2012年在职工程硕士GCT英语阅读理解练习及答案Because of its potential for cutting costs, the distribution step in the marketing process is receiving more attention. Distribution involves warehousing, transporting and keeping inventory of manufactured products. Take an everyday product like fabric softener. After it comes off the assembly line, its packed in cartons and trucked to warehouses around the country. When orders come in from retailers, the fabric softener is delivered to supermarket shelves. This is distribution.Probably the most crucial area for controlling costs is inventory. Companies dont want to overproduce and have unsold stock of their product piled up in warehouses. Wholesale companies and large retail chains employ several techniques for inventory control. This is where the computer revolution really had an impact. Computerized information systems give precise and up-to-date accounts of inventory on hand. And the field of distribution offers good entry-level jobs for persons with training in computer programming or data processing.Overseeing the whole area of distribution is the distribution manager. This job is becoming increasingly important and can lead to an executive position.1. According to the passage, why is the distribution step in marketing getting more attention?A. It is where companies research and develop new products.B. It is where companies can cut costs.C. It is where employees can update their computer skills.D. It provides jobs for college graduates.2. Why does the writer mention fabric softener?A. To advertise a new product.B. To show how companies set the price of an item.C. To explain why companies must keep costs down.D. To illustrate how the distribution process works.3. Why is inventory control so important?A. It is essential for controlling costs.B. It can lead to an executive position.C. It helps companies overproduce.D. It requires little or no training.4. Why are computers important in distribution?A. They can accurately report on inventory.B. They provide good training in computer programming.C. They make it easier for managers to supervise people.D. They train people for executive positions.5. What is this passage mainly talking about?A. The use of computers for sale of productsB. The distribution step in the marketing processC. Cost control in inventory of a productD. Wholesale and retail chains of a product参考答案：1. B 2. D 3. A 4. A 5. BLod carving refers to the art of creating or decorating objects of wood by carving with a sharp, hand-held toolThis form of art has a history of over ,000 years and a unique artistic styleThe following is some introduction about wood carving in America. Wood carving began as a necessity in America and developed into an artBecause of the lack of other materials, early settlers were forced to make tools and utensils out of woodAt first, these articles were whittled with a knife, but when pioneer craftsmen set up their primitive shops most of them were fashioned on a lathe - a machine which holds an object and rotates it while it is being shaped by a tool.However, even after Massachusetts-born Thomas Blancard designed a lathe which could turn irregular shapes - an innovation that made possible mass production of gunstocks, shoe lasts, oblong and square wooden wares - craftsmen who could use knife and chisel skillfully were still in demandSome found ready employment in shops of cabinetmakers, while others, carved decoyStill others specialized in creating shop signs, ship figureheads, or in decorating interior woodworkA few even accepted commissions to make busts of prominent citizens.1This passage most likely came from a longer work about early American_.Aarts and crafts.Bpolitical leaders.Clogging industries.Dfashion design.2According to the passage, the first settlers used wood for their utensils and tools because it was_.Adurable.Binexpensive.Cavailable.Dattractive.3The passage suggests that the early shops for making tools were_.Anot very sophisticateBknown for doing very quick work.Cdependent on imported materials.Dfrequented only by fashionable people.4.Which of the following objects was an important woodworking tool used by early American craftsmen?AA bustBA decoyCA figureheadDA chisel5In the last sentence, the word “bust” most probably means _.Athe upper part of ones bodyBself-portraitCpaintingDclothesBecause of its potential for cutting costs, the distribution step in the marketing process is receiving more attentionDistribution involves warehousing, transporting and keeping inventory of manufactured productsTake an everyday product like fabric softenerAfter it comes off the assembly line, its packed in cartons and trucked to warehouses