You are careful with your money: you collect all kinds of coupons; look for group-buy deals if you eat out; you don't buy clothes unless in a sale. Does all this make you a wise consumer?
Let's do the math first: you walk into a coffee shop and see two deals for a cup of coffee. The first deal offers 33 percent extra coffee. The second takes 33 percent off the regular price. What's the better deal? Well, they are about the same, you'd think. And you'd be wrong. The deals appear to be equal, but in fact, they are different. Here's the math: Let's say the standard coffee is 10 yuan and let's divide the amount of coffee into three portions(部分). That makes about 3.3 yuan per portion, The first deal gets you 4 portions for 10 yuan (2.5 yuan per portion) and the second gets you 3 portions of coffee for 6.6 yuan (2.2 yuan per portion) and is therefore a better deal.
In a new study published by the Journal of Marketing, participants were asked the same question, and most of them chose the first deal, the Atlantic website reported. Why? Because getting something extra for free feels better than getting the same for less. The applications of this view into consumer psychology(心理) are huge. Instead of offering direct discounts, shops offer larger sizes or free samples.
According to the study, the reason why these marketing tricks work is that consumers don't really know how much anything should cost, so we rely on parts of our brains that aren't strictly quantitative.
There are some traps we should be aware of when shopping. First of all, we are heavily influenced by the first number. Suppose you are shopping in Hong Kong. You walk into Hermes, and you see a 100,000 yuan bag. "That's crazy." You shake your head and leave. The next shop is Gucci, a handbag here costs 25,000 yuan. The price is still high, but compared to the 100,000 yuan price tag you just committed to your memory, this is a steal. Stores often use the price difference to set consumers' expectation.
Another trap we often fall to Is that we are not really sure what things are worth. And so we use clues(暗示) to tell us what we ought to pay for them. US economist Dan Ariely has done an experiment to prove this. According to the Atlantic, Ariely pretended he was giving a lecture on poetry. He told one group of students that the tickets cost money and another group that they would be paid to attend. Then he informed both groups that thelecture was free. The first group was anxious to attend, believing they were getting something of value for free. The second group mostly declined, believing they were being forced to volunteer for the same event without reward.
What's a lecture on poetry by an economist worth? The students had no idea. That's the point. Do we really know what a shirt is worth ? What about a cup of coffee? What's the worth of a life insurance.policy? Who knows? Most of us don't. As a result, our shopping brain uses only what is knowable: visual(祝觉的) clues, invited emotions, comparisons, and a sense of bargain. We are not stupid. We are just easily influenced.The first paragraph of the passage is intended to
| A．ask a question | B．introduce a topic |
| C．give some examples | D．describe a phenomenon |
The writer takes the math for example in Paragraph 2 to show . _.
| A．consumers usually fall into marketing traps |
| B．consumers' expectation is difficult to predict |
| C．consumers' purchasing power is always changing |
| D．consumers rely on their own judgment when shopping |
What consumer psychology is mentioned in the passage?
| A．The first number has little influence on which item should be bought. |
| B．Consumers never use visual clues to decide how much should be paid. |
| C．Getting something extra for free is better than getting the same for less. |
| D．Consumers never rely on parts of the brains that aren't strictly quantitative. |
According to the passage, shops use the following tricks to make more profits EXCEPT .
| A．showing price differences | B．offering larger sizes |
| C．providing free samples | D．giving direct discounts |
What can we know from US economist Dan Ariely's experiment?
| A．Ariely's free lecture enjoyed popularity among students. |
| B．The students actually didn't know what the lecture was worth. |
| C．The second group was willing to be volunteers without reward. |
| D．The first group was eager to find out the value of Ariely's lecture. |
There's a lot of discussion these days about healthy kids. People who care (parents, doctors, teachers, and others) want to know how to help kids be more healthy.
Being healthy is a way of saying a person eats well, gets a lot of physical activity (exercise), and has a healthy weight. If you're healthy, your body works well, feels good, and can do all the things you want to do. Here are five rules to live by, if you're a kid who wants to be healthy.
Eat a Variety of Foods, Especially Fruits and Vegetables. You may have a favorite food, but the best choice is to eat a variety. If you eat different foods, you're more likely to get the nutrients(营养) your body needs. Taste new foods and old ones you haven't tried for a while. Get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day — two fruits and three vegetables.
Drink Water and Milk Most Often. When you're really thirsty, cold water is the No. 1 for you. Kids need calcium（钙）to build strong bones, and milk is a great source of this mineral. How much do kids need? Aim for 3 cups of milk per day. You can mix it up by having milk and some other calcium-rich dairy foods .
