The following appeared in a memorandum written by the vice president of Nature's Way, a chain of stores selling health food and other health-related products.
"Previous experience has shown that our stores are most profitable in areas where residents are highly concerned with leading healthy lives. We should therefore build our next new store in Plainsville, which has many such residents. Plainsville merchants report that sales of running shoes and exercise clothing are at all-time highs. The local health club, which nearly closed five years ago due to lack of business, has more members than ever, and the weight training and aerobics classes are always full. We can even anticipate a new generation of customers: Plainsville's schoolchildren are required to participate in a 'fitness for life' program, which emphasizes the benefits of regular exercise at an early age."
下述文字摘自《自然之道》副总裁撰写的一份备忘录。《自然立道》是一家出售健康食品和其他与健康相关产品的连锁商店。
　　“此前的经验表明，在居民们极其注重健康生活的那些地区，我们的商店能达到最大程度上的盈利。因此，我们应该将我们下一家新的商店开设在Plainsville市，因为该市拥有许多这样的居民。Plainsville市的商人反映说，运动鞋和运动衫的销售连创历史新高。当地的一家健身俱乐部，5年之前由于生意清淡几近倒闭，现在所拥有的会员超过了以往任何时候，而瘦身训练班和增氧健身班总是人满为患。我们甚至可以预期新一代顾客即将出现：Plainsville市的在校学童被要求参加一项‘终身健身’项目，该项目强调有经常性的早期锻炼所能带来的益处。”

The following appeared in a letter sent by a committee of homeowners from the Deerhaven Acres to all homeowners in Deerhaven Acres.
"Seven years ago, homeowners in nearby Brookville community adopted a set of restrictions on how the community's yards should be landscaped and what colors the exteriors of homes should be painted. Since then, average property values have tripled in Brookville. In order to raise property values in Deerhaven Acres, we should adopt our own set of restrictions on landscaping and house painting."
下述文字摘自Deerhaven Acres房屋业主委员会致Deerhaven Acres所有房屋业主的一封信函。
　　“7年前，附近的Brookville社区的业主们采取了一系列限制性措施，规定了社区的院子应如何设计风景，住房的外部应漆上何种颜色。自那时候以来，Brookville平均房价已翻了三倍。为了使Deerhaven Acres的房地产升值，我们应该采用我们自己的一整套规范风景设计和房屋颜色的限制措施。”

The following appeared in a newspaper article about law firms in the city of Megalopolis.
"In Megalopolis, the number of law school graduates who went to work for large, corporate firms declined by 15 percent over the last three years, whereas an increasing number of graduates took jobs at small, general practice firms. Even though large firms usually offer much higher salaries, law school graduates are choosing to work for the smaller firms most likely because they experience greater job satisfaction at smaller firms. In a survey of first-year students at a leading law school, most agreed with the statement that earning a high salary was less important to them than job satisfaction. This finding suggests that the large, corporate firms of Megalopolis will need to offer graduates more benefits and incentives and reduce the number of hours they must work."
下述文字摘自某份报刊上关于Megalopolis市法律事务所的一篇文章。
　　“在Megalopolis市，在过去3年中，前往大型公司性事务所工作的法学院毕业生的数量下降了15％；相反，越来越多的毕业生则在小型的、一般性实习事务所就职。尽管大型事务所普遍提供远高得多的薪酬，但法学院毕业生之所以选择为小型事务所工作，最有可能是因为他们在较小的事务所能体验到较大的职业满足感。在一项对某著名法学院５年级学生所作的调查中，大多数受访者同意这样一种陈述，即对他们来说，获得高薪水远没有职业满足感那么重要。这一调查结果表明，Megalopolis市的那些大型的、公司性事务所有必要向毕业生提供更多的实惠和福利，并减少工作时间。”

