Travel time accounts for a majority of an order picker’s total pick time.

s by such familiar authorsas Arthur Former or Eugene Fodor,it will not surprise you to lean that travelwriting has a long and venerable history. Almost from the earliest annals ofrecorded time individuals have found ready audiences for their accounts of journeysto strange and exotic locales. One of the earliest travel writers,a Greek geographer andhistorian named Strabo,lived around the time of Christ. Though Strabo is knownto have traveled from east of the Black Sea west to Italy and as far south as Ethiopia,he also used details gleaned from other writers to extend and enliven his accounts.His multivolumed work Geography provides the only surviving account of thecities,peoples,customs,and geographical peculiarities of the whole known worldof his time. Two other classic travel writers,the Italian Marco Polo and theMoroccan Ibn Battutah,lived in roughly the same time period. Marco Polotraveled to China with his father and uncle in about A. D.1275 and remainedthere 16 or 17 years,visiting several other countries during his travels. WhenMarco returned to Italy he dictated his memoirs,including stories he had heardfrom others,to a scribe,with the resulting book II million being an instantsuccess. Though difficult to attest to the accuracy of all he says,Marco's bookimpelled Europeans to begin their great voyages of exploration. Ibn Battutah's interest in travel began on his required Muslimjourney to Mecca in 1325,and during his lifetime he journeyed through all thecountries where Islam held sway. His travel book the Rihlah is a personalizedaccount of desert journeys, court intrigues, and even the effect of the Back Deathin the various lands he visited . In almost 30 years of traveling it isestimated that Ibn Battutah covered more than 75,000 miles. {TS}This passage is mostly about

A. why people find travel writing exciting

B. the literary style. of three early travel writers

C. where three early travel writers went and wrote about

D. how to write a travel book

though it is clear that a successful salesman does need special talents and an outgoing personality, many of the skills he uses are used by us all: we build and maintain relationships with different kinds of people, we listen to and take notes of what they tell us and don't just enjoy the sound of our own voices, and we explain things to them or discuss ideas with them.

A firm may depend on their own sales team and/or on the salesmanship of their distributors, wholesalers or retailers. But any company needs to establish a personal relationship with its major clients (' key accounts' ) and potential customers (' prospects' ). It is often said that ' people do business with people': a from doesn't just deal impersonally with another firm, but a person in the buying department receives personal visits from people representing the firm's suppliers on a regular basis.

Keeping sales people ' on the road' is much more expensive than employing them to work in the office and much of their time is spent unproductively travelling. Telephone selling may use this time more productively, but a face-to-face meeting and discussion is much more effective. Companies involved in the export trade often have a separate export sales force, whose travel and accommodation expenses may be very high. Serving overseas customers may consequently often be done by phone, telex or letter and personal visits may be infrequent. Many firms appoint an overseas agent or distributor whose own sales force takes over responsibility for selling their products in another country.

A sales department consists of many people who are based in different pans of the country or the world, who don't have the day-to-day contact and opportunities for communicating with each other that office-based staff have. For this reason, firms holds regular sales conferences where their entire sales force can meet, receive information and ask questions about new products and receive training.

Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage？

A．Though a face-to-face meeting would cost much in travelling; it is more effective.

B．Many firms only deal impersonally with other firms in order to save money.

C．Good salesmen often bring notebooks along with them and note down the customers' opinions.

D．Key accounts and prospects are important to all companies.

You won't buy a travel book that______.

A．contain both positive and negative accounts

B．is well-presented

C．has a publication date

D．describes everything as "fabulous"

edit cards and expense accounts, they'd happily lay down hundreds of dollars per night for the privilege of a Godiva chocolate on their pillow and a sunken whirlpool tub in their bathroom. But just as pro longed corporate belt tightening has forced road warriors to use budget airlines, more and more of them are now eschewing five-star lodging in favor of cheaper accommodations. Indeed, earlier this year the U.S.-based National Business Travel Association released figures showing that 61 percent of corporate travel managers planned to book their people into lower-priced hotels in the coming year.

Here's the good news: penny-pinching is translating into better deals at cheap and up-market hotels alike. Services at middle-market hotels are rising to accommodate a new wave of more demanding corporate customers. And luxury hotels are working harder to keep business travelers coming, offering lower rates, special packages and extra services. Even though business-travel volume is set to rise by more than 4 percent in 2004 after three dismal years, hotels will continue to be under pressure—in large part because a weak dollar is forcing American business travelers to search for value.

Some of the best deals are coming from the big chains. In January Starwood Hotels announced it would upgrade its global middle-market brand, Four Points, by rolling out free high-speed wireless Internet access in all guest rooms. On the flip side, upscale brands like Inter Continental and Ritz Carlton are selling empty rooms at discount rates via online services. That has the effect of depressing luxury-room prices, because corporate travel managers can now demand that hotels match their own discount prices all the time. Inter Continental hotels in France and Germany have been hit so hard that they are actually repricing their rooms to reflect rates before the dollar began falling. Upscale hotels like Waldorf-Astoria, Sofitel are also trying to offer extra services.

But beware of new, hidden fees. In an effort to make up some of their lost revenue, hotels are starting to charge corporate travelers for things that used to be free—including breakfast, banquet or meeting rooms.

Aside from saving companies money, the trend in frugal business travel may give rise to a whole new market segment: the buy-to-let hotel room, Last week in London, British property developer Johnny Sandelson launched GuestInvest, a hotel in Notting Hill where users can purchase a room for ￡35,000, use it for a maximum of 52 nights a year themselves, then rent it out the rest of the time to make extra money. It seems an idea whose time has come: GuestInvest says it has already fielded hundreds of calls from business people interested in making a cheaper hotel their second home.

According to the passage, business travelers used to

A．take budget airlines.

B．book lower-priced hotels.

C．enjoy privileges in hotels.

D．be customers of luxurious hotels.

？Read the article below about sales.

？Choose the correct word to fill each gap from A, B, C or D.

？For each question (21-30), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.

Some people believe that you have to be a special kind of person to sell a product. Although it is clear that a successful sales rep does need special talents and an outgoing personality, many of the skills he uses are used by most of us. we build and (21) . relationships with different kinds of people, we listen to and take note of what they tell us and don't just enjoy the sound of our own voices and we explain things to them and share ideas with them.

A company may depend on its own sales team or on the salesmanship of its distributors, wholesalers or retailers. (22) any company needs to establish a personal relationship with its major clients (key accounts) and potential customers (prospects). It is often said that "people do business with people": a company doesn't just deal impersonally (23) another company, but a person in the buying department receives personal visits from people representing the company's suppliers on a regular basis—or in the case of department stores (24) chain stores, a team of buyers may travel around visiting suppliers.

Keeping sales people "on the road" is much more expensive (25) employing them to work in the office and much of their time is spent unproductively traveling. Telephone selling may use the time more productively (though in some countries this is illegal), but a face-to-face meeting and discussion is much more effective. Companies involved in the export trade often have a separate export sales department, (26) travel and accommodation expenses may be very high. Servicing overseas customers may consequently often be done (27) phone, telex or letter. And personal visits may be infrequent. Many companies appoint an overseas agent or distributor whose own sales force takes (28) responsibility for selling their products in another country.

A sales department consists of many people who are based (29) different parts of the country or the world, who don't have the day-to-day contact and opportunities for communicating with each other that office-based staff have. (30) this reason, companies hold regular sales conferences where their entire sales force can meet, receive information and ask questions about new products and receive training.

(21)

A．keep

B．maintain

C．make

D．construct

A、ledger accounts

B、journal

C、general ledger

D、none of the above

A.one

B.two

C.three

D.four