Be Active.One job you have as a kid — and it's a fun one — is that you get to figure out which activities you like best. Not everyone loves baseball or soccer. Ask your parents to help you do your favorite activities regularly. Find ways to be active every day. You might even write down a list of fun stuff to do, so you can refer to it when your mom or dad says it's time to stop watching TV or playing computer games! What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．Do Your Favorite Activities Regularly | B．Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Every Day |
| C．Drink Water and Milk When You Are Thirsty | D．Tips on How to Keep Healthy |
Which of the following can’t show a kid is healthy?
| A．Eating well | B．Having too much sleep |
| C．Having a healthy weight | D．Getting a lot of physical exercise |
The best way to get enough nutrients for your body is ________.
| A．to drink milk every day | B．to eat what you haven’t eaten before |
| C．to eat all kinds of foods | D．to eat fruits and vegetables instead of grains |
The underlined words “this material” in the fourth paragraph refer to _________.
| A．calcium | B．calcium-rich dairy food | C．milk | D．nutrients |
It was a Sunday morning and I was in a terrible mood. Two of my friends had gone to the movies the night before and hadn’t invited me. I was in my room thinking of ways to make them sorry when my father came in and said, “Want to go for a ride, today, Beck?”
“No ! Leave me alone!” Those were the last words I said to him that morning.
My friends invited me to go to the mall with them a few hours later. I forgot to be mad at them and went. I came home to find a note on the table. My mother put it where I would be sure to see it. “Dad has had an accident. Please meet us at Highland Park Hospital.”
When I reached the hospital，my mother came out and told me my father’s injuries were extensive. “Your father told the driver to leave him alone and just call 911，thank God! If he had moved Daddy，there’s no telling what might have happened. A broken rib（肋骨）might have pieced（穿透）a lung…” My mother might have said more, but I didn’t hear anything except those terrible words: leave me alone.
It was several days later that he was finally able to have a conversation. I held his hand gently, afraid of hurting him. “Daddy…I am so sorry…” “It’s okay, sweetheart.” “No,”I said, “I mean about what I said to you that day.”
My father never tells lies but he looked at me and said, “I don’t remember anything about that day, not before, during or after the accident. I remember kissing you goodnight the night before, though.” I regretted for my thoughtless words.
My English teacher once told me that words have immeasurable power. They can hurt or they can heal. And we all have the power to choose our words.Why did the author say sorry to his father in the hospital?
| A．Because he was rude to his father that morning. |
| B．Because he didn’t go along with his father. |
| C．Because he failed to come earlier after the accident. |
| D．Because he couldn’t look after his father in the hospital |
The reason why the author’s father said he forgot everything about that day is that________. .
| A．he had a poor memory | B．he just wanted to comfort his son |
| C．he didn’t wanted to comfort his son | D．he lost his memory after the accident |
We know from the passage that when the accident happened,_______________.
| A．the author’s father called the hospital immediately. |
| B．the author’s father was on his way to the mall. |
| C．the author was watching a film with two of his friends. |
| D．the author’s father told the driver not to move him. |
What lesson did Beck learn from the matter?
| A．Don’t treat your parents badly. | B．Don’t hurt others with rude words |
| C．Don’t move the injured in an accident. | D．Don’t be angry with friends at small things. |
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is also the most neglect (忽视). Common reasons for not eating breakfast include having no time, not feeling hungry, traditional dislike and dieting.
Breakfast simply means “break the fast’’. Your body spends at least 6 to 12 hours each night in a fasting state. In the morning your body needs energy for the day’s work ahead.
A good breakfast should provide 1/3 of your total calorie(卡路里)needs for the day. On average, we eat 400 less calories for breakfast than for dinner. If breakfast doesn’t appeal (吸引) to you in the morning, try eating a lighter dinner earlier in the evening or save half of your dinner for breakfast in the morning.
If you still aren’t hungry in the morning, start with something small like juice or toast or have a nutritious (有营养的) mid-morning snack (小吃) later when you are hungry.
So, you say you are on a diet. Some people fear that eating breakfast will make them hungrier during the day and they will eat more. It is true that eating breakfast is likely to make you feel hungry throughout the day. That is because your body is working correctly. Although you may feel as if you are eating more all day long, in reality you are probably not.
