In ancient Egypt, a shopkeeper discovered that he could attract customers to his shop simply by making changes to its environment. Modern businesses have been following his lead, with more tactics(策略).
One tactic involves where to display the goods. For example, stores place fruits and vegetables in the first section. They know that customers who buy the healthy food first will feel happy so that they will buy more junk food(垃圾食品) later in their trip. In department stores, the women’s shoe section is generally next to the women’s cosmetics(化妆品) section: while the shop assistant is going back to find the right size shoe, bored customers are likely to wander over and find some cosmetics they might want to try later.
Besides, businesses seek to appeal to customers’ senses. Stores notice that the smell of baked goods encourages shopping, so they make their own bread each morning and then fan the bread smell into the store throughout the day. Music sells goods, too. Researchers in Britain found that when French music was played, sales of French wines went up.
When it comes to the selling of houses, businesses also use highly rewarding tactics. They find that customers make decisions in the first few seconds upon walking in the door, and turn it into a business opportunity. A California builder designed the structure of its houses smartly. When entering the house, the customer would see the Pacific Ocean through the windows, and then the pool through an open stairway leading to the lower level. The instant view of water on both levels helped sell these $10 million houses.Why do stores usually display fruits and vegetables in the first section?
A.To save customers times. |
B.To show they are high quality foods. |
C.To help sell junk food. |
D.To sell them at discount prices. |
According to Paragraph 3, which of the following encourages customers to buy?
A.Opening the store early in the morning. |
B.Displaying British wines next to French ones. |
C.Inviting customers to play music. |
D.Filling the store with the smell of fresh bread. |
What is the California builder’s story intended to prove?
A.The house structure is a key factor customers consider. |
B.The more costly the house is, the better it sells. |
C.An ocean view is much to the customers’ taste. |
D.A good first impression increases sales. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
A.To explain how businesses turn people into their customers. |
B.To introduce how businesses have grown from the past. |
C.To report researches on customer behavior. |
D.To show dishonest business practices. |
A beer bottle thrown from the stands landed near Usain Bolt in the moments before the 100-meter final Sunday night in London.
As Bolt and seven other competitors ducked into their starting crouches, a bottle sailed from the first row of the stands at Olympic Stadium.
It harmlessly bounced in the lane belonging to Yohan Blake and didn’t appear to cause a distraction(分心) to the runners, who started a moment later. The thrower’s lack of distance was a blessing. Had he gathered tips from the competitors of the hammer throw(链球) competition, which was taking place in the infield at the same time as the 100 final, the bottle could have hit one of the competitors. It ended up landing a few feet from Blake (lane5).
Edith Bosch, a female Dutch judoka who won a bronze medal earlier during the Olympics, claimed that the man who threw the bottle was sitting near her and that she “beat” him. Whether that’s true or the hyperbole (夸张的语句) of an aggravated athlete was unclear in the minutes after the incident. Pictures show a group of Dutch athletes sitting behind the starting area.
Police took the man into custody(监护). He will appear in court on Monday morning.
Neither Bolt nor Blake said they knew of the incident until they were informed by reporters. “I don’t know who would have done that,” Bolt said.
Gatlin was aware of it but implied it was only a slight distraction. “I didn’t know what it was,” he said, according to the BBC, “but when you’re in those blocks, the whole stadium is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.”How many exact athletes are mentioned in the text?
A.Two | B.Four | C.Seven | D.Eleven |
What is the text mainly about?
A.Usain Bolt along with seven other competitors |
B.A female Dutch judoka sitting behind the starting area. |
C.The lane belonging to Yohan Blake before 100 final. |
D.A beer bottle thrown at Usain Bolt before 100 final. |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards the athletes for the 100-meter final?
A.Critical | B.Doubtful |
C.Disapproving | D.Positive |
When 18thcentury scientists first came across Australia’s platypus (鸭嘴兽),they thought it was a trick.It is not surprising that the platypus made people confused.This funnylooking animal has feet and is a kind of warmblooded mammal(哺乳动物).
