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 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 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. Did 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 world markets Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year to year to keep demand from falling.

Somebody ought to defend the workaholic. These people are unjustly accused, abused, and defamed,often termed sick or morbid (病态的). One third of American business and commerce is carried on the shoulders of workaholics. The ratio might exist in art and science too. Workaholics are achievers. There is a national conspiracy against excellence undue admiration of commonness and mediocrity (平庸). It is as though we are against those who make uncommon sacrifices because they enjoy doing something. Some popular psychologists say that the workaholic has an inferiority complex which leads to overcompensation. This is certainly not the case. Inferiority, or low esteem, describes laziness more accurately than it describes dedication. We do not seem to realize that very little excellence is achieved by living a well-balanced life. Edison, Ford, Einstein, Freud all had single-minded devotion to work whereby they sacrificed many things, including family and friendship. The accusation is made that workaholics bear guilt by not being good parents or spouses. But guilt can exist in the balanced life also. Consider how many “normal“ people find, at middle age, that they have never done anything well they are going to settle for less than what they could have become.

Some time ago I discovered that one of the chairs in my front hall had a broken leg. I didn’t foresee any great difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique shops in the Pimlico Road which is three minutes’ walk from my flat,so I set forth one morning carrying the chair with me, I went into the first shop confidently, expecting a friendly reception, with a kindly man saying, “What a charming chair, yes, that’ s quite a simple job, when would you want it back?“ I was quite wrong. The man I approached wouldn’t look at it. I wasn’t too concerned; after all, it was only the first try and there were many more shops on both sides of the road. The reaction at the second shop, though slightly politer, was just the same, and at the third and the fourth so I decided that my approach must be wrong. I entered the fifth shop with some confidence because I had concocted a plan. I placed the chair gently on the floor so as not to disturb the damaged leg and said, “Would you like to buy a chair?“ The rather fierce proprietor looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad little chair, how much do you want for it?“ “￡ 20,“ I said. “OK,“he said, ’T 11 give you ￡ 20.“ “It’s got a slightly broken leg,“ I said. “Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing, don’ t worry about it. “ Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?“I asked. “Oh, it will be very saleable once the repair is done. I like the bit of old green velvet on the top. I shall leave that, yes, very saleable. “ “I’ll buy it,“ I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,“ he said. “Yes; I know but I’ve changed my mind; as a matter of fact it is just what I’m looking for. I’ve got a pair to it at home. I’ll give you 27 quid for it. “ “You must be crazy,“ he said; then suddenly the penny dropped and he smiled and said, “I know what you want, you want me to mend your chair. “ “You’ re plumb right,“ I said. And what would you have done if I had walked in and said ’Would you mend this chair for me?’ “I wouldn’t have done it,“ he said, “we don’t do repairs, not enough money in it, but I’ll mend this for you. Shall we say a fiver?“ He was a very nice man and thought the whole episode rather funny.

On the fourth day of his sojourn, the Time Traveler understands why the Eloi are terrified after nightfall. 【C1】______ Following them, he discovers that they belong to a loathsome, ape-like creature that lopes along before him, eventually disappearing down a ladder into a shaft. The Time Traveler cannot believe that this creature is as human as the Eloi until he realizes that the Morlocks, as they are called, are also descended from the human beings of his time. The world has been divided between the fragile, helpless Eloi, who inhabit the surface of the earth, and the fierce, obscene Morlocks, who clamber about in the darkness of their underground tunnels, like human spiders, emerging only at night. 【C2】______ . The Morlocks, descended from the working class, do all the physical labor, but their brutality and savagery keep the Eloi in mortal terror of the day these servants will revolt. Certain now that the Morlocks, and not the Eloi, are responsible for hiding his machine, the Time Traveler determines to follow them into their subterranean caverns, despite Weena’s warnings. 【C3】______. He is attacked by them, but by lighting matches before their eyes, he manages to escape above ground. 【C4】______. 【C5】______. As the Time Traveler is running out of matches, he goes exploring the next day with Weena to find some other sources of light. He discovers an ancient palace of green porcelain, apparently a science and natural history museum long forgotten by the Eloi. 【C6】______. Weena is exhausted after the long trek to the museum, so the Time Traveler decides to camp out with her that night, building a fire to keep the beasts away. 【C7】______ During the night he awakens to discover that his new fire has gone out, his matches are missing, and Weena is no longer there. 【C8】______ . He finds that his first fire has spread through the forest, killing thirty or forty Morlocks. Sleeping by night, he makes his way back to the sphinx which he is determined to open with a crowbar from the science museum. 【C9】______ . Inside he discovers his machine. 【C10】______. Just as the Morlocks are about to cany him off to suffer Weena’ s fate, the machine hurtles him out of their grasp and far into the future. (From The Time Machine) A. The Eloi, obviously the masters, are descended from the nineteenth-century ruling class in England. B. Later the horrible realization comes to him that the Morlocks live on Eloi meat, carrying off their victims at night C. Like the other Eloi, Weena is easily fatigued and fearful of the dark, but she loyally joins the Time Traveler in his adventures D. But when he sees some Morlocks crouching in the woods, he decides it would be safer to spend the night up on a hill where he builds a new campfire E. But at that instant a group of Morlocks pounce upon him, and it is all he can do to fend them off while he starts the machine F. The door, however, is already open when he gets there, and, not suspecting a trap, the Time Traveler enters G. In the dark ruins of an ancient building, he becomes aware of strange eyes staring at him H. Fearing that she has been abducted by the Morlocks, he searches for her without success I. The machine lands on a desolate beach where the Time Traveler discovers the only inhabitants are giant, evil-looking crabs J. There he fortunately finds some matches and wax from which he can fashion a candle K. The only safeguard against these obscene creatures is light, which they fear as much as the Eloi fear darkness L. Clambering laboriously into one of the caves, the Time Traveler sees a group of the creatures gnawing at a chunk of meat

