Celebrity endorsements
Despite the fact that companies believe celebrities had a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers,researches have discovered that this does not seem to be the case．British and Swiss researchers conducted a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people．
In a sample of 298 students,researchers presented a magazine advertisement for a digital camera that was endorsed by a fictional student claiming the camera was“hot”and his “preferred choice”．The same advertisement was shown to other students，but with a difference：The camera was endorsed by a famous person in Germany．
While the students said that both advertisements were beneficial,the one made by the student topped the celebrity one if students aimed to impress others with their purchases.More than half of the students，who admitted purchasing products that would impress others，said they were influenced by the student’s advertisement．Only 20％ said the celebrity one would affect their buying decision．
Professor Brett Martin，of the University of Bath’s School of Management，explained that the findings could be used not only in Germany,but in other countries as well．“Our research questions whether celebrities are the best ways to sell products，”said Prof Martin．“Celebrities can be effective but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from a fictional fellow students．This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy．”
46．Some companies think the celebrities endorsement ____________．
A．is popular with the consumers
B．can pull all the consumers into the shops
C．can affect the consumers’ purchasing
D．is as effective as an endorsement from common people
47．Which of the following ads would be more effective to common consumers, according to the experiment?
A．An ad featuring lovely pandas． B．An ad made by David Beckham．
C．An ad made by fictional common people．D．An ad with beautiful natural scenery．
48．The underlined words“the Jones”in the last paragragh refer to“____________ ”．
A．someone called Jones B．common people
C．the Jones family D．celebrities
49．We can imply from the passage that ____________．
A．celebrities cheat consumers in advertisement
B．the researchers here are against celebrity endorsement
C．the student’s ads are mole reliable than those made by celebrities
D．company needn’t spend so much money on celebrity endorsement
50．We can probably read the article in____________ ．
A．a local newspaper B．a science report
C．an academic journal D．a textbook
The behavior of a building’s users may be at least as important as its design when it comes to energy use, according to new research from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The UK promises to reduce its carbon emissions (排放）by 80 percent by 2050, part of which will be achieved by all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016. But this report shows that sustainable building design on its own — though extremely important- is not enough to achieve such reductions: the behavior of the people using the building has to change too.
The study suggests that the ways that people use and live in their homes have been largely ignored by existing efforts to improve energy efficiency (效率)，which instead focus on architectural and technological developments.‘Technology is going to assist but it is not going to do everything explains Katy Janda, a UKERC senior researcher，‘consumption patterns of building users can defeat the most careful design. ’In other words，old habits die hard, even in the best-designed eco-home.
Another part of the problem is information. Households and bill-payers don’t have the knowledge they need to change their energy-use habits. Without specific information，it’s hard to estimate the costs and benefits of making different choices. Feedback (反馈） facilities, like smart meters and energy monitors，could help bridge this information gap by helping people see how changing their behaviour directly affects their energy use; some studies have shown that households can achieve up to 15 percent energy savings using smart meters.
Social science research has added a further dimension (方面），suggesting that individuals’ behaviour in the home can be personal and cannot be predicted — whether people throw open their windows rather than turn down the thermostat (恒温器) , for example.
Janda argues that education is the key. She calls for a focused programme to teach people about buildings and their own behaviour in them.As to energy use, the new research from UKERC stresses the importance of________.
| A．the behaviour of building users |
| B．zero-carbon homes |
| C．sustainable building design |
| D．the reduction of carbon emissions |
What are Katy Janda’s words mainly about?
| A．The necessity of making a careful building design. |
| B．The importance of changing building users’ habits. |
| C．The variety of consumption patterns of building users. |
| D．The role of technology in improving energy efficiency. |
The information gap in energy use _______.
| A．affects the study on energy monitors |
| B．can be bridged by feedback facilities |
| C． brings about problems for smart meters |
| D．will be caused by building users’ old habits |
What does the dimension added by social science research suggest?
| A．The social science research is to be furthered. |
| B．The education programme is under discussion. |
| C．The behaviour preference of building users is similar. |
| D．The behaviour of building users is unpredictable. |
Wealth starts with a goal saving a dollar at a time. Call it the piggy bank strategy(策略). There are lessons in that time-honored coin-saving container.