While other mammals usually keep their blood at around 37 degrees,the platypus has a lower body temperature of 32 degrees.As to its appearance,the platypus’ mouth is not really like the duck’s; its mouth actually looks a bit softer.The platypus closes its eyes when swimming instead of watching its hunters.It uses its mouth to pick up outside information made by the creatures underwater.
Strangest of all,the platypus is a mammal that can lay eggs.And there is only one other kind of mammal that can lay eggs,the echidna(针鼹鼠) of Australia.Both the platypus and the echidna lay soft shelled eggs,and both feed their young with their own milk that comes out of their skin.These animals also walk in a way that is similar to crocodiles (鳄鱼),with legs on the sides of their bodies rather than under them.
Though pretty in a special way,the platypus is actually one of the few mammals that are poisonous.A male platypus has knifelike bones on its back legs which have enough poison to kill a dog.
The platypus has the honor of being one of the oldest mammals in the world.Until the early 20thcentury,it was hunted for its fur,but it is now protected.Although the platypus is easily influenced by pollution,it is not under any immediate threat.What can we learn about the platypus?
A.It has a lower body temperature than other mammals. |
B.It only closes its eyes when underwater. |
C.It’s the only poisonous mammal in the world. |
D.It feeds its young on wild animal meat. |
Which of the following is NOT used as a comparison in the passage?
A.The crocodile. |
B.The echidna. |
C.The duck. |
D.The dog. |
The characteristics of the platypus that have been described in the passage include________.
a.the color of its skin
b.the way it gets information
c.its walking pose
d.its strange appearance
A.b-c-d |
B.a-b-c |
C.a-c-d |
D.a-b-d |
We can learn from the last paragraph that the platypus is________.
A.hunted for its meat |
B.in danger of extinction |
C.endangered because of air pollution |
D.wellprotected now |
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling.Recycling in the home is very important of course.However,being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need.We are dealing with the results of that_overconsumption in the greenest way possible,but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005.It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK.In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment.The UK,for example,is running out of areas for burying this unnecessary waste.If such packaging is burnt,it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect.Recycling helps,but the process itself uses energy.The solution is not to produce such items in the first place.Food waste is a serious problem,too.Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need.However,a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue ,encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags,for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets.It is about all of us.We have learned to associate packaging with quality.We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality.This is especially true of food.But it also applies to a wide range of consumer products,which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope.As more of us recycle,we are beginning to realise just how much unnecessary material we are collecting.We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture,but we have a mountain to climb.What does the underlined phrase“ that overconsumption” refer to?
A.Using too much packaging. |
B.Recycling too many wastes. |
C.Making more products than necessary. |
D.Having more material than is needed. |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show________.
A.the tendency of cutting household waste |
B.the increase of packaging recycling |
C.the rapid growth of supermarkets |
D.the fact of packaging overuse |
According to the text,recycling________.
A.helps control the greenhouse effect |
B.means burning packaging for energy |
C.is the solution to gas shortage |
D.leads to a waste of land |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
A.Unpackaged products are of bad quality. |
B.Supermarkets care more about packaging. |
C.It is improper to judge quality by packaging. |
D.Other products are better packaged than food. |
Global warming is when the earth heats up,the temperature rises.It happens when greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide,water vapor,nitrous oxide (二氧化氮),and methane (沼气) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere,which increases the temperature.This is like when heat is trapped in a car.On a very hot day,the car gets hotter when it is out in the parking lot.This is because the heat and light from the sun can get into the car,by going through the windows,but it can’t get back out.Once the light is inside the car,it is trapped and the heat builds up,just like it does in the earth’s atmosphere.This is what the greenhouse effect does to the earth.The heat and light can get through the atmosphere,but it can’t get out.As a result,the temperature rises.
Sometimes the temperature can change in a way that helps us.The greenhouse effect makes the earth appropriate for people to live on.Without it,the earth would be freezing,or on the other hand it would be burning hot.We would not get the sun’s heat and light to make the night somewhat warm.During the day,especially during the summer,it would be burning because the sun would be up with no atmosphere to filter (过滤) it,so people,plants,and animals would be exposed to all the light and heat.
