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  3. Fast food, a mainstay of American eating for decades, may have reached a plateau in the United States as the maturing baby-boom

Fast food, a mainstay of American eating for decades, may have reached a plateau in the United States as the maturing baby-boom

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问题     Fast food, a mainstay of American eating for decades, may have reached a plateau in the United States as the maturing baby-boom generation looks for a more varied menu. Fast food still represents a .$ 102 billion a year industry, but growth has turned sluggish recently amid tough competition from retail food stores and a more affluent population willing to try new things and spend more, analysts say. Signs of trouble in fast food include price-cutting by industry leaders, including efforts by McDonald’s to attract customers with a 55 cent hamburger, and major players pulling out or selling. O’Pepsico, for example, is selling its fast-food restaurant division that includes Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC.
    "It’s becoming harder and harder for these firms to grow," said Jim Brown, a professor of marketing at Virginia Tech University. "I think in the United States fast food has reached a saturation (饱和) point because of the number of competitors and the number of outlets."
    Fast-food restaurant revenues grew 2. 5 percent in 1996, according to industry figures, the slowest since the recession of 1991. That is for cry from(大不相同于)the levels of the 1970s and 1980s. According to the Food Marketing Institute, consumers are using supermarkets for 21 percent of take-home food, nearly double the level of a year ago. While fast-food restaurants still lead, their share slipped significantly, from 48 percent in 1996 to 41 percent in 1997.
    "Consumers have never been more demanding than they are today," said Michael Sansolo, senior vice president of the Supermarket Trade Group. "They are pressed for time. Money is still an issue…but their tastes are increasingly diverse--whether it’s gourmet foods, ethnic foods or organic offerings."
    Meanwhile, the aging of the baby-boom population--and the growth in the number of so-called "empty nesters" with grown children--has meant a surge in the number of people willing to spend more for upscale items. This generation "will have the luxury of being more discriminating" as their children leave home, notes Harry Balzer, vice president of the Chicago-based NPD consulting group. Balzer said some 18 million baby boomers will become empty-nesters in the next l 0 years, leaving them with more disposable income to spend on dining out. "Fast and cheap will still be driving factors.., but our definitions of fast and cheap may be changing."
    Various reports suggest industry leader McDonald’s is struggling, losing market share, with lower same-store sales while cutting back the number of new outlets in the United States, partly due to pressure from franchisers who don’t want to be squeezed. The company replaced the head of its 12,000 US restaurant chain last October amid a slump in US market share.  
Which of the following is not mentioned as an influence on people’s choices of food?
选项 A、Speed and price of the food.
B、Diversity of the food.
C、Tastes of the consumers.
D、Age of the consumers.
答案D
解析 本题问“哪项不是影响人们选择食物的因素”。文章第四段提到“They are pressed for time． Money is still an issue…but their tastes are increasingly diverse—whether it’s gourmet foods， ethnic foods or organic offerings．”说人们的时间观念很重，会考虑钱以及不同的口味。第五段也指出“Fast and cheap will still be driving factors…”说明快速和便宜将是驱动的因素。可以看出，食物的速度、价格、多样化以及消费者的口味都是影响人们选择就餐的因素。文中虽然提到生育高峰期的那代人年龄，却只是说明他们上了年纪对家庭结构和生活情况的影响，并没有谈到上了年纪对选择食物的直接影响。因而D“消费者的年龄”正确。
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