SECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING
In this section there are seven passage followed by ten multiple-choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your Answer Sheet.
TEXT E First read the question. 51. What is the main point of this passage? A. Automobile ownership is still just a dream for most people. B. Chinese banks starts to offer car loans. C. Car price will probably go down as a result of the efforts Chinese Government spends to boost consumer spending. D. The automobile industry in Shanghai is not promising. Now go though Text E quickly to answer question 51. Shanghai —— Shanghai advertising executive Sun Gang stole time from the office and fought his way through an unruly scrum of visitors queuing to see the newest cars from the world industry at the June 15 to 20 Auto Shanghais 99 exhibition. "I am a car lover," he said, casting an appreciative glance over a sleek Honda sedan as he struggled to keep several manufactures brochures under his arm. But the suggestion that he might drive home his own, with the help of auto loans more available than ever under a Chinese government campaign to boost consumer spending, brought only a bitter chuckle. "If somebody was willing to give me this (car) for no money at all, I could hardly afford to pay the license-plate fee," he said. "I have a good job now, and my wifes salary isnt bad either …… We thought about applying, but it just didnt make sense." Chinese banks have started offering car loans to help boost the Chinese economy and allow domestic banks to prepare for competition after Chinas possible entrance to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Banks nationwide have only issued some 10,000 such loans since the policy came into play in the second half of 1998, Xinmin Evening News said. Car prices are so high that the short term allowed, five yeas at maximum, make monthly payments an unacceptably heavy burden, the newspaper said. Even in Shanghai where incomes are the highest in China, the average employed person would have to spend every penny they earned for nearly 16 years to pay the 187,000 Yuan price of the cheapest sedan from Shanghai Volkswagen. Making matters worse, the countrys distribution of wealth limits the helpfulness of car buyer financing. Few consumers are in the income bracket where an auto purchase is only slightly out of reach, said Michael Dunne, the president of Automotive Resource Asia, an industry consultancy. Unlike the "bell curve" seen in the US economy, where the majority of potential buyers are in the middle-income range, the Chinese market is "a camel model", he said. Demand is either from the wealthy elite who can afford luxury cars or the masses —— people who could only afford a car at vastly lower price. "There isnt much in-between," he said. According to a recent analysis by the Shanghai Financial News daily, only about 7-8 percent of households in Shanghai could realistically consider financing a car purchase. Xu Zhengye, an official at the Shanghai car-loan center of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said business was also poor because extraneous monthly car ownership costs deterred applicants. "There are between 1,000 and 2,000 Yuan in non-loan monthly costs," he said, referring to parking, insurance, road-user taxes, petrol and maintenance. "It would be cheaper to take a taxi everyday," he said. Local governments further depress demand by limiting distribution of license plates and charging exorbitant fees for their issue, according to an official at the Shanghai Auto Industry Sales General Co. Consumers in the city can freely obtain licenses for cars built in Shanghai for 20,000 Yuan, but must bid at auctions held by the Public Security Bureau to get one for any other model. The latter licenses, issued only occasionally in small batches, regularly go for 100,000 Yuan, the official said. "Of course no producer wants to see such high license fees," he said, adding that the city government uses them to prevent traffic congestion and control air pollution
51. What is the main point of this passage?
A) Automobile ownership is still just a dream for most people.
B) Chinese banks starts to offer car loans.
C) Car price will probably go down as a result of the efforts Chinese Government spends to boost consumer spending.
D) The automobile industry in Shanghai is not promising.
