As societies develop, their members start to see things not so much according to what they need, but according to what they want. When people have enough money, these wants become demands.
Now, it' s important for the managers in a company to understand what their customers want if they are going to develop effective marketing strategies (策略). There are various ways of doing this. One way at supermarkets ( 超市), for example, is to interview(采访) customers while they're doing their shopping. They can be asked what they prefer to buy and then the results of the research can be studied. This provides information on which to base future marketing strategies. It' s also quite normal for top managers from department stores to spend a day or two each month visiting stores and mixing freely with the public, as if they were ordinary customers, to get an idea of how customers act.
Another way to get information from customers is to give them something. For example, some fast food restaurants give away tickets in magazines or on the street that permit customers to get part of their meal for nothing. As well as being a good way of attracting customers into the restaurants to spend their money, it also allows the managers to get a feel for where to attract customers and which age-groups to attract.
Another strategy used at some well-known parks such as Disneyland is for top managers to spend at least one day in their work, touring the park dressed as Mickey Mouse or something like that. This provides them with a perfect chance to examine the scene and watch the customers without being noticed.The text is designed for _______
A.managers | B.salesmen | C.researchers | D.customers |
Which of the following can help managers get useful information?
A.Visiting customers themselves. | B.Giving customers free food on the street. |
C.Visiting parks as ordinary customers. | D.Asking customers questions at supermarkets. |
What does the word "this" underlined in the last sentence refer to?
A.Visiting Disneyland. | B.Wearing attractive clothes. |
C.Acting Mickey Mouse. | D.Dressing up and walking around. |
The main idea of the text is _________.
A.how to do market research | B.how to develop marketing strategies |
C.how to find out customers' social needs | D.how to encourage customers to spend more money |
Junelle Lynch knocked on more than 200 doors in the Gayln Manor neighborhood of Brunswick in recent weeks. Her aim is to collect food for Brunswick Food Bank.
“I like helping people a lot,” said Junelle, who celebrated her 11th birthday in July.
With the support of her parents, Junelle walks along the streets with an orange bag. Her mother follows her by car, so Junelle can empty her bag when it becomes heavy. Isabella always accompanies(陪伴) her daughter.
Neighbor Lynda Mallory dropped noodles and canned soup, vegetables and fruit into Junelle’s bag. After visiting the last house, Junelle said she felt good about what she had achieved with the help of her neighbors.
Working an hour a night three times per week, she has collected more than 400 pounds of canned and boxed food. This isn’t the first year she has collected food. Junelle started nearly three years ago, at 8 years old, when she saw a collection box at a grocery store and decided to be a volunteer. In her first year, she collected 80 pounds of food in the undeveloped neighborhood, and 214 pounds the next year. The food helped feed many poor families. Her parents couldn’t be prouder of their daughter.
The Brunswick Food Bank volunteer manager Sandy Cox said, “I find her to be an amazing young lady. I don’t think I’ve seen someone that young who cares about the needs of other people so much. I wish other people would follow her.”
According to the passage, the Brunswick Food Bank is probably _____ .
A.a bank for people to save and draw money |
B.a place to store food and give it out when the market is short |
C.an organization to help the poor by collecting food for them |
D.an organization which collects food and then sells it |
Isabella usually helps her daughter by _______.
A.asking the neighbors for food | B.following her and letting her empty the bag |
C.offering her food for free | D.putting canned and boxed food in the car |
What do we know about Junelle’s food collecting?
A.She spends several hours doing it each week. | B.She did it following her parents’ advice. |
C.She believes she can collect much more food next year. | |
D.She did it because she wanted to work for the grocery store. |
What do we know from the passage?
A.Junelle has collected food for more than three years. | B.Junelle often collects food with her father. |
C.Junelle started collecting food when she was 11. | D.In Junelle’s parents’ opinion, she is a very good girl. |
Why does Sandy Cox wish that other people would follow Junelle?
