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ito-Lay believes they would rather be eating potato chips. The company's research has shown that when given a choice between their local snack and a Frito-Lay chip, consumers in most countries will choose the chip.

　　Putting its findings into practice, Frito-Lay has expanded on all five continents by buying up local snack makers or defeating them with its marketing expertise and sheer size.

　　"Never have we introduced Lay's potato chips and had it not be successful," said Dwight Riskey, the research and development head who devised Frito-Lay's global strategy five years ago. "It's been successful every single place we've introduced it."

　　Thinking Globally, Acting Globally

　　Frito-Lay, which also produces Doritos and Chee-tos, is the biggest snack maker in the United States, with 55 percent of the potato chip market. It is owned by PepsiCo, and accounts for more than half of the parent company's $3 billion profits every year. But the U.S. snack market is largely saturated, and in order to grow — the key to remaining successful — the company had to look overseas.

　　Riskey's strategy rests on two beliefs: first, that a global product offers economies of scale with which local brands cannot compete, and second that consumers in the 21st century are drawn to "global" as a concept. By "global," Riskey does not mean products that are consciously identified as American, like Coca-Cola and Nike, but ones that consumers — especially young people — see as part of a modern, innovative world in which people are linked across cultures by shared beliefs and tastes. Potato chips are an American invention — created by a chef in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in 1853 — but most Chinese, for instance, do not know that Frito-Lay is an American company. Instead, Riskey would hope they associate the brand with the brave new world of global communications and business.

　　With brand perception a crucial factor, Riskey ordered a redesign of the Frito-Lay logo, eventually settling on a red logo with a banner suggesting "celebration" and a sun denoting "universality." The logo, along with the company's long-held marketing image of the "irresistibility" of its chips, would underpin the company's global expansion.

Taking Aim at the Local Snack

　　Frito-Lay honed a strategy for moving into new countries where a local snack industry is already established. Rather than face the costs of building a new business in an unfamiliar market, the company identifies the leading local snack manufacturer and offers to buy it out. If the local manufacturer refuses to sell, Frito-Lay moves into the market on its own, using its size and marketing experience to cut into the local manufacturer's sales. Often, at that point, the local company gives in and sells, sometimes for a lower price than the original offer.

　　If the preferred local snack is already a potato chip, Frito-Lay rebrands it. After buying Walkers, the dominant chip in Britain, the Texas company refashioned the Walkers logo into the red "banner sun" design, as a first step toward changing the brand to Frito-Lay outright. Similar plans are under way for Sabritas in Mexico and Simba in South Africa. "We just say, 'You know that stuff you love? Well, now it's going to be called Lay's,'" said Riskey.

　　If the locals are used to eating something other than potato chips, Frito-Lay devises "differentiated products" that bridge the way to the chip. For the Indian market, the company created Kurkure Twisteez, a potato snack that comes in local flavors like Masala Munch.

　　Sometimes Frito-Lay's products are so unfamiliar that the advertising campaigns focus on educating consumers in the hope of changing their "consumption habits." In China, Frito-Lay ads show potatoes actually being sliced, so people know where the chips come from. In Turkey, the company distributed pamphlets suggesting new recipes and eating habits: "Try a tuna sandwich for lunch, and join it with a bag of chips."

　　Looking for 'New Occasions'

　　Like other multinational companies, Frito-Lay has learned that the best managers are often locals who know the market and culture well. Although they must follow certain global standards — such as the company's long-held marketing theme of "irresistibility" — regional managers are encouraged to look for for new "occasions" to increase sales in their specific areas.

　　In Holland, where the Dutch tend to eat potato chips only at night, as an after-dinner snack, manager Eugene Willemsen focused his efforts on changing their habits by distributing free samples on the streets during the day. He also targeted high schools, knowing that children were driving Frito-Lay's growth in Holland. "For us, the biggest opportunity for growth is to penetrate new occasions with salty snacks," Willemsen said.