TEXT F First read the questions. 52. The Japanese translation of the American car "Randan" is ____. A. star B. idiot C. killer D. monkey 53. As a conclusion, what does the writer suggest multinational corporations to do in order to avoid mistakes and losses? A. Study foreign market in which the product will be plunged into. B. Prudent planning. C. Package modification. D. Both A and B. Now go through TEXT F quickly to answer question 52 and 53. The Language Barrier A close examination of foreign markets and language differences is necessary and should be required before a products domestically successful name is introduced abroad. Unfortunately, this step is sometimes neglected in a companys enthusiasm to plunge into overseas marketing operations. Sometimes, the company or product name may require alteration because it conveys the wrong message in a second language. Large and small firms alike have discovered this. For example, when the Coca-Cola Company was planning its marketing strategy for China in the 1920s, it wanted to introduce its product with the English pronunciation of "Coca-Cola." A translator used a group of Chinese characters that, when pronounced, sounded like the product name. These characters were placed on the cola bottles and marketed. Was it any wonder sales levels were low? The characters actually translated to mean "bite the wax tadpole." Since the product was new, sound was unimportant to the consumers; meaning was vital. Today Coca-Cola is again marketing its cola in China. The new characters used on the bottle translated to "happiness in the mouth." From its first marketing attempts, Coca-Cola learned a valuable lesson in international marketing. General Motors was faced with a similar problem. It was troubled by a lack of enthusiasm among Puerto Rican auto dealers for its recently introduced Chevrolet "Nova" about ten years ago. The name "Nova" means star when literally translated. However, when spoken it sounded like "no va" which, in Spanish, means "it doesnt go". This obviously did little to increase consumer confidence in the vehicle. To remedy the situation, General Motors changed the automobile name to "Caribe", and sales increased. Comparable situations have also be experienced by other car manufacturers. In fact, problems with the names used in international automobile promotions seem to crop up frequently. For example, the American Motors Corporations car "Matador" might conjure up images of virility and strength in America, but in Puerto Rico it means "killer" —— not a favorable connotation in a place with a high traffic fatality rate. A U.S. company was taken by surprise when it introduced its product in Latin American and learned that the name meant "jackass oil" in Spanish. Another well-intentioned firm sold shampoo in Brazil under the name "Evitol". Little did it realize that it was claiming to be selling a "dandruff contraceptive". One manufacturing company sold its machines in the Soviet Union under the name "Bardak" —— a word that signifies a brothel in Russian. The name of an American product that failed to capture the Swedish market translated to "enema", which the product was not! Of course, foreign firms can make mistakes, too. A Finnish brewery introduced two new beverages in the United States —— "Koff" beer and "Siff" beer. Is it any wonder that sales were sluggish? Another name Americans found unappealing was on packages of a delicious chocolate-and-fruit product sold in German and other European delicatessens. The chocolate concoction had the undesirable English name "Zit"! Many times the required name change is a rather simple one. Wrigley, for example, merely altered the spelling of its "Spearmint" chewing gum to "Speermint" to aid in the German pronunciation of the flavor. "Maxwell House" proved slightly more difficult: the name was changed to "Maxwell Kaffee" in Germany, to "Legal" in France, and to "Monkey" in Spain. Product names are not the only ones that can generate company blunders. If a firms name is misinterpreted or incorrectly translated, it, too, can have the same humorous, obscene, offensive, or unexpected connotations. For example, a private Egyptian airline, Misair, proved to be rather unpopular with the French nationals. Could the fact that the name, when pronounced, meant "misery" in French have contributed to the airlines flight? Another airline trying to gain acceptance in Australia only complicated matters when it chose the firm name "EMU". The emu is an Australian bird incapable of flying. When Esso realized that its name phonetically meant "stalled car", it understood why it had had difficulties in the Japanese market. As a final illustration, consider the trade magazine that promoted giftware and launched a worldwide circulation efforts. The magazine used the word "gift" in its title and as part of its name. When it was latter revealed that "gift" is the German word for "poison", a red-faced publishing executive supposedly retorted that the Germans should simply find a new word for poison! Of course, some company names have traveled quite well. Kodak may be the most famous example. A research team deliberately developed this name after carefully searching for a word that was pronounceable everywhere but had no specific meaning anywhere. Exxon is another such name that was reportedly accepted only after a lengthy and expensive computer-assisted search. Multinational corporations have experienced many unexpected troubles concerning company or product names, and even attempts to alter names have led to blunders. It should be evident that careful planning and study of the potential market is necessary because name adaptation can be every bit as important a product or package modification.
52. The Japanese translation of the American car "Randan" is ____.
A) star
B) idiot
C) killer
D) monkey
53. As a conclusion, what does the writer suggest multinational corporations to do in order to avoid mistakes and losses?
A) Study foreign market in which the product will be plunged into.
B) Prudent planning.
C) Package modification.
