4. B。 推断题。根据 …shortly after receiving an ultimatum(最后通牒) about being
late on the job 我们可以了解到,Sam不止一次上班迟到了。
(10)
In
1939 two brothers, Mac and Dick McDonald, started a drive-in restaurant in San
Bernadino, California. They carefully chose a busy corner for their location.
They had run their own businesses for years, first a theater, then a barbecue(烤肉) restaurant, then another drive-in. But
in their new operation, they offered a new, shortened menu: French fries,
hamburgers, and sodas. To this small selection they added one new idea: quick
service, no waiters or waitresses, and no tips.
Their
hamburgers sold for fifteen cents. Cheese was another four cents. Their French
fries and hamburgers had a remarkable uniformity(一致性),
for the brothers had developed a strict routine(程序)
for the preparation of their food, and they insisted on their cooks’ sticking
to their routine. Their new drive-in became surprisingly popular, particularly
for lunch. People drove up by the hundreds during the busy noontime. The
self-service restaurant was so popular that the brothers had allowed ten copies
of their restaurant to be opened. They were content with this modest success
until they met Ray Kroc.
Kroc
was a salesman who met the McDonald brothers in 1954, when he was selling
milkshake-mixing machines. He quickly saw the special attraction of the
brothers’ fast-food restaurants and bought the right to franchise(特许经营) other copies of their restaurants. The
agreement included the right to duplicate(复制)
the menu, the equipment, even their red and white buildings with the golden
arches(拱门).
Today
McDonald’s is really a household name. In 1976, McDonald’s had over $ l billion
in total sales. Its first twenty-two years is one of the most surprising
success stories in modern American business history.