The Making of a Success Story

1 IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer, and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman. As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades. Naturally he used it to start up a business一IKEA.

2 IKEA's name comes from Kamprad's initials (I.K.) and the place where he grew up ('E' and 'A'). Today IKEA is known for its modern, minimalist furniture1, but it was not a furniture company in the beginning. Rather, IKEA sold all kinds of miscellaneous goods. Kamprad's wares included anything that he could sell for profits at discounted prices2, including watches, pens and stockings.

3 IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order catalogue in 1947. The fUrniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad's home. Initial sales were very encouraging, so Kamprad expanded the product line. Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became solely a furniture company in 1951.

4 In 1953 IKEA opened its first showroom in Almhult, Sweden. IKEA is known today for its spacious stores with furniture iti attractive settings, but in the early 1950s, people ordered from catalogues. Thus response to the first showroom was overwhelmiig: people loved being able to see and try the furniture before buying it. This led to increased sales and the company continued to thrive. By 1955, IKEA was designing all its own furniture.

5 In 1956 Kamprad saw a man disassembling a table to make it easier to transport. Kamprad was inspired. The man had given him a great idea: flat packaging3. Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers. IKEA tried it and sales soared. The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA. Nowadays, IKEA is often seen as having connotations of self-sufficiency. This image has done wonders for the company, leading to better sales and continued expansion.

6 Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries. Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company. In 2004 he was named the world's richest man. He currently lives in Switzerland and is retied from the day-to-day operations of IKEA. IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing.

詞匯: entrepreneur /,entrəprə'nə:/ n.企業(yè)家 ware /weə/ n.貨物 minimalist /'miniməlist / adj.最簡單的 self-sufficiency /'self-sə'fiʃənsi/ n.自足

注釋: 1. minimalist furniture:風格簡約的家具 2. discounted prices:折扣價 3. flat packaging:平板包裝

練習: 1. Paragraph 2_________ 2. Paragraph 3_________ 3. Paragraph 4_________ 4. Paragraph 5_________ 5. Even when he was only a child, _________. 6. _________, and years later became a big company specialized in manufacturing and selling of furniture. 7. Customers liked the idea of IKEA's showrooms because _________. 8. As flat packaging saves money for both IKEA and the customers, _________ 2014年綜合類職稱英語教材概括大意與完成句子

答案與題解:

1. C 第二段介紹了IKEA這個店名的來源以及它剛開始的時候是一家什么樣的小雜貨店

2. D 第三段講了IKEA通過郵購方式銷售自己設計、自己制造的家具,業(yè)績喜人,從而擴大生產(chǎn)線,專事家具產(chǎn)銷。

3. B 1953年IKEA引入展示廳的做法得到很好的反響,銷售大大增加。

4. E Kamprad從別人拆卸家具中得到啟發(fā),于是試行銷售平板包裝的`家具,既利己又利人,并使獨立自行成為IKEA的一個特色。

5. C 時間狀語從句告訴我們這里要講的是Ingvar小時候的事情,文章的第一段就說了他從小就會做買賣。

6. A 這句話的后半句說IKEA幾年以后才變成一家專營家具的公司,前半句很可能講它的前身是什么。

7. E 這句的主句講了顧客們喜歡IKEA的展示廳,從句用because引導,很清楚要求給出原因。

8. B 這句先給了原因,即平板包裝對雙方來說都省錢,那么結(jié)果便是雙方都歡迎。