Are you a problem shopper? The answer is “Yes”, if you or someone else thinks that you sometimes get carried away with shopping. In other words, do you or does someone else think you are busy in extreme shopping? If people have regrets later about their shopping, or have an “out-of-control” feeling about the quantities of what they buy or the amount of money they use, they may be considered to be problem shoppers.
Extreme shopping can lead to a more serious problem — addictive shopping. Addictive shoppers feel driven by the desire to shop and spend money. They experience great tension which drives them to shop and spend money and they feel a “rush” during the time they are occupied with the shopping activity.
Extreme or addictive shopping may result from long-time unpleasant feelings, of which anxiety, pain and shame are common ones. When we feel bad inside, we often do something to make ourselves feel better. In this case, we often go shopping.
A few people shop to relieve their boredom or emptiness. For some people, the motivation is a desire for status, power, beauty or success. Some love to shop as it makes them feel valued in the eyes of the shop assistants. Others shop simply because it makes them forget, at least temporarily, tension, fear or unhappiness in their life.
Besides, shopping malls are designed to encourage continual shopping. For instance, there are some malls where you can’t see clocks displaying the time because they don’t want you to become too aware of the time you spend there. What’s more, food courts, coffee shops and restrooms are provided, so you don’t have to leave the mall because of your physical needs.
Therefore, once you become aware of how market forces work, you will certainly come to control your shopping behavior. For example, how much time you will spend and what areas you will visit can be decided before you enter the mall. Keep a written account of what items you will buy and how much money you will spend. Make a plan for what you are going to buy before you feel the urge to shop and then stick to it. That is vital for gaining self-control.Which of the following people may not be problem shoppers?
A.Those who cannot control the amount of money they use. |
B.Those who just walk around the shopping malls. |
C.Those who are occupied in too much shopping. |
D.Those who feel sorry for their shopping. |
According to the passage, what may not result in addictive shopping?
A.The awareness of how market forces work. |
B.The desire for status, power, beauty or success. |
C.Boredom, emptiness, tension, fear or unhappiness in people’s life. |
D.Long-time bad feelings of anxiety, pain and shame. |
What does the author suggest to control our shopping behaviour?
A.Never going to the shopping malls because there are many tricks. |
B.Applying for a credit card before we go shopping. |
C.Making the shopping time as short as possible. |
D.Making a shopping list before we go shopping. |
The author writes this passage to _______.
A.inform the shopping malls how to attract more shoppers |
B.provide solutions to the problem shopping |
C.scold the problem shoppers |
D.tell a shopping story |
Name : Off the Beaten Path
Cover price: $ 30. 00
Our price: $ 19. 80
The best-selling Reader 'a Digest travel book has 40% new content including over 200 new sites, over 200 new full-color photographs, and all-new, up-to-date maps. It spotlights over 1,000 of the United States’ most overlooked must-see destinations.
Name : Container Gardens by Number
Cover price: $ 15. 95
Our price: $ 9. 49
A unique book contains 50 easy-to-follow container designs. Each design provides a simple numbered planting plan that shows exactly how to create each displaywith an instruction of the finished planter and in-depth plant information. The plans are easy to follow and for any type of living space or garden.
Name: Best Weekend Projects
Cover price: $ 17. 95
Our price: $ 13. 96
Choose from 80 unique ideas to create an extraordinary living space. The projects are practical, as well as attractive, and will improve your home and yard and can be made in a weekend. These 80 well-designed projects are presented in a clear, easy-to-follow style that addresses readers in an accessible, user-friendly tone.
Name: 1801 Home Remedies
Cover price: $ 40. 00
Our price: $29.96
Plenty of health complaints can be handled at home. Each and every remedy will be tested by a doctor to make sure it is safe and sound.
Dozens of conditions are covered, from headaches, sunburn, bad breath, and blisters(水泡)to allergies(过敏),andhiccups (打 嗝 ).You can most probably read the passage in a _________ .
A.newspaper | B.travel guide | C.reference book | D.textbook |
How much money could you save if you want to buy a travel book?
