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 look 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 BertoHa 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 misleading, 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 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．T'he 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 |
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 |
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 tends 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． |
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 |
Why did humans evolve to walk upright? Perhaps because it’s just plain easier. Make that “energetically less costly”, scientifically speaking.
Bipedalism—walking on two feet, is one of the defining characteristics of being humans, and scientists have debated for years how it came about. In the latest attempt to find an explanation, researchers trained five chimps(黑猩猩)to walk on a treadmill(跑步机)while wearing masks that allowed measurement of their oxygen consumption. The chimps were measured both while walking upright and while moving on their legs and knuckles(膝关节).That measurement of the energy needed to move around was compared with similar tests on humans and the results are published in this week’s online edition of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.
It turns out that humans walking on two legs use only one-quarter of the energy that chimps use while knucklewalking on four limbs(肢).And the chimps, on average, use as much energy using two legs as they did when they used all four limbs.
However, there were differences among chimps in how much energy they used, and this difference corresponded to their different manner of walking and anatomy(解剖构造).One of the chimps used less energy on two legs, one used about the same and the others used more, said David Raichlen, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona.
“What we were surprised at was the variation(变异) ”, he said in a telephone interview. Interview. “That was pretty exciting, because when you talk about how evolution works, variation is the bottom line, without variation there is no evolution.”
Walking on two legs freed our arms, opening the door to drive the world, said Raichlen. “We think about the evolution of bipedalism as one of first events that led hominids(原始人)down the path to being humans.”
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the L.S.B.Leakey Foundation. The underlined word “Bipedalism” in Paragraph 2 probably means____.
| A．moving sideways | B．walking upright |
| C．walking on four legs | D．running fast |
We can infer from the passage that____.
| A．scientists have no idea on how humans’ walking on two legs came about |
| B．scientists have had different views on why chimps walk on four legs |
| C．scientists have had different views on how humans’ walking on two legs vame about |
| D．scientists have had similar views on how humans’ walking on two legs came about |
What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?
| A．How chimps saved energy. |
| B．Why chimps didn't walk on two legs. |
| C．David Raichlen studied chimps. |
| D．Different chimps consumed different energy. |
According to the passage, humans walk upright in order to____.
| A．conserve energy | B．differ from other animals |
| C．free their brains | D．strengthen their legs |
Observer 2007-03-28 13:54
Nothing could be more shameful for McDonald’s and KFC. They are violating labour’s rights. The government must immediately bring the guilty to justice. A stricter government inspection system must be enforced to protect the workers.
Nathan 2007-03-28 21:39
It is known that McDonald’s and KFC and other fast-food restaurants pay the lowest wage they possibly can to get their employees. I think it’s kind of funny that these two restaurants have not yet set up unions. It is also known that they also take every possible measure e(legal, and sometimes illegal) to prevent their employees from forming or joining unions. I think it is high time that government enforced the law that they have made.
Cushman 2007-03-28 22:32
The deepest reason is that China has a large population. If you complain that the pay is very low, the boss will tell you that can go to other places and that there are a lot of people waiting for the job. Today finding a job is not very easy, so you don’t have many choices, and you have to face the reality.
Chip 2007-03-29 20:33
If wages were too low, people wouldn’t work for them, but they do, so it proves the wages are reasonable. Sure, they could raise the wages, but why should they? The workers are still working, still willing to show up on time, and it keeps costs lower. Were they to raise wages, they would have to FIRE more workers, and the price of burgers would go up. Then people wouldn’t buy them, then McDonald’s would once again FIRE more workers because of a reduced demand, and you’d be back in the same boat, just with less people working.What are they debating about?
| A．McDonald’s and KFC pay too low a salary to their employees. |
| B．Setting up a social security system. |
| C．Fast-food restaurants have no rights to fire workers. |
| D．McDonald’s and KFC will be punished for their behaviour. |
According to Chip, it is____for McDonald’s and KFC to give employees a low salary.
| A．unacceptable | B．shameful | C．acceptable | D．illegal |
In the opinion of Cushman, the key to the problem is that____.
| A．the social security net has not been set up |
| B．China has too large a population |
| C．the government has not taken stronger steps to protect workers |
| D．the unions have not played an important part to raise the wages. |
The underlined word “they” in Nathan’s words refers to____.
| A．the employees | B．governments |
| C．all the restaurants | D．fast-food restaurants |
Sicily, an island of Italy, is home to beautiful beaches, outstanding food, and a bit of Italian history on every corner. It’s located just southwest of the Italian mainland and it’s the largest Mediterranean island.
Invaded(侵略)by many armies over the centuries, it became the site of Roman and Greek colonies. Those cultures remain to this day.
Although they have a rich culture and history, Sicilian people lead a simple life. Living on land with fertile(肥沃的) soil, most of them work in agriculture, fishing and mining, and of course tourism.
In Sicily, most stores and businesses are closed from one to four in the afternoon. Street become crowded around five as people start to go out and engage in a variety of activities. They may take a walk to the shops, enjoy a pastry(糕点)or just meet up with friends.
