“Regardless of social class, race, age, men say they hate to shop,” says Zukin, City University of New York sociology professor. “Yet when you ask them deeper questions, it turns out that they like to shop. Men generally like to shop for books, music and hardware. But if you ask them about the shopping they do for books or music, they’ll say, ‘Well, that’s not shopping. That’s research.’”
In other words, what men and women call “buying things” and how they approach that task are different.
Women will wander through several 1,000-square-meter stores in search of the perfect party dress. Men will wander through 100 Internet sites in search of the perfect digital camcorder(摄录像一体机).
Women see shopping as a social event. Men see it as a special task or a game to be won.
“Men are frequently shopping to win,” says Ann, a marketing professor at Loyola University of Chicago. “They want to get the best deal. They want to get the best one, the latest one and if they do that it makes them happy.”
When women shop, “They’re doing it in a way that they want everybody to be very happy,” says Ann. “They’re kind of shopping for love.”
“Teenage girls learn to shop from their moms and older sisters, but they also learn to shop by examining articles in magazines like Seventeen,” City University Zukin says.
“And although men’s magazines such as GQ and Esquire have long had shopping articles, it’s TV that has the eye of young male shoppers,” says Ann and Zukin.
“Television shows are used by young men in the same way Seventeen magazine or Lucky are used by girls,” says Zukin, “to help make clothing and toiletry(化妆品) choices.”
“Of course, there are men who love to shop and are proud of it,” Loyola’s Ann says.
And that is important no matter whether you buy a car or a frying pan. All men love to buy but don’t want to get cheated.
Ann adds, “There actually are men who are interested, for example, in cooking or shopping or chinaware or things around the home --- they become kind of girl magnets. Women like it.”
78. From the first paragraph we can find that ______.
A. men are all dishonest B. men are all book lovers
C. men hate to shop actually D. men like to shop in fact
79. Compared to women men usually treat shopping ______.
A. honestly B. seriously C. frequently D. foolishly
80. The underlined word “magnets” in the last paragraph means ______.
A. magazines that attract young women B. persons that have a powerful attraction
C. tools that can help housewives much D. vegetables that make women beautiful
In a recent study, participants were asked to drink beer from either a straight-sided glass, or a curved “beer glass”. People took about almost twice as long to finish when drinking alcohol from the straight-sided glass, compared with the curved glass. There was no difference in drinking rates from the glasses when the drink was nonalcoholic.
People may drink their alcohol faster from curved glasses because it is more difficult to accurately judge the halfway point of these glasses, the researchers concluded. As a result, drinkers may be less able to measure how much they have consumed. “People often talk of ‘pacing themselves’ when drinking alcohol as a means of controlling levels of drunkenness, but I think the important point to take from our research is that the ability to pace effectively may be compromised when drinking from certain types of glasses,” said study researcher Angela Attwood of the University of Bristol’s School of Experimental Psychology in the United Kingdom.
In another experiment, participants completed a computer task in which they were shown pictures of two glasses containing varying volumes of liquid, and asked to judge whether each glass was more, or less, than half-full. The researchers found people made greater errors in judging the halfway point of the curved glass.
“The participants who showed the greatest error in these judgments also tended to show the greatest changes in their drinking rates,” the researchers said. “The speed at which people drink alcohol influences their level of intoxication (迷醉), and the number of drinks they consume on an occasion. Therefore, slowing down is likely to have a positive impact for the individual, and also at a population level.”If a man finishes drinking alcohol from a curved glass in 30 minutes, from a same-volumed straight glass, he will spend _____.
| A．about 15 minutes | B．about 60 minutes |
| C．about 45 minutes | D．about 25 minutes |
According to the passage, the experiment shows that _____.
| A．curved glasses mislead people’s judgment |
| B．people differ greatly when judging the same glass |
| C．people do computer tasks poorly after drinking |
| D．the type of liquid influences people’s thinking |
What advice do the researchers give drinkers?
| A．Use a curved “beer glass”. |
| B．Drink at a slower pace. |
| C．Drink with positive people. |
| D．Try different types of alcohol. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Shape may influence your drinking |
| B．Curved glass is out of date |
| C．Drink less for your health |
| D．Drinkers favor a different type of glass |
From the beginning of human history, wild animals provided food, clothing and sometimes medicine for man. We may not depend as much on wild animals now. But we hear about them every day. Americans use the names of animals in many ways. Automobile manufacturers and gasoline companies especially like to use big cats to sell their products. They like lions, tigers and wildcats. When Americans say wildcat, they usually mean a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat. All these cats attack quickly and fiercely. So wildcats represent something fast and fierce.
