Part III. Reading Comprehension (15.5%) ( 共 6 小题,每题 2.6 分 ) Directions : Read the following passage and finish the tasks afterwards. Nike’s Goddess Para. 1. Nike has been the undisputed leader in sports market. But beneath the success was an Achilles’ heel. Nike is named after a woman — the Greek goddess of victory — but for most of its history, the company had been perceived as being mostly about men. Para. 2. Could Nike do more to realize the full potential of female customers? And how could it afford not to, given the threats to its future with Air Jordan running out of air and brands like Skechers digging into the teen market with shoes inspired by skateboarding, not basketball. That was the huge question at Nike HQ. The launch of Nike Goddess was the makings of an answer. Para. 3. For much of its history, Nike’s destiny was controlled by its founder, Phil Knight and his running buddies, who signed up athletes in locker rooms and made the executive decisions. But by throwing together a diverse team of people with different backgrounds and different levels of seniority, Nike has found that it can keep many of its core attributes while adding new sources of inspiration. Take the combination of star designer John Hoke and Mindy Grossman, Vice President of global apparel. Hoke designed the look and feel of the first Nike Goddess store. Then Grossman, whose career has included helping make Ralph Lauren into a retail icon, pitched the design ideas to Nike’s top retailers as stores within stores. Para. 4. Nike Goddess began as a concept for a women-only store, and there’s a reason why. Many of the retail settings in which the company’s products were found were a turnoff for female customers: dark, loud, and harsh — in a word, male. In sharp contrast, the Nike Goddess stores have the comforting feel of a woman’s own home. Para. 5. Designing a new approach to retail was only one element in Nike’s campaign. Another was redesigning the shoes and clothes themselves. Nike’s footwear designers worked on 18-month production cycles — which made it hard to stay in step with the new styles and colors for women. The apparel group, which worked around 12-month cycle, was better at keeping up with fashion trends. But that meant that the clothes weren’t coordinated with the shoes — a big turnoff for women. Para. 6. When Jackie Thomas, Nike’s US Brand Marketing Director for women, first heard the phrase “Nike Goddess”, she wasn’t impressed. “I don’t like talking to women through gender,” she says. Nike Goddess had to mean something to women and it was her job to make that happen. “Women don’t need anybody’s permission. We are at our best when we are showing women a place where they didn’t think they could be.” For John Hoke, the real power of Nike Goddess is not about traffic at stores. It’s about changing minds inside the company. “I knew that Goddess could galvanize us,” he says, “It was an opportunity to redefine and re-energise our entire brand around a market that was taking off.” Task Three Directions : Choose the word that has a similar meaning to the italicized one in each sentence. 31. The company had an Achilles’ heel . A) strongpoint B) secret weapon C) hidden weakness 32. Nike’s destiny was controlled by its founders ... A) designers B) sponsors C) creators 33. ...a diverse team of people with different levels of seniority . A) knowledge B) rank C) performance 34. Nike has found that it can keep many of its core attributes ... A) origins B) qualities C) aspects 35. Nike’s footwear designers worked on 18-month production cycles. A) shifts B) delays C) periods 36. “I knew that Goddess could galvanize us.” A) motivate B) surprise C) renew