第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下面短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑 A
You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:
“I can't believe it--a Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome. ”
They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It's nice and the price is right. You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.
Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.
Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation----consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.
So advertising agencies hire young actors to “perform” in bars and other places where young adults go. Some people might call this practice deceptive(骗人的), but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative. “Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing. ”
However, one might ask what exactly is “real” about of young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater? Advertising executives would say it's no less real than an ad. The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don' t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.
1. The two attractive young women were talking so that they could ________.
A. get the sweater at a lower price B. be heard by people around
C. be admired by other shoppers D. decide on buying the sweater
2. Lorenzo Bertolla is __________.
A. a very popular male singer B. an advertising agency
C. a clothing company in Rome D. the brand name of a sweater
3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A. The two girls are in fact employed by the Lorenzo Bertolla Company.
B. The MTV generation tend to be more easily influenced by ads.
C. Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it's too direct.
D. Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.
4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Two Attractive Shoppers B. Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters
C. Ways of Advertising D. Undercover Marketing
We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed — no examination is perfect — but to have no tests or examination would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose of each teacher.
Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them — a form offavoritismwill replace equality at the moment. The bright child from an ill-respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well-respected school. This defense of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school’s reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the favored school.
The opponents(反对者) of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.The word “favoritism” in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that .
A.bright children also need certificates to get satisfying jobs. |
B.poor children with certificates are favoured in job markets. |
C.children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs. |
D.children attending ordinary schools achieve great success. |
What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?
A.Schools for bright children would lose their reputation. |
B.There would be more opportunities and excellence. |
C.Children from poor families would be able to change their schools. |
D.Children’s job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation. |
The opponents of the examination system will agree that .
A.jobs should not be assigned by systematic se lection |
B.computers should be selected to take over many jobs. |
C.special classes are necessary to keep the school standards |
D.schools with academic subjects should be done aw ay with |
The passage mainly focuses on .
A.schools and certificates | B.examination and equality |
C.opportunity and employment | D.standards and reputation |
Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful ? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you labour through your work you may say that you're "hot". That's true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak . For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening No one has discovered why this is so , but it leads to such familiar monologues(自言自语) as : "Get up, John! You'll be late for work again !" The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and -energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes . Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway . Counteract(对抗/抵消)your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to .If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch . Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor . Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy or concentration for your sharper hours.If you wants to work more efficiently at your how point in the morning, you should _____.
A.change his energy cycle | B.overcome his laziness |
C.get up earlier than usual | D.go to bed earlier |
You are advised to rise with a yawn and stretch because it will _____.
A.help to keep your energy for the day's work |
B.help you to control your temper early in the day |
C.enable you to concentrate on your routine work |
D.keep your energy cycle under control all day |
What’s the best title of the passage?
A.Change Your Habits | B.Save Your Energy |
C.Daily Energy Cycle | D.Temperature- and-Energy Peak |
The text is probably taken from a _________.
A.news report | B.research paper | C.medical textbook | D.fashion journal |
Twenty-three-year old Rio Safiyanto sells face masks, or coverings, for about 30 cents each in central Jakarta, Indonesia. He makes enough money to buy a cell phone that permits him to visit websites. He says every average person has a cellphone. He likes having one because he can talk to his family when he is away from home. And, he is especially pleased that he can use it to listen to music. It is known as a feature phone 。That is because it is cheaper and cannot perform as many actions as more advanced phones like the Apple iPhone.
These devices make up the majority of cell phones sold around the world. They have proven more successful in places like Indonesia, where some smartphones cost 700 dollars or more. Although many lower-income users are new to smartphones, they are quickly learning to use the technology.
Cell manufacturer Nokia offers a service called Life Tools. For a small monthly payment, the company sends text messages to farmers. The messages tell of weather conditions, crop prices, agricultural news and give other advice.
Local businessman Aldi Haryopratomo has developed a way for small store owners to sell things like prepaid cellphone minutes and life insurance through text messages. Ruma is the company that developed the technology. The company is working on a system that will notify people about jobs in their area.
At a recent digital technology show in Jakarta, banks offered no-interest financing for credit card purchases. Marina Luthfiani manages a mobile shop in the area. She said almost everyone can buy a smartphone because of competitive financing and credit choices. She says Indonesians like to buy the latest devices.
A report last June by Semiocast, a French internet research company, said Jakarta was the world's top tweeting(发微博)city, ahead of Tokyo and London.Why are feature phones popular in Indonesia?
A.It has fewer functions. |
B.It can be used to enjoy music. |
C.It is less expensive. |
D.It is more attractive. |
What is true of the service Life Tools?
