If a business wants to sell its products internationally, it had better do some market research first. This is a lesson that some large American corporations have learned the hard way.
What’s in the name?
Sometimes the problem is the name. When General Motors introduced its Chevy Nova into Latin America, it overlooked the fact that Nova in Spanish means “It doesn’t go”. Sure enough, the Chevy Nova never went anywhere in Latin America.
Translation problems
Sometimes it is the slogan that doesn’t work. No company knows this better than Pepsi-Cola, with its “Come alive with Pepsi!” campaign. The campaign was so successful in the United States , Pepsi translated its slogan literally for its international campaign. As it turned out , the translations weren’t quite right. Pepsi was begging Germans to “Come out of the grave(坟墓)” and telling the Chinese that “Pepsi brings your ancestors(老祖宗) back from the grave.”
A picture’s worth a thousand words
Other times, the problem involves packaging . A picture of a smiling baby has helped sell countless jars of Gerber baby food. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in African countries, the picture on the jar shows what the jar has in it, for many people there can’t read.
Twist of fate
Even the culture and religious factors and pure coincidence can be involved. Thorn McAn shoes have a Thorn McAn “signature” inside. To people in Bangladesh, which is a Muslim country, this signature looked like Arabic script for the word Allah. In that country, feet are considered unclean, and Muslims felt the company was offending God’s name by having people walk on it.
小题1:From the text we learned that _________.
A．Chevy Nova was brought in Latin America
B．General Motors did the best market research of all companies
C．Pepsi still sold well in China owing to the translation problems
D．the “Come alive with Pepsi” campaign worked well in the US小题2:What was “Gerber’s problem”?
A．A translation problem
B．Cultural factor
C．Religious factor
D．The picture on the jar小题3:For what reason were Thorn McAn shoes turned down in Bangladesh?
A．They are not designed attractively
B．Their advertisements are not persuasive
C．A signature looking like the word Allah was in the shoes
D．Problem for Thorn McAn was the company’s name小题4:What does the text mainly tell us?
A．Lessons from some large corporations.
B．How to make use of advertisements
C．The importance of market research
D．The importance of packaging
小题1:D
小题2:D
小题3:C
小题4:C
题目分析：文章大意:本文以几个实例向我们展示一些商战中的教训，告知我们想要拓展国际市场，我们首先一定要做一些市场调查。
小题1: D 细节理解题。 本题涉及细节较多，只能一个选项一个选项地核查。根据A选项中的Chevy Nova，Latin America到文中去找信息源，定位在小标题“What’s in the name?”那一段，根据“the Chevy Nova never went anywhere in Latin America.”可知该产品未能成功引进到Latin America，因此，A项错误。根据B选项中的General Motors到文中去找信息源，也在小标题“What’s in the name?”那一段。可那里根本没说该公司做了最好的市场调查，因此，B项错误。根据C项中的Pepsi， translation problems可以找到相关信息在第二小标题“Translation problems”之下，而根据那段的信息，…telling the Chinese that “Pepsi brings your ancestors(老祖宗) back from the grave.”,……告诉中国人“Pepsi把你的老祖宗从坟里挖出来”可知这是中国人不喜欢听的一句话，中国人不可能因为这种翻译而让Pepsi在中国畅销，因此，C项错误。D项的信息源也在第二小标题之下，The campaign was so successful in the United States这个运动在美国非常成功。可知D项正确。
小题2:D 细节理解题。由第三小标题A picture’s worth a thousand words中提到的 “the picture on the jar shows what the jar has in it, for many people there can’t read.”罐子上面的图画显示的就是罐子里所装的东西，因为那里的人不会阅读。可知问题出在包装图案上，答案选D。
小题3: C 推理判断题。由题目中的Thorn McAn，Bangladesh可以找到该题的信息源在小标题“Twist of fate”这下。 “this signature looked like Arabic script for the word Allah.” Thorn McAn shoes上的签名看起来就像是阿拉伯文字Allah。 孟加拉国是一个穆斯林国家，Allah被认为是宇宙的最高主宰，而脚被认为是不干净的，孟加拉国的人认为该鞋的创意，冒犯了他们的神灵。可知Thom McAn鞋在Bangladesh滞销的原因是鞋上的签名，所以选C项。
小题4:C主旨大意题。像这种有小标题的文章，文章的主旨大意一般位于文章的开头，或最后一段，反正不可能位于有小标题的部分。而这篇文章最后一个小标题的内容讲完以后，就再无下文了，因此，该文的主旨只可能在第一段。If a business wants to sell its products internationally, it had better do some market research first. 如果一家公司想要让产品走向世界，最好先进行市场调查。由此可知本文讲述了市场调查的重要性。故选C。