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  3. Wal-Mart is now mounting a bold expansion that could double its sales within just five years, to $480 billion. Some of that grow

Wal-Mart is now mounting a bold expansion that could double its sales within just five years, to $480 billion. Some of that grow

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问题     Wal-Mart is now mounting a bold expansion that could double its sales within just five years, to $480 billion. Some of that growth will come in new markets outside the U.S., where 1,200 stores in nine countries already account for about 16% of the chain’s total sales. But even more growth will be won as the chain insinuates itself into more U.S. neighborhoods and invades more product categories.
    If you think Wal-Mart already sells just about everything, think again. Think PCs, ceiling fans, more fashionable clothing, gasoline and even cars. "Their goal is to have a 30% share of every major business they are in," says Linda Kristiansen, a retail analyst for UBS Warburg Equity Research. If there’s no Wal-Mart store near you, just wait. If you shop at Wal-Mart, expect your store to get bigger or a new store to open even closer. The chain plans to expand from 3,400 U.S. locations to day-half of them in the South—to a nationwide network approaching 5,000 stores in five years.
    Wal-Mart has 1,300 Supercenters, many of them converted from standard discount stores, offering everything from hardware to groceries and drugs. In some areas, it is placing these 17, O00-sq-m monsters as close as 8 km apart. And in the spaces between, it’s tormenting local groceries and convenience stores with Neighborhood Markets (call’em Small-Marts). Wal-Mart is building its first urban Supercenter, in downtown Dallas. And without fanfare it is testing used-car sales alongside one of its Houston stores. "It’s surprising how much room we have for growth," says Robson Walton, 58, Sam’s son and the company’s nonexecutive chairman. "I’m not trying to be flippant," adds Lee Scott, 52, Wal-Mart’s CEO. "But simply put, our long-term strategy is to be where we’re not."
    Yet for Wal-Mart to get where it is now is going to be a lot harder than it was to get where it is. Even with sales expected to grow to about $240 billion for the fiscal year that ends Jan. 31, price wars in its grocery business narrowed Wal-Mart’s profit margin to its lowest level in four years. The company plans to fatten profits by becoming more of a producer and even designer of its goods, especially clothing. It’s making blouses in China and towers in India that it intends to sell everywhere from Berlin to Beijing and Boston. But fashion is a notoriously fickle business. And by diving deeper into the manufacturing of more of its products, Wal-Mart is braving a path that has brought grief to some of history’s biggest retailers, such as A&P and Sears.
选项 A、Wal-Mart expanded its business outside the U.S..
B、Wal-Mart has 1,200 stores in nine countries.
C、Wal-Mart is growing very fast in business.
D、Wal-Mart is the largest chain in the world.
答案C
解析 篇章结构题。根据题干定位至首段，该段提到了一系列具体数字：$480 billion，1，200 stores，16%。本段属于典型的论点—论据(给数据)式段落展开方式，给出数据的目的是为了支持论点，令人信服。首句指出：只需五年，他们的销售额将会翻一番，达到4,800亿美元。末句又提到more growth will be won，可见首段的中心思想是沃尔玛在快速扩张，故答案选项为这些数据支持的观点。首段第二句指出Some of that growth will come in new markets outside the U.S.，这里只提到部分增长点是美国之外的新市场；在解释沃尔玛快速扩张时提到的细节内容并非观点；首段只提到沃尔玛增长速度快，并未对其总规模进行评价。
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