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Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it. “There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新)my phone.”

Li’s impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released(发布,发售), many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.

As consumers’ minds are occupied by Apple’s newly- released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: “Do we really need the latest upgrades?”

According to Donald Norman, an American author, “planned obsolescence (淘汰)” is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today’s consumer electronics industry.

Electronics producers strategically(战略性地) release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.

“This is an old-time trick---they’re not inventing anything new,” Norman said. “This is a wasteful system through which companies--many of them producing personal electronics-- release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they’ll put out a new one.”

But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted, “We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing.” In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin(利润) was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.

Apple’s annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year’s MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version(版本), even when the changes are slight.

As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.

“Some games require better hardware to run,” said Li. “If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends.”

1.What’s the author’s attitude towards people’s greed for new products?

A. Supportive.   B. Satisfied.

C. Critical.   D. Unclear.

2.How do the electronics companies successfully promote their latest products?

A. They make a fool of customers by recycling their old products.

B. They make full use of the “planned obsolescence” strategy.

C. They control the customers’ way of thinking while shopping.

D. They invent new products to attract the youth like Li Jijia.

3.Why is Apple Company interested in producing latest version of its product?

A. To provide customers with better service.

B. To defeat other competitors like Hewlett-Packard.

C. To establish a favorable image of itself among its customers.

D. To make huge profits(利润) out of its business.

4.It can be inferred (推断)from the last two paragraphs that Li Jijia feels the need to replace his smart-  phone because of_____.

A. peer pressure   B. new psychology

C. life style   D. friends' expectation

高一英语阅读理解困难题

少年,再来一题如何?
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