復習資料AB級：概括大意IKEA
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 business man. 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 – IKEA.
2.IKEA’s name comes from Kamprads’initials（I.K.）and the place where he grew up (E and A )。 Today IKEA is known for its modern， minimalist furniture， 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 prices， 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 manufactures 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 stress with furniture in attractive settings， but in the early 1950s， people ordered from catalogues. Thus response to the first showroom was overwhelming： 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 packaging. 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 retired from the day-today operations of IKEA. IKEA itself， though， just keeps on growing.
1. Paragraph 2 ____。
2. Paragraph 3 ____。
3. Paragraph 4 ____。
4. Paragraph 5 ____。
A. Ingvar Kamprad – a born businessman
B. Success brought by the introduction of showrooms
C. The origin of IKEA
D. Specialization in selling furniture
E. Flat packaging – a feature of IKEA
F. World-wide expansion of IKEA
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， ____。
A. IKEA began as a small store selling all kinds of cheap things.
B. it is highly welcomed by both
C. Ingvar Kamprad showed interest in and talent for doing business.
D. he lives happily in retirement
E. here they can see and try the furniture they are going to buy.
F. Ingvar successfully manages the company all by himself
答案與解析：
1．分析文章標題： The making of a success（成功） story（故事）
標題的含義為“一個成功故事的產生”，IKEA（宜家）貫穿文章出現， 共出現了17次， 因此是文章主題詞。 由此推斷出這篇文章主要講述關于“宜家”（家具生產和制造商）的成功史。
2． 分析小標題被選項：
A.Ingvar Kamprad – a born（天生的） businessman（商人）
B.Success brought（帶來） by the introduction（介紹， 引入） of showrooms（陳列室， 展示廳）
C． The origin （起源）of IKEA
D.Specialization in （專門從事。。。）selling(銷售) furniture（家具）
E.Flat packaging （平板包裝）– a feature（特征） of IKEA
F.World-wide（全世界的） expansion（擴張， 膨脹） of IKEA
選項B. C， D， E和F都直接或間接涉及文章主題（IKKA（宜家）的成功史）， 因此這幾個選項成為答案的可能性較大。
提示：與文章主題直接或間接相關的選項可能是答案，而偏離文章主題的選項成為答案的可能性較小。