The following was posted on an Internet real estate discussion site.
"Of the two leading real estate firms in our town—Adams Realty and Fitch Realty—Adams is clearly superior. Adams has 40 real estate agents. In contrast, Fitch has 25, many of whom work only part-time. Moreover, Adams' revenue last year was twice as high as that of Fitch, and included home sales that averaged $168,000, compared to Fitch's $144,000. Homes listed with Adams sell faster as well: ten years ago, I listed my home with Fitch and it took more than four months to sell; last year, when I sold another home, I listed it with Adams, and it took only one month. Thus, if you want to sell your home quickly and at a good price, you should use Adams."
下述文字是发表在某因特网房地产讨论区的一副贴子。
　　“在我镇两大房地产公司——Adams房地产公司和Fitch房地产公司——之间，Adams公司显然更为优秀。Adams公司拥有40家房地产代理商。相反，Fitch公司只有25家，其中许多家代理商只是兼职性质的。此外，Adams公司去年的收益是Fitch公司的两倍，每幢房屋的平均售价达168，000美元，与此形成对比的是Fitch公司，只达到144，000美元。列入Adams公司名下的房屋售出速度也来得更快。10年前，我将自己的房屋列在Fitch公司的名单上，但却花了4个多月才得以售出。去年，当我们出售另一栋房屋时，我将它列入到Adams公司的名下，结果只花了一个月。因此，如果你想尽快出售你的住房，并想卖个好价钱的话，你应该使用Adams公司的服务。”

The following appeared in the business section of a newspaper.
"Given that the number of people in our country with some form of arthritis is expected to rise from 40 million to 60 million over the next twenty years, pharmaceutical companies that produce drugs for the treatment of arthritis should be very profitable. Many analysts believe that in ten years Becton Pharmaceuticals, which makes Xenon, the best-selling drug treatment for arthritis, will be the most profitable pharmaceutical company. But the patent on Xenon expires in three years, and other companies will then be able to produce a cheaper version of the drug. Thus, it is more likely that in ten years the most profitable pharmaceutical company will be Perkins Pharmaceuticals, maker of a new drug called Xylan, which clinical studies show is preferred over Xenon by seven out of ten patients suffering from the most extreme cases of arthritis."
下述文字摘自某报的商务部分。
　　“鉴于我国患有某种形式的关节炎的病人的数量可望在接下来的20年中从4000万升至6000万，生产治疗关节炎药品的制药公司将会有可观的盈利。许多分析家认为，在10年之内，Becton制药公司（它所生产的Xenon药是治疗关节炎的最畅销药）将成为盈利最多的制药公司。但Xenon药的专利将在3年内到期，其他公司届时都可以去制造较为廉价的同类药品。因此情况更有可能是，在10年之内，盈利最丰的制药公司将会是Perkins制药公司。它是一家制造一种被称为Xylan新药的企业，而临床研究表明，每10个患有最极端关节炎个案的病人中，有7个会选用Xylan药而不会选用Xenon药。”

The following appeared in a memo from the mayor of the town of West Egg.
"Two years ago, our consultants predicted that West Egg's landfill, which is used for garbage disposal, would be completely filled within five years. During the past two years, however, town residents have been recycling twice as much aluminum and paper as they did in previous years. Next month the amount of material recycled should further increase, since charges for garbage pickup will double. Furthermore, over ninety percent of the respondents to a recent survey said that they would do more recycling in the future. Because of our residents' strong commitment to recycling, the available space in our landfill should last for considerably longer than predicted."
下述文字摘自West Egg 镇市长的一份备忘录。
　　“二年前，我们的咨询顾问们预测，用于垃圾处理的填埋场会在5年之内全部填满。但在过去的二年中，本镇居民们一直在回收利用铝和纸，其回收量是前几年的两倍。下个月，所回收的材料的数量将进一步增加，因为垃圾清运费将会翻番。此外，一项近期调查的90％以上的受访者称，他们将在未来作更多的回收利用。由于我们的居民坚决致力于回收利用，因此，我们的填埋场尚存的空间将比所预测的时间能持续远长得多的使用时间。”

