Creating the Logistics Vision Nowadays,most companies are familiar with the idea of "mission statement"as an expression of setting a vision for the business.The mission statement seeks to define the pur-pose of the business,its boundaries and its aspirations.It is now common for organizations to have such statement for the business as a whole and for key constituent components.What some companies have found is that there can be significant benefits to defining the lo-gistics vision of the firm. The purpose of the logistics vision statement is to give a clear indication which business intends to build a position of advantage through closer customer relationship.Such state-ment is never easy to construct.There is always the danger that they will publish the ener-getic and encouraging declaration that give everyone a warm feeling but provide no guideline for action. Ideally the logistics vision should be built around the simple issue of"How do we intend to use logistics and supply chain management to create value for our customers?"To realize this idea will necessitate a detailed understanding of how customer value is created and deliv-ered in the market in which the business competes.Value chain analysis will be a fundamen-tal element in this investigation as will the definition of the core competencies and capabilities of the organization.Asking the question"What activities dowe excel in?"and"What is it that differentiates us from our competitors?"is the starting point for creating the logistics vision statement. Earlier,it was suggested that the three words"Better,Faster,Cheaper"summarizes the ways in which logistics vision statement can provide value for customers.The criterion for good logistics vision statement is that it should provide the road map for how these three goals are to be achieved． Questions:

What should a logistics mission statement provide?( )

A:Management encouragement. B:A design of new methods to apply to customer satisfaction. C:Some detailed actions to undertake to obtain more market share. D:An outline of actions for goals to be achieved．

What is logistics? In the current business environment,logistics is generally accepted as a very important element for the economic development and business growth of a region,especially a port city. In reality,what does logistics mean?In which way does it operate? For simple definition,logistics is a set of procedures in which commodity is delivered in an efficient manner from suppliers to customers.There are three key aspects to the concepts: 1．Movement of goods Goods can be considered as valuable objects,such as cargo and materials that are valua-ble and purchasable through commercial transactions and processes.Flow can be determined as methods in which goods are moved or transferred between locations,intermediaries and merchandisers.Modes of transportation include motor,rail,water,air and pipeline. 2.Direction of the flow of goods In the open market place,buyers and sellers represent two ends of a commercialtrans-action.Buyers are usually customers who demand the goods,while,as sellers are suppliers who provide such goods.When a transaction is agreed upon (sometimes payment is comple-ted,other times the payment is arranged to be completed at a later stage),the suppliers have the responsibility to arrange for the goods to be delivered to the customers. 3.Efficient management of the flow process The transportation of goods should bear low cost and ensure safety and punctuality.It should do its best to avoid wasting customers＇resources.Currently,the flow of goods is generally controlled by both hardware and software.By hardware,we mean logistics facili-ties and equipment,such as ports,warehouses and trucks,ships,railroad,cars and air-lines.By software,we mean information system,standardization and data sharing.Questions:

,Which of the following is a key aspect of logistics?( )

A:Goods. B:Customers. C:Suppliers. D:Movement of goods.

What is logistics? In the current business environment,logistics is generally accepted as a very important element for the economic development and business growth of a region,especially a port city. In reality,what does logistics mean?In which way does it operate? For simple definition,logistics is a set of procedures in which commodity is delivered in an efficient manner from suppliers to customers.There are three key aspects to the concepts: 1．Movement of goods Goods can be considered as valuable objects,such as cargo and materials that are valua-ble and purchasable through commercial transactions and processes.Flow can be determined as methods in which goods are moved or transferred between locations,intermediaries and merchandisers.Modes of transportation include motor,rail,water,air and pipeline. 2.Direction of the flow of goods In the open market place,buyers and sellers represent two ends of a commercialtrans-action.Buyers are usually customers who demand the goods,while,as sellers are suppliers who provide such goods.When a transaction is agreed upon (sometimes payment is comple-ted,other times the payment is arranged to be completed at a later stage),the suppliers have the responsibility to arrange for the goods to be delivered to the customers. 3.Efficient management of the flow process The transportation of goods should bear low cost and ensure safety and punctuality.It should do its best to avoid wasting customers＇resources.Currently,the flow of goods is generally controlled by both hardware and software.By hardware,we mean logistics facili-ties and equipment,such as ports,warehouses and trucks,ships,railroad,cars and air-lines.By software,we mean information system,standardization and data sharing.Questions:

Which of the following is a transportation mode for goods delivery?( )

A:Clothes. B:Services. C:Motor. D:Electricity.

Plants and Mankind

    Botany（植物学）, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar position in the history of human knowledge. We don’t know what our Stone Age 1 ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of preindustrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient 2. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, dyes 3, Medicines, shelter, and many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungle of the Amazon 4 recognize hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them botany has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of “knowledge 5” at all.

    Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants. And the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid 6. When our Neolithic 7 ancestors, living in the Middle Eastabout 10,000years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer yields the next season, the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the marvel of agriculture: cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy with plants in the wild would begin to fade away 8.

词汇：

botany /"bəutəni/ n．植物学

detailed /"di:teild/ adj．详细的，详尽的

property /"prɔpəti/ n．特征；财产，资产

logical /"lɔdʒikəl/ adj．逻辑的，合乎逻辑的

pyramid /"pirəmid/ n．金字塔

welfare /"welfeə/ n．福利，幸福，康乐

yield /ji: ld/ n．产量，收益

marvel /"ma:vəl/ n．令人惊奇的事（人），奇迹

variety /və"raiəti/ n．品种，变种；变化，多样化

accumulate / ə"kju: mjuleit/ vt．积累，积聚

intimacy / "intiməsi/ n．亲近，亲密

注释：

1.    Stone Age：石器时代

2.    …a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient.……对植物及其特点的详细了解一定非常久远。

3.    dye：染料

4.    the Amazon：亚马孙河

5.    Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge,…然而每个人都会在无意识中获得大量的植物知识，……come on:（偶然）遇见；（偶然）发现。又如：I came on this idea by pure chance．我有这个想法纯属偶然。

6.    orchid：兰花

7.    Neolithic：新石器时代的

8.    From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy with plants in the wild would begin to fade away.：从那时起，人类就越来越多地从可控制的IL种植物的种植中获取生计，而不是从野生的众多种类中东采一点，西摘一点。在数万年的经验中积累起来的知识以及与大自然中各种植物的紧密联系也就开始消失。take their living from…：靠……过活

Today people usually acquire a large amount of botanical knowledge from textbooks.

A:Right B:Wrong C:Not mentioned

The Travels of Ibn Battuta