A.Because Junelle cares about what other people need. | |
B.Because Junelle has collected more food than other people. | |
C.Because neighbors are willing to help Junelle. | D.Because the Brunswick Food Bank needs more food. |
Our little boy came up to his mot
her in the kitchen one evening while she was preparing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom dried her hands on her apron (围裙) , she read it, and this is what was said:
For going to the store for you $2.
For cutting the grass in the garden $3.
For cleaning up the yard this week $2.5.
For cleaning up my room this week $2.
For setting the table for meals this week $1.
For baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping $1.5.
For getting a good school report $5.
Total owed: $17.
His mother looked at him, who was standing there with expectation. Memories flashed through her mind. Then she picked up a pen, turned over the paper he had written on, and wrote:
For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me, No Charge(收费) .
For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you and taken care of you, No Charge.
For all the problems and troubles that you’ve caused through the years, there is No Charge.
When you add it all up, the cost of my love is No Charge.
For all the nights that were filled with fear and for the worries I knew were ahead, No Charge. For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping up your nose? There is No Charge. And when you add it all up, the full cost of real love is, No Charge, Son.
Well, friends, when our son finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight up at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you..” And then he took the pen and in great letters he wrote, “ PAID IN FULL.” What might the mother be doing when the boy came into the kitchen?
A.Getting the dishes ready. | B.Repairing the cooker. |
C.Washing dirty dishes. | D.Laying the table for dinner. |
According to the boy’s
bill, his mom owed him ______ for his helping with the house work.
A.$7.50 | B.$10.50 | C.$12.00 | D.$17.00 |
This story tries to tell us that ________.
A.real love is priceless | B.housework is endless | C.the mother is wise | D.the boy is selfish |
Liu Xiang, a 21-year-old Chinese athlete, got the gold medal of the fascinating men’s 110m hurdles before a crowd of 70,000 at the Olympic Stadium in the 28th Olympics in Athens late Friday local time. He clocked an excellent 12.91 seconds to equal the world record set by Britain’s Collin Jackson in 1993.
It is the first gold Chinese men’s athlete has ever won from the track and field in the Olympics history. China has won over 100 gold medals from the summer Olympic Games since 1984 but its male athletes only got one medal from Olympics’ most popular sport, the track and field.
The Shanghai native, with his father a truck driver and mother an out-of-work housewife, loved sports when he was very little. Liu was selected to the Junior Sports School of Putuo District of Shanghai to practice jumping as a fourth grader in the primary school. But after a bone test showing that he will not be able to become a tall man, Liu was asked to give up sports one year later, although he had won the national champion at that level.
In 1998 when he attracted coach Sun Haiping’s attention as a 15-year-old jumper, Sun was a well-known hurdle coach and he believed a star was born at the first sight of Liu. He visited Liu’s parents several times and finally persuaded them to let Liu transfer to the 110m hurdles.
After only three years, Liu launched his career in style in the IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne in 2001 by breaking the world youth and Asian record with a time of 13.12.
But the first warning he sent to the world was his bronze-winning feat(战绩)at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, England, last year.
In 2004, Liu won the silver in the world indoor championships in Budapest in March. Two months later, he proved the winner in a race against American great Allen Johnson in the IAAF Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan, where he clocked a new Asian record and world’s season best time of 13.06 seconds.
He went on to win two Johnson-absent races in Lille, France, on June 26 and Zagreb, Croatia, three days later. He put up an exciting show at the Golden Gala meet in Rome on July 3, when he and Johnson clocked an identical time of 13.11. Race officials had to examine a photo finish to declare Johnson the winner. Liu did a better job of clearing the hurdles than Johnson, but Johnson’s stronger start ended up making the difference. The race boosted(提高) Liu’s optimism(乐观) for the Olympics, although Johnson bettered his season best time by 0.01 second in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 6.
The world has put the Olympics a Johnson-Liu duel but surprisingly Johnson crashed out of the Games after falling at the ninth hurdle at round 2. Johnson’s early exit paved the way for Liu’s win. He finally took the gold medal and put a Chinese man’s name on the record book.
(chinadaily.com.cn /Xinhua) Updated:2004-08-28 02:57According to Paragraph One, which of the following is TRUE?