An early American use of the word wildcat was quite different. It was used to describe members of Congress who declared war on Britain in 1812. A magazine of that year said the wildcat congressmen went home. It said they were unable to face the responsibility of having involved their country in an unnecessary war.
Wildcat also has been used as a name for money in the 1800s. At that time, some states permitted banks to make their own money. One bank in the state of Michigan offered paper money with a picture of a wildcat on it. Some banks, however, did not have enough gold to support all the paper money they offered. So the money had little or no value. It was called a wildcat bill or a wildcat banknote. The banks who offered this money were called wildcat banks. A newspaper of the time said those were the days of wildcat money. It said a man might be rich in the morning and poor by night.
Wildcat then was also used for an oil well or gold mine that had almost no oil or gold in it. Dishonest developers would buy such property. Then they would sell it and leave town with the money. The buyers were left with worthless holes in the ground. Today, wildcat oil wells are in areas that are not known to have oil.What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Wildcats and their stories. |
| B．Wildcats and their characters. |
| C．Varieties of animal species. |
| D．Relationship between animals and humans. |
The underlined words "a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat" in Paragraph 1 may refer to "".
| A．gasoline companies |
| B．automobile manufacturers |
| C．brands of automobile |
| D．names of wildcats |
Which of the following would people like to have or trust according to the passage?
| A．Wildcat congressmen. | B．Wildcat oil wells. |
| C．Wildcat banks. | D．Wildcat cars. |
It can be inferred that during the days of wildcat money.
| A．people couldn't buy anything with the money |
| B．people complained and suffered a lot |
| C．the rich invested too much on oil wells |
| D．people didn't know how to save money |
Here is a true story about a famous man who worked in the White House and a criminal. They once faced the same thing: their mother gave them apples when they were young.
The criminal said: one day, my mother brought some apples and asked my brother and me: “Which do you want?” “The reddest and biggest one,” my little brother said. My mother stared at him and said to him angrily: “You should learn to give the good things to others; you shouldn’t always think of yourself.” Seeing this, I suddenly changed my idea and then said to my mother: “Mum, please give me the smaller one and give the bigger one to my little brother.” Hearing my words, my mother was very happy. She kissed me on my face and gave the reddest and biggest apple to me as a prize. From then on, I learned to tell lies, fight, steal and rob. In order to get what I wanted, I played hard. As a result, I was sent into prison.
The famous man from the White House said: One day, my mother brought some apples. She said to my brother and me: “You all want the reddest and biggest one, right? Well, let’s have a competition. Now I divide the grassland in front of the gate into two and I will give one to each of you and you must shear(修剪) it well. And I will give the reddest and biggest apple to him who does it the most quickly and best.”
After the competition, I won and I got the biggest apple. In our family, as long as you want to get the best things, you must take part in competition. I think it is fair. No matter what you want, you must pay lots of efforts.The criminal got the reddest and biggest apple because .
| A．he told the truth that he wanted a smaller one |
| B．his mother loved him more than she loved the younger brother |
| C．elder brother should of course have the bigger one |
| D．he knew how to make his mother happy from his answer |
We can conclude from the passage that .
| A．it’s important to make children aware that no matter what they want, they must pay work |
| B．it’s wrong to ask children to choose apples when they are not old enough |
| C．it’s wrong to ask children not to always think of themselves |
| D．it’s always necessary to have a competition when we give children apple |
The writer tells the story by .
| A．organizing it in the order of time |
| B．making a comparison between two men |
| C．providing some scientific information |
| D．describing it in the order of space |
It is implied in the passage that.
| A．we should always try to win competitions which can bring us a lot |
| B．in order to get what we want, we should play hard |
| C．giving children apples will lead them to become criminals |
| D．a mother’s educational method has a great influence on a child’s growing |
When the seventeenth-century settlers brought the English language to America, they immediately and necessarily began to adapt (使适应) it to their new environment. These changes were clear early and criticized by some people on both sides of the Atlantic. However, after the Revolution, Americans began to be proud of their own form of English. Noah Webster was the major early supporter of American meanings and spellings over British ones and published the earliest American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language. During the years since Webster, language differences have continued to develop, proving (证明) the truth of George Bernard Shaw’s often-repeated words that the two nations are divided by a common language.
