We can see how the product life cycle works by looking at the introduction of instant coffee. When it was introduced, most people did not like it as much as "regular" coffee and it took several years to gain general acceptance (introduction stage). At one point, though, instant coffee grew rapidly in popularity and many brands were introduced (stage of rapid growth). After a while people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off (stage of maturity). Sales went into a slight decline when freeze-dried coffees were introduced (stage of decline).
　　The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Do you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the military?
　　Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the product to appeal to new market sections.
　　Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changing product quality, features, or style to attract new users or more usage from present users. American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture（夺回） world markets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year to year to keep demand from falling.
46. According to the passage, when people grow accustomed to one particular brand of a product, its            sales will ______.                       
A. decrease gradually                                 B. become unstable
C. improve enormously                            D. remain at the same level
47. The first paragraph tells us that a new product is _____ .
　A. usually introduced to satisfy different tastes
　B. often more expensive than old ones
　C. often inferior to old ones at first
　D. not easily accepted by the public
48. Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to _____ .
　A. work out marketing policies                   B. promote its production
　 C. increase its popularity                                      D. speed up its life cycle
49. The author mentions the example of "backpacks"(Line 4, Para.2 ) to show the importance of             _______ .
　 A. increasing usage among students       B. pleasing the young as well as the old
　 C. exploring new market sections             D. serving both military and civil needs
50. In order to recover their share of the world market, U.S. auto makers are _______ .
　 A. improving product feature                     B. making their products better
C. modernizing product style                    D. increasing product quantity

In recent years, the world has made progress in reducing deaths among children under the age of five. A new report says an estimated 6.9 million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday. That compares to about twelve million in1990.
The report says child mortality rates have fallen in all areas. It says the number of deaths is down by at least 50 percent in eastern, western and southeastern Asia. The number also fell in North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ties Boerma is head of the WHO’s Department of Health Statistics and Informatics. He says most child deaths happen in just a few areas.
TIES BOERMA: “Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia face the greatest challenges in child survival. More than eighty percent of child deaths in the world occur in these two regions. About half of child deaths occur in just five countries—India, which actually takes twenty-four percent of the global total; Nigeria, eleven percent; the Democratic Republic of Congo, seven percent; Pakistan, five percent and China, four percent of under-five deaths in the world.”
Ties Boerma notes that, in developed countries, one child in one hundred fifty-two dies before his or her fifth birthday. But south of the Sahara Desert, one out of nine children dies before the age of five. In Asia, the mortality rate is one in sixteen.  
The report lists the top five causes of death among children under five worldwide. They are pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and problems both before and during birth.
Tessa Wardlaw is with the U-N Children’s Fund. She is pleased with the progress being made in Sub-Saharan Africa. The area has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world. But she says the rate of decline in child deaths has more than doubled in Africa.
TESSA WARDLAW: “We welcome the widespread progress in child survival, but we importantly want to stress that there’s a lot of work that remains to be done. There’s unfinished business and the fact is that today on average, around nineteen thousand children are still dying every day from largely preventable causes.”
The World Health Organization says one way to solve these problems is to make sure health care services are available to women. In this way, medical problems can be avoided or treated when identified.
【小题1】Since 1990, the number of the children who died before 5 in the world has dropped by about__________.

    We can see how the product life cycle works by looking at the introduction of instant（速溶） coffee. When it was introduced, most people did not like it as well as "regular" coffee, and it took several years to gain general acceptance（introduction stage）.At one point, though, instant coffee grew rapidly in popularity, and many brands were introduced（stage of rapid growth）. After a while, people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off（stage of maturity）. Sales went into a slight decrease when freeze-dried coffees were introduced（stage of decline）.

    The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: Different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not drop. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Did you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the soldiers？

    Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the product to appeal to new market sections.

    Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changing product quality, features, or style to attract new users or more usage from present users. American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to regain world markets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles eagerly from year to year to keep demand from falling.

The first paragraph tells us that a new product is ________.

       A．not easily accepted by the public

      B．often of poorer quality compared with old ones

       C．often more expensive than old ones

      D．usually introduced to satisfy different tastes

Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to________.

