Question

High-quality customer service is preached（宣扬）by many, but actually keeping customers happy is easier said than done.
Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a retail store（零售店）, but instead will warn their friends, relatives, co-workers, strangers and anyone who will listen. Store managers are often the last to hear complaints. “Storytelling hurts retailers(零售商) and entertains consumers,” said Paula Courtney, President of the Verde group. “The store loses the customer, but the shopper must also find a replacement.”
The most common complaints include filled parking lots, cluttered（塞满了的）shelves, overloaded racks, out-of-stock items, long check-out lines, and rude sales people.
During peak shopping hours, some retailers solved the parking problems by getting moonlighting(业余兼职的) local police to work as parking attendants to direct customers to empty parking spaces. Retailers can relieve the headaches by redesigning store display, pre-stocking sales items, hiring speedy and experienced cashiers, and having sales representatives on hand to answer questions. Most importantly, sales people should be skillful and polite with angry customers.
“Retailers who’re enthusiastic and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those who aren't so friendly.” said Professor Stephen Hoch. “Maybe something as a greeter at the store entrance would help.”
Customers can also improve future shopping experiences by filling complaints to the retailer, instead of complaining to the rest of the world. Retailers are hard-pressed to improve when they have no idea what is wrong

1. 1.
   Why are store managers often the last to hear complaints?
   1. A.
      Most shoppers won’t complain even if they have had unhappy experiences
   2. B.
      It is difficult for customers to have easy access to store mangers
   3. C.
      Few customers believe the service will be improved after their complaints
   4. D.
      Shoppers would rather tell their unhappy experiences to people around them
2. 2.
   What does Paula Courtney imply by saying the underlined sentence in paragraph 2?
   1. A.
      The same products can be bought in other retail stores
   2. B.
      It is not likely the shopper can find the same products in other stores
   3. C.
      New customers are sure to replace old ones
   4. D.
      Not complaining to the manager causes the shopper some trouble too
3. 3.
   What contributes most to smoothing over issues with customers?
   1. A.
      Hiring of efficient employees
   2. B.
      Manners of the salespeople
   3. C.
      Huge supply of goods for sale
   4. D.
      Design of the store display
4. 4.
   To achieve better shopping experiences, customers are advised to ______
   1. A.
      voice their dissatisfaction to store managers directly
   2. B.
      settle their disagreements with stores in a friendly way
   3. C.
      put pressure on stores to improve their service
   4. D.
      shop around and make comparisons between stores

Answer 1

DABA
试题分析：这篇材料讲的是超市改善服务的问题，按内容可分为改善原因、改善内容和改善方法三个部分。
1.细节题：第二段讲到了Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a retail store（零售店）, but instead will warn their friends, relatives, co-workers, strangers and anyone who will listen. Store managers are often the last to hear complaints.，大意是顾客很少会向经理们抱怨，而是会提醒(alert)他们的朋友、亲戚、同事等。这里的alert也就是向人抱怨、劝其不要去该商场的意思。所以顾客们实际上经常抱怨，只是抱怨对象不是经理，而是身边的人，选D
2.句意理解题：从前面的句子：“Storytelling hurts retailers(零售商) and entertains consumers,”可知这些抱怨让零售商头疼但是顾客很高兴，因为他们在其他的商店可以买到同样的商品。选A
3.细节题：第四段列举了几种能够减少头疼(relieve the headaches，也就是减少顾客的不满)的方法，分别是redesigning store layouts(对应D), pre-stocking sales items(对应C), hiring speedy and experienced cashiers(对应B), and having sales representatives on hand to answer questions(与A稍有关系)。此后的一段指出最为重要的是销售人员能够圆滑而礼貌地应对愤怒的顾客。选B
4.推理题：在最后一段，作者从顾客的角度分析如何改善购物体验，第一句就提出了建议：filing complaints to the retailer，file作为动词，是“提出”，用在这里指向零售商投诉、抱怨，而retailer指的是商场主或经理。A
考点：考查社会现象类短文