2. 考研
  3. When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to Grandma’s generation. Their table

When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to Grandma’s generation. Their table

admin2011-03-14  8
问题      When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to Grandma’s generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code will be Sunday-best.
     But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware-and-stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and guests, the change means greater simplicity and comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it spells economic hard times.
     Last week Royal Doulton, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating 1,000 jobs--one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4,000 the number of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories made cuts earlier.
     Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the company "has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend" toward casual dining. Families eat together less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in front of television.
     Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it’s better to share a takeout pizza on paper plates in the family room than to wait for the perfect moment or a "real" dinner party. Too often, the perfect moment never comes. Iron a fine-patterned tablecloth? Forget it. Polish the silver? Who has time?
     Yet the loss of formality has its down side. The fine points of etiquette (礼节) that children might once have learned at the table by observation or instruction from parents and grandparents ("Chew with your mouth closed  Keep your elbows off the table") must be picked up elsewhere. Some companies now offer etiquette seminars for employees who may be competent professionally but clueless socially.
The trend toward casual dining has resulted in
选项 A、bankruptcy of fine china manufacturers.
B、shrinking of the pottery industry.
C、restructuring of large enterprises.
D、economic recession in Great Britain.
答案B
解析 细节题。shrinking与文中提到的裁员相对应，而且pottery industry也是原文所限定的范围，所以B正确。文中只是说制瓷业将不景气，但并没有说会破产，所以A不对；文中提到restructuring的例子只是指制瓷厂的，并不是所有的公司都restructuring，所以C也不对；文中提到的不景气仅仅是指制瓷业，而不是整个英国，所以D也不对。  
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/eSsa777K
本试题收录于： MBA联考（英语）题库专业硕士分类
0

MBA联考（英语）

专业硕士

相关试题推荐
随机试题
最新回复(0)