　　In South Africa, national sales manager Arnold Selokane boosted sales in native townships by hiring local drivers to make deliveries, making the product seem less foreign. In China, sales director Jackson Chiu raised sales by 57 percent in one year, in part by focusing on girls and young women. "We market to girls and the boys follow," he said.

　　The company encourages such initiative by flying promising managers to the Frito-Lay headquarters in Plano, Texas, or the PepsiCo campus in Purchase, N.Y., for intensive courses on marketing and business development. Selokane and Chiu were among 200 PepsiCo employees honored at the company's annual "Ring of Honor" ceremony in 2001. With honorees from 50 countries, speaking 30 different languages, the four-day program resembled the United Nations' General Assembly, complete with headsets and banks of translators.

　　Not Just Potato Chips

　　The executives behind Frito-Lay's global expansion acknowledge that they try to swing national eating habits to a food that was created in America, but they deny that amounts to economic imperialism. Rather, they see Frito-Lay as spreading the benefits of free enterprise across the world. "We're making products in those countries, we're adapting it to the tastes of those countries, building businesses and employing people and changing lives," said Steve Reinemund, PepsiCo's chief executive.

　　Frank Wong, who runs Frito-Lay's operations in China, believes that by training Chinese managers the company is helping build up an educated middle class that will play a major role in the country's economic transformation. "We bring a lot to China, a lot more than just the brand called Lay's," he said.

　　21. It is the belief of Frito-Lay’s head of global marketing that _____.

　　A) potato chips can hardly be used as a weapon to dominate the world market

　　B) their company must find new ways to promote domestic sales

　　C) the light golden color enhances the charm of their company’s potato chips

　　{D) people all over the world enjoy eating their company’s potato chips}

　　22. What do we learn about Frito-Lay from Paragraph 2?

　　A) Its products used to be popular among overseas consumers.

　　B) Its expansion has caused fierce competition in the snack marker.

　　C) It gives half of its annual profits to its parent company.

　　{D) It needs to turn to the world market for development.}

　　23. One of the assumptions on which Frito-Lay bases its development strategy is that _____.

　　{A) consumers worldwide today are attracted by global brands}

　　B) local brands cannot compete successfully with American brands

　　C) products suiting Chinese consumers’ needs bring more profits

　　D) products identified as American will have promising market value

　　24. Why did Riskey have the Frito-Lay logo redesigned?

　　A) To suit changing tastes of young consumers.

　　{B) To promote the company’s strategy of globalization. }

　　C) To change the company’s long-held marketing image.

　　D) To compete with other American chip producers.

　　25. Frito-Lay’s executives claim that the promoting of American food in the international market _____.

　　A) won’t affect the eating habits of the local people

　　B) will lead to economic imperialism

　　{C) will be in the interest of the local people}

　　D) won’t spoil the taste of their chips

Passage Two

　　Question 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

　　In communities north of Denver, residents are pitching in to help teachers and administrators as the Vrain School District tries to solve a $13.8 million budget shortage blamed on mismanagement. “We’re worried about our teachers and principals, and we really don’t want to lose them because of this,” one parent said. “If we can help ease their financial burden, we will. ”

　　Teachers are grateful, but know it may be years before the district is solvent(有偿还能力的). They feel really good about the parent support, but they realize it’s impossible for them to solve this problem.

　　The 22,000-student district discovered the shortage last month. “It’s extraordinary. Nobody would have imagined something happening like this at this level,” said State Treasurer Mike Coffman.

　　Coffman and district officials last week agreed on a state emergency plan freeing up a $9.8 million loan that enabled the payroll(工资单) to be met for 2,700 teachers and staff in time for the holidays.

　　District officials also took $1.7 million from student-activity accounts in its 38 schools.

　　At Coffman’s request, the District Attorney has begun investigating the district’s finances. Coffman says he wants to know whether d

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