(b) Fifty years ago, the Land of the Long White Cloud did not enjoy its current image forthe production of high-quality, low-yielding wines, for export around the world. As we'll see,quality issues, coupled with availability and cultural acceptance of the drink, were a _26__onthe growth of the industry. In Wine in New Zealand, published in 197 1, Frank Thorpy asked'How good are our wines?" To start the classified quality into four groups: "Ordinary"("nopretensions to quality...with a detinite alcoholic strength"), "Standard" ("blended uniformly fromyear to year"), "Fine" ("wines mace from great care and _27_, usually one grape type"),"Great" ("quality equivalent to classical grapes from select vineyards in France"). For the wines ofthe time, his conclusions were not encouraging. Thorpy described New Zealand as having no"grcat" or fine" wines, "perhaps some "standard" wines, with the bulk _28_ into the categoryof "Ordinary". Using another definition, as laid down by Australian author Dr Max Lake in hisbook Classic Wincs of Australia, he also explored whether or not a Kiwi wine could be  29   asa "Classic" by being of "highest quality for that country, established for more than ten years,consistent during that period, and of a particular style".
         Even at the higher end of the market,  30   of quality seemed to be a real problem.McWilliam's, a leading winemaker of the day, produced a wine called Bakano, a mash-up ofhybrid grapes and "a touch of Cabernet". It had solicited high hopes of vintage quality year afteryear, and was certainly regarded as one of the best wines of the era, but  31  pening the 1956vintage, the author found "it had not improved as much as a wine of that age should", with the '62and '65 having "no bouquet and without a great deal of character". Oh dear. No Classic  32   either, then. Quality issues aside, by looking at the social habits of the day it is also easy tounderstand why wine struggled to get traction in the 6Os and 70s. Some old people explain thatwhen they arrived in New Zealand they had never even tried wine. It wasn't really available. Theyused to drink rum and Coke, beer, that sort of thing. By the mid-70s perhaps they _33_a bottleof wine at a restaurant as a treat, but it wasn't until the early 8Os they started to have wine at home- usually Chardonnay in cask. In the early days it wasn't sold in supermarkets, and independentmerchants weren't really around".
When it comes to the tradition of wines in this country, cultural stereotypes wereunfortunately   34   too. "Traditionally the host, not the hostess. pours the wine. If the 'host'happens to be a woman, then she should ask a male guest to do the pouring", Thorpyrecommended in Wine in New Zealand. Moreover: "Rose wines are becoming popular as they arelight and  35   of a pleasing color and are ideal for women's luncheons".
【題組】26.
(A)acceleration
(B) hindrance
(C) deterioration
(D) reference)