The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: Different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Did you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the military?

　　Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the product to appeal to new market sections.

　　Another product extension strategy is called product modification．It involves changing product quality，features，or style to attract new users or more usage from present users．American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture world markets．Note，also，how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year to year to keep demand from falling．

　　26．The first paragraph tell us that a new product is_______．
　　A． not easily accepted by the public
　　B． often inferior to old ones at first
　　C． often more expensive than old ones
　　D．usually introduced to satisfy different tastes

　　27． To extend product life，_____strategies are often employed．
　　A．2
　　B．3 、
　　C．4
　　D．5

　　28． When people stick to one brand，the product goes into_________．
　　A．the stage of introduction`
　　B．the stage of rapid growth
　　C．the stage of maturity`
　　D．the stage of decline

　　29． Backpacks were originally designed for_________.
　　A．the military
　　B．travelers
　　C．shoppers
　　D．students

　　30． Product modification does not invo1ve changing _________．
　　A．product quality
　　B．features
　　C．style
　　D．price

　　III．DISCOURSE CLOZE

　　The following is taken from the textbook．Read the passage and fill in the numbered spaces (there are more suggested answers than necessary)．

　　Write your answers on the ANSWER SHEET．(10 points, 1 point each)

　　All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live．(31)________．But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak，of course，of free men who have a choice，not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited．

　　Such stories set us thinking，wondering what we should do under similar circumstances．What events，what experiences，what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings?(32)________?

　　Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. (33)_______, but most people would be chastened by certainty of impending death.

　　In stories, the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. (34)_______. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.

　　Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. (35)_______. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty task, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.

　　The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. (36)_______. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill. 转贴于：自考_考试大

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