Food is one of the great pleasures of Sicilian people. There is an old Sicilian saying：“With a contented stomach, your heart is forgiving. With an empty stomach you forgive nothing.” People will go miles out their way to eat fresh seafood. Pasta(意大利面)is the main food Each region has its seasonal pasta dishes, and every family cook their own specialty. Bread is common too. As another Sicilian saying goes, “A table without bread is like a day without sunshine.” In Sicily, bread is always freshly baked or bought, and usually twice a day. Invaders from Rome and Greece came to Sicily______.
| A．by bike | B．by ship | C．on foot | D．by train |
The underlined sentences mean Sicilian people______.
| A．can always forgive other’s mistakes |
| B．can’t stand going hungry |
| C．like eating |
| D．may make mistakes when they are hungry |
According the author, Pasta changes with______.
| A．weather | B．age | C．social position | D．season |
The best title of this passage might be______.
| A．Sicily—an Island of Italy |
| B．Sicily—the Site of Roman and Greek Colonies |
| C．Italy’s most Beautiful Island |
| D．SiTALY’S Tasty Island Culture |
Drinking small amount of hard Japanese rice wine apparently never hurt 114-year-old Kamato Hongo.She is now the world’s oldest living person, according to Guinness World Records.
“Hongo inherited（继承）the title Monday after the death of the previous record holder, Maud Farris-Luse ,of Coldwater , Mich.,”the record-keeping company said on its website.Farris-Luse was 115 years and 56 days old then.
“Hongo, born on Sept .16,1887, was raised on a farm and counts drinking Japanese rice wine among her favorite things ─ along with black salt, pork ,sashimi（生鱼片）and green tea,”according to Guinness. “She also likes traditional Japanese dancing.”
“The key is not storing up stress,”said her 45-year-old grandson Tsuyoshi Kurauchi. “If you do that, you can eat or drink anything.”
“Hongo mothered seven children, more than 20 grandchildren, and even outlived her eldest daughter, who died two years ago while in her 90s,”according to Kurauchi, who described Hongo as a “warm, caring grandmother”.
She lived in a nursing home in Kagoshima, a city about 615 miles southwest of Tokyo on the island of Kyushu, which has reputation for record-breaking longevity among its residents.
Hongo was born in the nearby town of Isen, home to the late Shigechiyo Izumi, who also held the Guinness record as the world’s oldest person. He died in 1986 at the age of 120.
Recently , another Kyushu resident was regarded as the world’s oldest man. Retired silkworm farmer Yukichi Chuganji graduated into the spot on Jan . 4 with the death of his predecessor, Antonio Todde of Italy. Chuganji turns 113 on Saturday.
There are an estimated 15,000 Japanese over the age of 100, and women make up about 80 percent of the total.The sentence “The key is not storing up stress.”in Paragraph 4 means “ ___________”.
| A．The most important is to mind everything that has been done. |
| B．The most important is to forget the unpleasant things. |
| C．The most important is to reduce the heavy load of learning and work. |
| D．The most important is to remember what brings you unhappiness. |
Who is considered to be the world’s oldest man alive in the passage?
| A．Maud Farris-Luse. | B．Shigechiyo Izumi. |
| C．Yukichi Chuganji. | D．Kamato Hongo. |
Which of the following is not true about Kamato Hongo?
| A．She is the world’s oldest person alive. |
| B．She loves drinking Japanese rice wine. |
| C．She is fond of traditional Japanese dancing. |
| D．She cares about everything that happens around her. |
The passage mainly talks about ___________________ .
| A．the fact that women are living longer than men |
| B．something about the Japanese oldest living lady |
| C．the fact that Kagoshima is famous for longevity |
| D．the secret of living longer |
Beauty has always been regarded as something admirable .Almost everyone thinks that attractive people are happier and healthier; they have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal consultants（顾问）give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive persons. But in the executive circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive thing for a man’s rise, it is harmful to a woman’s .Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to be the reasons for their success .Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is thought to be more feminine（女性的）and an attractive man more masculine（男性的）than the less attractive ones. Thus , an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the “masculine”qualities required.
This is true even in politics. Anne Bowman recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates（候选人）.She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women ,in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men , but the woman who had been ranked most attractive always received the fewest votes.In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness __________________ .
| A．strengthens the feminine qualities required |
| B．makes women look more honest and capable |
| C．is of great importance to women |
| D．often enables women to succeed quickly |
Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _____________________.
| A．turns out to be an obstacle to men |
| B．affects men and women alike |
| C．has as little effect on men as on women |
| D．is more of an obstacle than a benefit to women |
It can be inferred from the passage that people’s views on beauty are often ____________ .
| A．practical | B．old-fashioned | C．prejudiced（偏见的） | D．serious |
The author writes this passage to_______________________ .
| A．discuss the negative aspects of being attractive |
| B．give advice to job-seekers who are attractive |
| C．demand equal rights for women |
| D．emphasize the importance of appearance |