Day 14

英文重現

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”是從屬連詞，引導條件狀語從句時含有否定意義，相當于“if”條件狀語從句的否定形式，所以在意義上，“unless”等于“if not”，但是要注意的是：“unless”引導的條件狀語從句與其他時間狀語從句一樣，用一般現在時代替將來時，如第一句的

“unless a steady ‘throughput’ is obtained”（括號里面是對“throughput”這個名詞的解

釋，最后一個句子中括號里面的內容也是用來幫助理解“sunk costs”的含義）。

2.第二個句子中，“needed to maintain the optimal scale of production”是過去分詞短語作后置定語，修飾前面的“the throughput”，不定式作目的狀語，意思是“（為了）維持最優生產規模所需的吞吐量”。

3.第二個句子涉及一個“not only…but also”引導的平行結構。在平行結構中，處于平等位置的內容在結構和詞性上要保持一致，如文中并列的“coordination not only of…, but also of…”；而“but also”后面又有一個“and”連接的平行結構，所以第二個句子其實是提到了三個需要“coordination”的方面（即影響“throughput”的三個因素）：“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”引導的時間狀語從句“when production declines…or inefficient sales networks”修飾主句的動作“decrease”，該從句中提到了三個引起產量下降的因素：“inadequate supplies of raw materials”、“problems on the factory floor”和“inefficient sales networks”。

詞義辨析

參考翻譯

但是，最低有效規模無法得以充分實現，除非能夠達到穩定的吞吐量（整個工廠的材料流）。維持最優生產規模所需的吞吐量需要仔細協調，不僅要協調好生產過程中的貨物量，而且要協調好來自供應商的產品輸入量及提供給批發商和終端客戶的產品輸出量。如果吞吐量降到某個臨界點以下，單位成本會急劇上升，效益會消失。當產量因為原材料供給不足、工廠車間里的問題或低效的營銷網絡而降低時，生產商的固定成本和沉沒成本（在硬件設施上投入的原始資金）并不會減少。

實戰演練

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

該題是一道邏輯題，題目比較拗口，既需要關注LEAST，也需要關注“adversely”，題干意思是“文中最不支持‘生產商的吞吐量受到不利影響’這一推理的是下面哪個選項”，因此，對生產商的吞吐量有不利影響的選項應該都支持題干中的推理，應首先排除。

選項A“在挑選批發商方面做出錯誤的決定”對應原文中的“(coordination of) the flow of output to wholesalers”，錯誤的決定會有不利影響，因此排除。

選項B“工廠機器發生故障”和選項C“工廠車間內的勞資糾紛”都對應原文中的“problems on the factory floor”，故障和糾紛都會有不利影響，因此都排除。

選項E“銷售網絡效率的降低”對應原文的“inefficient sales networks”，效率降低是不利影響，因此排除。

再來分析選項D“單位產量的成本上升”，雖然從文中“如果吞吐量降低到某個臨界點以下，單位成本會急劇上升”可知，吞吐量會影響單位成本，但是文中并未提及單位成本會影響吞吐量，因此選項D“單位成本的上升”對吞吐量的影響未知，是正確的選項。