A.$ 6. 46. | B.$ 10. 20. | C.$ 13. 96. | D.$ 19. 80. |
Which of the following could help you to deal with common diseases without a doctor?
A.Off the Beaten Path | B.Container Gardens by Number |
C.1801 Home Remedies | D.Best Weekend Projects |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
A.To share his opinion about the books with readers. |
B.To advise readers to read more in spare time. |
C.To share the pleasure of reading with readers. |
D.To advise readers to buy their books. |
Friendship can deeply affect the physical and mental health of both men and women. Studies show that people who have no friends or who are lonely, are more likely to die earlier, get sick more often and suffer greater physical wear and tear(折磨)than those who have a support system of friends.
Sometimes, family members may be more likely to give you advice or tell you what you don't want to hear. It may not be as good as a friend who will listen to you and guide you, but support your decisions anyway. The most important elements about friendship are those who suffer support and do not judge your decisions based on society.
One reason for the link between social support and good health practice seems to be that people who feel cared for by others are less stress-out and protected against the symptoms(症状)of depression and loneliness.
Generally, women benefit most because of how they deal with stress. Women are more social in how they deal with stress than men while men are more likely to have a "fight or flight” reaction. Women also tend to have larger, denser social network, in which more people know each other and help each other, while men typically have smaller groups of friends and will rely on their wives or other important people for more support. While all these affect people psychologically (心理上), friendship brings comfort that reduces the ill effects of stress, and the sex difference also contributes to the difference in the length of one's life time.In the author's opinion, a real friend should.
A.tell you what to do even if you refuse to hear it |
B.try to persuade you to change your mind quickly |
C.judge your decision according to his, her experience |
D.give you advice but respect your own decision |
Women benefit more from friendship than men because.
A.women are always cared for by more people than men |
B.women are usually less stress-out when staying with others |
C.women are more likely to solve problems with friends’ help |
D.women can always keep more long-life friendship than men |
According to the passage we can infer that .
A.it's good for women to tell men what they should do or not |
B.friends are always more important than family members |
C.men don't want to share their problems with many people |
D.the trend that women can live longer makes them more relaxed |
This passage mainly talks about.
A.why people should develop friendship |
B.when friendship affects people's health |
C.people’s different attitudes towards friendship |
D.the friendship which can make people live longer |
I was in a strange city and I didn't know the city at all and what is more,I could not speak a word of the language. After having spent my first day in the town-centre,I decided to lose my way on my second day, since I believed that this was the simplest way of getting to know the strange city.
I got on the first bus that passed, rode on it for several stops then got it off and walked on. The first two hours passed pleasantly enough. Then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch. After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way. The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived and even then I pronounced it badly.
I stopped to ask a friendly-looking newspaper-seller. He smiled and handed me a paper. I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put the paper into my hands. I had to give him some money and went on my way. The next person I asked was a policeman. The policeman listened to me carefully, smiled and gently took me by the arm. There was a strange look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again. I thanked him politely and began walking in the direction he pointed.
About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me. I had come all the way into the countryside.
The only thing left for me to do was to find the nearest railway station,The writer believed that if you wanted to get to know a strange city .
A.you should go everywhere on foot |
B.you should have a map |
C.you should ask people the way |
D.you should get lost |
The newspaper-seller ________
A.could understand what he said |
B.didn't know what he said |
C.laughed at him |
D.didn't want to take the money |
The writer's real trouble was that .
A.he couldn't speak the language |
B.he followed the policeman's direction |
C.he took the wrong bus |
D.he left the town-centre |
The policeman.
A.didn't help him |
B.pointed at him |
C.didn't understand what he really meant |
D.didn’t know the way |
Last August, Joe and Mary Mahoney began looking at colleges for their 17-year-old daughter, Maureen. With a checklist of criteria in hand, the Dallas family looked around the country visiting half a dozen schools. They sought a university that offered the teenager’s intended major, one located near a large city, and a campus where their daughter would be safe.
“The safety issue is a big one,” says Joe Mahoney, who quickly discovered he wasn’t alone in his worries. On campus tours other parents voiced similar concerns, and the same question was always asked: what about crime? But when college officials always gave the same answer — “That’s not a problem here.” — Mahoney began to feel uneasy.