A.It can sell agricultural products |
B.It provides useful information to farmers |
C.It is free of charge mainly for farmers. |
D.It helps farmers to make production plan. |
What does the underlined word “notify’ in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. Inform | B.Ask | C.Direct. | D.Help. |
What is the main idea of the text?
A.Indonesians like services on the Internet |
B.The Internet is widely used in Indonesia. |
C.Feature phones are the only choices in Indonesia. |
D.More and more Indonesians use smartphones. |
We all know that the normal human daily cycle of activity is of some 7-8 hours' sleep alternating(交替) with some 16-17 hours' wakefulness and that the sleep normally coincides with the hours of darkness. Our present concern is with how easily and to what extent this cycle can be modified.
The question is no mere academic one. The ease, for example, with which people can change from working in the day to working at night is a question of growing importance in industry where automation calls for round-the-clock working of machines. It normally takes from five days to one week for a person to adapt to a reversed(颠倒的) routine of sleep and wakefulness, sleeping during the day and working at night. Unfortunately, it is often the case in industry that shifts(轮班) are changed every week; a person may work from 12 midnight to 8 a.m. one week, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. the next, and 4 p.m. to 12 midnight the third and so on. This means that no sooner has he got used to one routine than he has to change to another, so that much of his time is spent neither working nor sleeping very efficiently.
The only real solution appears to be to hand over the night shift to a number of permanent night workers. An interesting study of the domestic life and health of night-shift workers was carried out by Brown in 1957. She found a high incidence (发生率) of disturbed sleep and other disorders among those on alternating day and night shifts, but no abnormal occurrence of these phenomena among those on permanent night work.
This latter system then appears to be the best long-term policy, but meanwhile something may be done to relieve the pressure of alternate day and night work by selecting those people who can adapt most quickly to the changes of routine. One way of knowing when a person has adapted is by measuring his body temperature. People occupied in normal daytime work will have a high temperature during the hours of wakefulness and a low one at night; when they change to night work the pattern will only gradually go back to match the new routine and the speed with which it does so parallels, broadly speaking, the adaptation of the body as a whole, particularly in terms of performance. Therefore, by taking body temperature at two-hour intervals(间隔时间) throughout the period of wakefulness, it can be seen how quickly a person can adapt to a reversed routine, and this could be used as a basis for selection. So far, however, such a form of selection does not seem to have been applied in practice.The main problem of the round-the-clock working system lies in.
A.the inconveniences brought about to the workers by the introduction of automation |
B.the disturbance of the daily life cycle of workers who have to change shifts too frequently |
C.the fact that people working at night are often less effective |
D.the fact that it is difficult to find a number of good night workers |
The best solution for implementing the 24-hour working system seems to be.
A.to change shifts at longer intervals. |
B.to have longer shifts |
C.to arrange for some people to work on night shifts only |
D.to create better living conditions for night workers |
It is possible to find out if a person has adapted to the changes of routine by measuring his body temperature because.
A.body temperature is higher when the cycle of sleep and wakefulness alternates |
B.body temperature changes when he changes to night shift or back |
C.the temperature reverses when the routine is changed |
D.people have higher temperatures when they are working efficiently |
Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
A.Body temperature may serve as an indication of a worker's performance. |
B.The selection of a number of permanent night shift workers has proved to be the best solution to problems of the round-the- clock working system. |
C.Taking body temperature at regular intervals can show how a person adapts to the changes of routine. |
D.Disturbed sleep occurs less frequently among those on permanent night or day shifts. |
If you think English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.
The study also found the earlier people learn a second language, the greater the effect is.
A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London(UCL), took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of“early bilinguals(通两种语言的人)”, who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference was.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,”said the scientists.
It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills.
“Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible,”he said,“You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of 2 and 34. Reading, writing and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the earlier they started to learn, the better.“Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,”explained the scientists.What does the underlined part“grey matter”(in paragraph 2) refer to?
A.Grey hair. | B.Material of the brain. |
C.Intelligence. | D.Difficult situations. |
The experience of learning a second language can.
A.change one’s brain completely |
B.improve one’s maths skills |
C.make one smarter than others |
D.increase the ability to learn |
We can learn from the passage that.
A.the researchers from UCL did another study in Italy |
B.a similar study was done on native Italian speakers who learn English as a second language |
C.the research done on the Italians showed a totally different result |
D.it will be easier for one to travel around the world by learning a second language |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
A.Learning a second language can help improve your brain power. |
B.You should learn a second language in English that is not your native language. |
C.If you want to learn a second language, you should do it at a certain age. |
D.The research done by the researchers from UCL is very successful. |