Online shoppers would rather receive an offer for a product or service than make their own offer 3 according to a study led by a Michigan State University scholar that has implications for the fast-growing e-commerce industry. The findings may come as a surprise given that shopping online is an anonymous(匿名的）process that seemingly can give consumers more confidence to drive a hard bargain,said Don Conlon ，Professor of Management in MSU’s Broad College of Business.
But the study found that participants who made their own offers were less successful in sealing the deal and ，when they were successful? worried they overpaid Many shoppers found the process of researching an offer to be a hassle. “ Americans are very busy，and it’s less time-consuming to be the one receiving the offer rather than the one proposing the offer ” Conlon said. u People tend to be happier when they’re in the receiver role. ”
Online spending in the United States is expected to jump 45 percent in the next four years， from $ 226 billion this year to $ 327 billion in 2017，according to Forrester Research Inc. Nevertheless, researches into this prosperous market remain largely focused on the strategies of companies, rather than those o£ shoppers. Conlon’s study is ，obviously, a rare exception.
Conlon got the idea for the study after considering the difference between two popular sites for hotels and airline flights, priceline.com, which takes bids, and hotwire.com ，which provides offers. Using these two models ，Conlon and his fellow researchers conducted a series of experiments with more than 850 people who were charged with booking a fictional hotel room and acquiring a fictional antique car. Not only did participants prefer to receive bids, Conlon said ，but they also secured more deals in that receiver role. Further ，when they had to make the bids ，they were left more mentally taxed and regretful.
From an industry perspective，putting customers in the receiver role may help fill more hotel rooms and airplane seats. “If you’re a business with a lot of products3 ” Conlon said，“you may want to be the one making the offers. ” However, when selling single items, such as an antique car， accepting bids may be a better option since that typically drives up the price, he said.
What can we learn from Para. 1?
| A．The result of the study gives customers more confidence. |
| B．Scholars aren’t surprised at the findings of the study. |
| C．Online shoppers don’t bargain as much as expected. |
| D．E-commerce industry drives more hard bargains. |
It can be concluded from Conlon’s experiments that______.
| A．online shopping is time-consuming |
| B．given prices help promote online sales |
| C．online businesses provide a lot of products |
| D．receiving offers makes online shoppers regretful |
The underlined word “taxed” in Para. 4 probably means______.
| A．burdened | B．numbed | C．relieved | D．challenged |
The passage is mainly about______.
| A．the big advantages of online shopping |
| B．the rapid development of online shopping |
| C．online shoppers’ preference for taking offers |
| D．online companies strategies to improve service |
B
Snow can be very beautiful. When snow covers everything around you , the world looks like a “Winter Wonderland”. That is the name of a very popular song about winter. Richard Smith and Felix Bernard wrote the song in 1934.
But winter is not always such a beautiful and happy time. It is cold outside.The wind blows and makes it even colder. The days are shorter and darker. The sun rarely shines. The leaves on the trees are brown or have fallen to the ground. The flowers are mostly gone. It is not surprising that some people are sad in winter. And some people dream about being somewhere else where it is warm and pretty——like the state of California. The Mamas and the Papas recorded their famous song, “California Dreaming” in 1965.
During the 1960s, many other famous rock groups sang songs about winter. Here is a song by Simon and Garfunkel called “A Hazy Shade of Winter”. They sing about life and hope.
In 1968, the group Blood, Sweat and Tears recorded this gentle, sad song about winter. They sing about a lost love and forgotten memories in “Sometimes in Winter”.
Gordon Lightfoot wrote and recorded another sad and lovely song about winter in 1975.Sarah McLachlan recorded “Song for a Winter’s Night” for an album in 2006.She sings about reading a love letter and wishing the writer were with her.
Finally, on a lovely note, we leave you this sad song by Wayne.
40. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. “Winter Wonderland” is a song written by two brothers.
