For thousands of Canadians, bad service is neither make-believe nor amusing. It is an aggravating and worsening real-life phenomenon that encompasses behavior ranging from indifference and rudeness to naked hostility and even physical violence. Across the country, better business bureaus report a lengthening litany of complaints about contractors, car dealers, and repair shops, moving companies, airlines and department stores. There is almost an adversarial feeling between businesses and consumers.

Experts say there are several explanations for ill feeling in the marketplace. One is that customer service was an early and inevitable casualty when retailers responded to brutal competition by replacing employees with technology such as 1～800 numbers and voice mail. Another factor is that business generally has begun placing more emphasis on getting customers than on keeping them. Still another is that strident, frustrated and impatient shoppers vex shop owners and make them even less hospitable—especially at busier times of the year like Christmas. On both sides, simple courtesy has gone by the board. And for a multitude of consumers, service went with it.

The Better Business Bureau at Vancouver gets 250 complaints a week, twice as many as five years ago. The bureau then had one complaints counselor and now has four. People complain about being insulted, having their intelligence and integrity questioned, and being threatened. One will hear about people being hauled almost bodily out the door by somebody saying things like “I don’t have to serve you!”or “This is private property, get out and don’t come back! ” What can customers do? If the bureau’s arbitration process fails to settle a dispute, a customer’s only recourse is to sue in claims court. But because of the costs and time it takes, relatively few ever do.

There is a lot of support for the notion that service has, in part, fallen victim to generational change. Many young people regard retailing as just a bead-end job that you’re just going to do temporarily on your way to a real job. Young clerks often lack both knowledge and civility. Employers have to train young people in simple manners because that is not being done at home. Salespeople today, especially the younger ones, have grown up in a television-computer society where they’ve interacted largely with machines. One of the biggest complaints from businesses about graduates is the lack of inter-personal skills.

What customers really want is access. They want to get through when they call, they don’t want busy signals, they don’t want interactive systems telling them to push one for this and two for that—they don’t want voice mail. And if customers do not get what they want, they defect. Some people go back to local small businesses: the Asian greengrocer, a Greek baker and a Greek fishmonger. They don’t wear name tags, but one gets to know them, all by name.［490 words］

1At a business place of bad service, the worst one can get is._________

［A］ indifference and rudeness

［B］ naked hostility and physical violence

［C］ having intelligence and integrity questioned

［D］ being insulted and threatened

2One of the reasons for such ill feeling in the marketplace is that.________

［A］ shoppers are usually strident, frustrated and impatient

［B］ shoppers often take businesses to court

［C］ businesses use new technology instead of employees

［D］ businesses try every means to get customers

3 What changes have taken place at Vancouver Better Service Bureau in the past five years?

［A］ More effective.

［B］ Less bureaucracy.

［C］ More business.

［D］ Better staff.

4Young clerks often lack interpersonal skills chiefly because they____________

［A］are skilled in dealing with machines, not people

［B］are not trained in simple manners at home

［C］fall victims to generational change

［D］take retailing to be a temporary job

5The author’s attitude towards businesses and bad service is_________.

［A］attacking

［B］understanding

［C］regretting

［D］warning

1.在一个有着劣质服务的商业场所人们所受到的最恶劣的待遇是——。

［A］ 漠不关心和粗鲁 ［B］ 不加掩饰的恶意和身体暴力

［C］ 智力和正直遭到质疑 ［D］ 受到侮辱和威胁

［精解］ 答案B本题考查事实细节。第一段第二句提到，劣质服务是真实的生活现象，包括从漠不关心、粗俗无礼到不加掩饰的恶意甚至身体暴力等一系列行为。以上三种行为按照严重程度递增排列。第三段提到，人们在投诉信中抱怨受到侮辱、自己的智力和正直遭到质疑、受到威胁。接着文中举了一个例子形象地说明了顾客受到的最糟糕的待遇。句子结构one will hear... 表示作者强调的口吻，“连……的事情也有所耳闻”。而这个例子正好是“不加掩饰的恶意甚至身体暴力”。因此［B］项是最恶劣的待遇。

2.市场上出现这种不良情绪的原因之一是——。

［A］ 购物者经常是吵闹的、失望的和没有耐心的

［B］ 购物者经常把商家告上法庭

［C］ 商家使用技术替代员工

［D］ 商家利用各种手段来赢得顾客

［精解］ 答案C本题考查事实细节。第二段分析了三个原因。第一个原因是：零售商应对残酷的竞争采用技术取代员工。第二个原因是：商家一般都开始把重点更多放在赢得顾客而不是保持顾客上。第三个原因是：一些吵闹的、失望的没有耐心的购买者经常惹恼店主。由此可判定［C］项是原因，［A］项将原文中的个别现象变成了经常出现的普遍现象，与事实不符。［B］项文中未提。文中强调的原因是商家没有重视保持顾客，［D］与文意不符。

3.在过去五年里渥太华的优化商务局有什么改变？

［A］ 效率更高。 ［B］ 官僚作风减少。

［C］ 更多的务业。 ［D］ 更好的职员。

［精解］ 答案C 本题考查事实细节。第三段首句提到，渥太华的优化商务局在一周之内收到的投诉数量是五年前的两倍。该局的投诉顾问也由那时的一个变成了四个。投诉多了，业务自然更繁忙了，因此［C］项正确。其他项文中未提到。

4.年轻的职员缺乏人际间交往技巧主要是因为他们——。

［A］ 擅长与机器而非人打交道 ［B］ 在家没有接受简单的礼仪训练

［C］ 成为代与代之间变化的受害者［D］ 将零售视为临时的工作

［精解］ 答案A 本题考查事实细节。第四段首句提到一种普遍存在的观念，即服务成了代与代之间变化的受害者。接下来的内容对该句进行了阐述：年轻人将零售视为跳板性质的工作；缺少知识和礼貌；年轻人成长过程中大多和机器交流。该段最后一句作者借用商家的抱怨，指出他们缺少人际间的交际技能。可见，只有［A］项与年轻职员人际交流能力差相关，且是直接原因。其他项是年轻人其他方面的表现。

5.作者看待商业和劣质服务的态度是——。

［A］ 攻击的 ［B］ 理解的 ［C］ 懊悔的 ［D］ 警告的

［精解］ 答案D本题考查作者态度。文中作者主要描述了劣质服务的存在及分析其原因。在最后一段里，作者用与商业部门和服务行业对话的口吻说到，顾客真正想要的是一个接近的机会。如果顾客得不到他们想要的服务，他们就会跑掉。可见，作者是在警告并呼吁服务行业找出其问题根源所在以便改善服务。［D］项是其正确的态度。其他项都不恰当。