The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of Alta Manufacturing.
"During the past year, Alta Manufacturing had thirty percent more on-the-job accidents than nearby Panoply Industries, where the work shifts are one hour shorter than ours. Experts believe that a significant contributing factor in many on-the-job accidents is fatigue and sleep deprivation among workers. Therefore, to reduce the number of on-the-job accidents at Alta and thereby increase productivity, we should shorten each of our three work shifts by one hour so that our employees will get adequate amounts of sleep."
下述文字摘自Alta制造公司副总裁的备忘录。
　　“在过去的一年中，Alta制造公司所发生的工作现场事故超出了附近Panoply工业公司的30％，在他们那里，每班工作时间要比我们的少一小时。专家认为，许多工作现场事故的一个重要诱因是工作疲劳和缺乏睡眠。因此，为了减少Alta公司工作现场事故的数量，并由此而提高生产效益，我们应该将每天三班中每一班的工作时间减少一小时，以便让我们的职工获得足够的睡眠。”

The following appeared in a memo from the chief executive of a video game company.
"We have recently been offered the opportunity to buy the rights to produce a video game based on the soon-to-be-published children's book "Squirrel Power," by Peter Wood. While the cost of the rights is substantial and will place economic constraints on our company in the short-term, there are two reasons that the purchase of these rights will undoubtedly be a wise investment. First, Wood's last three books have been best sellers and the movie based on his first book was highly profitable. Second, the popular characters and story line in "Squirrel Power" will save us time in developing our video game, thereby reducing our costs."
下述文字摘自某电视游戏公司行政总裁的备忘录。
　　“有人最近向我们提供了一个机会，可购买版权来制作基于Peter Wood即将出版的儿童故事书《松鼠力量》的电视游戏。虽然购买版权耗费巨大，并将在短期内对我们公司构成经济压力，但有二个原因可证明购买这些版权无疑是一项极为明智的投资。首先，Wood的最后三部作品一直是畅销书，改编自他第一部作品的电影也有过极为不俗的盈利表现。其次，《松鼠力量》一书中广受欢迎的人物及故事情节将有助于我们节省制作我们自己电视游戏的时间，从而减少我们的开支。”

The following appeared in a memo from the owner of Green Thumb Gardening Center, a small business serving a suburban town.
"There is evidence that consumers are becoming more and more interested in growing their own vegetables. A national survey conducted last month indicated that many consumers were dissatisfied with the quality of fresh vegetables available in supermarkets. And locally, the gardening magazine Great Gardens has sold out at the Village News stand three months in a row. Thus, we at Green Thumb Gardening Center can increase our profits by greatly expanding the variety of vegetable seeds we stock for gardeners this coming spring."
下述文字摘自Green Thumb园艺中心（一家为一郊区小镇提供服务的小型商家）老板的一份备忘录。
　　 “有证据表明，消费者正在变得越来越感兴趣于种植其自己的蔬菜。上个月进行的一项全国性调查表明，许多消费者对超市出售的新鲜蔬菜的质量深表不满。在我们本地，名为《伟大的花园》的园艺杂志连续三个月在村庄报刊摊上被抢购一空。因此，在Green Thumb园艺中心，我们可望增加我们的利润，只要我们大幅度扩展我们在即将来到的这个春天为园丁们准备的蔬菜种籽的品种。”

The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper from a citizen of the state of Impecunia.
"Two years ago our neighboring state, Lucria, began a state lottery to supplement tax revenues for education and public health. Today, Lucria spends more per pupil than we do, and Lucria's public health program treats far more people than our state's program does. If we were to establish a state lottery like the one in Lucria, the profits could be used to improve our educational system and public health program. The new lottery would doubtless be successful, because a survey conducted in our capital city concludes that citizens of Impecunia already spend an average of $50 per person per year on gambling."
下述文字摘自一封Impecunia州的居民致某当地报纸编辑的信函。
　　 “2年前，我们的邻州Lucria设立了州立抽奖来补充用于教育和公共健康的税收。今天，Lucria州花在每个学生身上的经费要比我们的多，并且，Lucria州的公共卫生项目所治疗的病人远比我们的多。如果我们也设立像Lucria州那样的州立抽奖的话，从中获得的利润就可用来改善我们的教育制度和公共卫生项目。新的抽奖毫无疑问将会大获成功，因为一项在州首府城市进行的调查得出的结论是，Impecunia州的居民平均每人每年在赌博上的花费已达到50美元。”