Like the American language, the earliest American literature (文学) copied English models. However, after the Revolution and the War of 1812, writers began to create a clear American literature. However, in 1820, Sydney Smith asked the famous question “Who reads an American book?”
Answering to this and similar taunts (讽刺) with creative anger, American writers soon produced works that plenty of British people read. Works by Washing-ton Irving, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain had been acclaimed greatly in Britain by the end of the nineteenth century.
Even as American writers got respect in Britain, British writers continued to have great influence in America. Charles Dickens went to America twice, in 1842 and 1867-68. Other major British writers who traveled and lived in the United States include D.H. Lawrence and Aldous Huxley. British best works continue to be widely read. The works of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen became popular films.
At the turn of the twenty-first century, many books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (继承) of the shared language.The author of this passage seems to think ______.
| A．British English is better than American English |
| B．American English is better than British English |
| C．the same language has divided the two nations |
| D．the same language has connected the two nations |
From the question asked by Sydney Smith, we can infer ______.
| A．the British had to translate American books into English ones |
| B．the British found American books difficult to understand |
| C．the British thought highly of books written by Americans |
| D．the British looked down upon American books at first |
The underlined word “acclaimed” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.
| A．sold | B．discussed |
| C．welcomed | D．refused |
In fine department stores everywhere, you’ll see the light-blue boxes of Estee Lauder. These popular cosmetics (化妆品) are sold in more than 130 countries. Who’s the woman behind this worldwide cosmetics empire (帝国)? Estee Lauder herself, of course. This businesswoman became, for a time, the world’s richest self-made woman. Her secret? “I didn’t get there by dreaming about it,” she would say. “I got there by doing it.” Estee was born in the early 1900s in Queens, New York. Her father ran a hardware (五金器具) store, and from him Estee learned how to be a successful salesperson. Estee learned from her uncle John Schotz, too. He made creams in a small laboratory behind the family’s house. Estee watched him. Soon, she was experimenting with her own cosmetics. She put lipstick (唇膏) and creams on any female relative who’d let her, until her annoyed father told her to stop.
She married Joseph H. Lauder in 1930, and continued her experiments. She would cook dinner for the family, and at the same time, make her face creams. Then she began to sell her products in a Manhattan beauty shop.
In 1960, Estee began to sell her products in Europe. After many tries she succeeded and began selling her products in some stores in London. But France proved even more difficult. The store Galleries Lafayette refused to sell her products. So Estee “by accident” dropped a bottle of youth dew (香水) on the floor in the cosmetics department. As the scent spread around the store, customers came over and asked to buy it. The store soon began selling Estee’s products.
Estee led her company until 1982, when her son Leonard took over the business. Until her health worsened in the mid-1990s, she continued to attend the opening of a new store wherever in the world. She died on April 24, 2004. Estee Lauder’s talent as a saleswoman was extraordinary. Her son Leonard said, “There was never anyone who could sell like she could.” All who worked for Estee appreciated her special talent.Which of the following can best describe Estee Lauder?
| A．A successful cosmetics saleswoman. |
| B．A beautiful shop owner in London. |
| C．A popular cosmetics producer in France. |
| D．A founder of a cosmetics company in America. |
What was Estee Lauder’s father’s attitude towards her when she tried her products on her female relatives?
| A．He supported her and helped her. |
| B．He didn’t care about what she did. |
| C．He was very angry at her for what she did. |
| D．He was proud of what she did. |
Estee managed to get her products known to the French customers by dropping a bottle of youth dew on the floor in the cosmetics department of a store ______.
| A．on purpose | B．with the store’s permission |
| C．by accident | D．carelessly |
The underlined word “scent” in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.
| A．Estee’s product | B．a customer’s praise |
| C．a pleasant smell | D．the broken pieces of glass |