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  3. Fast food, a mainstay of American eating for decades, may have reached a plateau in the United States as the maturing baby-boom

Fast food, a mainstay of American eating for decades, may have reached a plateau in the United States as the maturing baby-boom

admin2010-08-21  38
问题     Fast food, a mainstay of American eating for decades, may have reached a plateau in the United States as the maturing baby-boom generation looks for a more varied menu. Fast foxed still represents a $102 billion a year industry, but growth has turned sluggish recently amid tough competition from retail food stores and a more affluent population willing to try new things and spend more, analysts say. Signs of trouble in fast food include price-cutting by industry leaders, including efforts by McDonald’s to attract customers with a 55 cent hamburger, and major players pulling out or selling. O’Pepsico, for example, is selling its fast-food restaurant division that includes Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC.
    "It’s becoming harder and harder for these firms to grow," said Jim Brown, a professor of marketing at Virginia Tech University. "I think in the United States fast food has reached a saturation (饱和) point because of the number of competitors and the number of outlets."
    Fast-food restaurant revenues grew 2.5 per cent in 1996, according to industry figures, the slowest since the recession of 1991. That is a far cry from (大不相同于) the levels of the 1970s and 1980s. According to the Food Marketing Institute, consumers are using supermarkets for 21 per cent of take-home food, nearly double the level of a year ago. While fast-food restaurants still lead, their share slipped significantly, from 48 per cent in 1996 to 41 per cent in 1997.
   "Consumers have never been more demanding than they are today," said Michael Sansolo, senior vice president of the Supermarket Trade Group. "They are pressed for time. Money is still an issue... but their tastes are increasingly diverse — whether it’s gourmet foods, ethnic foods or organic offerings."
    Meanwhile, the aging of the baby-boom population — and the growth in the number of so-called "empty nesters" with grown children — has meant a surge in the number of people willing to spend more for upscale items. This generation "will have the luxury of being more discriminating" as their children leave home, notes Harry Balzer, vice president of the Chicago-based NPD consulting group. Balzer said some 18 million baby boomers will become empty-nesters in the next 10 years, leaving them with more disposable income to spend on dining out. "Fast and cheap will still be driving factors... but our definitions of fast and cheap may be changing."
    Various reports suggest industry leader McDonald’s is straggling, losing market share with lower same-store sales while cutting back the number of new outlets in the United States, partly due to pressure from franchisers who don’t want to be squeezed. The company replaced the head of its 12,000 US restaurant chain last October amid a slump in US market share.  
What does the passage mainly tall about?
选项 A、Fast food disappoints consumers.
B、People prefer less expensive food.
C、McDonald’s dominates the market of fast food.
D、Fast food is losing its attraction.
答案D
解析 题问“主旨”，短文的第一段就介绍了文章的主要内容。“Fast food, a mainstay of American eating for decades, may have reached a plateau in the United States as the maturing baby-boom generation looks for a more varied menu. Fast food still represents a $102 billion a year industry, but growth has turned sluggish recently amid tough competition from retail food stores and a more affluent population willing to try new things and spend more, analysts say.”短文起始两句说到了随着生育高峰期的那代父母开始寻求更加丰盛的食谱，快餐业趋于饱和。尽管快餐业每年仍能收益颇丰，但近年来随着食品零售业的发展，以及越来越多的人愿意尝试新东西，愿意花费更多钱，快餐业的发展实际呈下滑趋势。因此D“快餐正在失去吸引力”正确。
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