Lucy Robertson started working at a takeaway food business to supplement her income during her student days at Edinburgh University, Several years later she had bought the business and now, 17 years on, she owns Grapevine Caterers, probably Scotland's leading independent caterers, with a turnover of almost ￡6m.

　　She had never planned to own a business, and had certainly never considered a career in catering. (0)... ... . However, her unplanned career began in 1985, when she returned to Edinburgh and discovered that the takeaway she had worked in was up for sale. On impulse, she bought it, but admits that at the time she knew nothing about catering. (8).........It was a difficult time, but essential in terms of gaining the experience she needed. The late 1980s boom was good for business, with large numbers of office workers wanting takeaway food for their lunches. (9)........'At one point there were 26 food outlets within a 5-kilometre radius,' Robertson recalls. As the economy changed and the once packed office blocks started to become vacant, it became clear that Robertson would need to diversify.(10)........It changed the direction of the company for good.

　　As Robertson began to win catering contracts, she decided that the company would have to move to larger premises. In 1994, the move was made when she bought another catering business that already had a number of profitable contracts for boardroom lunches.

　　Meanwhile, Robertson's main competitor, the oldest catering company in Edinburgh, was causing her some anxiety. 'Customer loyalty is not to be underestimated,' she warns. But Robertson is not someone who is easily put off.(11)........Partly as a result of this, turnover doubled, and having outgrown another site, Robertson bought a city-centre location for the group's headquarters.

　　By now, Grapevine's main competitor was a new catering company called Towngates. Although Robertson tried to raise enough money to buy Towngates, she did not succeed.Then luck intervened and Towngates went bankrupt. (12)........Many accepted and the company's turnover went from ￡700,000 to ￡l .5 million almost overnight.

　　However, the company's growth was not as smooth as it sounds in retrospect. Robertson admits, 'We were close to the edge during the growth period. Like many under-capitalised companies trying to grow, it might easily have collapsed.' But that, she feels, is the challenge of developing your own business.

　　A But there are plenty of similar contracts to be won in the east of Scotland before Robertson turns her attention elsewhere.

　　B Her way round this particular problem was to recruit the catering manager of the rival company.

　　C But this demand was short-lived, and before long, increasing competition made it harder to make a profit.

　　D 'It was a dramatic learning curve and very small amounts of money were earned at first,’says Robertson.

　　E She decided that the solution, since many companies required working lunches for meetings with clients, was to prepare and deliver meals to business premises.

　　F On hearing this, Robertson immediately contacted all of their clients and offered the services of Grapevine Caterers.

　　G Instead, she studied accountancy after leaving university, and a steady if unspectacular professional path seemed set.

《Buffet Zone》，自助餐區域，在這篇文章里的意思應該是自助餐領域，講的是一個在自助餐領域取得了驚人成績的杰出女性創業的故事。這套題目不難，尤其比起第四輯的題目。文章本身有很清晰的故事發展脈絡，選項和原文的對應也比較明顯。文章的幾個段落是按照時間先后、故事發生的先后進行的，很明確。第一段是總括，第二段是講的創業起步階段的一些困難以及應對困難的對策，第三段是公司好轉后的辦公室重置(relocation)，第四、五段是公司的競爭情況，最后一段總結。

　　第八題，前面說一時沖動她買下了這個外賣餐館(takeaway)，事實上那個時候她對餐飲業一無所知。空格后面說的是這段時間很困難，但是對獲得所需要的經驗卻是很有必要的。所以第八題的空格部分應該填入跟學習、積累經驗有關的內容。D選型最吻合，It was a dramatic learning curve，這里的learning是關鍵詞，很明顯的答案信號。還有very small amounts of money were earned at first，at first也是關鍵詞。

　　第九題，空格前面說large numbers of office workers wanting takeaway food for their lunches，大量的辦公室員工需要外賣食品做午飯，這里的wanting是個很關鍵的詞。空格后面話鋒一轉，說曾經一度5公里內有26家食品商店，但是經濟轉變了，一條街都空了(blocks started to become vacant)。從上下文來分析，第九空的內容應該和辦公室員工的外賣需求有關，同時帶有轉折意思。C選項完全符合這一條件：但是這種需求是短暫的，不久，逐漸增長的競爭使得贏得利潤變得更加困難。

　　第十題，上文說經濟形勢轉變了，所以Robertson決定從事多樣化的經營。后面說這種做法永遠的改變了公司的經營方式。所以第十空應該填入相應的對策，怎么樣來應對經濟形勢的轉變。符合這一條件的是B和E，都是關于解決問題的，但是B選項所說的招募競爭對手的餐廳經理在上下文內容中沒有提到。應該選D，為商業大廈送飯，正好對應下一段所說的。

　　第十一題，這一題才應該選B，前面說競爭對手給自己造成了很大的困擾。但是Robertson卻不是那么容易屈服的人。后面說部分原因是這個，營業額翻倍了。所以中間應該也是填入對策。和競爭對手有關的，應該選B，B的particular是個關鍵詞，rival company也很明顯。

　　第十二題，前面說Robertson想收購一個競爭對手，但是沒成功，結果人家公司自己破產倒閉了。后面來了一個many accepted，可以看出這中間應該填入的是人家公司破產后Robertson的一些舉措。F滿足這一條件：一聽到這些，Robertson馬上聯系他們的客戶并且提供了自己公司的服務。 疑似生詞和句子：

　　1、buffet: a meal at which people serve themselves from a table and then stand or sit somewhere else to eat 自助餐

　　2、takeaway

　　a、a restaurant that cooks and sells food that you take away and eat somewhere else 外賣餐館

　　b、a meal that you buy at this type of restaurant 外賣的飯菜;外賣食物

　　3、in retrospect: thinking about a past event or situation, often with a different opinion of it from the one you had at the time 回顧

　　4、under-capitalised: (about a business) not having enough money (capital) to be able to operate normally, pay debts and grow 資金不足。

　　5、Instead, she studied accountancy after leaving university, and a steady if unspectacular professional path seemed set.

　　這個句子里if的用法比較少見，參見朗文的解釋：used when adding one criticism of a person or thing that you generally like

　　e.g: Lunch was a grand if rather noisy affair.

　　所以G選項的意思就是：然而，離開大學后她學的是會計，一個平淡無奇的職業道路似乎已經鋪就。