D) Both A and B
In this section there are seven passage followed by ten multiple-choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your Answer Sheet.
TEXT E First read the question. 51. What is the main point of this passage? A. Automobile ownership is still just a dream for most people. B. Chinese banks starts to offer car loans. C. Car price will probably go down as a result of the efforts Chinese Government spends to boost consumer spending. D. The automobile industry in Shanghai is not promising. Now go though Text E quickly to answer question 51. Shanghai —— Shanghai advertising executive Sun Gang stole time from the office and fought his way through an unruly scrum of visitors queuing to see the newest cars from the world industry at the June 15 to 20 Auto Shanghais 99 exhibition. "I am a car lover," he said, casting an appreciative glance over a sleek Honda sedan as he struggled to keep several manufactures brochures under his arm. But the suggestion that he might drive home his own, with the help of auto loans more available than ever under a Chinese government campaign to boost consumer spending, brought only a bitter chuckle. "If somebody was willing to give me this (car) for no money at all, I could hardly afford to pay the license-plate fee," he said. "I have a good job now, and my wifes salary isnt bad either …… We thought about applying, but it just didnt make sense." Chinese banks have started offering car loans to help boost the Chinese economy and allow domestic banks to prepare for competition after Chinas possible entrance to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Banks nationwide have only issued some 10,000 such loans since the policy came into play in the second half of 1998, Xinmin Evening News said. Car prices are so high that the short term allowed, five yeas at maximum, make monthly payments an unacceptably heavy burden, the newspaper said. Even in Shanghai where incomes are the highest in China, the average employed person would have to spend every penny they earned for nearly 16 years to pay the 187,000 Yuan price of the cheapest sedan from Shanghai Volkswagen. Making matters worse, the countrys distribution of wealth limits the helpfulness of car buyer financing. Few consumers are in the income bracket where an auto purchase is only slightly out of reach, said Michael Dunne, the president of Automotive Resource Asia, an industry consultancy. Unlike the "bell curve" seen in the US economy, where the majority of potential buyers are in the middle-income range, the Chinese market is "a camel model", he said. Demand is either from the wealthy elite who can afford luxury cars or the masses —— people who could only afford a car at vastly lower price. "There isnt much in-between," he said. According to a recent analysis by the Shanghai Financial News daily, only about 7-8 percent of households in Shanghai could realistically consider financing a car purchase. Xu Zhengye, an official at the Shanghai car-loan center of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said business was also poor because extraneous monthly car ownership costs deterred applicants. "There are between 1,000 and 2,000 Yuan in non-loan monthly costs," he said, referring to parking, insurance, road-user taxes, petrol and maintenance. "It would be cheaper to take a taxi everyday," he said. Local governments further depress demand by limiting distribution of license plates and charging exorbitant fees for their issue, according to an official at the Shanghai Auto Industry Sales General Co. Consumers in the city can freely obtain licenses for cars built in Shanghai for 20,000 Yuan, but must bid at auctions held by the Public Security Bureau to get one for any other model. The latter licenses, issued only occasionally in small batches, regularly go for 100,000 Yuan, the official said. "Of course no producer wants to see such high license fees," he said, adding that the city government uses them to prevent traffic congestion and control air pollution
51. What is the main point of this passage?
A) Automobile ownership is still just a dream for most people.
B) Chinese banks starts to offer car loans.
C) Car price will probably go down as a result of the efforts Chinese Government spends to boost consumer spending.
D) The automobile industry in Shanghai is not promising.
