IELTS® Academic Reading Practice 53

The answer is D. The reason why businesses began to export their goods is explained in paragraph D: "people became more discriminating in the goods and services they wished to buy and, as technological advancements brought about increased productivity, supply overtook demand. Companies began, increasingly, to look abroad for additional markets." This details how supply exceeding domestic demand drove businesses to seek markets overseas.

Associated Text:
"as technological advancements brought about increased productivity, supply overtook demand. Companies began, increasingly, to look abroad for additional markets."

The answer is A. Paragraph A uses natural phenomena as a metaphor to describe economic conditions: "The forces that operate to bring about change in organizations can be thought of as winds which are many and varied - from small summer breezes that merely disturb a few papers, to mighty howling gales which cause devastation to structures and operations..." This line directly employs the weather metaphor for organizational change.

Associated Text:
"The forces that operate to bring about change in organizations can be thought of as winds which are many and varied - from small summer breezes that merely disturb a few papers, to mighty howling gales which cause devastation to structures and operations..."

The answer is F. In paragraph F, the opinions of experts are detailed: "Two US academics, Nadler and Tushman wrote in 1999, “Poised on the eve of the next century, we are witnessing a profound transformation in the very nature of our business organizations." and "Graeme Leach, Chief Economist at the British Institute of Directors, claimed in the Guardian newspaper (2000)..." Both sentences outline expert opinions and forecasts about business organizations.

Associated Text:
"Two US academics, Nadler and Tushman wrote in 1999, “Poised on the eve of the next century, we are witnessing a profound transformation in the very nature of our business organizations." and "Graeme Leach, Chief Economist at the British Institute of Directors, claimed in the Guardian newspaper (2000)..."

The answer is E. Paragraph E provides an illustration of the change in focus brought by market competition: "At the same time, organizations faced more intense competition from abroad for their own products and services. In the neo-industrial age of western countries, the emphasis moved towards adding value to goods and services - what Goodman calls the value-oriented time, as contrasted with the task-oriented and products/services-oriented times of the past." This text charts the changing orientation due to intensified competition.

Associated Text:
"At the same time, organizations faced more intense competition from abroad for their own products and services. In the neo-industrial age of western countries, the emphasis moved towards adding value to goods and services - what Goodman calls the value-oriented time, as contrasted with the task-oriented and products/services-oriented times of the past."

The answer is B. Paragraph B explains how market forces came to define the manufacturing process: "for organizations, supplying these goods in ever-increasing numbers became the aim. To a large extent, demand and supply were predictable, enabling companies to structure their organizations along what Burns and Stalker (1966) described as mechanistic lines, that is as systems of strict hierarchical structures and firm means of control." This demonstrates how manufacturing processes adapted to market demands.

Associated Text:
"for organizations, supplying these goods in ever-increasing numbers became the aim. To a large extent, demand and supply were predictable, enabling companies to structure their organizations along what Burns and Stalker (1966) described as mechanistic lines, that is as systems of strict hierarchical structures and firm means of control."

The answer is G. Paragraph G discusses the difficulties of predicting market trends: "Forecasting the future is always fraught with difficulties. For instance, Mannermann (1998) sees future studies as part art and part science and notes, 'The future is full of surprises, uncertainty, trends, and trend breaks, irrationality and rationality, and it is changing and escaping from our hands as time goes by.'" This addresses the unpredictability of market directions.

Associated Text:
"Forecasting the future is always fraught with difficulties. For instance, Mannermann (1998) sees future studies as part art and part science and notes, 'The future is full of surprises, uncertainty, trends, and trend breaks, irrationality and rationality, and it is changing and escaping from our hands as time goes by.'"

The answer is C. Paragraph C explains why customer satisfaction was not a high priority: "The saying attributed to Henry Ford that 'You can have any color of the car so long as it is black,' gives a sense of the supply-led state of the market. Apart from any technical difficulties in producing different colors of the car, Ford did not have to worry about customers’ color preferences: he could sell all that he made." This shows that high demand meant producers did not need to focus on customer satisfaction.

Associated Text:
"The saying attributed to Henry Ford that 'You can have any color of the car so long as it is black,' gives a sense of the supply-led state of the market. Apart from any technical difficulties in producing different colors of the car, Ford did not have to worry about customers’ color preferences: he could sell all that he made."