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  3. In the first episode of Six Feet Under, a popular American television show aired earlier this decade, a large corporation tries

In the first episode of Six Feet Under, a popular American television show aired earlier this decade, a large corporation tries

admin2012-12-01  82
问题     In the first episode of Six Feet Under, a popular American television show aired earlier this decade, a large corporation tries to buy a family-owned funeral home (even making overtures at the patriarch’s own burial). The owners of Salem Funerals & Cremations, based in Winston-Salem, can relate to that. In 1991 Service Corporation International (SCI), the largest funeral chain in America, bought their formerly family-owned business, one of the oldest in America. But last year they broke free from SCI and started Salem, which is now using low prices and simple services to wrest market share from their cross-town corporate rival.
    Thus continues the unending tug-of-war between corporate and family-owned funeral homes in America. It is a strange industry: more than 85% of funeral homes are still owned by families or independent firms (similar perhaps to dry-cleaning shops but not much else). Just 3,000 of 22,000 funeral homes are owned by big corporations, estimates George Clarke, executive director of an association of independent funeral homes. Houston-based SCI is the biggest of the corporates, claiming a 14% share of revenues from "death care", as they tactfully call their business.
    Public death-care companies are not exactly in rude health themselves. SCI’s share price, despite nearly doubling in the past year, stands at less than one-third of its level in the late 1990s; its biggest rival, Stewart Enterprises, is just over $7, down from $28 at its peak in 1998. The trouble was a wave of consolidation during the 1980s and 1990s. Funeral-home companies thought they could grow by acquisition and cut costs through consolidation. But they overpaid amid a scramble to buy independent funeral homes, and found that they could not wring big savings out of them.
    Death, although recession-proof, is not a growth business (even though baby boomers are getting on), so SCI is trying to increase its margins. In recent years it has adopted a new strategy, cutting prices for caskets and urns while concentrating on selling bundles of services, says David Hass, a managing director. In 2005-2006, average revenues per funeral service at SCI rose by an impressive 9% (or $394 per service), whereas the number of funeral services performed fell by 5.8%. SCI has also gone for branding. Its chain of "Dignity Memorial" funeral homes offers such services as a "24-hour compassion helpline" and advice on securing bereavement fares from airlines. The company says the brand is doing well; it is rolling out a Hispanic version, Funeraria del Angel, targeted at Latinos, complete with bilingual staff and the option of 24-hour viewing of the deceased.
    Independents say that the corporates’ prices are too high, and that their service is too impersonal for such a delicate business. "Everything is bottom-line oriented," complains Jim Weeks, who recently bought back the funeral home once owned by his family in Savannah, Georgia, from SCI.
    Whatever the price, both corporates and independents will be troubled by the growing popularity of cremations. These are much less costly than burials. Richard Puryear of Salem Funerals and Cremations estimates that a typical burial costs $6,400, whereas cremations average at best $2,800. In 2005 about 32% of funerals in America were cremations, up from 26% in 2000, according to the Cremation Association of North America. It expects the number to rise to 46% by 2025. SCI is responding by withdrawing from the cheapest cremations and going for more lucrative packages. Already 41% of its business comes from cremations (above the national average because its business is concentrated along the coast, where cremations are especially popular). "We expect it could be 50% in the next five to ten years," if not higher, says Mr. Hass.
Family operators face an extra hurdle. It is hard to persuade young people to get involved in the business, which is not just gloomy but also grueling: undertakers are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most of the staff of independent funeral homes are 45 or older, says Mr. Puryear. So death could yet be their undoing.
"In rude health" in the first sentence of paragraph 3 probably means
选项 A、in bad health.
B、strong and healthy.
C、profit-making.
D、loss-making.
答案B
解析 语义理解题。第三段第一句为段落主题句。该段后面通过举SCI、斯图尔特和家庭式殡葬公司的例子说明了他们都面临困难。由此看出，整个殡葬业的情况不容乐观。所以首句要表达的也应该是这一含义。既然are not exactly in rude health意为“情况不好”，那么in rude health就应该表示“情况好”之意。答案为[B]。[C]有一定的干扰性，但该段并没有谈到“盈利”的问题，故不选。
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