Not eating breakfast can also cause you t overeat, since a fall in blood sugar often makes you feel very hungry later. To make matters worse, since your body is in a slow state, it will not be able to burn those extra calories very efficiently (有效). If you feed your body healthy snacks and meals throughout the day, you are less likely to become hungry and stuff (填饱) yourself as soon as you begin to eat.
Since breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, choosing the
right food is important. The best breakfast foods are fruits ,juice, lean meat and grain products such as bread, rice, noodles and cereals.. What is the meaning of the word “fast” in the phrase“break the fast”?
| A．movement | B．going without food | C．quickness | D．certain kind of food |
.If you don’t want to have breakfast in the morning, according to the writer’s suggestion, you should________.
| A．see a doctor to have an examination | B．have a little supper |
| C．go to a restaurant to enjoy a good meal | D．have a good supper |
. Eating breakfast, in fact, makes your body_________.
| A．work out of order | B．produce too much energy |
| C．work well | D．feel hungry quicker |
Not eating breakfast will_________.
| A．save a lot of money | B．do harm to your health |
| C．do good to your health | D．help you keep in shape |
In the last paragraph the writer mainly_________.
A. persuades us to have a good breakfast
B. tell us what food isn’t suitable for breakfast
C describes when and how we should have our breakfast
D .tell us what food we should have for breakfast
Some people don’t mind being fat. Other people can keep slim 
(苗条) without any effort. But a lot of people do put on too much weight and don’t like it. The question is, what can thy do about it?
Some believe exercise can be helpful. But the trouble is that it only makes you want to eat more. You might sweat out a couple of pounds playing tennis or climbing a mountain, but you put it all back on again with a big steak or bread and jam.
A helpful way is food choosing. But what sort of food should you choose? Some believe that the less they eat, the slimmer they will be. They don’t eat anything until they become weak with hunger. Some stick to milk and bananas. You’ll find you need a lot of bananas, and unless you live where they grow, they aren’t cheap. Another says that if you eat things like hard-boiled eggs, and apples with their skins on which are hard for your stomach to digest (消化), the more you eat, the thinner you get. This is because you use up the fat in your body to get the energy to digest the food.
For most of us these methods are too extreme (极端的). The simplest way is just to cut down on the carbohydrates (糖
类) that means not eating bread, potatoes, cakes, sugar, rice, and so on and eating anything else you like. It’s straight forward and often quite effective.
Still others like to be more scientific. They are calorie countries. They get a table, which tells them that, for example, 100 grams of roast let of lamb gives you 330 calories and a 50 gram helping of Yokshire pudding gives you 130 calories..
. According to the passage, the best way to keep slim is ______.
| A．exercising | B．hunger | C．food-choosing | D．eating milk and bananas |
.
There seems nothing wrong with exercise except that ______.
| A．it makes you sweat | B．it’s hard work |
| C．it tires you out | D．it makes you eat more |
.
. The practical method suggested here means ______.
| A．sticking to bananas | B．not eating many carbohydrates |
| C．eating as little as possible | D．eating things that are hard to digest |
.
. Which of the following do you think is the best title for the passage?
| A．Don’t Eat Too Much | B．Various Ways of Losing Weight |
| C．Ways to Keep Fit | D．Food and Health |
Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States or Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will learn a musical instrument or ballet or other classes which will give them a head start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is , the better it is. So the parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education . Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter.
However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.
Parents can see that their children’s skills vary, skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today’s children lack (缺乏) self-respect and self-confidence.
The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents aren’t teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident , happy and clever.
Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing housework.
Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking demands patience and time. It’s an enjoyable but difficult experiment. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually to finish his job successfully. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and a lot of self-confidence.
Some old machines , such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your children to play with will make him curious (好奇) and arouse his interest He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities aren’t merely teac
hing a child to read a book , but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important..
Parents in China, according to this passage,_________.
A. are too strict with their children
B. are too rich to educate their children
C have some problems in educating their children correctly
D. are too poor to educate their children.
Generally speaking, children’s skills_______.
| A．come from their parents |
| B．have nothing to do with their education |
| C．may be different |
| D．have something to do with their marks in the exams |
.
The writer of this passage doesn’t seem to be satisfied with_______.
| A．the parents’ idea of educating their children |
| B．the education system |
| C．children’s skills |
| D．children’s hobbies |
.
. Doing some cooking at home helps children_________.
| A．learn how to serve their parents |
| B．learn how to become strong and fat |
| C．benefit from it and prepare themselves for the future |
| D．make their parents believe that they are clever |