“No crime whatsoever?” comments Mahoney today. “I just don’t buy it.” Nor should he: in 2008 the U.S. Department of Education had reports of nearly 600,000 serious crimes on or around our campuses. “Parents need to understand that times have changed since they went to colleges,” says David Nichols, author of Creating a Safe Campus. “Campus crime mirrors the rest of the nation.”
But getting accurate information isn’t easy. Colleges must report crime statistics (统计数字) by law, but some hold back for fear of bad publicity, leaving the honest ones looking dangerous. “The truth may not always be obvious,” warns S. Daniel Carter of Security on Campus, Inc., the nation’s leading campus safety watchdog group.
To help concerned parents, Carter promised to visit campuses and talk to experts around the country to find out major crime issues and effective solutions.The Mahoneys visited quite a few colleges last August ______.
A.to express the opinions of many parents |
B.to choose a right one for their daughter |
C.to check the cost of college education |
D.to find a right one near a large city |
It is often difficult to get correct information on campus crime because some colleges
______.
A.receive too many visitors |
B.mirror the rest of the nation |
C.hide the truth of campus crime |
D.have too many watchdog groups |
We learn from the text that “the honest ones” in the fourth paragraph most probably refers to colleges ______.
A.that are protected by campus security |
B.that report campus crimes by law |
C.that are free from campus crime |
D.the enjoy very good publicity |
What is the text mainly about?
A.Exact campus crime statistics. |
B.Crimes on or around campuses. |
C.Effective solutions to campus crime. |
D.concerns about kids’ campus safety. |
Anyone for rocket salad? The Chinese are now growing huge vegetables from seeds they sent into space.
If you are the type who worries about the air miles travelled by fruits and vegetables, these beauties aren’t for you. It's because they have travelled a little further than most.
The seeds from which they grew were fired into space, where they orbited the earth for two weeks. Once they returned they were grown in hothouses, producing the monster kinds seen here.
China, which is behind these space fruits and vegetables, says they could be the answer to the world's food crisis.
The 21-pound tomatoes, nine-inch chillies, 15-stone pumpkins and large watermelons growing at the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ hothouses can feed many more than their smaller cousins, and may have more nutrients, the scientists say.
Researcher Lo Zhigang said, "Traditional agricultural development has taken us as far as we can go and demand for food from a growing population is endless. Space seeds offer the opportunity to grow fruits and vegetables bigger and faster."
He admitted he and his colleagues could not explain why time in orbit caused the seeds to change genetic structure. But they guessed exposure to the cosmic (宇宙的) radiation that attacked the spacecraft in orbit, as well as the near zero gravity conditions, microgravity, could play apart.
"We don't think there's any threat to human health because the genes themselves do not change; just their order changes," he said. "With genetically-modified (GM) crops you have seen environmental problems because they have added genes that can damage other organisms. But with space seeds they don't gain genes; they can only lose them."
He also claimed the Vitamin C content in some space vegetables was nearly three times higher than in common vegetables, while levels of zinc are also increased.
Western scientists are doubtful. NASA researchers who have experimented with seeds in space say there is not enough benefit to show the cost is reasonable. What do the underlined words "these beauties" in Paragraph 2 probably refer to ______?
A.Beautiful views along the air routes. |
B.Travelling experiences in space. |
C.Seeds fired into space. |
D.Giant vegetables. |
We can infer from Lo’s words in Paragraph 6 that _______.
A.our conventional agriculture has developed too slowly. |
B.we are asking too much from nature |
C.space seeds may help meet our demand for food |
D.we'll grow crops in space in the future |
Why the seeds changed their genetic structure _______.
A.remains to be proved |
B.is discovered by Lo Zhigang |
C.has something to do with the conditions in hothouses |
D.is due to the radiation that attacked them directly |
What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A.Western scientists’ doubt is unreasonable. |
B.Westem scientists don’t believe that Chinese scientists have succeeded in the experiment. |
C.Western scientists have proved space seeds to be of no benefit. |
D.Western scientists think the cost of space seeds outweighs the benefits. |