1994年Passage 2

　　One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us the "cashless society" is not on the horizon-it's already here.

　　While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.

Numerous other commercial enterprise, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.

58. What is this passage mainly about?
[A] Approaches to the commercial use of computers.
[B] Conveniences brought about by computers in business.
[C] Significance of automation in commercial enterprises.
[D] Advantages of credit cards in business.

[答案] B

[解題思路]

　　本題考察的是文章的中心思想。通過文章第二段和第三段的首句"While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too"（計算機在為消費者提供諸多方便的同時，也給商家帶來很多優勢）和"Numerous other commercial enterprise, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers"（許多其他商業企業，從劇院到雜志社，從燃氣電器公司到牛奶加工廠都通過計算機的使用為消費者提供更好、效率更高的服務）可以看出，本文主要討論的是計算機給商業帶來的便利，因此B為正確答案。D選項與文章第一段有一定聯系，但信用卡的例子僅僅是為了引出主要話題，并不是文章關注的重點。而A和C選項都與文章強調"計算機帶來的便利"這一側重點不同。

[題目譯文]

這篇文章的主要內容是什么？
[A] 計算機商業化的形式
[B] 計算機給商業帶來的便利
[C] 自動化在商業企業中的重要性
[D] 商業中信用卡的優勢