Any huge task seems easier when reduced to baby steps. I f you wished to climb a 12,000-foot mountain, and could do it a day at a time, you would only have to climb 33 feet daily to reach the top in a year. If you want to take a really nice trip in 10 years for a special occasion, to collect the $15,000 cost, you have to save $3.93 a day. If you drop that into a piggy bank and then once a year put $1,434 in a savings account at 1% interest rate after-tax, you will have your trip money.
When I was a child, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me that, if I wanted something, I should save money to buy it. We associate piggy banks with children, but in many countries, the little containers are also popular with adults. Europeans see a piggy bank as a sign of good fortune and wealth. Around the world, many believe a gift of a piggy bank on New Year’s Day brings good luck and financial success. Ah, but you have to put something in it.
Why is a pig used as a symbol of saving? Why not an elephant bank, which is bigger and holds more coins? In the Middle Ages, before modern banking and credit instruments, people saved money at home, a few coins at a time dropped into a jar or dish. Potters(制陶工) made these inexpensive containers from an orange-colored clay(黏土) called “pygg,” and folks saved coins in pygg jars.The Middle English word for pig was “pigge”. While the Saxons pronounced pygg, referring to the clay, as “pug”, eventually the two words changed into the same pronunciation, sounding the “i” as in pig or piggy. As the word became less associated with the orange clay and more with the animal, a clever potter fashioned a pygg jar in the shape of a pig, delighting children and adults. The piggy bank was born.
Originally you had to break the bank to get to the money, bringing in a sense of seriousness into savings. While piggy banks teach children the wisdom of saving, adults often need to relearn childhood lessons. Think about the things in life that require large amounts of money--- college education, weddings, cars, medical care, starting a business, buying a home, and fun stuff like great trips. So when you have money, take off the top 10%, put it aside, save and invest wisely.What is the piggy bank strategy?
| A．Paying 1% income tax at a time. |
| B．Setting a goal before making a travel plan. |
| C．Putting aside a little money regularly for future use. |
| D．Aiming high even when doing small things. |
Why did the writer’s parents give him a piggy bank as a gift?
| A．To delight him with the latest fashion. |
| B．To encourage him to climb mountains. |
| C．To teach him English pronunciation. |
| D．To help him form the habit of saving. |
The piggy bank originally was ________.
| A．a cheap clay container |
| B．a potter’s instrument |
| C．an animal-shaped dish |
| D．a pig-like toy for children |
The last paragraph talks about ________.
| A．the seriousness of educating children |
| B．the enjoyment of taking a great trip |
| C．the difficulty of starting a business |
| D．the importance of managing money |
Do you want to get home from work knowing you have made a real difference in someone’s life?
If yes, don’t care about sex or age! Come and join us, then you’ll make it!
Position: Volunteer Social Care Assistant
(No Pay with Free Meals)
Place: Manchester
Hours: Part Time
We are now looking for volunteers to support people with learning disabilities to live active lives! Only 4 days left. Don’t miss the chance of lending your warm hands to help others!
Role:
You will provide people with learning disabilities with all aspects of their daily lives. You will help them to develop new skills. You will help them to protect their rights and their safety. But your primary concern is to let them know they are valued.
Skills and Experience Required:
You will have the right values and great listening skills. You will be honest and patient. You will have the ability to drive a car and to communicate in fluent written and spoken English since you’ll have to help those people with different learning disabilities. Previous care-related experience will be a great advantage for you.The text is meant to ________.
| A．leave a note |
| B．send an invitation |
| C．carry an advertisement |
| D．present a document |
What does the underlined part mean?
| A．You’ll arrive home just in time from this job. |
| B．You’ll make others’ lives more meaningful with this job. |
| C．You’ll earn a good salary from this job. |
| D．You’ll succeed in getting this job. |
The volunteers’ primary responsibility is to help people with learning disabilities ________.
| A．to get some financial support |
| B．to properly protect themselves |
| C．to realize their own importance |
| D．to learn some new living skills |
Which of the following can first be chosen as a volunteer?
| A．The one who has done similar work before. |
| B．The one who can drive a car. |
| C．The one who has patience to listen to others. |
| D．The one who can use English to communicate. |
Undoubtedly there are a few positive characters who are able to “rise above” their environment, who are able to impress the people with whom they come in contact in spite of their clothes.
