What is the first thing you notice when you walk into a shop? The products displayed at the entrance? Or the soft background music?
But have you ever noticed the smell? Unless it is bad, the answer is likely to be no. But while a shop’s scent may not be outstanding compared with sights and sounds, it is certainly there. And it is proving to be an increasingly powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase.
A brand store has become famous for its distinctive scent which floats through the fairly dark hall and out to the entrance, via scent machines. A smell may be attractive but it may not just be used for freshening air. One sports goods company once reported that when it first introduced scent into stores, customers’ intention to purchase increased by 80 percent.
When it comes to the best shopping streets in Paris, scent is just as important to a brand’s success as the quality of its window displays and goods on sale. This is mainly because shopping is a very different experience to what it used to be.
Some years ago, the focus for brand name shopping was on a few people with sales assistants’ disproving attitude and don’t-touch-what-you-can’t-afford displays. Now the rise of electronic commerce (e-commerce) has opened up famous brands to a wider audience. But while e-shops can use sights and sounds, only bricks-and-mortar shops (实体店) can offer a full experience from the minute customers step through the door to the moment they leave. Another brand store seeks to be much more than a shop, but rather a destination. And scent is just one way to achieve this.
Now, a famous store uses complex man-made smell to make sure that the soft scent of baby powder floats through the kid department, and coconut scent in the swimsuit section. A department store has even opened a new lab, inviting customers on a journey into the store’s windows to smell books, pots and drawers, in search of their perfect scent.According to the passage, what is an increasingly powerful tool in the success of some brand stores?
| A．Friendly assistance. |
| B．Unique scent. |
| C．Soft background music . |
| D．Attractive window display. |
E-shops are mentioned in the passage to ________.
| A．show the advantages of brick-and-mortar stores |
| B．urge shop assistants to change their attitude |
| C．push stores to use sights and sounds |
| D．introduce the rise of e-commerce |
What does the underlined word “destination” in Paragraph 5 mean?
| A．A platform that exhibits goods. |
| B．A spot where travelers like to stay. |
| C．A place where customers love to go. |
| D．A target that a store expects to meet. |
Which statement would the writer agree with?
| A．Put different scents on the products on display. |
| B．Ask every shop assistant to wear light perfume. |
| C．Place fragrant flowers in the shop. |
| D．Expose some coffee bean to air inside a coffee shop. |
The main purpose of the passage is to ________.
| A．compare and evaluate | B．examine and assess |
| C．inform and explain | D．argue and discuss |
CONGRATULATIONS
We’ve organized the following information to help you prepare for your arrival at Boston College．Please feel free to contact our Admissions Office at any time over the coming months with any questions．
Your First Steps…
Please return the Acknowledgment Form sent with your acceptance letter to Dean Robert Howe, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, McGuinn Hall 221,140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467．
■For Ph．D．Acceptances and Master’s Acceptances with funding, we ask you to reply by April 25, 2008．
■For Master’s Acceptances without funding and Non-degree Acceptances, we ask you to reply by May 31, 2008．
■You should also contact your department to receive any department information．
Over the Coming Months…
Get informed about services around campus．We have provided links for you to the following offices．
■Student Services
After you return your Acknowledgment Form, you should receive a letter containing your BC Username and Eagle ID number．With this information you can reach email and Agora．In Agora, BC’s online community, you can update your student information, check your student account, and register （登记） for classes．
The Office of Student Services issues （发行） your BC Eagle One Card．This ID card acts as your campus library card and meal card．
Student Services’ website offers a complete listing of courses for the school year, as well as student forms and other important student information．The Office of Student Services also handles billing．
■Housing …
CLICK HERE for more information．
If we can be of any more help to you, just contact us．Congratulations again! We look forward to you joining our University!The above page can most probably be read _________．
| A．on the Boston College website | B．in the Boston College newspaper |
| C．on BC Eagle One Card | D．at Student Services |
The information above is particularly useful for those ________．
| A．who want to apply for Boston College |
| B．who want to know about Boston College |
| C．who’ve been admitted to Boston College |
| D．who’ve decided to pay a visit to Boston College |
If you want to study for your master’s degree with funding, you will have to _______．
| A．return your Acknowledgment Form by May 31, 2008 |
| B．send back your Acknowledgment Form by April 25, 2008 |
| C．email your Acknowledgment Form to Admissions Office by May 31, 2008 |
| D．return your Acknowledgment Form to Student Services by April 25, 2008 |
If you want to decide what courses for the school year you’d better _________．
| A．call up the Office of Student Services |
| B．get in touch with the Admissions Office |
| C．read your acceptance letter |
| D．visit Student Services’ website |
Children brought up on healthy diets are more intelligent compared with their junk food eating partners, a new research suggests．
Kids fed a diet packed high in fats, sugars, and processed（加工） foods had lower IQs than those fed pasta（意大利面食）, salads and fruit, it was found．
The effect is so great that researchers from the University of Bristol said those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ improvement．
Scientists stressed good diet was essential in a child's early life as the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life．
This indicated head growth at this time is linked to intellectual ability and “it is possible that good nutrition（营养） during this period may encourage excellent brain growth” ．
Scientists tracked the long term health and happiness of around 14,000 children born in 1991 and 1992 as part of the West Country's Avon Longitudinal（纵向的）Study of Parents and Children（ ALSPAC） ．
Parents were questioned about the types and frequency of the food and drink their children consumed when they were three, four, seven and eight and a half years old． According to their different changing form, these children were marked and given grades which ranged from minus two for the most healthy to10 for the most unhealthy．
In the research, IQ was measured of 4,000 children when they were eight and half years old, using a validated（经过认证的）test－the Wechsler Intelligence Scale（韦氏儿童智力量表） for Children．
The results found after taking account of some influential factors, a leading processed food diet at the age of three was associated with a lower IQ at the age of eight and a half , whether the diet was improved after that age．
Every l point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a l.67 fall in IQ．Scientists stressed good diet was essential in a child’s early life because.
