With a DJ playing various kinds of music rather than just rap, and a mix of clothing labels designed more for taste and fashion than for a precise age, department stores have managed to appeal to successful middle-aged women 20 losing their younger customers.
答案：(D) without
without 表示「不會……」，表示「百貨公司成功吸引中年女性顧客，同時沒有失去年輕顧客」；in（不合）、while（當……同時，語意上不如without精確表達「沒有失去」這個否定結果）、after（之後）都不合。
空格後面是 losing，是動名詞；in、after、without 都是介系詞可以接動名詞，while 後面接動名詞也成立。形式上刷不掉任何一個，只能靠語意。while 最誘人，因為「一邊吸引中年女性，一邊…」唸起來很順。
先讀懂前半在說什麼：department stores have managed to appeal to successful middle-aged women（百貨公司成功吸引了中年女性顧客）。manage to 是「設法做到、好不容易做到」，語氣是正面的成果。再往下讀一句：They have created a shopping environment where the needs of both mother and daughter are satisfied.（打造出母女雙方需求都被滿足的購物環境）。both mother and daughter——兩邊都要，一個都不能少。所以空格處要說的是「而且沒有失去年輕顧客」，without losing 就是「沒有失去」，一個否定的附帶結果。反過來看就更清楚：選 while 會變成「在失去年輕顧客的同時吸引了中年女性」，等於承認年輕客群流失了，與下一句「母女雙方都滿足」語意矛盾。這一題的關鍵不在文法，在有沒有往下多讀一句。
in：in doing something 是「在做某事的過程中」，語意變成「在失去年輕顧客的過程中」，方向錯了。while：表示同時進行，同樣承認了「失去」這件事。after：之後，會變成先失去年輕顧客、再吸引中年女性，與下一句衝突。
without V-ing（沒有做…就…）、manage to V（設法做到…）、rather than（而不是…）、a mix of（…的混搭）、lose customers（流失顧客）、middle-aged women（中年女性）。
Anita was shopping with her mother and enjoying it. Interestingly, both of them 16 buying the same pair of jeans. According to a recent marketing study, young adults influence 88% of household clothing purchases. More often than not, those in their early twenties are the more 17 consumers. There isn't a brand or a trend that these young people are not aware of. That is why mothers who want to keep abreast of trends usually 18 the experts－their daughters. This tells the retailers of the world that if you want to get into a mother's 19 , you've got to win her daughter over first.
With a DJ playing various kinds of music rather than just rap, and a mix of clothing labels designed more for taste and fashion than for a precise age, department stores have managed to appeal to successful middle-aged women 20 losing their younger customers. They have created a shopping environment where the needs of both mother and daughter are satisfied.