Sometimes we read of some learned woman, who has “made good in her profession,” who says that she has not looked in a mirror for years; but such a woman is a rare exception, and one is not safe in gambling(赌博) with one’s chances of success by following her. It is not the positive characters with whom we are concerned, however, for they are few and somehow manage to take care of themselves. The vast majority of the race are not so blessed, and we need to observe but little to realize that with them the reaction of clothes is an important factor.
School girls should know that clothes may make a career; happiness and leadership in all the years of high school and college life may be affected by the story a Freshman’s clothes tell. Many a girl with a keen mind, who has a natural disregard for clothes, perhaps, or who has not been trained in the appreciation of beauty in clothes, has lost her opportunities for leadership and self-expression which by right her brain power should have given her.
One of the mental capacities which we all exercise and yet exercise most unconsciously is that of passing judgment on the people we meet. In a majority of cases the judgment is superficial(肤浅的) and inaccurate; but the estimate is made. Some people may not get their final judgment till they hear one talk and will judge one by the tone of voice and by what is said as the true index; but the vast majority will form an opinion based largely, if not entirely, on appearance. One tells the world daily of one’s ideals, ambitions or good breeding through dress; and it is told so plainly that “he who runs may read” and, perhaps, he who reads may run.According to the first two paragraphs, few people ________.
| A．care about their appearances |
| B．understand the art of dressing themselves |
| C．can catch others’ attention by dressing plainly |
| D．are able to dress properly without professional directions |
Who is the text intended for?
| A．Book writers | B．Women | C．Men | D．Fashion designers |
The author thinks it is ________ for most of us to judge the people we meet by what they wear.
| A．natural | B．foolish |
| C．surprising | D．necessary |
Which of the following can be the best title?
| A．Rise Above Your Environment |
| B．He Who Runs May Read |
| C．Dress to Impress |
| D．Art of Dressing |
Hair has always been an important sign of beauty. This is especially true for women. Next to the face, hair is one of the main qualities people look for when they consider a woman’s beauty. Whether long or short, curly or straight, hair often gets a lot of attention.
Each hair on a person’s head grows from a single tube-like hole in the skin called a follicle. People are born with all of the hair follicles they are ever going to have. The average person has about one hundred thousand hair follicles. They begin to form around the third month of pregnancy.
Each hair grows independently of other hairs. There are three periods of hair growth. Not all hairs experience the same period of growth at the same time. The period of active growth is called Anagen. During this period, hair grows at a rate of about three tenths millimeters a day, or one centimeter a month. About 85 percent of hair follicles are going through this process at any given time. This period can last from two to six years.
The Catagen period of hair growth comes next. It is then that hair growth begins to slow down. This period usually lasts two or three weeks. Finally, hair growth comes to a complete stop and the hairs begin to fall out. This period is known as Telogen. It affects about 15 percent of all hairs at a time.
On average, a person loses between 50 and 100 hairs every day. Since each hair grows at a different rate, this process is overlooked. Once the Telogen period has ended, the hair growth process begins again.What does the underlined word “They” in the 2nd paragraph refer to?
| A．The babies | B．The hairs |
| C．The follicles | D．The pregnant women |
Anagen is the period when ________.
| A．hairs grow the fastest |
| B．hairs grow at a different rate |
| C．hair growth comes to a stop |
| D．85 percent of hairs are growing |
When some hairs are experiencing the period of Telogen, they ________.
| A．grow very quickly | B．slow down their growth |
| C．stop growing | D．affects other hairs’ growth |
Which of the following shows the process of hair growth?
| A．Anagen → Telogen → Catagen |
| B．Anagen → Catagen → Telogen |
| C．Anagen ↗ ↘ Catagen ← Telogen |
| D．Anagen |
↗ ↘
Telogen ← Catagen