单项选择题

Barbie is going through a midlife crisis. After (1) with longtime boyfriend Ken earlier this year, she has (2) refuge in shopping, surfing, bubble baths and partying with a crew of trendy pals on the beach in Jamaica. At 45, she even made a (3) for the White House.
Then there was the makeover: a new. (4) of Paul Frank fashions, her own fragrance, a new musical and a new man-spiky-haired Australian surfer Blaine.
But, she (5) is going through a crisis, one that started at the cash register. (6) the Barbie brand as a whole (7) ＄ 3.6 billion in global retail sales this year, according to manufacturer Mattel Inc., Barbie has (8) sales slide over the past seven quarters. In the past few years, rivals (9) the edgier Bratz have upstaged the iconic doll.
To re-energize its flagship brand, the world’s largest toy maker set out to (10) Barbie and her pals in a (11) of books, magazines and animated films, hoping the story lines would (12) sales of the doll and her trove of accessories.
For girls ages 6 to 9, Mattel crafted stories with preteen scenarios--dance parties, dating and shopping. Barbie’s look now (13) reflects current fashion trends. Mattel signed "tween" diva Hilary Duff to (14) the brand.
She’s "tile ’It’ girl for the Barbie set," said Chris Byrne, an independent toy consultant and editor of the Toy Report.
Mattel is (15) the story-line concept to new and existing doll lines across Barbie’s (16) , though only about two-thirds of the new toys will be in stores this year, with the (17) arriving in 2005.
"We need to make progress in regaining the confidence of retailers, and that (18) time," Robert A. Eckert, Mattel’s chairman and chief executive, told Wall Street analysts last month.
Perhaps a bigger (19) for Mattel is persuading parents and children that Barbie is cool. That cachet has eluded the brand in recent years, particularly among older girls, many of whom either have lost interest in dolls or (20) Bratz.

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