A map of wholesaling

　　5、E Despite variations in detail, wholesale markets in the countries we have examined closely—France, Germany, Italy, and Spain—are made out of the same building blocks. Demand comes mainly from two sources: independent mom-and-pop grocery stores, which unlike large retail chains are too small to buy direct from producers, and food service operators that cater to consumers when they don’t eat at home. Such food service operators range from snack machines to large institutional catering ventures, but most of these businesses are known in the trade as "horeca": hotels, restaurants, and cafés (or, in some countries, catering)。

　　On the supply side, there are two types of wholesalers. Cash-and-carry ones operate stores, similar to warehouses, where they sell food and drink, mostly to traditional retailers and smaller horeca. Customers select and take away their purchases themselves. Delivery wholesalers, by contrast, deliver goods from their warehouses direct to their customers, mostly midsize or large food service operators. Both types of wholesalers abound in each food category, but delivery wholesalers are particularly numerous; generally small, local family businesses, they supply 50 to 60 percent of the market in all countries. Cash-and-carry outlets serve 10 to 20 percent of it, and other intermediaries, such as retail hypermarkets and a few food manufacturers, supply the rest。

　　Overall, Europe’s wholesale market for food and drink is growing at the same sluggish pace as the retail market, but the aggregate figures mask two opposing trends. 6、AThe first and more important is the consumer’s growing preference for eating out: consumption of food and drink in places other than homes has risen from about 32 percent of total consumption in 1995 to 35 percent in 2000 and is expected to approach 38 percent by 2005 (Exhibit 1). This development is boosting wholesale demand from the food service segment by 4 to 5 percent a year across Europe, compared with growth in retail demand of 1 to 2 percent. Moreover, demographic change—particularly the increase in the proportion of older, wealthier people in the population—will probably sustain this pattern。

　　Part B

　　Directions:

　　For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable paragraphs from the first A-G and fill them into the numbered boxes to from a coherent text. Paragraph E has been correctly placed. There is one paragraph which dose not fit in with the text. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1. (10 points)

　　[A]The first and more important is the consumer’s growing preference for eating out; the consumption of food and drink in places other than homes has risen from about 32 percent of total consumption in 1995 to 35 percent in 2000 and is expected to approach 38 percent by 2005. This development is boosting wholesale demand from the food service segment by 4 to 5 percent a year across Europe, compared with growth in retail demand of 1 to 2 percent. Meanwhile, as the recession is looming large, people are getting anxious. They tend to keep a tighter hold on their purse and consider eating at home a realistic alternative。