Once upon a time, innovation at Procter & Gamble flowed one way: from the United States outward. While the large Cincinnati-based corporation was no stranger to foreign markets, it usually sold them products that were already familiar to most Americans. Many Japanese families, for instance, swaddle their babies in Pampers diapers, and lots of Venezuelans brush their teeth with Crest. And of course (company executives assumed) Americans at home wanted these same familiar, red white-and-blue brands. We might buy foreign-made cars, or chocolates, or cameras—but household cleaners and detergents.9
Recently, however, P&G broke with this long-standing tradition. Ariel, a P&G laundry detergent, was born overseas, and is a familiar sight on store shelves in Europe and Latin America. Now bilingual packages of Ariel Ultra, a super-concentrated cleaner, are appearing on supermarket shelves in Los Angeles.
Ariel’s appearance in the United States reflects demographic changes making Hispanics the nation’s fastest-growing ethnic group. Ariel is a hit with this population. In fact, many Mexican immigrants living in southern California have been " importing" Ariel from Tijuana, Mexico. "Hispanies knew this product and wanted it," says P&G spokeswoman Marie Salvado. "We realized that we couldn’t convince them to buy our other laundry detergents. " P&G hopes that non-Hispanic consumers will give Ariel a try too.
Ariel’s already p presence in Europe may provide a springboard for the company to expand into other markets as well. Recently P&G bought Rakona, Czechoslovakia’s top detergent maker. Ariel, currently a top seller in Germany, is likely to be one of the fast new brands to appear in Czech supermarkets. And Ariel is not tile only foreign idea that the company hopes to transplant back to its home territory. Cinch, an all-purpose spray cleaner similar to popular European products, is currently being test-marketed in California and Arizona. Traditionally Americans have used separate cleaners for different types of surfaces, but market research shows that American preferences are becoming more like those in other countries.
Insiders note that this new reverse flow of innovation reflects more sweeping changes at Procter & Camble. The firm has hired many new Japanese, German, and Mexican managers who view P&G’s business not as a one-way flow of American ideas, but a two-way exchange with other markets. Says Bonita Austin of the investment fin Wertheim Schroeder, " When you met with P&G’s top managers years ago, you wouldn’t have seen a single foreign face; today, they could even be in the majority. "
As Procter & Gamble has found, the United States is no longer an isolated market. Americans are more open than ever before to buying foreign-made products and to selling U S-made products overseas.
The author may most probably agree that（）
A. it is a trend that businesses today go global
B. businesses today are very reluctant to go global
C. American businesses can make more money if they only sell home-made products
D. the market of the United States should not be that open
参考答案：A
解析：
根据题干可知该题旨在考查作者的观点，此类题型答案往往在文章最后一段，即文章的结论部分。最后一段说美国不再是一个孤立的市场，美国人也更加开放了，在向国外卖出产品的同时也购买国外的产品，由此可推知，当今经济发展的趋势是全球化，所以A选项表述正确。B选项“当今的企业非常不愿意走向全球化”，文中没有涉及；C选项“如果美国公司只卖自己本土的产品能赚更多的钱”和D选项“美国的市场不应该那么开放”均不合题意，因为作者不赞成美国人只卖自己的产品，而是希望市场能更加开放。故正确选项为A。