The engineer Camilla Olivetti was 40 years old when he started the company in 1908. At his factory in Ivrea, he designed and produced the first Italian typewriter. Today the company’s head office is still in Ivrea, near Turin, but the company is much larger than it was in those days and there are offices all around the world,
By 1930 there was a staff of 700 and the company turned out 13.000 machines a year. Some went to customers in Italy, but Olivetti exported more typewriters to other countries.
Camillo’s son, Adriano, started working for the company in 1924 and later he became the boss. He introduced a standard speed for the production line and he employed technology and design specialist. The company developed new and better typewriters and then calculators(计算器). In 1959 it produced the ELEA computer system. This was the first mainframe(主机) computer designed and made in Italy.
After Adriano died in 1960, the company had a period of financial problem. Other companies, especially the Japanese, made faster progress in electronic technology than the Italian company.
In 1978, Carlo de Benedetti became the new boss. Olivetti increased its marketing and service networks and made agreements with other companies to design and produce more advanced office equipment. Soon it became one of the world’s leading companies in information technology and communications. There are now five independent companies in the Olivetti group—one for personal computers, one for other office equipment, one for systems and service, and two for telecommunications.
小题1:From the text we learn that
A．by 1930 Olivetti produced 13.000 typewriters a year
B．Olivetti earned more in the 1960s than in the 1950s
C．some of Olivetti’s 700 staff regularly visited customers in Italy
D．Olivetti set up offices in other countries from the very beginning小题2:What was probably the direct result of Olivetti’s falling behind in electronic technology
A．Adriano’s death
B．A period of financial problems
C．Its faster progress
D．Its agreements with other companies.小题3:What do we know about Olivetti?
A．It produced the best typewriter in the world.
B．It designed the world’s first mainframe computer.
C．It exported more typewriters than other companies.
D．It has five independent companies with its head office in Ivrea.小题4:The best title for the text would be
A．The Origin of Olivetti.
B．The Success of Olivetti.
C．The History of Olivetti
D．The Production of Olivetti.
小题1:A
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:C
题目分析：本文叙述了意大利的Olivetti公司的历史发展过程。它于1908年成立，它起初是意大利第一个生产打字机的工厂，后来提高了技术生产了更多更好的打字机，在1959它设计并制造了意大利的第一台电脑。现在公司有5个独立的小公司，但总部还是在Ivrea.
小题1:这是细节理解题。根据By 1930 there was a staff of 700 and the company turned out 13.000 machines a year.年生产量为13.000故选 A。
小题2:这是细节理解题。根据After Adriano died in 1960, the company had a period of financial problem. in 1960公司有一次财政危机，故选B。
小题3:这是细节理解题。根据Today the company’s head office is still in Ivrea, near Turin There are now five independent companies in the Olivetti group，Olivetti group现在有5个独立的小公司，但总部还是在Ivrea， 故选D。
小题4:这是标题归纳题。根据整篇课文来看Olivetti 的发展历史，故选C。
点评：文章标题是文章的点睛之笔。标题归纳题在英语阅读理解题中属深层理解题，它要求考生在通读全文的基础上，准确把握文章大意及作者的写作意图。一般说来，标题应该具有概括性、针对性、简洁性三个突出特点。其中概括性，是指标题应最大程度地覆盖全文，囊括文章的主要内容，体现文章的主题；针对性，是指标题的含义要直接指向文章的主要特点；而简洁性，则是指标题应言简意赅，能吸引读者的注意力，并唤起读者对文章的阅读兴趣等。