阅读技巧：
抓主题，具体细节如名人的话、数字、头衔可以跳读。
本篇文章的阅读关键在于抓住主题。

第一段

Supermarket group Tesco, now the biggest retailer in the UK, rang up its first ￡1bn profit last year and yesterday claimed to be the fastest growing major retailer in the world.

Now：时间强对比词。

The 700-strong chain, once regarded as a downmarket pile-it-high-and-sell-it-cheap business, is raking in sales of nearly ￡23bn a year and producing a profit of ￡3m a day.

Downmarket：底端市场
pile-it-high-and-sell-it-cheap薄利多销
rake in 赚取、获得

Only one UK retailer-Marks Spencer-has ever breached the ￡1bn barrier before and M S has since suffered an aboutt-turn in its fortunes. In made only ￡430m last year.

aboutt-turn：大逆转

第二段

Despite criticism from consumer groups and some farmers’ representatives, Tesco, which now accounts for ￡25 of every ￡100 spent on groceries in UK, insisted it was not making excessive profits.

Despite：尽管
类似的词although、though、in spite, in spite of, etc.引导让步状语从句，重点部分在于主句。

Chief executive Terry Leahy said the chain was making only just over ￡3 profit from every ￡100 purchase and deputy chairman David Reid said the growth had been driven by “better service, quality and value for money”.

有具体数字和“牛人”的具体内容可以忽略。
本段只需特别关注关键句insisted it was not making excessive profits.

第三段
The supermarket has also benefited from the lackluster performance of some of its rivals, especially Sainsbury.

Also：引出另外一个关键原因
Lackluster：缺乏光泽

Unitl 1995 Sainsbury was bigger than Tesco,but it last reported profits were barely half Tesoco’s ￡1bn. Safeway, which made ￡236m last year, is turning itself into a new breed of small-scale hypermarket while Asda, with ￡330m profit last year, appears to have lost some of its momentum since its takeover by the American Wal-Mart discount chain. Tesco’s ￡1.05bn profit, which was generated in the year to the end of February, is 12% up on last year. Sales were up 11.9%.

本句用数字证明和对手进行比较。

第四段
Earlier this year-in the wake of a two-year competition commission inquiry which cleared the supermarkets of making excessive profits-Tony Blair accused the supermarkets of having shoppers in “an armlock”, but Tesco denied its profits and success were being driven by squeezing suppliers. It said it had cut prices by ￡1bn over the past five years and that its prices were now 11% lower than in 1996.

Armlock：困难的境地
But后面的内容更加重要

第五段
A spokesman for the company said: “Our profits have been growing in the with sales for a number of years. In other words, it is not margin expansion, or any rip-off, that is driving the profit growth.” “And in as much as farmers are experiencing tough times, why blame it on the supermarkets? Other macro factors are more important. Farm profits are extremely cyclical and in recent years the strong pound and the travails associated with BSE have been the main issues.”