TEXT F First read the questions. 52. The Japanese translation of the American car "Randan" is ____. A. star B. idiot C. killer D. monkey 53. As a conclusion, what does the writer suggest multinational corporations to do in order to avoid mistakes and losses? A. Study foreign market in which the product will be plunged into. B. Prudent planning. C. Package modification. D. Both A and B. Now go through TEXT F quickly to answer question 52 and 53. The Language Barrier A close examination of foreign markets and language differences is necessary and should be required before a products domestically successful name is introduced abroad. Unfortunately, this step is sometimes neglected in a companys enthusiasm to plunge into overseas marketing operations. Sometimes, the company or product name may require alteration because it conveys the wrong message in a second language. Large and small firms alike have discovered this. For example, when the Coca-Cola Company was planning its marketing strategy for China in the 1920s, it wanted to introduce its product with the English pronunciation of "Coca-Cola." A translator used a group of Chinese characters that, when pronounced, sounded like the product name. These characters were placed on the cola bottles and marketed. Was it any wonder sales levels were low? The characters actually translated to mean "bite the wax tadpole." Since the product was new, sound was unimportant to the consumers; meaning was vital. Today Coca-Cola is again marketing its cola in China. The new characters used on the bottle translated to "happiness in the mouth." From its first marketing attempts, Coca-Cola learned a valuable lesson in international marketing. General Motors was faced with a similar problem. It was troubled by a lack of enthusiasm among Puerto Rican auto dealers for its recently introduced Chevrolet "Nova" about ten years ago. The name "Nova" means star when literally translated. However, when spoken it sounded like "no va" which, in Spanish, means "it doesnt go". This obviously did little to increase consumer confidence in the vehicle. To remedy the situation, General Motors changed the automobile name to "Caribe", and sales increased. Comparable situations have also be experienced by other car manufacturers. In fact, problems with the names used in international automobile promotions seem to crop up frequently. For example, the American Motors Corporations car "Matador" might conjure up images of virility and strength in America, but in Puerto Rico it means "killer" —— not a favorable connotation in a place with a high traffic fatality rate. A U.S. company was taken by surprise when it introduced its product in Latin American and learned that the name meant "jackass oil" in Spanish. Another well-intentioned firm sold shampoo in Brazil under the name "Evitol". Little did it realize that it was claiming to be selling a "dandruff contraceptive". One manufacturing company sold its machines in the Soviet Union under the name "Bardak" —— a word that signifies a brothel in Russian. The name of an American product that failed to capture the Swedish market translated to "enema", which the product was not! Of course, foreign firms can make mistakes, too. A Finnish brewery introduced two new beverages in the United States —— "Koff" beer and "Siff" beer. Is it any wonder that sales were sluggish? Another name Americans found unappealing was on packages of a delicious chocolate-and-fruit product sold in German and other European delicatessens. The chocolate concoction had the undesirable English name "Zit"! Many times the required name change is a rather simple one. Wrigley, for example, merely altered the spelling of its "Spearmint" chewing gum to "Speermint" to aid in the German pronunciation of the flavor. "Maxwell House" proved slightly more difficult: the name was changed to "Maxwell Kaffee" in Germany, to "Legal" in France, and to "Monkey" in Spain. Product names are not the only ones that can generate company blunders. If a firms name is misinterpreted or incorrectly translated, it, too, can have the same humorous, obscene, offensive, or unexpected connotations. For example, a private Egyptian airline, Misair, proved to be rather unpopular with the French nationals. Could the fact that the name, when pronounced, meant "misery" in French have contributed to the airlines flight? Another airline trying to gain acceptance in Australia only complicated matters when it chose the firm name "EMU". The emu is an Australian bird incapable of flying. When Esso realized that its name phonetically meant "stalled car", it understood why it had had difficulties in the Japanese market. As a final illustration, consider the trade magazine that promoted giftware and launched a worldwide circulation efforts. The magazine used the word "gift" in its title and as part of its name. When it was latter revealed that "gift" is the German word for "poison", a red-faced publishing executive supposedly retorted that the Germans should simply find a new word for poison! Of course, some company names have traveled quite well. Kodak may be the most famous example. A research team deliberately developed this name after carefully searching for a word that was pronounceable everywhere but had no specific meaning anywhere. Exxon is another such name that was reportedly accepted only after a lengthy and expensive computer-assisted search. Multinational corporations have experienced many unexpected troubles concerning company or product names, and even attempts to alter names have led to blunders. It should be evident that careful planning and study of the potential market is necessary because name adaptation can be every bit as important a product or package modification.
52. The Japanese translation of the American car "Randan" is ____.
A) star
B) idiot
C) killer
D) monkey
53. As a conclusion, what does the writer suggest multinational corporations to do in order to avoid mistakes and losses?
A) Study foreign market in which the product will be plunged into.
B) Prudent planning.
C) Package modification.
D) Both A and B