The following appeared in a letter to the editor of the Walnut Grove town newspaper.
"Walnut Grove's town council has advocated switching from EZ Disposal (which has had the contract for trash collection services in Walnut Grove for the past ten years) to ABC Waste, because EZ recently raised its monthly fee from $2,000 to $2,500 a month, whereas ABC's fee is still $2,000. But the town council is mistaken; we should continue using EZ. EZ collects trash twice a week, while ABC collects only once. Moreover, EZ—which, like ABC, currently has a fleet of 20 trucks—has ordered additional trucks. Finally, EZ provides exceptional service: 80 percent of respondents to last year's town survey agreed that they were 'satisfied' with EZ's performance."
下述文字摘自一封致Walnut Grove 镇报编辑的信函。
　　 “Walnut Grove镇政委员会已提议将业务从EZ垃圾处理公司（该公司已获得在过去10年中负责Walnut Grove镇垃圾收集服务的合约）转至ABC废物处理公司，因为EZ公司最近将其每月收费用2000美元提高到2500美元，而ABC公司的收费则仍然为2000美元。但镇政府委员会却犯了一个错误。我们应该继续使用EZ公司。EZ公司每周二次收集垃圾，而ABC公司只有每周一次。此外，EZ公司——该公司目前与ABC公司一样拥有20辆车的运输队——已定购了更多的车辆。最后，EZ公司所提供的服务非常出色——针对去年的一项全镇性调查，80％的受访者认定他们对EZ的表现‘满意’。”

The following appeared in an editorial in a Prunty County newspaper.
"In an attempt to improve highway safety, Prunty County recently lowered its speed limit from 55 miles per hour to 45 on all major county roads. But the 55 mph limit should be restored, because this safety effort has failed. Most drivers are exceeding the new speed limit and the accident rate throughout Prunty County has decreased only slightly. If we want to improve the safety of our roads, we should instead undertake the same kind of road improvement project that Butler County completed five years ago: increasing lane widths and resurfacing rough roads. Today, major Butler County roads still have a 55 mph speed limit, yet there were 25 percent fewer reported accidents in Butler County this past year than there were five years ago."
下述文字摘自Prunty县某份报纸上的社论。
　　“为了提高公路上的安全性，Prunty县最近在其所有主要县级道路上将车辆的限速标准从每小时55英里降至每小时45英里。但是，每小时55英里的限速标准应予恢复，因为这一安全努力已告失败。大多数驾驶者都在超过这一新的限速标准，Prunty全县的事故率仅有微弱下降。如果我们希望提高我们道路的安全性，我们应另想办法来实施像Butler县5年前完成的那种道路改进工程，即扩大车道宽度，重新浇制高低不平道路的路面。今天，Butler县的主要道路仍然维持着每小时55英里的限速标准，但Butler县过去这一年中有报道的车祸数量要比5年前的减少了25％。”

The following appeared in a letter from the manager of a rock band named Double Rice.
"One year ago, tickets for Double Rice's concerts in stadiums around the country took, on average, at least 24 hours to sell out, if they sold out at all. But the band has been enjoying a surge in nationwide popularity among 14 to 25 year olds, and the 30,000 tickets for a recent concert in Megalopolis sold out in 12 minutes. Clearly the ticket sales in Megalopolis are a result both of the band's increased popularity and of the advertising campaign run in Megalopolis by the Ad Lib advertising agency. Thus, in order to ensure that the band's success in Megalopolis is repeated across the country, the band should hire Ad Lib to duplicate the Megalopolis ad campaign on a nationwide scale."
下述文字摘自一个名为Double Rice 摇滚乐团经理的一封信函。
　　“一年前，Double Rice乐队在全国各体育馆举办的音乐会门票平均要花24小时才能售完，如果真能售完的话。但本乐队在14至25岁年龄段的观众中受欢迎的程度在全国范围内正在急骤飚升，最近一次在Megalopolis市举办的音乐会，30,000张门票12分钟便被抢购一空。显而易见，Megalopolis的售票业绩之所以如此之好，一方面是因为本乐队著名度的提高，另一方面是由于 Ad Lib广告代理公司在Megalopolis市进行了声势浩大的广告宣传。因此，为了确保本乐队在Megalopolis市的成功能在全国各地重演，本乐队应该雇佣Ad Lib广告公司在全国范围内复制Megalopolis市的那种广告造势活动。”

