Day 14

英文重现

However, minimum efficient scale cannot be fully realized unless a steady “throughput” (the flow of materials through a plant) is attained. The throughput needed to maintain the optimal scale of production requires careful coordination not only of the flow of goods through the production process, but also of the flow of input from suppliers and the flow of output to wholesalers and final consumers. If throughput falls below a critical point, unit costs rise sharply and profits disappear. A manufacturer's fixed costs and “sunk costs” (original capital investment in the physical plant) do not decrease when production declines due to inadequate supplies of raw materials, problems on the factory floor, or inefficient sales networks.

——GMAT OG 2015, Reading Comprehension, Passage 10

解析

1.“unless”是从属连词，引导条件状语从句时含有否定意义，相当于“if”条件状语从句的否定形式，所以在意义上，“unless”等于“if not”，但是要注意的是：“unless”引导的条件状语从句与其他时间状语从句一样，用一般现在时代替将来时，如第一句的

“unless a steady ‘throughput’ is obtained”（括号里面是对“throughput”这个名词的解

释，最后一个句子中括号里面的内容也是用来帮助理解“sunk costs”的含义）。

2.第二个句子中，“needed to maintain the optimal scale of production”是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰前面的“the throughput”，不定式作目的状语，意思是“（为了）维持最优生产规模所需的吞吐量”。

3.第二个句子涉及一个“not only…but also”引导的平行结构。在平行结构中，处于平等位置的内容在结构和词性上要保持一致，如文中并列的“coordination not only of…, but also of…”；而“but also”后面又有一个“and”连接的平行结构，所以第二个句子其实是提到了三个需要“coordination”的方面（即影响“throughput”的三个因素）：“the flow of goods through the production process”、“the flow of input from suppliers”，以及“the flow of output to wholesalers and final consumers”。

4.最后一句“when”引导的时间状语从句“when production declines…or inefficient sales networks”修饰主句的动作“decrease”，该从句中提到了三个引起产量下降的因素：“inadequate supplies of raw materials”、“problems on the factory floor”和“inefficient sales networks”。

词义辨析

参考翻译

但是，最低有效规模无法得以充分实现，除非能够达到稳定的吞吐量（整个工厂的材料流）。维持最优生产规模所需的吞吐量需要仔细协调，不仅要协调好生产过程中的货物量，而且要协调好来自供应商的产品输入量及提供给批发商和终端客户的产品输出量。如果吞吐量降到某个临界点以下，单位成本会急剧上升，效益会消失。当产量因为原材料供给不足、工厂车间里的问题或低效的营销网络而降低时，生产商的固定成本和沉没成本（在硬件设施上投入的原始资金）并不会减少。

实战演练

Manufacturers have to do more than build large manufacturing plants to realize economies of scale. It is true that as the capacity of a manufacturing operation rises, costs per unit of output fall as plant size approaches “minimum efficient scale”, where the cost per unit of output reaches a minimum, determined roughly by the state of existing technology and size of the potential market. However, minimum efficient scale cannot be fully realized unless a steady “throughput” (the flow of materials through a plant) is attained. The throughput needed to maintain the optimal scale of production requires careful coordination not only of the flow of goods through the production process, but also of the flow of input from suppliers and the flow of output to wholesalers and final consumers. If throughput falls below a critical point, unit costs rise sharply and profits disappear. A manufacturer's fixed costs and “sunk costs” (original capital investment in the physical plant) do not decrease when production declines due to inadequate supplies of raw materials, problems on the factory floor, or inefficient sales networks.

The passage LEAST supports the inference that a manufacturer's throughput could be adversely affected by

(A) a mistake in judgment regarding the selection of a wholesaler.

(B) a breakdown in the factory's machinery.

(C) a labor dispute on the factory floor.

(D) an increase in the cost per unit of output.

(E) a drop in the efficiency of the sales network.

答案：D

答案解析

该题是一道逻辑题，题目比较拗口，既需要关注LEAST，也需要关注“adversely”，题干意思是“文中最不支持‘生产商的吞吐量受到不利影响’这一推理的是下面哪个选项”，因此，对生产商的吞吐量有不利影响的选项应该都支持题干中的推理，应首先排除。

选项A“在挑选批发商方面做出错误的决定”对应原文中的“(coordination of) the flow of output to wholesalers”，错误的决定会有不利影响，因此排除。

选项B“工厂机器发生故障”和选项C“工厂车间内的劳资纠纷”都对应原文中的“problems on the factory floor”，故障和纠纷都会有不利影响，因此都排除。

选项E“销售网络效率的降低”对应原文的“inefficient sales networks”，效率降低是不利影响，因此排除。

再来分析选项D“单位产量的成本上升”，虽然从文中“如果吞吐量降低到某个临界点以下，单位成本会急剧上升”可知，吞吐量会影响单位成本，但是文中并未提及单位成本会影响吞吐量，因此选项D“单位成本的上升”对吞吐量的影响未知，是正确的选项。