It’s really a tough job for automakers doing marketing and sales in China, where competition is acute and customers have little loyalty. They have tried a range of tricks in recent years.
But there should be a moral bottom line. Unfortunately, a Buick dealership used the tragedy of a two-month-old infant to advertise its cars last week on Weibo – Micro blog. And Hyundai Motor followed suit.
On March 4, an SUV was stolen with the infant left inside alone in the northeastern city of Changchun. The news spread widely on Weibo after the baby’s father called the local police and radio station for help. The next day it was revealed that the infant was choked to death and buried in snow by the thief. The online community expressed its deeply felt sympathy and condolences.
The Buick dealership posted a photo of the baby and two of its cars on its official Weibo account to advertise its GPS system that can locate the stolen car. “A few thoughts on the Changchun stolen car and baby incident: when buying a car it’s entirely OK to choose a brand with advanced technology,” said the post. Though the post was made before tragic fate of the infant was known, the action generated a storm of outrage on Weibo. Some online commentators said it is “marketing at the cost of lives” and “extremely despicable.”
Worse was the post on Hyundai’s official Weibo account that advertised the anti – theft system on its new SUV Santa Fe, an entry made after the child was known to have died. The action also enraged micro bloggers.
Both posts were soon deleted. The Buick dealership made an apology on Weibo to the family of the victim and the public. But screenshots saved by users continued to be posted and the negative impact on both brands persists.
The two brands probably didn’t expect such a firestorm of fury from the Internet community, but they really made a big mistake sinking below the moral bottom line. They certainly ruined their own brand images.
The Chinese have the same proverb as the English language – a little leak will sink a great ship. It takes decades to build the great ship of a respectable brand but it can take just a moment of negligence to make it fail completely.
For those in corporate marketing, two lessons should be learned: first, be careful in the era of social media when one wrong can be easily magnified and have disastrous impacts in just a few clicks.
Second and more importantly, think with your brain and heart. Never break the moral bonds of respect for human life and sympathy for our fellow man.Who is to blame for the tragedy of Changchun infant according to the passage?
| A．The baby’s father | B．Buick and Hyundai dealership | C．Weibo | D．Not clear |
Which of the following statements is correct?
| A．The missing infant was found alive in the stolen car. |
| B．Micro blog marketing of tragic infant death fuels firestorm of criticism. |
| C．People can’t see the two posts any more because they were deleted. |
| D．The two car brands mentioned in the passage spoiled their own reputation by selling the stolen car. |
What does the underlined word – “despicable” in paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Immoral | B．Important | C．Distinguished | D．Considerable |
The reason why Hyundai’s post was worse than Buick’s is that _________.
| A．Hyundai dealership didn’t make an apology on Weibo |
| B．Buick dealership expressed its deeply sympathy and condolences |
| C．Hyundai’s post was made after people knew the infant had died |
| D．Buick’s car was more advanced on its GPS system |
In the last paragraph, the author encourages people _____________.
| A．not to sink below the moral bottom line |
| B．not to sympathize our fellow man |
| C．to think twice before making decision |
| D．to magnify the mistakes people make |
Most of the flowers in nature are red, orange and yellow. If we have seen a black flower, it’s a chance in million. People have made a census ( 普查 ) to colors of more than four thousand kinds of flowers and discovered that only eight of them are black. As we know, sunlight is formed by seven different colored lights. The wave length of each light is different, so the quantity of heat in each light is also different. Flowers, especially their petals ( 花瓣 ) , are easy to be harmed by high temperature. Black flowers can take in all the light waves which cause the flowers to dry up in a high temperature. So black flowers can rarely survive sunlight. But red flowers, orange flowers and yellow flowers can protect themselves from sunlight by reflecting the red light, orange light and yellow light, each of which has a large quantity of heat.It is _________ to see a black flower.
| A．impossible | B．seldom | C．common | D．no chance |
The passage tells us that ________________.
| A．black flowers are so weak that it is difficult for them to grow up. |
| B．there is only eight black flowers in nature. |
| C．sunlight is formed by seven different colored lights, so the wave length of each light is different. |
| D．black flowers can take in the light of all the wave lengths which make them dry up because of high temperature. |
Which of the following ideas is NOT true?
| A．People have found that only a few kinds of flowers are black. |
| B．Flowers are easy to be harmed by very high temperature. |
| C．Red, orange and yellow flowers can also absorb the light of all wave lengths. |
| D．The black flowers cannot protect themselves from sunlight. |
Americans like to travel on their yearly holiday. Today, more and more travelers in the United States are spending nights at small house or inns(客栈)instead of hotels. They get a room for the night and the breakfast the next morning.
Rooms for the night in private(私人的)homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years. In the past five to ten years, these bed-and-breakfast places have become popular in the United States. Many of these America’s bed-and-breakfast inns have only a few rooms; others are much larger. Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms, others do.
Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel. Usually the cost is much less. Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone’s home. The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit. Many vacationers say that they enjoy the chance to meet local families.Americans take a holiday trip _________.
| A．all the year round | B．for years | C．every year | D．every other year |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Some Americans like to stay at bed-and-breakfast homes instead of at hotels. |
| B．The bed-and-breakfast inns are private homes open to vacationers. |
| C．The bed-and-breakfast inn owners provide a morning meal for their visitors and a room for the night. |
| D．The bed-and-breakfast inns have been popular in America for a long time. |
Staying at the bed-and-breakfast inns, _________.
| A．the travelers needn’t pay anything |
| B．the travelers don’t have to pay for the telephone or television |
| C．the travelers can meet and talk with the local people |
| D．the owners will show the travelers around the area |
One night about nine o’clock, Dr. Eyck, a surgeon, had a phone call from Dr. Haydon at the hospital in Clens Falls. The surgeon was asked to go there at once to operate on a very sick boy who shot himself while playing with a gun.
The doctor was soon on his way to Clens Falls. It was 60 miles away. And it was snowing heavily in the city. The surgeon thought he could get there before 12 o’clock.
A few minutes later, the doctor was stopped by a man in an old black coat. Gun in hand, the man ordered the doctor to get out. Then the man drove the car down the road, leaving the doctor in the falling snow.
It was after 2 o’clock in the morning when the doctor arrived at the hospital in Clens Falls. Dr. Haydon told him that the boy had died an hour before.
The two doctors walked by the door of the hospital waiting room. There sat the man in the old black coat with his head in his hands.
“Mr. Cuninghan,” said Dr. Haydon to the man, “This is Dr. Eyck. He is the surgeon who walked all the way from Albany to save your boy.”Dr. Haydon asked Dr. Eyck to come to Clens Falls because _____.
| A．Dr. Eyck knew the boy was wounded by a shot |
| B．The boy needed the help of a surgeon |
| C．Dr. Eyck was the boy’s father |
| D．Dr. Eyck was Haydon’s friend |
The surgeon was late because ________.
| A．he was stopped by the police |
| B．the weather was rather terrible |
| C．Clens Falls was too far from Albany |
| D．his car was taken away |
Choose the right order of the following events given in the story.
a. Dr. Eyck was asked to come to the hospital in Clens Falls.
b. Dr. Eyck arrived at the hospital.
c. The boy shot himself. d. The boy died.
e. The man in an old coat reached the hospital. f. Dr. Eyck was robbed of his car.
| A．c, e, f, a, b, d | B．a, c, f, d, b, e |
| C．c, a, f, e, d, b | D．a, c, f, e, d, b |
The boy could have been saved if ______.
| A．he had not been sent to the hospital |
| B．his father hadn’t arrived in time |
| C．Dr.Eyck had arrived earlier than the man |
| D．Dr. Eyck had arrived there two hours earlier |
Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It selves directly to bring about a rapid sale of goods at reasonable prices, so setting up a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at good prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps greatly to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it causes an increased need for labor, and is therefore a nice way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television program would need to be doubled, and travel by bus or subway would cost more.
And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a promise of reasonable value in the products and services you buy. Besides the fact that twenty-seven Acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for the public has the good sense not to buy the poor article more than once. If you see an article frequently advertised, it is the proof I know that the article does what is promised for it, and that it has good value.
Advertising does more for the good of the public than any other force I can think of.
There is one more point I feel I ought to touch on. Recently I heard a well-known television person declare that he was against advertising because it persuades rather than informs. He was telling us the real difference. Of course advertising tries to persuade.
If its message were nothing but information, that would be difficult to get more people to buy, for even a detail such as the choice of the color of a shirt is a bit persuasive-advertising would be so boring that no one would pay any attention. But perhaps that is what the well-known television person wants.By the first sentence of the passage the writer means that.
| A．he is fairly familiar with the cost of advertising |
| B．everybody knows well that advertising is a waste of money |
| C．advertising costs more money than everything else |
| D．money spent on advertising is worth while |
In the passage, which of the following is NOT included in the advantages of advertising?
| A．Getting greater fame. | B．Providing more jobs. |
| C．Raising living standards. | D．Reducing newspaper cost. |
The author thinks that the well-known TV person is .
| A．quite right in passing his judgment on advertising |
| B．interested in nothing but the buyer’s attention |
| C．correct in telling the difference between persuasion and information |
| D．obviously unfair in his views on advertising |
In the author’ opinion.
| A．advertising can seldom bring material benefit to man by providing information |
| B．advertising informs people of new ideas rather than wins them over |
| C．there is nothing wrong with advertising in persuading the buyer |
| D．the buyer is not interested in getting information from an advertisement |
Bayfield Shopping Coupons（赠券）
What do you do to get a 10％ discount at Tom’s Bookstore?
| A．Spend $100. |
| B．Choose two books. |
| C．Buy some toys. |
| D．Present coupon No. 3. |
A second shirt will costafter you buy one at $180.
| A．$180. | B．$168. | C．$90. | D．Nothing. |
If you drive to Bayfield Shopping Center, which coupon might be most useful?
| A．Coupon No. 5. | B．Coupon No. 2. |
| C．Coupon No. 4. | D．Coupon No. 1. |
What are these advertisements about?
| A．Things to do in a store. |
| B．Things on sale in a store. |
| C．Great fun at a shopping center. |
| D．Special offers at a shopping center. |