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  3. Mention the word "multinational", and most people think of borderless mobility—of companies at home everywhere and nowhere, movi

Mention the word "multinational", and most people think of borderless mobility—of companies at home everywhere and nowhere, movi

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问题     Mention the word "multinational", and most people think of borderless mobility—of companies at home everywhere and nowhere, moving huge quantities of men, money and materials around the globe in the restless pursuit of profit. Aurelio Peccei, a director of Fiat, once claimed that the multinational corporation was "the most powerful agent for the internationalization of society". Carl Gerstacker, sometime chairman of Dow Chemicals, confessed that he had "long dreamed of buying an island owned by no nation and of establishing the world headquarters of the Dow company on the truly neutral ground of such an island, beholden to no nation or society".
    Mention of the word "multinational" also makes people think of global products—of consumers in Greenwich Village and some village in Bengal drinking identical soft drinks. Theodore Levitt, a marketing guru at Harvard Business School, once argued that companies no longer need to be so "respectful" of local quirks and peculiarities, and that global companies can sell the same thing in the same way anywhere.
    Multinationals should beware of following Mr. Levitt down this path. After a brief flirtation with globalization, companies such as Nestle and Unilever now realize that their local managers represent an invaluable resource. General Electric has broken with its strict practice of dividing its operations into global product lines by setting up a regional headquarters in Asia. Even the most powerful global brand has had to bow before local differences. People in the south of Japan like their Coca-cola slightly sweeter than people in Tokyo, and the company obliges. PepsiCo was puzzled why one of its best-selling products, "7-Up" remained on the shelves in Shanghai until it discovered that, in the local dialect, the phrase means "death through drinking". Even those pillars of American Puritanism, IBM and Disney, have dropped their strict no-alcohol policy in France. Philips Morris has had to make local adjustments to its familiar advertising symbol, Marlboro man: In Hong Kong the advertisement focuses on the horse, because the man reminds locals of coolie, and in Argentina the man was dropped entirely for a while, because cowboys were regarded as low-class wasters. Companies are also learning to their cost that the apparent convergence between different cultures has not gone as far as they thought. EuroDisney failed to take off, among other things, because the company assumed that Micky Mouse and other cartoon characters would be familiar in Europe as they are in the U. S. , and did not invest nearly enough in promoting their product.
By saying "Even those pillars of American Puritanism, IBM and Disney, have dropped their strict no-alcohol policy in France. "(Lines 9-10, Paragraph 3), the author means
选项 A、IBM and Disney used to believe in Puritanism.
B、IBM and Disney have begun to sell alcohol in France.
C、IBM and Disney have had to give way to French alcohol companies.
D、IBM and Disney have had to make local adjustments to their products in France.
答案D
解析 第三段第九行至第十行提到Even those pillars of American Puritanism，IBM and Disney，have dropped their strict no—alcohol policy in France．，作者说这句话想表达的意思是[A]IBM和迪斯尼曾经信仰清教徒主义。[B]IBM和迪斯尼已经开始在法国销售酒。[C]IBM和迪斯尼必须要给法国酒类公司让位了。[D]IBM和迪斯尼已经不得不对其在法国销售的产品做一些本地化的调整。此句要根据上下文来理解，而不能只读其字面意思。上文举了很多例子说明跨国公司都打破了以往的惯例，尊重不同地方的不同文化特点才使自己的产品受欢迎等；紧接着出现这样一句：即使是美国清教徒主义的中坚支持者IBM(国际商用机器公司)和迪斯尼公司也已在法国放弃了其严格的“禁酒”政策。因此按照逻辑推理下去，这句话应该还是说IBM和迪斯尼公司也是打破了自己以往的“清规戒律”，开始转变观念，在法国开始注意当地的文化特点，故[D]是正确答案。其他几个选项都不符合逻辑或常识。
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