(accomplish) An example of the same thing may be that although Americans like to talk about their______

(adventure) Three years later he has still not returned, and his friends can only speculate about what______ has overtaken him in the depths of time.

(appreciate) He becomes more of the meaning ______of life and its permanent spiritual values.

observed certainly seem to on fraud curiosity what risk money carried out to what She decided not to 【G1】______ working on the program she needed at home, since Zee might see what she was doing. Tobe Barksdale’s shop was the perfect cover, and that pleasant man 【G2】______ wouldn’t suspect her. He didn’t even 【G3】______ mind letting her use his floor-model computer. After months of preparation, Miriam 【G4】______her plan. She called Mr. Groping to say that she was ill and couldn’t come to work. Then she drove 【G5】______ Mankato and Red Wing, disguised, and picked up her 【G6】______ . All went well until she arrived home to find Officer Quanbeck and several others waiting in her living room to arrest her for 【G7】______ and bank robbery. As a kindness, to assuage her curiosity, Tobe Barksdale was there, too. He explained, “Your plan was brilliant, Miriam, and you were an excellent student. Indeed, I taught you 【G8】______everything you know. But I didn’t teach you everything you did 【G9】______ a master tape which I 【G10】______ every afternoon after you left. After all, I had to see what kind of progress my pupil was making, didn’t I?“ (From The Story of the Bible)

Actually, he did like something: his business. (63) The problem was that while he was still a fabulously wealthy man, he had recently begun to make big mistakes. (64) He insisted on buying companies at very high prices, only to watch them fail or go bankrupt. Ellsworth was in pretty good shape for a 76-year-old, but his business failures were ruinous to his health. (65) He had suffered his last heart attack after his disastrous purchase of a small railroad in Iowa. (66)The health problem he suffered be-fore that came about because of excitement over the failure of a chain of grocery stores, stores which he had purchased at an in-flated price. It seemed that all his recent purchases had to be liquidated at a great sacrifice to both his pocketbook and his health. (67)They were beginning to have serious effects. (From Art for Heart’s State)

