E. The passage states in lines 22-24 that “professional service firms with

outstanding reputations and performance to match have little to gain from offering unconditional guarantees.” If a firm has an outstanding reputation based on a high level of performance, it is likely that its clients are satisfied with the quality of service that is delivered.

怎 么 推 出 来 的 呢 ， 是 不 是 用 常 识 了 呢 ？ ？

谢 谢