Companies that must determine well in advance of the selling season how many unites of a new product to manu- Line facture often underproduce products (5) that sell well and have overstocks of others. The increased incidence in recent years of mismatches between production and demand seems ironic, since point-of-sale scanners have (10) improved data on consumers’ buying patterns and since flexible manufacturing has enabled companies to produce, cost-effectively, small quantities of goods. This type of (15) manufacturing has greatly increased the number of new products introduced annually in the United States. However, frequent introductions of new products have two problematic side effects. For (20) one, they reduce the average lifetime of products; more of them are neither at the beginning of their life (when prediction is difficult) or at the end of their life (when keeping inventory is expen- (25) sive because the products will soon become obsolete). For another, as new products proliferate, demand is divided among a growing number of stock-keeping units (SKU’s). Even (30) though manufacturers and retailers can forecast aggregate demand with some certainty, forecasting accurately how that demand will be distributed among the many SKU’s they sell is difficult. (35) For example, a company may be able to estimate accurately the aggregate number of shoes it will sell, but it may be uncertain about which specific types of shoes will sell more than other types.
Q23: Which of the following most accurately describes the function of the last sentence in the passage (lines 35-40)? A. To cite a situation in which the aggregate demand is more important than the distribution of demand among SKU’s B. To refute an assertion about the side effects of flexible manufacturing C. To illustrate an assertion about companies’ ability to forecast demand D. To provide an example of ways in which companies address the difficulties of forecasting demand E. To note an exception to the author’s assertion about distributing demand among SKU’s
文章并没有强调company's ability to forecast demand，因为company's ability to forecast the aggregate number of products不是问题。
而最后一句的举例主要是为了突出在forecast the demand of specific SKU's方面公司所遇到的问题。因此forecasting the demand of a specific SKU正是one way in which a company will face difficulties.
这题我认为是C，illustrate=provide an example.说companies 什么可以做到，什么做起来有困难，不就是在说ability吗？对这句话的function的判断，要看后面的例子是怎么说的
For example, a company may be able to estimate accurately the aggregate number of shoes it will sell, but it may be uncertain about which specific types of shoes will sell more than other types.
D 选项明显意思不同啊： To provide an example of “ways in which companies address the difficulties” of forecasting demand 说这是一个公司如何分析困难的例子。而实际上那个例子说的是能做什么不能做什么，和“ways”无关。
Here is the meaning of "ADDRESS" from dictionay: formal if you address a problem, you start trying to solve it address a problem/question/issue etc Our products address the needs of real users.
文章并没有强调company's ability to forecast demand，因为company's ability to forecast the aggregate number of products不是问题。
而最后一句的举例主要是为了突出在forecast the demand of specific SKU's方面公司所遇到的问题。因此forecasting the demand of a specific SKU正是one way in which a company will face difficulties.
至于address，词面意思是强调，我觉得在这里也说得通。
Here is the meaning of "ADDRESS" from dictionay: formal if you address a problem, you start trying to solve it address a problem/question/issue etc Our products address the needs of real users.
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发表于 2008-5-1 09:51:00