| A．the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life． |
| B．those children with a "healthier" diet must get an IQ improvement． |
| C．children brought up on healthy diets are less intelligent． |
| D．these children were given good grades． |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Those children with a "healthier" diet may get an IQ improvement． |
| B．Good nutrition at any stage may encourage excellent brain growth． |
| C．Scientists tracked the long term health and happiness of about 14,000 children． |
| D．Every l point increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a l．67 fall in IQ． |
The results found if a child ate a leading processed food diet when he was 3, he would．
| A．have a higher IQ |
| B．have a higher IQ as long as he improved his diet |
| C．have one IQ when he was 8 |
| D．have a lower IQ whether he improved his diet |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Food for thought |
| B．What is healthy food? |
| C．Healthy diet improves children's intelligence |
| D．How to become clever? |
Decision-making under Stress
A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.
The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.
“Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”
For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.
This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.
The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.
Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.
This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.
| A．keep rewards better in their memory |
| B．recall consequences more effortlessly |
| C．make risky decisions more frequently |
| D．learn a subject more effectively |
According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.
| A．ways of making choices | B．preference for pleasure |
| C．tolerance of punishments | D．responses to suggestions |
The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.
| A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits |
| B．men have a greater tendency to slow down |
| C．women focus more on outcomes |
| D．men are more likely to take risks |
An Italian couple are to become the world's oldest divorcees, after the 99 - year – old husband found that his 96 - year - old wife had an affair（婚外情）in the 1940s．
The Italian man, called by lawyers in the case as Antonio C, was looking through an old drawer when he made the discovery a few days before Christmas．
In spite of the time that had passed since the affair, he was so upset that he immediately asked his wife of 77years, named as Rosa C, whether it was true, and demanded a divorce．
Stricken by the guilt, she reportedly admitted everything but was unable to persuade her husband to reconsider his decision, though her children also did much more work．
She wrote the letters to her lover during a secret affair in the 1940s, according to court papers released in Rome this week, which made people know the truth．
The couple are now preparing to split; though the marriage they built has lasted over nearly eight decades－ they have five children, a dozen grandchildren and one great – grand child．
The discovery of the letters was the final problem for their marriage which had already run into difficulty－10 years ago the husband briefly left their house in Rome and moved in with one of his sons, only to return a few weeks later．
The Italian thought the fierce split resulted from the couple's southern blood 一 he is originally from Olbia in Sardinia: while his wife was born in Naples． The couple met during the 1930s when Antonio served as a young officer．
The case appears to set a new record, at least for the age of the oldest figures – the previous oldest couple to divorce were Bertie and Jessie Wood, both aged 98, from the UK．
That pair ended their 36 - year marriage in 2009 when they were both two years away from their l00th birthdays．They got married in Elstree, Hertfordshire, in 1972, having both ended previous marriages, before moving to Falmouth, Cornwall four years later．Which is true according to the text?
| A．To find his wife' affair, Antonio C looked through an old drawer． |
| B．Rosa C' lover may be Bertie． |
| C．Rosa C admitted what she did because she was sorry for her guilt． |
| D．The Italian thought the fierce split resulted from the discovery of the letters． |
Which word can replace the underlined one in passage5?
| A．advertised | B．announced | C．concluded | D．expressed |
Which of the following best describe Antonio C?．
| A．a childish man | B．a rude man |
| C．a romantic man | D．a stubborn man |
The marriage of Antonio C and Rosa C．
| A．may come to an end because the husband sticks to his decision |
| B．appears to set a new record |
| C．may have lasted over 36 years |
| D．began in the 1930s before both ending previous marriages |
This passage may come from．
| A．a text book | B．a newspaper |
| C．a history book | D．an advertisement |
Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley.
The air temperature during the summer has been as high as fifty- seven degrees Celsius. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as seventy -four degrees Celsius.
Death Valley contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide. In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black.
The area was named by a woman in 1849. Thousands of people from other parts of the ountry traveled Lo the gold mining areas in California. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did. One group trying to reach California decided to take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley. They did not have to survive the terrible heat of summer, hut there was still an extreme lack of water. There were few plants for their work animals to eat.
The people could not find a pass through the call mountains to the west of the Valley. Slowly, they began co suffer from a lack of food. To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the Valley. As they left, one woman looked back and said, “Good -bye, death valley.” The name has never been changed.
Almost everyone who visits Death Valley visits a huge house called Scotty' s Castle. The building design is Spanish, with high thick walls to provide protection from the fierce heat.
The castle is named for Walter Scott , called Scotty by his friends. He was a gold miner. He told everyone that he built the house with money he made from his gold mine. Many people believed him. But it was not really the truth.The first two paragraphs discuss Death Valley' s．
| A．geography | B．climate | C．location | D．size |
The volcanoes mentioned in the third paragraph proved ．
| A．a valley that is formed by explosions |
| B．a place where volcanoes are still active |
| C．a good example of the violence of nature |
| D．a symbol of rock formations in history |
The woman who named Death Valley intended to ．
| A．explore the mystery of the valley | B．find an area with plants for animals |
| C．experience the terrible heat of summer | D．look for gold in California |
If the passage continues, it will be about .
| A．the truth about Scotty's Castle | B．why Spanish built the castle |
| C．when the castle was built | D．where the castle lies in |
The main idea of the passage is about．
| A．the interesting place in Death Valley | B．the facts about Death Valley |
| C．the origin of Death Valley | D．the route to visit Death Valley |