Case study: Chocozine’s difficult decision

文章大意

讲座讲述北美定制巧克力公司Chocozine（又称Chocolazine）的创业案例。创始人Eric Smith和同事受大规模定制潮流启发，推出可自选配料的定制巧克力棒。公司成立约九个月时，一家欧洲奢侈品零售商询价订购1.5万块巧克力作为高端门店赠品。面对远超日常销量的诱人订单，他们需权衡交付能力、财务风险、声誉影响及仅有三台机器的产能限制。

题目与答案

1. Background

   ·Smith and his colleagues noticed the spread of mass-customisation in many US 31_____.

   ·They decided to apply the idea to chocolate, and allow clients to decide which ingredients they wanted.

   ·They called their company’s ‘Chocozine’.

   答案：industries

   原文定位：A man called Eric Smith and two of his colleagues were struck by the mass customization movement that was spreading through a large number of industries in the US

   同义替换：「noticed」↔「struck by」，「spread of mass-customisation」↔「mass customization movement that was spreading」，「many」↔「a large number of」

2. The email order

   ·A European retailer wanted 15,000 chocolate bars to use as a 32_____ for customers.

   答案：gift

   原文定位：This retailer was inquiring about ordering fifteen thousand bars of chocolate for their customers. They wanted to give these as a gift in their high-end stores

3. ·The deal could improve their sales and provide 33_____ .

   答案：publicity

   原文定位：Smith and his co-founders knew it could also be very good publicity, so they needed to consider it carefully

   同义替换：「provide」↔「could also be very good」

4. But there were risks

   · They might not have sufficient time for the job.

   ·If they failed, it could affect their finances and their 34_____ .

   答案：reputation

   原文定位：Also, if they accepted it, and then it turned out they couldn't do it, what about the financial fallout, as well as the possible damage to the company's reputation

   同义替换：「failed」↔「couldn't do it」，「affect」↔「damage」

5. · They only had three 35_____, which was not enough.

   答案：machines

   原文定位：They only had three of them, and that clearly wasn't going to be enough

6. They attempt to subcontract

   ·At first they couldn’t find a subcontract with the right 36_____ .

   答案：experience

   原文定位：Smith spent two days searching for a suitable subcontractor, but he couldn't find anyone who had experience of making bars with the type of melted toppings that Chocolazine used

   同义替换：「right」↔「suitable」

7. ·A Harvard professor invited Smith to speak to students.

   ·Many students said it would be a 37_____ to do the deal.

   答案：mistake

   原文定位：Many of the students thought that doing the deal with the luxury retailer would be a mistake

   同义替换：「said」↔「thought」

8. ·One student had a 38_____ in the chocolate industry.

   答案：contact

   原文定位：However, after the class, Smith spoke with one of the students. This student had worked as a buyer at a major chocolate retailer, and he said he had a contact in the business who might be interested in doing the job

   同义替换：「industry」↔「business」

9. ·But this subcontract had trouble with the unusual 39_____ of the chocolate bar.

   ·Chocozine finally declined the order, but their sales improved anyway.

   答案：shape

   原文定位：He said he was interested in doing the order, but he found there were difficult technical issues to be worked out, including how to faithfully reproduce the distinctive shape of the Chocolazine bars

   同义替换：「trouble with」↔「difficult technical issues」，「unusual」↔「distinctive」

10. Comment

    ·Accepting 40_____ orders has created severe problems for many new businesses.

    答案：big

    原文定位：taking on too big an order has destroyed many a small business

    同义替换：「Accepting」↔「taking on」，「created severe problems」↔「destroyed many a small business」