（来源：全国商务英语专业考试管理中心）
Questions 24-28 are based on Passage One.
Passage One
New Brunswick United Football Club looks and feels like a soccer team, right down to its logo: A crest that you would expect to find emblazoned on any football club’s jerseys. You could be forgiven for thinking the duo who founded the brand, Jad Kaado and Dan Macheret, were preparing to launch a soccer team in the Hub City. But you would be wrong.
New Brunswick United Football Club (NBUFC) is actually an apparel company built around love for soccer and the arts. Its namesake and design plays on long-standing styles prevalent among soccer organizations, because football, a tightly bound community that celebrates active fan bases, brings people together. Forming a community around shared interests is the essence behind branding and bringing disparate communities together is the bedrock
“It’s true that this is a ‘fake’ soccer team but also a clothing brand, technically speaking,” said Macheret, co-founder of NBUFC. “But to us, especially, it’s so much more. It’s a way to build community. New Brunswick is a place where people come from all different parts of the country and the world. From the beginning, we kind of imagined this as a clothing brand but also a community built around watching the sport we love and supporting local artists.”
So how is NBUFC successfully building a brand around a soccer team that, frankly, doesn’t exist? Kaado and Macheret told Business News Daily that it takes equal parts communication, partnerships, events and fostering a positive, welcoming environment.
A brand is supposed to communicate to an audience clearly and unambiguously what is an organization’s identity. In this case, NBUFC’s brand might seem confusingbut, in fact, is intended to convey that the company is much more than an apparel merchant. One of the brand’s slogans, “Central Jersey Exists,” is an embodiment of this sense of community building.
“We are an organization that is both specifically a brand and also an organization for soccer fans to meet up with during events, socialize and get the chance to form a community around soccer in an area comprised of different fans from all different walks of life,” said Kaado, co-founder of NBUFC.
“We’re trying to start a community that will be long-lasting beyond us and that bridges the disconnect between different communities in New Brunswick using soccer, music and comedy,” Kaado added. “We’re using our events and partnerships with local businesses to showcase young artists and local soccer players, as well as build our own brand.”
As NBUFC builds the community around its brand, it also has to conduct its apparel business. Leveraging that community to drive sales of branded merchandise is a way to not only derive revenue from its efforts but also give supporters a tangible way to express their participation in the community.
“Staying in contact is a big part of it,” Kaado said. “More events is the immediate step, but it’s about staying in touch with the people we’ve been communicating with.”
To do so, NBUFC captures email and contact information from people at events. They use these points of contact to inform their audience of upcoming watch parties, market their merchandise and promote partner brands in the city.
For example, NBUFC has been able to raise awareness about the nearby professional women’s team in Sky Blue FC, which a lot of attendees uninitiated in the world of pro soccer didn't recognize existed. “A lot of people didn’t even know there is a women’s pro team right in their own backyard,” Macheret said.
“Having this welcoming atmosphere where people feel comfortable, and they’re smiling and laughing … feeling that passion about soccer and music helps us connect on a human level. We can keep people engaged and using some of those connections to elevate the sport and our partners. ”
In this way, NBUFC prides itself not just on building its own brand and growing its business but also creating a judgment-free environment that contributes to something much bigger than itself.
A. It’s a renowned soccer team.
B. It’s a successful clothing company.
C. It’s a friendly community in New Brunswick.
D. It’s a charity organization for promoting sports in the community.
25. The mission of NBUFC is
A. to drive sales of branded merchandise
B. to develop a strong brand around a soccer team
C. to bring the community together around the brand
D. to raise awareness about the importance of sports in the community
26. How does NBUFC stay in contact with people in the community?
A. It uses music to connect people.
B. It markets partner brands in the city.
C. It makes people feel comfortable in the events.
D. It uses emails and contact information to inform people of events.
27. The underlined phrase “in their own backyard” means that .
A. the team is little known
B. the team is small in size
C. the team is not successful
D. the team is in the neighborhood
28. What is this passage mainly about?
A. How a company has built its brand and grown its business.
B. Two young people founded a successful football club.
C. People in New Brunswick are passionate about football.
D. New Brunswick is a community of people from different places.
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