Passage 49
¡¡¡¡Traditionally£¬ the first firm to commercialize a new£ technology has benefited from the unique opportunity to£ shape product definitions£¬ forcing followers to adapt to a standard or invest in an unproven alternative. Today£¬ how-£¨ 5£© ever£¬ the largest payoffs may go to companies that lead in£ developing integrated approaches for successful mass£ production and distribution.
¡¡¡¡Producers of the Beta format for videocassette recorders£¨VCR¡®s£©£¬for example£¬were first to develop the VCR com-£¨10£©mercially in 1975£¬but producers of the rival VHS £¨Video Home System£©format proved to be more successful at forming strategic alliances with other producers and distributors to manufacture and market their VCR format£  Seeking to maintain exclusive control over VCR distri-£¨15£©bution. Beta producers were reluctant to form such alli-ances and eventually lost ground to VHS in the compe-tition for the global VCR market.
¡¡¡¡Despite Beta¡®s substantial technological head start and the fact that VHS was neither technically better nor cheaper£¨20£©than Beta£¬developers of VHS quickly turned a slight early lead in sales into a dominant position. Strategic alignments with producers of prerecorded tapes reinforced the VHS advantage. The perception among consumers that prere-corded tapes were more available in VHS format further£¨25£©expanded VHS¡¯s share of the market. By the end of the 1980¡®s. Beta was no longer in production.

¡¡¡¡1. The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© Evaluating two competing technologies
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© Tracing the impact of a new technology by narrating a sequence of events
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© Reinterpreting an event from contemporary business history
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© illustrating a business strategy by means of a case history
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© Proposing an innovative approach to business planning

¡¡¡¡2. According to the passage£¬today¡®s successful firms£¬unlike successful firms in the past£¬may earn the greatest£ profits by
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© investing in research to produce cheaper versions of existing technology
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© being the first to market a competing technology
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© adapting rapidly to a technological standard previously set by a competing firm
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© establishing technological leadership in order to shape product definitions in advance of competing firms.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© emphasizing the development of methods for the mass production and distribution of a new technology.

¡¡¡¡3. According to the passage£¬consumers began to develop a preference for VCR¡®s in the VHS format because they£ believed which of the following£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© VCR¡®s in the VHS format were technically better than competing-format VCR¡¯s.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© VCR¡®s in the VHS format were less expensive than competing-format VCR¡¯s.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© VHS was the first standard format for VCR¡®s.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© VHS prerecorded videotapes were more available than Beta-format tapes.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© VCR¡®s in the Beta format would soon cease to be produced.

¡¡¡¡4. The author implies that one way that VHS producers won control over the VCR market was by
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© carefully restricting access to VCR technology
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© giving up a slight early lead in VCR sales in order to improve long-term prospects.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© retaining a strict monopoly on the production of prerecorded videotapes.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© sharing control of the marketing of VHS-format VCR¡®s
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© sacrificing technological superiority over Betaformat VCR¡®s in order to remain competitive in price.

¡¡¡¡5. The alignment of producers of VHS-format VCR¡®s with producers of prerecorded videotapes is most similar to which of the following£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© The alignment of an automobile manufacturer with another automobile manufacturer to adopt a standard design for automobile engines.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© The alignment of an automobile manufacturer with an automotive glass company whereby the manufacturer agrees to purchase automobile windshields only from that one glass company
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© The alignment of an automobile manufacturer with a petroleum company to ensure the widespread availability of the fuel required by a new type of engine developed by the manufacturer.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© The alignment of an automobile manufacturer with its dealers to adopt a plan to improve automobile design.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© The alignment of an automobile dealer with an automobile rental chain to adopt a strategy for an advertising campaign to promote a new type of automobile

¡¡¡¡6. Which of the following best describes the relation of the first paragraph to the passage as a whole£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© It makes a general observation to be exemplified.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© It outlines a process to be analyzed.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© It poses a question to be answered.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© It advances an argument to be disputed.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© It introduces conflicting arguments to be reconciled.

¹²10Ò³: ÉÏÒ»Ò³ [1] [2] [3] [4] 5 [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] ÏÂÒ»Ò³