Question

It’s really a tough job for automakers doing marketing and sales in China, where competition is acute and customers have little loyalty. They have tried a range of tricks in recent years.

But there should be a moral bottom line. Unfortunately, a Buick dealership used the tragedy of a two-month-old infant to advertise its cars last week on Weibo – Micro blog. And Hyundai Motor followed suit.

On March 4, an SUV was stolen with the infant left inside alone in the northeastern city of Changchun. The news spread widely on Weibo after the baby’s father called the local police and radio station for help. The next day it was revealed that the infant was choked to death and buried in snow by the thief. The online community expressed its deeply felt sympathy and condolences.

The Buick dealership posted a photo of the baby and two of its cars on its official Weibo account to advertise its GPS system that can locate the stolen car. “A few thoughts on the Changchun stolen car and baby incident: when buying a car it’s entirely OK to choose a brand with advanced technology,” said the post. Though the post was made before tragic fate of the infant was known, the action generated a storm of outrage on Weibo. Some online commentators said it is “marketing at the cost of lives” and “extremely despicable.”

Worse was the post on Hyundai’s official Weibo account that advertised the anti – theft system on its new SUV Santa Fe, an entry made after the child was known to have died. The action also enraged micro bloggers.

Both posts were soon deleted. The Buick dealership made an apology on Weibo to the family of the victim and the public. But screenshots saved by users continued to be posted and the negative impact on both brands persists.

The two brands probably didn’t expect such a firestorm of fury from the Internet community, but they really made a big mistake sinking below the moral bottom line. They certainly ruined their own brand images.

The Chinese have the same proverb as the English language – a little leak will sink a great ship. It takes decades to build the great ship of a respectable brand but it can take just a moment of negligence to make it fail completely.

For those in corporate marketing, two lessons should be learned: first, be careful in the era of social media when one wrong can be easily magnified and have disastrous impacts in just a few clicks.

Second and more importantly, think with your brain and heart. Never break the moral bonds of respect for human life and sympathy for our fellow man.

1.Who is to blame for the tragedy of Changchun infant according to the passage?

A．The baby’s father                      B．Buick and Hyundai dealership

C．Weibo                                D．Not clear

2.Which of the following statements is correct?

A．The missing infant was found alive in the stolen car.

B．Micro blog marketing of tragic infant death fuels firestorm of criticism.

C．People can’t see the two posts any more because they were deleted.

D．The two car brands mentioned in the passage spoiled their own reputation by selling the stolen car.

3.What does the underlined word – “despicable” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Immoral          B．Important         C．Distinguished       D．Considerable

4.The reason why Hyundai’s post was worse than Buick’s is that _________.

A．Hyundai dealership didn’t make an apology on Weibo

B．Buick dealership expressed its deeply sympathy and condolences

C．Hyundai’s post was made after people knew the infant had died

D．Buick’s car was more advanced on its GPS system

5.In the last paragraph, the author encourages people _____________.

A．not to sink below the moral bottom line

B．not to sympathize our fellow man

C．to think twice before making decision

D．to magnify the mistakes people make

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.C

5.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述了別克和現代兩家汽車公司利用長春的嬰兒死亡的事件為自己的產品做廣告而引起的廣泛的批評。

1.D 細節題。根據文章第二段Unfortunately, a Buick dealership used the tragedy of a two-month-old infant to advertise its cars last week on Weibo – Micro blog. And Hyundai Motor followed suit.

和全文內容可知文章中間并沒有提及誰要為這起嬰兒死亡的案件負責。故D正確。

2.B 推理題。根據文章第四段最后3行Though the post was made before tragic fate of the infant was known, the action generated a storm of outrage on Weibo. Some online commentators said it is “marketing at the cost of lives” and “extremely despicable.”說明正是微博上的評論讓人們對這這樣的廣告的批評更激烈。故B正確。

3.A 推理題。根據本句Though the post was made before tragic fate of the infant was known, the action generated a storm of outrage on Weibo. Some online commentators said it is “marketing at the cost of lives” and “extremely despicable.”說明人們認為以生命為代價進行廣告行為是很不道德的行為，故A正確。

4.C 細節題。根據文章第五段內容Worse was the post on Hyundai’s official Weibo account that advertised the anti – theft system on its new SUV Santa Fe, an entry made after the child was known to have died. The action also enraged micro bloggers.可知現代公司是在嬰兒被發現死亡以后做出的廣告，故這種情況更為嚴重。故C項正確。

5.A 推理題。根據最后一段Second and more importantly, think with your brain and heart. Never break the moral bonds of respect for human life and sympathy for our fellow man.生命人們提醒不要挑戰人們的道德底線，故A正確。

考點：考查新聞報告類短文閱讀

點評：本文講述了別克和現代兩家汽車公司利用長春的嬰兒死亡的事件為自己的產品做廣告而引起的廣泛的批評。要求考生在理解原文表面文字信息的基礎上，做出一定判斷和推論，從而得到文章的隱含意義和深層意義。推理題所涉及的內容可能是文中某一句話，也可是某幾句話，但做題的指導思想都是以文字信息為依據，既不能做出在原文中找不到文字根據的推理，也不能根據表面文字信息做多步推理，要根據原文表面文字信息一步推出的答案。