Question

Market analysts in the United States have recently been quoted as saying that the biggest threat to the luxury (奢侈品) industry in the US is the tech industry. This is according to an article by fellow journalist Ashley Lutz. Her suggestion is sound. The main idea of her article is that products from Tiffany & Co. find their biggest competition not from other luxury brands but from companies like Apple. Lutz points out that luxury products are often only for “show,” while the attraction behind tech products is functionality.

You find few people in the United States today willing to purchase luxury goods at full price. It didn’t use to be that way. Luxury goods used to be actually exclusive. That meant you needed to travel to the right store to purchase them, and you didn’t even have the option of getting a deal.

Today, no one wants to pay full price for luxury goods. People have the unfortunate belief that fakes (赝品) somehow are equal to originals, and if you can’t get a deal on eBay, Amazon, or in an outlet store, purchasing a luxury product probably isn’t worth it. Luxury brands struggle to remain high-end (高档的) images despite the reality that the American consumer is motivated much more by discounts than they are by brand names or image.

Yet people stand in line to pay full price for a new product from Apple and crowds gather to hear about a new smart phone. While electronics are updating every day, people are purchasing technology at full prices much more than they are purchasing luxury goods. What are high-tech makers doing right that luxury makers are pitifully failing at?

Carefully looking at the situation, it would appear as if the Internet didn’t hurt the luxury industry, expectation from the consumers did. What people want these days more than anything is stuff that does something. They want cars that drive, shoes that are comfortable, games that are fun to play, screens that are beautiful to look at, tools that are useful, and entertainment that is entertaining. Little of that fits into what the luxury industry has typically offered with its status, image, and fine materials. The sad reality is that luxury products aren’t that luxury any more.

1.What does this passage mainly talk about?

A. Nobody likes luxury goods any more.

B. Luxury goods are of poor quality nowadays.

C. Tech products become the new “luxury goods”.

D. Iphones have taken the place of luxury products.

2.The underlined word “exclusive” in paragraph 2 means _______.

A. unique and with no bargain        B. low in price

C. hard to find                 D. easy to sell

3.From paragraph 3 we can know that _______.

A. people have found that some luxury goods are fakes

B. people can buy luxury goods at a low price on eBay

C. luxury brands will give up high-end images

D. consumers prefer brand names to discounts

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文介绍了美国奢侈品行业所面临的威胁。其最大威胁来自美国的高科技行业。并分析了个中原因。

1.主旨题：根据第一段内容可知美国奢侈品行业面临的最大威胁来自美国的高科技行业。奢侈品经常仅用于炫耀而科技产品背后的吸引力在于它的功能性，由此可以判断出现在高科技产品是奢侈品。故选C。

2.推理题：第二段第一句“You find few people in the United States today willing to purchase luxury goods at full price.”在美国你会发现很少有人愿意出全价购买奢侈品了，说明“奢侈品在过去是一种独特的不打折的商品”。故选A。

3.推理题：根据第三段中“if you can’t get a deal on eBay, Amazon, or in an outlet store, purchasing a luxury product probably isn’t worth it”如果你不能在eBay、亚马逊或一家打折店里买到折价商品而去购买奢侈品，这可能会被认为是非常不值的，可以推断人们可以在eBay以打折的价格即低价买到奢侈品。故选B。

考点：考查议论文类阅读