B. Most people feel very sad in winter.
C. “California Dreaming” is the most famous song about winter.
D. Winter is not always a happy time.
41. What do we learn about the song “Sometimes in Winter” from the passage?
A. It was written for Sarah McLachlan .
B. Gordon Lightfoot made some changes to it.
C. It is a gentle and sad song about winter.
D. It first came out in the 1970s.
42. What can we infer from the passage?
A. It is usually warm in California in winter.
B. “Song for a Winter’s Night” is a very happy song.
C. Blood, Sweat and Tears are the names of three singers.
D. Simon and Garfunkel often felt sad.
43. Where is this passage most probably taken from?
A. Newspaper B. TV news C. Radio program D. Magazine
三、阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分；满分30分）
A
On a cold winter morning in the late 1930s, Bobby awoke early. It was a day that Bobby would never forget. Bobby, his brother and his mother were once again abandoned(抛弃) by his father. When times got hard, the man left home. Bobby wasn’t surprised. He must take the responsibility for caring for his family.
He put on the warmest clothes he had and pulled on his old socks and torn shoes. After thinking of a way to keep his feet dry, he went outside looking for work.
Coming across some men working on the road, he joined in and worked hard for hours. Suddenly, rain poured down. “Go home and get out of this weather,” the men shouted, giving him a few coins.
Bobby used the money to buy as much food as he could afford in the nearest store. While holding a small bag of food ,Bobby stopped to adjust(调整) the thick paper in his shoes.
A man, who was a member of the Salvation Army, saw Bobby’s problem. He bought Bobby a new pair of shoes.
I wasn’t there on that cold day. But I’ve heard the story many times and can always imagine my father, as a child, dancing and wearing a pair of new shoes home.
Several years later, Bobby joined the navy. He continued to support his family and meanwhile worked for the Salvation Army so that another little boy somewhere might receive a new pair of shoes for Christmas.
The tradition lasted until my father became too ill. Daddy died six years ago. While the new shoes kept his feet warm in the 1930s, Daddy’s act of giving back for tens of years warmed his heart in a greater way.
36. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to Paragraph 1?
A. It wasn’t the first time that Bobby’s father had abandoned the family.
B. Bobby’s father was irresponsible toward his family.
C. Bobby was glad that his father left home.
D. Bobby was an independent and strong-minded boy.
37. How did the men working on the road treat Bobby?
A. They didn’t care for him B. They gave him some money
C. They refused to let him work with them D. They laughed at him
38. By putting thick paper in his shoes, Bobby wanted to ___________.
A. keep his feet dry B. protect his socks
C. make himself walk faster D. hide his poverty
39. According to the passage, people from the Salvation Army__________.
A. are the members of the army B. are willing to help the poor
C. serve at the local church D. are local shop assistants
B
He was an old man who fished alone in a boat in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boys parents had told him that the old man was now definitely salao and he finally would be so. The boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff(鱼钩) and harpoon(鱼叉) and the sail that as rolled around the mast(桅杆). The sail was patched with flour bags and, rolled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.
The old man was very thin with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches(斑点) of the skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handing heavy fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert. Everything about him was old expect his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.
“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the boat was pulled up. “I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.” The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.
“No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?
“Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrance and then we’ll take the stuff home.”
“Why not?” said the old man, “between fisherman.”
55. The underlined word “salao” in the first paragraph probably means ________.
A. lonely B. unlucky C. selfish D. stubborn
56. The boy left the old man and went in another boat to fish because _______.
A. the old man preferred to fish alone B. the old man was poor
C. the boy’s parents ordered him to D. the old man’s sail suggested a permanent defeat
57. After reading this passage, we may safely conclude that ________.
A. the old man was insistent and not afraid of failure
B. the boy’s papa had confidence in everything
C. the old man caught big fishes because he had some doubts about the old man
D. the boy obeyed his father because he had some doubts about the old man
58. What might happen after the last paragraph?
A. The old man and the boy might go to fish with other fishermen.
B. The old man might go to have a drink with the boy.
C. The old man and the old might go to enjoy beer at the old man’s home.
D. The old man might go to tell the boy’s papa about the secrets between fishermen.
第三部分 阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
Too often we accuse others of not listening, pretending that we ourselves are faultless, yet in our hearts we know that many of the mistakes we make come about because we haven’t listened carefully enough. We get things wrong because we haven’t listened carefully enough. We get things wrong because we haven’t quite understand what someone meant when they were talking to us. Anyone who has ever taken the minutes of a long meeting will know how hard it is to remember---despite the benefit of notes---exactly what everyone says. But success depends on getting right---and that means listening.
