考博英語閱讀理解若干篇篇章與問題

Passage 1

The physical distribution of products has two primary aspects: transportation and storage. Both aspects are highly developed and specialized phases of marketing. The costs of both trans-porting and storing are built into the prices of products. Transportation can be by truck, rail-

way, ship, or barge. For some items, such as exotic plants and flowers, or when rapid delivery is essential, air freight may be used.

Storage, or warehousing, is a necessary function because production and consumption of goods rarely match: items generally are not sold as quickly as they are made. Inventories build up, both in warehouses and at retail establishments, before the foods are sold. The transporta-tion function is involved in bringing goods to a warehouse and taking them from it to retail stores.