the United States is in size. In terms of volume and variety of sales, the market in Europe is only a shadow of its American counterpart, but it is a growing shadow.
0 I- m, w# Q/ l5 m5 w% c' a' a But there are also these important dissimilarities generally with the American youth market:
% p/ r) O$ Y) |) {9 I4 } In the European youth market, unlike that of the United States, it is the working youth who provides the bulk of purchasing power.0 G: C$ J5 O. h- ?" j
On the average, the school-finishing age still tends to be 14 years. This is the maximum age to which compulsory education extends, and with Europe’s industrial manpower shortage, thousands of teenage youths may soon attain incomes equal in many cases to that of their fathers., K* K) B8 L I7 x/ F" n7 r
Although, because of general prosperity, European youths are beginning to continue school studies beyond the compulsory maximum age, they do not receive anything like the pocket money or “allowances” of American teenagers. The Europe an average is about $ 5 to $ 10 a month.
( `9 x! B5 H- g7 _( |/ j; `& o Working youth, consequently, are the big spenders in the European youth market, but they also have less leisure than those staying on at school, who in mm have less buying power.6 D, T1 W/ i0 J' T/ f7 k
TEXT H
3 z) `# @$ b! {2 C1 ? First read the question.1 m6 t8 z" ]: x* T! M6 I! M
34. The passage mainly ___.# z7 p, f4 c- s# D
A. discusses patterns in company car use
8 \8 T3 S5 ?; t4 C B. advertises famous British company cars
' a+ h3 n) s: u7 a# | C. recommends inexpensive company cars3 O% F. O _ l9 i" n2 w# L
D. introduces different models of cars% X4 s! L. k7 J: j
Now go through the TEXT H quickly and answer the question.
3 z* E6 T6 A7 C* N Motorists would rather pay more tax than lose the place in the corporate pecking order conferred on them by their company cars.' z- r6 }' B7 a( E
And it is the company car—which accounts for half of all new motor sales each year—which continues to be the key method of measuring your progress up the greasy pole.3 k' q3 v a5 ^/ i3 V" Q% Q
Although a Roll-Royce or Bentley is the ultimate success symbol, a Jaguar is still desired by most top directors, according to the survey by top people’s pay and perks experts at the Monks Partnership.
+ i7 m5 F( W; Y. X# ]1 f v About 40 percent of company cars are perks rather than necessities for the job, even though the average company car driver with a 1500cc engine is paying more than three times as much in tax compared to a decade ago.
& b" R9 H; q, P% t Average cash allowances for a company car rise from 1,500 for those whose job requires them to have four wheels, to £ 4,000 for chief executives.
* T! K, `; s$ z( v For company chairmen, the BMW 7 series and Jaguar’s Daimler Double Six top the list of favoured cars , with upper range Mercedes-Benz models close behind.9 B# k0 g7 R7 @% F" B. @
The chief executive’s tastes follow a similar pattern with Jaguar’s Sovereign 4.0 litre and XJ 63.2, Mercedes-Benz’s 320/300 and the BMW 7-series proving most popular.0 a# g; v9 A$ M
For other directors, the BMW 5 series is tops, followed by the Mercedes-Benz 200 series, Jaguar’s XJ 63.2 and the Rover 800 series.
: A- i2 s7 l) W Senior managers favour the BMW 3 and 5 series, depending on their rank and company size.9 r3 Z" C8 G1 d: u R( G6 S
Sales representatives drive the 1.8 and 1.6 litre Ford Mondeos, Rover 200 and 400 series and Peugeot’s 405.
2 r' Y6 P5 c" U( L/ k; f Top of the prohibited list are sports cars and convertibles.$ p) I6 e0 w6 [; c' z
But British policies are being relaxed, with 64 per cent of companies offering Japanese cars. The practice of employees trading up by making cash contribution to the value of the car they want is becoming more common, with some from reporting take-up rates in excess of 70 per cent. |