下面这断英文,摘自 新剑桥商务英语 初级 Further Ahead
第42. 43页 小弟我实在不会啊...又没有资料可以看~ 拜托了
THEN:
1. Then American firms relied too much on the domestic market, despite increasing competition from Europe and Japan. They were blind to science and innovation outside the USA and therefore failed to adapt foreign discoveries for use at home.
2. Then American industry continued to mass produce goods long after the Japanese had learnt that not only economies of scale but also quality, reliability and different products for different segments of the market are important.
3. Then American firms had short-time horizons. While Japanese companies invested heavily in consumer technologies, American consumer electronics firms diversified into other businesses such as car rentals and financial services. They eventually lost the market altogether.
4. Then there was too much emphasis on ‘basic research’ and too little on the technical work needed to turn brilliant ideas into products that people would buy. Designers didn’t bother to make sure products could be manufactured easily and reliably. The art of manufacturing was not respected.
5. Then on-the-job training in Germany and Japan gave these countries an advantage over American firms. These did not try to improver workers’skills.
6. Then American firms were bad at cooperating. Both customer-supplier relations and labour relations were poor.
NOW
A. Now firms as well as universities have begun to take manufacturing more seriously. More engineers, and better ones, work in manufacturing ‘We realized you couldn’t just invent’,says a senior vice-president at Intel. ‘You also had to make a few million things.’
B. Now no big firm ignores its suppliers any more.
C. Now American manufacturers, in the middle of an export boom,are focused on the outside world. The number of exporting businesses has increased. Many firms are looking for openings in Russia, China, India or Brazil.
D. Now the biggest American companies say that people are their most valuable resource.Since 1982, 80,000 Ford workers have been through training programmes. Chaparral Steel tries to keep 85% of its employees enrolled in training courses at any time.
E. Now from Coca-Cola to Fidelity Investments, American companies have learnt to segment the market. They have also discovered continuous quality improvement. IN 1994m AT&T became the first American company to win Japan’s Deming prize for quality control. Many companies have introduced quality raising initiatives.
F. Now American firms have begun to take a longer view. Shareholders are behaving more like long-term owners and managers are more accountable for their performance
Then 在这里是 "过去" 的意思, Now 是现在的意思. 整篇文章, 是过去与现在的比较 还有就是, 用翻译软件的,就不用提交答案了