Public relations is management function that creates, develops, and carries out policies and programs to influence public opinion or public reaction about an idea, a product, or an organization. The field of public relations has become an important part of the economic,social and political pattern of life in many nations. That field includes advertising, promotional activities, and press contact. Public relations also exists at the same time in business with marketing and merchandising to create the climate in which all selling functions occur. Public relations activities in the modern world help institutions to cope successfully with many problems, to build prestige for an individual or a group, to promote products, and to win elections. The majority of public relations workers are staff employees working within a corporate or institutional framework. Others operate in public relations counseling firms. In industry, public relations personnel keep management informed of changes in the opinions of various publics (that is, the groups of people whose support is needed): employees, stockholders, customers, suppliers, dealers, the community, and government. These professionals counsel management as to the impact of any action or lack of action on the behavior of the target audiences. Once an organizational decision has been made, the public relations person has the task of communicating this information to the public using methods that promote understanding “consent“ and desired behavior. For example, a hospital merger, an industrial plant closing, or the introduction of a new product all require public relations planning and skill. Public relations activities are a major part of the political process in many nations. Politicians seeking office, government agencies seeking acceptance and cooperation, officials seeking support for their policies, and foreign governments seeking aid and allies abroad all make extensive use of counseling services provided by public relations specialists. Public relations also plays an important role in the entertainment industry. The theaters, motion pictures, sports, restaurants and individuals all use public relations services to increase their business or add to their image. Other public relations clients are educational, social service, and charitable institutions, trade union, religious groups, and professional societies. The successful public relations practitioner is a specialist in communication arts and persuasion. Specialized skills are required to handle public opinion research, media relations, direct mail activities, institutional advertising, publications, film and video production, and special events. Public relations services are so far virtually unused in many developing nations,but they are likely to be a future government concern.

One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes. It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that,“ and it is even harder to say,“I was wrong, and you were right about that. “ I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago. He told me he had been the manager of a certain grocery store in the neighborhood where I grew up, and he asked me if I remembered the egg cartons. Then he related an incident and I began to remember vaguely the incident he was describing. I was about eight years old at the time, and I had gone into the store with my mother to do the weekly grocery shopping. On that particular day, I must have found my way to the dairy food department where the incident took place. There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there was an impressive display of eggs in dozen and half dozen cartons. The cartons were stacked three or four feet high. I must have stopped in front of a display to admire the stacks. Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the stacks of cartons. For some reason, I decided it was up to me to put the display back together, so I went to work. The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened. When he appeared, I was on my knees inspecting some of the cartons to see if any of the eggs were broken, but to him it looked as though I were the culprit. He severely reprimanded me and wanted me to pay for the broken eggs. I protested my innocence and tried to explain, but it did no good. Even though I quickly forgot all about the incident, apparently the manager did not.

Laura House remembers the day with embarrassment. “Mom and I were on our way home after dinner when we stopped at an intersection,“ she says. “When the light changed, the guy ahead of us was looking at a map of something and didn’t move right away. I leaned on my horn and automatically yelled. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. Mom’s jaw just dropped. She said, ’Well, I guess you’ve been living in the city too long. ’ That’s when I realized that my anger was out of control. “ According to Carol Tavris , author of Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion, the keys to dealing with anger are common sense and patience. She points out that almost no situation is improved by an angry outburst. Shouting, fuming, or leaning on the car horn won’t make traffic begin to flow, make the screen unlock or make keys appear. Patience, on the other hand, is a highly practical virtue. People who take the time to cool down before responding to an anger producing situation are far less likely to say or do something they will regret later. Anger management therapist Doris Wilde agrees. “ Like any feeling, anger lasts only about three seconds,“ she says. “What keeps it going is your own negative thinking. “ As long as you focus on the idiot who cut you off on the expressway, you’ll stay angry. But if you let the incident go, your anger will go with it. “Once you come to understand that you’re driving your own anger with your thoughts,“ adds Wilde, “you can stop it. “ Experts who have studied anger also encourage people to cultivate activities that effectively release their anger. For some people, it’s reading newspapers or watching TV, while others need more active outlets (发泄渠道), such as taking a walk, hitting golf balls, or working out with a punching bag. People who succeed in calming their anger also enjoy the satisfaction of having dealt positively with their frustrations. For Laura House, her experience in the car with her mother was a wake-up call. “Once 1 saw what I was doing, it really wasn’t that hard to develop different habits. I simply decided I was going to treat other people the way I would want to be treated. I’m a calmer, happier person now,“ she reports.

(resemble) When the art student came the following week, there was a drawing on the table that had a slight______ to a vase.

(detach) Men were______ to defend the pass.

(claim) Now it happened that the king______ a festival that was to last three days.

(honest) Judy answered all the interviewers’ questions with______ and courage.

According to the passage, what about the standards of service in America?

(super) All of a sudden she discovered in a black satin box a______ necklace of diamonds.

(promote) Young males in particular tend to be keener on high pay and______ than older people

(arrive) We enjoyed the golden autumn, but the______ of winter made many of us feel depressed.

Product modification does not involve changing______. ( )

Backpacks were originally designed for______. ( )

When people stick to one brand, the product goes into ______. ( )

To extend product life, ______ strategies are often employed. ( )

The first paragraph tell us that a new product is______. ( )