Reading Comprehension Home Exercise- 03, PASSAGE B

PASSAGE B

 Seeking a competitive advantage, some professional service firms (for example. Films providing advertising, accounting or health care services) have considered offering unconditional guarantees of satisfaction. Such guarantees specify what clients can expect and what the firm will do it fails to fulfill these expectations. Particularly with first-time clients, an unconditional guarantee can be an effective marking tool if the client is very cautious, the firm’s fees are high, the negative consequences of bad service are grave, or business is difficult to obtain through referrals and word-of –mouth.

However, an unconditional guarantee can sometimes hinder marketing efforts. With its implication that failure is possible, the guarantee may, paradoxically, cause clients to doubt the service firm’s ability to deliver the promised level of service. It may conflict with a firm’s desire to appear sophisticated, or may even suggest that a film is begging for business. In legal and health care services, it may mislead clients by suggesting that lawsuits or medical procedures will have guaranteed outcomes. Indeed, professional service firms with outstanding reputations and performance to match have little to gain from offering unconditional guarantees. And any firm that implements an unconditional guarantee without undertaking a commensurate commitment to quality of service is merely employing a potentially costly marketing gimmick.

1.       The primary function of the passage as a whole is to

A.      Account for the popularity of a practice

B.      Evaluate the utility of a practice

C.      Demonstrate how to institute a practice

D.      Weigh the ethics of using a strategy

2.       All of the following are mentioned in the passage as circumstances in which professional service firms can benefit  from offering an unconditional guarantee EXCEPT:

A.      The firm is having difficulty retaining its clients of long standing.

B.      The firm is having difficulty getting business through client recommendations.

C.      The firm charges substantial fees for its services.

D.      The adverse effects of poor performance by the firm are significant for the client.

3.       Which of the following is cited in the passage as a goal of some professional service firms in offering unconditional guarantees of satisfaction?

A.      A limit on the firm’s liability

B.      Successful competition against other firms

C.      Ability to justify fee increases

D.      Attainment of an outstanding reputation  in a field

Answer:

1.       B The first paragraph explains the practice of offering guarantees and lists circumstances in which an unconditional guarantee may be an appropriate marketing tool. The second paragraph begins with however, implying that a contradiction is about to follow. The serious drawbacks to guarantees are examined, and the passage closes with a warning.

2.       A   To answer this question, use the process of elimination to find the one example that is NOT mentioned in the passage. The question refers, where the circumstances in which an unconditional guarantee might be beneficial to a firm are listed. Check each of the response to the question against the list; the one that does not appear in the list is the correct answer.

3.        B   The passage opens with an explanation of why some firms want to offer unconditional guarantees: Seeking a competitive advantage explains their rationale. Firms offer the guarantees to compete more effectively against firms that do not offer guarantees.