The following appeared in a letter to the editor of the Balmer Island Gazette.
"The population of Balmer Island increases to 100,000 duing the summer months. To reduce the number of accidents involving mopeds and pedestrians, the town council of Balmer Island should limit the number of mopeds rented by each of the island's six moped and bicycle rental companies from 50 per day to 30 per day during the summer season. By limiting the number of rentals, the town council is sure to attain the 50 percent reduction in moped accidents that was achieved last year in the neighboring island of Torseau, when Torseau's town council enforced similar limits on moped rentals."
下述文字摘自一封致《Balmer岛报》编辑的信函。
　　“Balmer岛的人口在夏季的几个月中增加到10万人。为了减少涉及到机动自行车和行人的交通事故，Balmer岛的镇政委员会应该限制由岛上6个机动自行车和人力自行车租赁公司中每个公司租出的机动自行车的数量，在夏季将每天50辆减至每天30辆。通过限制租车数量，镇政委员会肯定能达到机动自行车交通事故减少50％的目标，而这恰好就是附近的Torseau岛去年所取得的成绩，因为Torseau岛的镇政委员会对机动自行车的租赁实施了类似的限制。”

The following appeared in a memo from the new vice president of Sartorian, a company that manufactures men's clothing.
"Five years ago, at a time when we had difficulties in obtaining reliable supplies of high-quality wool fabric, we discontinued production of our deluxe alpaca overcoats. Now that we have a new fabric supplier, we should resume production. This coat should sell very well: since we have not offered an alpaca overcoat for five years and since our major competitor no longer makes an alpaca overcoat, there will be pent-up customer demand. Also, since the price of most types of clothing has risen in each of the past five years, customers should be willing to pay significantly higher prices for alpaca overcoats than they did five years ago, and our company profits will increase."
下述文字摘自Sartorian——一家制造男仕服装的公司——新任副总裁的备忘录。
　　“5年前，当我们难以获得可靠的高品质羊毛纤维供应的时候，我们中止了我们豪华羊驼呢大衣的生产。既然我们现在有了新的纤维供应商，我们应该重新进行该款服饰的生产。它将有很好的销路：既然我们已有5年的时间中止了羊驼呢大衣的销售，并且，既然我们的竞争对手已不再生产羊驼呢大衣，将会存在郁积的消费需求。此外，既然大多数类型的服饰的价格在过去5年中逐年上涨，削费者会非常乐意去花比5年前远高得多的价钱去购买羊驼呢大衣。我们公司的利润必将增涨。”

The following appeared in a memo from the president of a company that builds and sells new homes in Steel City.
"Over the past five years, the population of Steel City has increased by more than 20 percent, and family incomes in Steel City have risen much faster than the national average. Nationwide, sales of houses priced above $150,000 have increased more than have sales of lower-priced houses. Such data indicate that we should make changes in our business to increase company profits. First, we should build fewer low-priced houses than we did last year and focus instead on building houses designed to sell at above $150,000. Second, we should hire additional workers so that we can build a larger total number of houses than we did last year."
下述文字摘自在钢城建造和出售住房的某公司总裁的备忘录。
　　“在过去的5年中，钢城的人口增加了20％以上，钢城家庭收入的涨幅远快于全国的平均水平。从全国形势看，售价在15万美元以上的房屋的销售量，增长的幅度已超过售价较低的房屋的销售量。这些数据均表明，我们应该对我们的业务进行某些调整，以便增加我们的利润。首先我们应该比去年少建低价住房，相反，应集中力量去建造售价在15万美元以上的房屋。其次，我们应该雇佣更多的工人，这样我们就能建造总量超过去年的房屋。”