Kimiyuki Suda should be a perfect customer for Japan's carmakers. He's a young, successful executive at an Internet-services company in Tokyo and has plenty of disposable ___67___. He used to own Toyota's Hilux Surf, a sport utility vehicle. But now he uses ___68___ subways and trains. "It's not inconvenient at all," he says. ___69___, "having a car is so 20th century."

Suda reflects a worrisome ___70___ in Japan; the automobile is losing its emotional appeal, ___71___ among the young, who prefer to spend their money on the latest electronic devices. ___72___ minicars and luxury foreign brands are still popular, everything in between is ___73___. Last year sales fell 6.7 percent—7.6 percent ___74___ you don't count the minicar market. There have been ___75___ one-year drops in other nations: sales in Germany fell 9 percent in 2007 ___76___ a tax increase. But experts say Japan is ___77___ in that sales have been decreasing steadily ___78___ time. Since 1990, yearly new-car sales have fallen from 7.8 million to 5.4 million units in 2007.

Alarmed by this state of ___79___, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association ___80___ a comprehensive study of the market in 2006. It found a ___81___ wealth gap, demographic（人口结构的）changes and ___82___ lack of interest in cars led Japanese to hold their ___83___ longer, replace their cars with smaller ones ___84___ give up car ownership altogether. JAMA ___85___ a further sales decline of 1.2 percent in 2008. Some experts believe that if the trend continues for much longer, further consolidation（结构） in the automotive sector is ___86___.

67. A) profit B) payment C) income D) budget

68. A) mostly B) partially C）occasionally D) rarely

69) A) Therefore B) Besides C) Otherwise D) Consequently

70. A) drift B) tide C) current D) trend

71. A) remarkably B) essentially C) specially D) particularly

72. A) While B) Because C) When D) Since

73. A) surging B) stretching C) slipping D) shaking

74. A) unless B) if C) as D) after

75. A) lower B) slighter C) broader D) larger

76. A) liable to B) in terms of C) thanks to D) in view of

77. A) unique B) similar C) mysterious D) strange

78. A) over B) against C) on D) behind

79. A) mess B) boom C) growth D) decay

80. A) proceeded B) relieved C) launched D) revised

81. A) quickening B) widening C) strengthening D) lengthening

82. A) average B) massive C) abundant D) general

83. A) labels B) cycles C) vehicles D) devices

84. A) or B) until C) but D) then

85. A) concludes B) predicts C) reckons D) prescribes

86. A) distant B) likely C) temporary D) immediate

Keys

67-71 C A B D D 72-76 A C B D C 77-81 A A D C B 82-86 D C A B B