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  3. The "conveyor belt" for global commerce is how Scott Davis, the boss of UPS, describes his company, the world’s biggest express-

The "conveyor belt" for global commerce is how Scott Davis, the boss of UPS, describes his company, the world’s biggest express-

admin2015-03-20  89
问题     The "conveyor belt" for global commerce is how Scott Davis, the boss of UPS, describes his company, the world’s biggest express-parcel shipper. On March 19th UPS announced that it would buy TNT Express, a Dutch competitor, for $6.8 billion. The deal adds TNT’s large regional network to UPS’ s vast global one. The merged firm will be much larger than FedEx or DHL, its main rivals.
    It is a good time to strike a deal. TNT Express, which split from TNT’s mail-delivery firm last year, has wobbled as the world economy has faltered. Its share price is depressed, but its prospects are not bad. As the world economy revives, package-toters with global networks should thrive.
    The big three have the field to themselves. The huge capital costs of building a worldwide network of planes and trucks to ensure swift deliveries of parcels, documents and freight keeps smaller rivals at bay. And the more complete the network, the better customers are served. TNT Express’ s business fills a gap in Europe, where UPS lacks a road-freight operation. It also has a struggling business in fast-growing Brazil that UPS reckons it can fix.
    Strong growth looks set to resume. Express delivery is enabling smaller firms to run the long global supply chains favoured by big companies, helping everyone to save cash. UPS reckons technology and demography offer plenty more scope for shifting parcels.
    First, technology. E-mail may have killed the letter, but online shopping is great for parcel-deliverers. Shifting things bought on the internet is 30% of UPS’ s business in America. That jumps to 50% at Christmas and other peak times. And as people everywhere discover the joy of shopping from the sofa, the business has excellent growth prospects. Online shoppers don’t care whether goods come from a few streets away or must be shipped, more profitably, from another continent.
    Second, demography. Greying populations seem an unlikely source of profits. Yet to contain spiralling health-care costs, older folk are increasingly receiving treatment at home rather than in hospital. UPS already has a good business ensuring that organs and skin grafts get to hospitals in good time.(Transplant patients prefer not to wait.)The next bonanza, it reckons, will be delivering drugs and medical devices to patients’ doors.
By saying "keeps smaller rivals at bay"(Para. 3), the author means the huge capital costs_____.
选项 A、make smaller firms difficult to connect to each other
B、prevent smaller firms from competing with big companies
C、make smaller firms closer to each other than before
D、help smaller firms to compete with big companies
答案B
解析 根据题干关键词定位到第三段。此段第一句为The big three have the field tothemselves(三大快递公司确有生财之道)，接下来指出它们把巨额成本用于建立全球范围内的飞机、货车运输网络，以保证包裹、文件和货物迅速送达，所以初步判断keeps smallerrivals at bay有大、小公司进行竞争之意。小公司当然负担不起巨额成本，因此小公司应该很难与大公司进行竞争。bay原意为“海湾”，此短语字面意思是“将小公司困在海湾里”，可推断小公司处于竞争的不利境地。因此答案为B项“巨额成本阻碍了小公司与大公司竞争”。
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