FOR the past two years in Silicon Valley, the centre of America’s technology industry, conference-goers have entertained themselves playing a guessing game: how many times will a speaker mention the phrase "long tail" It is usually a high number, thanks to the influence of the long tail theory, which was first developed by Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired magazine, in an article in 2004. Though technologists and bloggers chuckle at how every business presentation now has to have its long-tail section, most are envious of Mr Anderson, whose brainwave quickly became the most fashionable business idea around.
Whether a blockbuster film, a bestselling novel, or a chart-topping rap song, popular culture idolizes the hit. Companies devote themselves to creating them because the cost of distribution and the limits of shelf space in physical shops mean that profitability depends on a high volume of sales. But around the beginning of this century a group of internet companies realized that with endless shelves and a national or even international audience online they could offer a huge range of products—and make money at the same time.
The niche, the obscure and the specialist, Mr Anderson argues, will gain ground at the expense of the hit. As evidence, he points to a drop in the number of companies that traditionally calculate their revenue/sales ratio according to the 80/20 rule—where the top fifth of products contribute four-fifths of revenues. Ecast, a San Francisco digital jukebox company, found that 98% of its 10,000 albums sold at least one track every three months. Expressed in the language of statistics, the experiences of Ecast and other companies such as Amazon, an online bookseller, suggest that products down in the long tail of a statistical distribution, added together, can be highly profitable. The internet helps people find their way to relatively obscure material with recommendations and reviews by other people and (for those willing to have their artistic tastes predicted by a piece of software) computer programs which analyze past selections.
Long-tail enthusiasts argue that the whole of culture will benefit, not just commercial enterprises. Television, film and music are such bewitching media in their own right that many people are quite happy to watch and listen to what the mainstream provides. But if individuals have the opportunity to pick better, more ideally suited entertainment from a far wider selection, they will take it, according to the theory of the long tail. Some analysts reckon that entire populations might become happier and wiser once they have access to thousands of documentaries, independent films and sub-genres of every kind of music, instead of being subjected to what Mr Anderson calls the tyranny of lowest-common-denominator fare. That might be taking things a bit far. But the long tail is certainly one of the internet’s better gifts to humanity.
The 80/20 rule is used to（）
A. prove the long tail theory
B. figure out financial ratio
C. select profitable products
D. design procedures
参考答案：B
解析：
[试题类型] 具体信息题。
[解题思路] 根据题干关键词80/20 rule定位到文章第三段。该段第二句指出，传统的按照“二八定律”来计算收入与销售比例的公司数量已经有所减少(...traditionally calculate their revenue/sales ratio according to the 80/20 rule...)，对于“二八定律”，作者随后给出了更详细的解释：80%的收入都来自于销售量位于前5位的产品(where the top fifth of products contribute four-fifths of revenues)。由此可见，“二八定律”用来计算收入与销售量之间的比率关系，故选项[B]“计算财务比率”为答案。
[干扰排除] 由原文可知，“二八定律”与长尾理论是两种截然相反的商业理念，作者提及“二八定律”是为了证明长尾理论在商界越来越得到认可(The niche, the obscure and the specialist...will gain ground at the expense of the hit)，而不是为了证明长尾理论本身的正确性，故排除选项[A]。“二八定律”是根据商品的赢利情况而得出的结果，文中并没有应用该理论寻找可赢利商品这个信息，故排除选项[C]。选项[D]“没计程序”文中也没有提到，故排除。