阅读理解第一篇

注：原文来自于职称英语教材综合类概括大意第一篇

第一篇 The Making of a Success Story

1 IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer, and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman. As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades. Naturally he used it to start up a business一IKEA.

2 IKEA's name comes from Kamprad's initials (I.K.) and the place where he grew up ('E' and 'A'). Today IKEA is known for its modern, minimalist furniture1, but it was not a furniture company in the beginning. Rather, IKEA sold all kinds of miscellaneous goods. Kamprad's wares included anything that he could sell for profits at discounted prices2, including watches, pens and stockings.

3 IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order catalogue in 1947. The fUrniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad's home. Initial sales were very encouraging, so Kamprad expanded the product line. Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became solely a furniture company in 1951.

4 In 1953 IKEA opened its first showroom in Almhult, Sweden. IKEA is known today for its spacious stores with furniture iti attractive settings, but in the early 1950s, people ordered from catalogues. Thus response to the first showroom was overwhelmiig: people loved being able to see and try the furniture before buying it. This led to increased sales and the company continued to thrive. By 1955, IKEA was designing all its own furniture.

5 In 1956 Kamprad saw a man disassembling a table to make it easier to transport. Kamprad was inspired. The man had given him a great idea: flat packaging3. Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers. IKEA tried it and sales soared. The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA. Nowadays, IKEA is often seen as having connotations of self-sufficiency. This image has done wonders for the company, leading to better sales and continued expansion.

6 Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries. Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company. In 2004 he was named the world's richest man. He currently lives in Switzerland and is retied from the day-to-day operations of IKEA. IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing.

词汇：

entrepreneur /,entrəprə'nə:/ n.企业家

ware /weə/ n.货物

minimalist /'miniməlist / adj.最简单的

self-sufficiency /'self-sə'fiʃənsi/ n.自足

注释：

1. minimalist furniture：风格简约的家具

2. discounted prices：折扣价

3. flat packaging：平板包装

练习：

1. Paragraph 2_________

2. Paragraph 3_________

3. Paragraph 4_________

4. Paragraph 5_________

5. Even when he was only a child, _________.

6. _________, and years later became a big company specialized in manufacturing and selling of furniture.

7. Customers liked the idea of IKEA's showrooms because _________.

8. As flat packaging saves money for both IKEA and the customers, _________

答案与题解：

1. C 第二段介绍了IKEA这个店名的来源以及它刚开始的时候是一家什么样的小杂货店

2. D 第三段讲了IKEA通过邮购方式销售自己设计、自己制造的家具，业绩喜人，从而扩大生产线，专事家具产销。

3. B 1953年IKEA引入展示厅的做法得到很好的反响，销售大大增加。

4. E Kamprad从别人拆卸家具中得到启发，于是试行销售平板包装的家具，既利己又利人，并使独立自行成为IKEA的一个特色。

5. C 时间状语从句告诉我们这里要讲的是Ingvar小时候的事情，文章的第一段就说了他从小就会做买卖。

6. A 这句话的后半句说IKEA几年以后才变成一家专营家具的公司，前半句很可能讲它的前身是什么。

7. E 这句的主句讲了顾客们喜欢IKEA的展示厅，从句用because引导，很清楚要求给出原因。

8. B 这句先给了原因，即平板包装对双方来说都省钱，那么结果便是双方都欢迎。

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