BEC商務(wù)英語(yǔ)中級(jí)閱讀練習(xí)題(5)

Getting the price right

A、Chief executives need to pay more attention to pricing, according to Roberto Lippi of the Apex Group, a consultancy that offers advice on pricing strategy. He accepts that low inflation figures in many industrialised countries makes raising prices tough, but argues that this should not necessarily deter companies. He gives the example of the airlines, which, with their minimum stay requirements and massive premiums for flexibility, led the way in sorting customers into categories, based on their willingness to pay.

B、The key to pricing is to avoid alienating customers. As Lippi points out, once a bad price has been established, it can be very difficult to turn the situation around. He gives the example of a consumer goods company that went bankrupt largely because it did not price its digital cameras properly. In contrast, he cites the case of a Swiss drug company that introduced software for every sales representative's laptop, enabling them to provide consistent and accurate price quotes. To help staff with this innovation, the company also created a new post of director of pricing strategy.

C、Many of today's managers have the benefit of modern technology to help them with pricing. Supermarket chains, for example, can easily track customers' 'elasticity' - how their buying habits change in response to a price rise or a discount. But although a company can now measure this sort of thing in a more sophisticated way, following basic rules is still the most common way of setting prices. Most bosses still worry more about their costs than the prices they charge; one recent survey found that they spend as little as 2% of their time on pricing.

D、One popular approach to pricing is illustrated by the car companies that charge extra for product add-ons such as electric windows, instead of offering them as part of the standard price. Although many customers are prepared to pay extra, Lippi recommends that companies make sure that price differences reflect real differences in the product, either in quality or in the extra service on offer. The worst approach is to try to keep the pricing structure secret from customers. Nowadays, that is more likely to lead to lost contracts than large profits

這篇文章主要是關(guān)于定價(jià)(pricing)的。題目算是閱讀第一部分里比較隱晦的了。四個(gè)部分分別介紹了影響定價(jià)的一些因素。第一題，公司沒(méi)有合理定價(jià)。答案是B段引用的一個(gè)例子：He gives the example of a consumer goods company that went bankrupt largely because it did not price its digital cameras properly.因?yàn)闆](méi)有對(duì)數(shù)碼相機(jī)合理定價(jià)，所以一個(gè)消費(fèi)品公司破產(chǎn)了。和第一題吻合。Consumer goods: goods such as food, clothing, etc. bought and used by individual customers消費(fèi)品。第二題，大環(huán)境使得漲價(jià)很困難。答案是A段，有點(diǎn)不太明顯，甚至可能需要點(diǎn)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)基礎(chǔ)：He accepts that low inflation figures in many industrialised countries makes raising prices tough, but argues that this should not necessarily deter companies。很多工業(yè)國(guó)家的低通貨膨脹率使得漲價(jià)變得困難。通貨膨脹率是衡量一國(guó)宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)的重要指標(biāo)，也就是這題所說(shuō)的context。低通貨膨脹率，說(shuō)明經(jīng)濟(jì)不太景氣，漲價(jià)會(huì)很困難。deter: to make sb decide not to do sth or continue doing sth阻礙第三題，公司隱瞞定價(jià)策略的后果。答案是D段的最后一句：The worst approach is to try to keep the pricing structure secret from customers. Nowadays, that is more likely to lead to lost contracts than large profits.最壞的方法是試圖讓定價(jià)結(jié)構(gòu)對(duì)消費(fèi)者保密。今天，它更有可能導(dǎo)致失去合同而不是大的利潤(rùn)。第四題，一個(gè)公司確保定價(jià)準(zhǔn)確的方式。答案是B段的這么一句：a Swiss drug company that introduced software for every sales representative's laptop, enabling them to provide consistent and accurate price quotes。一個(gè)瑞士的醫(yī)藥公司為每一位銷(xiāo)售代表的手提電腦引進(jìn)了軟件，確保他們提供持續(xù)準(zhǔn)確的定價(jià)。這里的accurate對(duì)應(yīng)于precision，引進(jìn)的軟件就是方式(means)。第五題，公司了解降價(jià)的后果。答案在C段，但是不那么明顯：Supermarket chains, for example, can easily track customers' 'elasticity' - how their buying habits change in response to a price rise or a discount.大的超市可以輕易追蹤客戶的彈性—他們的購(gòu)買(mǎi)習(xí)慣是如何對(duì)漲價(jià)或打折做出反應(yīng)的。這個(gè)題需要理解一個(gè)常見(jiàn)的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)術(shù)語(yǔ)：彈性。elasticity ：the extent to which people want to buy more or less of a product or service when its price changes。這個(gè)術(shù)語(yǔ)的概念基本吻合第五題所說(shuō)的。能夠了解客戶的需求彈性，也就了解了漲價(jià)或者降價(jià)的效果。第六題，對(duì)產(chǎn)品定價(jià)首要的是根據(jù)客戶所愿意支付的。答案是A的最后一句：based on their willingness to pay.。集于他們的支付意愿。這里的based on對(duì)應(yīng)于the first sector。第七題，粗糙的定價(jià)準(zhǔn)則的廣泛應(yīng)用。答案在C段，有點(diǎn)隱晦：But although a company can now measure this sort of thing in a more sophisticated way, following basic rules is still the most common way of setting prices.雖然公司可以用一種更復(fù)雜的方式來(lái)衡量，遵守基本的規(guī)則仍然是定價(jià)的最普遍的方式。BUT是個(gè)信號(hào)。rough可以從反面對(duì)應(yīng)于sophisticated,, the most common way對(duì)應(yīng)于widespread use。