A.Liu Xiang is the fastest of the mentioned athletes. |
B.Liu Xiang has set a new world record in the event of the men’s 110m hurdles. |
C.Both Liu Xiang and Jackson got a gold medal at the Athens Olympics. |
D.In the Olympics history, Liu Xiang is the fastest in this event. |
Before the 28th Olympics in Athens, .
A.no Chinese athlete got a gold medal from the track and field at the Olympics |
B.there was already a Chinese male medal winner in the track and field at the Olympics |
C.Terrence Trammell got a gold medal from the men’s hurdles at the Sydney Olympics |
D.Zhu Jianhua got a bronze medal from the men’s hurdles in the 1984 Los Angeles Games |
In the last paragraph, the underlined word “duel” most probably means “ ”.
A.competition | B.friendship | C.partner | D.company |
From the passage, we can conclude that .
A.Liu Xiang had no gift for jumping when he was a little boy |
B.Liu Xiang set a new world youth record when he was 17 years old |
C.Liu Xiang has succeeded because of his coach Sun |
D.Johnson might have won the gold medal if he had not dropped out |
When I was small and my grandmother died, I couldn’t understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.
So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing come from the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so, too, does crying.
Whatever it takes for us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional (情感的) health, and crying seems to work well. One study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.
Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendly and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don't even know we' re very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them.
Just as crying can be healthy, not crying — holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering — can be bad for physical health. Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don't fight it. It's a natural — and healthy — emotional response.Why didn't the author cry when her grandmother died?
A.Because her father did not want her to feel too sad. |
B.Because she did not love her grandmother. |
C.Because she was too shy to cry at that time. |
D.The author doesn’t give the explanation. |
It can be inferred from the text that ______.
A.there are two ways to keep healthy |
B.crying does more good to health than laughing |
C.crying and laughing play the same roles |
D.emotional health has a close relationship to physical health |
According to the author, which of the following statements is true?
A.Crying is the best way to get help from others. |
B.Fighting back tears may cause some health problems. |
C.We will never know our deep feelings unless we cry. |
D.We must cry if we want to reduce pressure. |
What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A.Power of Tears | B.How to Keep Healthy |
C.Why We Cry | D.A New Scientific Discovery |
A small man with a fat stomach got on the train at the last station before the frontier (边境). He carried a paper bag. And four feet ducks could be seen under the cover. The man found an empty seat, put the bag in the middle of the floor, took out a newspaper and began to read. Then a policeman came in. Of course he saw the bag with ducks' legs at once and said, "Whose is that bag?" Nobody answered. The policeman repeated the question, and said, "I'll have to take it away from the owner. Food mustn't be taken out of the country." "Well, then," said the small man with a fat stomach. "Hurry up and take it. We want to go home." The policeman took the bag and went on to the next carriage.
At the next station, when they were safely across the frontier, the small man got up, smiled at the other passengers and said, "I hope they'll enjoy the ducks' feet. The rest of the bag had nothing but rubbish in it." Then he opened his coat and pointed to another bag he was carrying under it. It was tied tightly (紧紧地) over the stomach, which was not really fat. "I have the rest of the two ducks here," he said. With these words, he got off the train. But while he was happily walking to the exit with the bag in his hands, a policeman came up to him, saying, "Hey, man! Foreign food mustn't be brought in."The small man put the bag in the middle of the floor ___ .
A.so that he could make more room for himself |
B.so that the policeman could find it easily |
C.because the other passengers didn't like it |
D.because there was not an empty seat in the carriage |
The first policeman took the paper bag away because ___ .
A.he wanted to find the owner of the bag |
B.he enjoyed the ducks feet in the bag |
C.the bag was put in a wrong place in the carriage |
D.food can't be taken abroad |
The bag the policeman took away had nothing in it except ___ .
A.two ducks | B.rubbish |
C.the ducks' feet and rubbish | D.the ducks' feet |
In the end the small man ___ .
A.failed to take his food home |
B.crossed the frontier with two paper bags |
C.took the ducks safely home |
D.hid his ducks under his coat again |