       A．promote its production

      B．work out marketing plans

       C．speed up its life cycle

      D．increase its popularity

The author mentions the example of "backpacks" （Para.2） to show the importance of________.

      A．pleasing the young as well as the old

       B．increasing usage among students

      C．exploring new market sections

      D．finding creative product designers

In order to attract more consumers, U.S. auto makers are ________.

       A．modernizing product style

      B．increasing product features

      C．developing products of better quality

      D．re-positioning their product in the market

Edward Wilson is America’s, if not the world’s, leading naturalist. In The Future of Life, he takes us on a tour of the world’s natural resources(资源). How are they used? What has been lost? What remains and is it able to continue with the present speed of use? Wilson also points out the need to understand fully the biodiversity(生物多样性)of our earth.
Wilson begins with an open letter to the pioneer in environment (环境) protection, Henry David Thoreau. He compares today’s Walden Pond with that of Thoreau’s day. Wilson will use such comparisons for the rest of the book. The problem is clear: man has done great damage to his home over the years. Can the earth, with human help, be made to return to biodiversity levels that will be able to support us in the future?
Biodiversity, Wilson argues, is the key to settling many problems the earth faces today. Even our agricultural crops can gain advantages from it. A mere hundred species(物种) are the basis of our food supply, of which but twenty carry the load. Wilson suggests changing this situation by looking into ten thousand species that could be made use of, which will be a way to reduce the clearing of the natural homes of plants and animals to enlarge farming areas.
At the end of the book, Wilson discusses the importance of human values in considering the environment. If you are to continue to live on the earth, you may well read and act on the ideas in this book.

1. 1.

   We learn form the text that Wilson cares most about ______

   1. A.
      the environment for plants
   2. B.
      the biodiversity of our earth
   3. C.
      the wastes of natural resources
   4. D.
      the importance of human values
2. 2.

   How many species are most important to our present food supply?

   1. A.
      Twenty.
   2. B.
      Eighty.
   3. C.
      One hundred
   4. D.
      Ten thousand.
3. 3.

   Wilson suggests that one way to keep biodiversity is to _______.

   1. A.
      learn how to farm scientifically
   2. B.
      build homes for some dying species
   3. C.
      make it clear what to eat
   4. D.
      use more species for food
4. 4.

   We can infer that the text is _______

   1. A.
      a description of natural resources
   2. B.
      a research report
   3. C.
      a book review
   4. D.
      an introduction to a scientist.
5. 5.

   Edward Wilson is _______

   1. A.
      a pioneer in environment protection
   2. B.
      an American scientist in environment protection
   3. C.
      a world-famous scientist in Asia
   4. D.
      a well-known expert in nature in U.S.A

Edward Wilson is America’s, if not the world’s, leading naturalist. In The Future of Life, he takes us on a tour of the world’s natural resources(资源). How are they used? What has been lost? What remains and is it able to continue with the present speed of use? Wilson also points out the need to understand fully the biodiversity(生物多样性)of our earth.

Wilson begins with an open letter to the pioneer in environment (环境) protection, Henry David Thoreau. He compares today’s Walden Pond with that of Thoreau’s day. Wilson will use such comparisons for the rest of the book. The problem is clear: man has done great damage to his home over the years. Can the earth, with human help, be made to return to biodiversity levels that will be able to support us in the future?

Biodiversity, Wilson argues, is the key to settling many problems the earth faces today. Even our agricultural crops can gain advantages from it. A mere hundred species(物种) are the basis of our food supply, of which but twenty carry the load. Wilson suggests changing this situation by looking into ten thousand species that could be made use of, which will be a way to reduce the clearing of the natural homes of plants and animals to enlarge farming areas.

At the end of the book, Wilson discusses the importance of human values in considering the environment. If you are to continue to live on the earth, you may well read and act on the ideas in this book.

1. We learn form the text that Wilson cares most about ______

2. How many species are most important to our present food supply?

3. Wilson suggests that one way to keep biodiversity is to _______.

4. We can infer that the text is _______

5. Edward Wilson is _______