Listening is not the same thing as hearing; it is not an effort actively. It demands attention and concentration. It may mean quizzing the speaker for additional information or for clarification---it is always better to ask than to continue regardless and get things wrong. However, if you allow your mind to wander onto something else, even for a few minutes, you’ll miss what the speaker is saying---probably at the very moment when he or she is saying something critical. And not having heard, you won’t know you’ve missed anything until it’s too late.
The most common bad habit we have is to start thinking of what we are going to say about the subject long before the other speaker has finished. We then stop listening. Even worse, this often adds rudeness to inattentiveness, as once you have decided what to say there is a fair chance you will interrupt to say it. Good listeners don’t interrupt. In fact it is often worth explaining the main idea of what you have listened well.
Above all, be patient and accept that many people are not very good communicators. It’s helpful to remember that the ways people move and position themselves while they are speaking can reveal a great deal about what they are saying. Equally important you should put yourself in the other person’s place, both intellectually and emotionally; it will help you to understand what they are getting at and form a response. But don’t be too clever. Faced with a know-all, many people keep quiet because they see no point in continuing.
51. Which is the best title for this passage?
A. Don’t be too clever B. Be a good listener
C. Don’t miss anything critical D. Think of the speaker
52. In the last paragraph, the underlined sentence “…what they are getting at…” means ______.
A. what they imply B. what they like C. what they attack D. what they achieve
53. According to the passage, which of the following is the writer’s opinion?
A. If you want to be a good listener, you should be very clever and emotional.
B. Speakers won’t continue talking when their listeners explain what they’ve heard.
C. If you don’t want to get things wrong, it’s important to be a good listener.
D. It’s hard to be a good listener because listening tests you on your intelligence.
54. What is the lesson we can learn from this passage?
A. Don’t accuse others of not listening while talking with them.
B. Don’t get anything wrong if you miss what the speaker is saying.
C. Listening inattentively may cost you the loss of your success.
D. Think carefully of what you’re going to say before the speaker finishes.
E
The Heritage(遗产) at Risk programme aims to understand the overall state of England’s heritage by assessing each of its different elements. In particular we need to indentify those that are facing the greatest pressures and threats. We will use the information to work out how to reduce those pressures and in turn to calculate the resources needed to make our unique heritage of historic places safe.
You can search for sites on the register by entering a site name, location, street or educational block in the box below.
Conservation areas
A nationwide survey of conservation areas indicates that approximately 1 in 7 is at risk from neglect(疏忽),decay(腐烂)or unpitying change.
Show your support for our campaign go save conservation areas from unavoidable decline and receive a free campaign pack by registering. There are some 9,300 conservation areas across England, meaning that we all live in or near to one or visit one regularly for work, shopping or rest. They are the element of England’s heritage that is all around us and which touches all of our lives. But until now no one had a clear idea what condition they were in.
Buildings
The task of assessing condition and risk started with buildings. Following a survey of all grades of listed buildings in London, English Heritage published in 1991 the first annual register of those at risk there.
The success of this London work led to the national buildings at risk strategy in 1998, and publication of a register of buildings at risk covering all grade I and II listed buildings and structural scheduled monuments in the country, at risk and vulnerable(易受伤害的).
Parks&Gardens
There are 1,600 entries on the current English heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. Sites at risk have typically been adversely(不利地) affected by development and neglect; often they have been changed by development and are faced with major change. Sometimes development beyond the boundary of a registered landscape can be just as harmful as construction within its boundaries; this is especially true that development would influence designed views that extend beyond the chosen site itself.
67. The purpose of using the information to work out how to reduce pressures is to .
A. assess each of English heritage’s different elements
B. identify those that are facing the greatest pressures and threats
C. calculate the resources needed to make heritage of historic sites safe
D. help you to search for sites at risk on the register
68. It can be inferred from “Conservation areas” that conservation are as across England .
A. are almost all at risk from neglect, decay or unpitying change
B. can be entered with a campaign pack free of charge
C. are in very close connection with our lives
D. are in whatever condition people are sure about
69. The text mainly talks about .
A. English heritage at risk B. historic places of interest
C. English heritage register D. location of English heritage
70.According to the last paragraph, the bad effect development has on the sites at risk is that_____.
A. it has changed the sites at risk with no intention
B. it can sometimes cause harm beyond the registered boundaries
C. it would affect the designed views instead of the chosen sites
D. it has neglected the local people of special historic interest