Passage 1

　　The physical distribution of products has two primary aspects: transportation and storage. Both aspects are highly developed and specialized phases of marketing. The costs of both trans-porting and storing are built into the prices of products. Transportation can be by truck, rail-way, ship, or barge. For some items, such as exotic plants and flowers, or when rapid delivery is essential, air freight may be used.

　　Storage, or warehousing, is a necessary function because production and consumption of goods rarely match: items generally are not sold as quickly as they are made. Inventories build up, both in warehouses and at retail establishments, before the foods are sold. The transporta-tion function is involved in bringing goods to a warehouse and taking them from it to retail stores.

　　Storage performs the service of stabilizing market price. If, for example, no agricultural product could be stored, all food would have to be put on the market immediately. This would, of course, create a glut and lower prices drastically. There would be an immediate benefit to consumers, but in the long run they would suffer. Farmers, because of low prices, would be forced off the land, and the amount of food produced would decrease. This, in turn, would raise consumer prices.

　　Warehouses for storage are of several types. Private warehouses are owned by manufactur-ers. Public warehouses, in spite of their name, are privately owned facilities, but they are in-dependent of manufacturer ownership. General-merchandise warehouses store a great variety of products. Cold-storage warehouses store perishable goods, especially food products. Grain ele-vators are a kind of warehouse used to keep wheat and other grains from spoiling. A bonded warehouse is one that stores foods, frequently imported, on which taxes must be paid before they are sold. Cigarettes and alcoholic beverages are common examples.

　　The distribution center is a more recently developed kind of warehouse. Many large com- panics have several manufacturing plants, sometimes located outside the country. Each plant does not make every company product but specializes in one or more of them. The distribution center allows a manufacturer to bring together all product lines in one place. Its purpose is to minimize storage and to ease the flow of goods from manufacturers to retailers rather than build up extensive inventories. It reduces costs by speeding up product turnover. Very large corporations will have several distribution centers regionally or internationally based

　　1. The main subject of this passage is______.

　　A) transportation and storage 

　　B) storage of products

　　C) distribution center 

　　D) two main aspects of product distribution

　　2. Warehousing is important in that ______.

　　A) inventories build up before the goods are sold

　　B) the prices will go down

　　C) more goods are produced than can be consumed

　　D) the food has to be put on the market immediately

　　3. How many types of warehouses for storage are discussed in the passage?

　　A) 3. 

　　B) 4. 

　　C) 6. 

　　D) 7.

　　4. Where might one find meat and milk?

　　A) Grain elevator. 

　　B) Cold-storage warehouse.

　　C) Private warehouse. 

　　D) Bonded warehouse.

　　5. What is NOT true of a distribution center?

　　A) It is a relatively new type of warehouse.

　　B) Product is replaced more quickly and costs are down.

　　C) Some distribution centers are not built in the sane country as the factory

　　D) It builds up extensive inventories to minimize storage.

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　　Passage 1

　　文章大意：

　　这篇文章讲产品实物分配中的两个环节，运输和储存，运输环节只在第一段和第二段最后一句略述，从第二段(除最后一句)到第五段详细讨论产品的储存问题。其中二、三段讨论存储的原因(生产与消费不同步)和作用(稳定市场价格)；第四段介绍仓库的类型；第五段讲新近发展起来的一种仓库——分配中心——的功能和特点。

　　答案解析：

　　[1]D主旨题。第一段第一句点明主题，产品的实物分配主要由运输和储存两方面构成。选项A太笼统，B、C均为某一段的重点，不能概括全文，故[D]正确。

　　[2]C根据第二段第一句，此题考察的是储存的原因——生产和消费不同步，故选 [C]。 

　　[3]D根据第四段，共讲了7种类型的仓库，故选[D)。

　　[4]B细节题。从第四段第五句可知，肉、蛋为食品，故应选[B)。

　　[5]D根据最后一段倒数第三句，分配中心是为了减少储存，减轻流通过程中的压力，而不是为了囤积食品，故[D)与原文不符。