Producers of the Beta format for videocassette recorders (VCR’s), for example也可以看成结论解释型, were first to develop the VCR commercially in 1975, but producers of the rival VHS (Video Home System) format proved to be more successful at forming strategic alliances with other producers and distributors to manufacture and market their VCR format. Seeking to maintain exclusive control over VCR distribution, Beta producers were reluctant to 不情愿form such alliances and eventually lost ground to在竞争中败给了…，丧失了优势 VHS in the competition for the global VCR market.
解释Beta模式失败的原因Despite Beta’s substantial technological head start (head start: n.领先) and the fact that VHS was neither technically better nor cheaper than Beta, developers of VHS quickly turned a slight early lead in sales into a dominant position. Strategic alignments*4D with producers of prerecorded tapes reinforced the VHS advantage. The perception among consumers that prerecorded tapes were more available*3D in VHS format further expanded VHS’s share of the market. By the end of the 1980’s, Beta was no longer in production.
1. The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?主题题（写法性+内容性）
(A) Evaluating two competing technologies
(B) Tracing the impact of a new technology by narrating a sequence of events
(C) Reinterpreting an event from contemporary business history
(D) Illustrating a business strategy by means of a case history结论解释型（D）
(E) Proposing an innovative approach to business planning
责任编辑：虫虫
