Reading Comprehension
试题详情
文章：
| Line | Manufacturers have to do more than build large |
| manufacturing plants to realize economies of scale. | |
| It is true that as the capacity of a manufacturing | |
| operation rises, costs per unit of output fall as plant | |
| (5) | size approaches “minimum efficient scale,” where the |
| cost per unit of output reaches a minimum, | |
| determined roughly by the state of existing technology | |
| and size of the potential market. However, minimum | |
| efficient scale cannot be fully realized unless a steady | |
| (10) | “throughput” (the flow of materials through a plant) is |
| attained. The throughput needed to maintain the | |
| optimal scale of production requires careful | |
| coordination not only of the flow of goods through the | |
| production process, but also of the flow of input from | |
| (15) | suppliers and the flow of output to wholesalers and |
| final consumers. If throughput falls below a critical | |
| point, unit costs rise sharply and profits disappear. A | |
| manufacturer’s fixed costs and “sunk costs” (original | |
| capital investment in the physical plant) do not | |
| (20) | decrease when production declines due to inadequate |
| supplies of raw materials, problems on the factory | |
| floor, or inefficient sales networks. Consequently, | |
| potential economies of scale are based on the | |
| physical and engineering characteristics of the | |
| (25) | production facilities—that is, on tangible capital—but |
| realized economies of scale are operational and | |
| organizational, and depend on knowledge, skills, | |
| experience, and teamwork—that is, on organized | |
| human capabilities, or intangible capital. | |
| (30) | The importance of investing in intangible capital |
| becomes obvious when one looks at what happens in | |
| new capital-intensive manufacturing industries. Such | |
| industries are quickly dominated, not by the first firms | |
| to acquire technologically sophisticated plants of | |
| (35) | theoretically optimal size, but rather by the first to |
| exploit the full potential of such plants. Once some | |
| firms achieve this, a market becomes extremely hard | |
| to enter. Challengers must construct comparable | |
| plants and do so after the first movers have already | |
| (40) | worked out problems with suppliers or with new |
| production processes. Challengers must create | |
| distribution networks and marketing systems in | |
| markets where first movers have all the contacts and | |
| know-how. And challengers must recruit management | |
| (45) | teams to compete with those that have already |
| mastered these functional and strategic activities. |
题目：
The primary purpose of the passage is to
选项:
A、point out the importance of intangible capital for realizing economies of scale in manufacturing
B、show that manufacturers frequently gain a competitive advantage from investment in large manufacturing facilities
C、argue that large manufacturing facilities often fail because of inadequate investment in both tangible and intangible capital
D、suggest that most new industries are likely to be dominated by firms that build large manufacturing plants early
E、explain why large manufacturing plants usually do not help manufacturers achieve economies of scale
答案:
A
提问：
请教老师，这道题我的想法是定位文章各段段首和段尾。第一句话说 have to do more than build large manufacturing plants to realize economies of scale. 后面就开始说有形资产和无形资产对制造商的重要性，并且第一段结尾处还进行了概括，说有形资产和无形资产很重要。第二段是接着上文详解了无形资产的重要。个人觉得如果选A，第一段这么一大长段落就跟没说一样，第二段才重点涉及了无形资产。选E，可以很好地概括文章大意，无形资产部分只不过是这篇文章中展开的一个分论点，因此不理解为什么选A，感觉一下子就把文章范围缩小了，觉得E更好，因为E说文章主要解释了为什么large plants 不能实现规模经济，而有形资产和无形资产正是文章想表达的为什么不能实现规模经济的原因。希望老师驳斥并帮我纠正思路
评分:
1
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4596
提问：
老师您好，我遇到的问题是：读文章时觉得单词都不难，读懂了句子可是连不起来，感觉句子之间很分散，尤其是第一段的逻辑关系有点晕。能否带着梳理一遍逻辑，谢谢。
评分:
1
浏览:
4335
