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After Tesco entered the Thai market in 1998 with its brand of colorful, well-stocked superstores, angry local competitors tried

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问题     After Tesco entered the Thai market in 1998 with its brand of colorful, well-stocked superstores, angry local competitors tried to impede the powerhouse UK-based retailer’s progress with a wall of lawsuits— including one that would have forced Tesco Lotus, the company’s regional subsidiary, to shut off air-conditioning because chilly stores posed a public health hazard to the equatorial Thai people. Frivolous legal actions were a minor nuisance compared with what came next. Over a five-month period last year, two Tesco Lotus outlets were bombed, another peppered with automatic weapons fire and yet another hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
    Despite threats by governments to ban them, chains including France’s Carrefour and US-based Wal-Mart are ramping up plans to hundreds of new outlets throughout the region over the next several years. The onslaught threatens to run local retailers right out of business. Local retailers are not the only ones displaced when the superstore comes to town. Because of their high turnover, hypermarkets can throw their weight around with local suppliers by demanding lower prices. Costco buys directly from manufacturers to stock its two stores in Japan— a practice that disrupts the country’s entrenched but inefficient distribution networks. That’s not to say the foreigners are unstoppable. Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, tried and failed to crack the Hong Kong market in the 1990s. Hong Kong consumers seemed to prefer familiar neighborhood chain stores.
    Undeterred, foreign hypermarkets have learned to adapt, often by forming joint ventures with domestic partners and by stocking local wares. "A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that when Wal-Mart comes to town, we set up exactly the same system as we do everywhere," says Holley of Wal-Mart. "But we take our best practices and customize it to each market."
    Mike Sinegal, head of Costco’s Japan operations, agrees that stores must trim their sails according to prevailing winds, but dismisses the notion that Asian consumers are very different from shoppers in, say, Los Angeles. When Costco entered Japan, he says, local suppliers insisted American shampoos wouldn’t sell because Japanese hair is different. But Costco’s private-label brand quickly became one of its top-selling products. "The bottom line is that the uniqueness of these markets is overrated," says Sinegal.
    Local retailers assert that they are more aware of the local people and their consumption customs compared with the foreigners. Shoppers, however, don’t seem to care. Because of economic globalization, it doesn’t matter whether you are a foreign store or a domestic store. What’s important is that you provide what local customers really need at a price that most people can afford.
The phrase "throw one’s weight around"(Paragraph 2)probably means______.
选项 A、to look down upon others and intimidate others into doing something
B、to spend money foolishly in order to show one’s wealth
C、to use one’s power to tell people what to do in an unpleasant way
D、to discourage others by showing off their strength
答案C
解析 这是一道词义题。题干中的信号词出自于文章第二段第四句话中。文章第二段指出：超级市场进入城镇后，它所取代的不仅仅是当地的零售企业；由于它们的销售量很大，超级市场可以通过要求低价仗势欺压当地的供应商。接着举例指出：Costco直接从生产厂家购买商品来给它在日本的两家超市供货，这种做法使得日本根深蒂固但是效率低下的销售网络陷于崩溃。这说明，该短语的意思应该是：利用自己的影响，迫使他人做他们不愿意做的事情。C说“利用自己的权威告诉人们以他们不高兴的方式做事”，这与文章的意思符合。A和D不准确；B明显与文章的意思不符。
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