Although the greenhouse effect makes the earth able to have people living on it,if there gets to be too many gases,the earth can get unusually warmer,and many plants,animals,and people will die.They would die because there would be less food (plants like corn,wheat,and other vegetables and fruits).This would happen because the plants would not be able to take in the heat.This would cause us to have less food to eat,but it would also limit the food that animals have.Gradually,people,plants,and animals would all die of hunger.
People are doing many things to try to stop global warming.One thing people are doing is carpooling.Carpooling is driving with someone to a place that you are both going to.This minimizes the amount of greenhouse gases put into the air by a car.
Another thing that people are doing is being more careful about leaving things turned on like the television,computer,and the lights.A lot of people are taking time away from the television,and instead,they are spending more time outdoors.This helps our planet out a lot.Now,more people are even riding buses,walking to school,and riding their bikes to lower the amount of greenhouse gases in the air.
Planting trees and recycling also help.If you recycle,less trash goes to the dump,and less trash gets burned.As a result,there are fewer greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere.Although adults do many things to help stop global warming,kids can do just as much.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to________.
A.light |
B.heat |
C.temperature |
D.greeenhouse effect |
By the example given in Paragraph 1,the author wants to________.
A.explain how greenhouse gases work |
B.show his feeling in a car in hot summer |
C.tell us cars are causes of greenhouse gases |
D.say that there are greenhouse gases in every car |
What is the effect of atmosphere?
A.It only traps the heat of the sun. |
B.It works the same way as greenhouse gases. |
C.It makes the earth neither too hot nor too cold. |
D.It prevents all the light from the sun shining on the earth. |
What is the main idea of the third paragraph?
A.If there is greenhouse effect,all the plants will die. |
B.Human beings are likely to disappear from the earth. |
C.Crops can’t take the heat if there is greenhouse effect. |
D.Although greenhouse effect is necessary,too much of it causes us to die. |
Reuters—By 2010 ,the world may need to cope with as many as 50 million people who have fled their homeland,not for political or economic reasons but because the environment has been so badly changed that it cannot support life.The statement has been released by the United Nations to mark UN Disaster Reduction Day.
More people are made homeless by environmental disasters than by war,according to the research by the Red Cross.That reality is proved by the earthquake in Pakistan.
The widely publicized disaster has brought aid from the global community,according to Janos Bogardi,director of the United Nations University,Institute for Environment and Human Security.“If we can move swiftly in and give them a new start where they are,then they may stay in the area.Otherwise,they become environmental refugees (难民).Environmentalrelated migrations are most acute in SubSaharan Africa,but they also affect millions of people in Asia and India.Meanwhile,the United States is witnessing increased pressure from victims of mismanaged and worsening soil and water conditions in Mexico and Latin America.”he says.
Janos Bogardi says these refugees suffer from the impact of gradual environmental change—global warming,sea level rise,air and water pollution and more intense storms,floods and droughts that degrade the land.This is a slow process,but unfortunately a process that is very difficult to go backwards once final damage is done.
Janos Bogardi says they are calling on the global community to recognize the serious situation of environmental refugees and to work together to lessen the impact of environmental disaster.What may be the best title of the passage?
A.Environmental refugees—an international problem |
B.50 Million environmental refugees by 2010 |
C.The cause of environmental disasters |
D.Global aid pouring in |
The underlined word “acute” in Paragraph 3 most probably means________.
A.serious |
B.impossible |
C.slow |
D.rare |
According to the passage,the following are the main reasons for migrations except________.
A.earthquake |
B.water conditions |
C.global community |
D.worsening soil |
Which is TRUE according to Janos Bogardi?
A.Water conditions in Mexico and Latin America are the worst in the world. |
B.People have to settle down in another new area when a disasterhappens. |
C.Environmentalrelated migrations mostly happen in developed countries. |
D.In some areas,people migrate elsewhere due to destroyed soil. |