Endless playing of songs like All I want for Christmas in shops during the festive season doesn’t just drive us mad —the songs also make us more careless with our money, research has warned.
While repeated performance of Jingle Bells may seem like an innocent attempt to raise customers’ spirits during the nightmare of Christmas shopping, the songs also have a more delicate impact.
“Background music, or “Muzak”,can be used by marketers to impose cultures ---such as the commercialization of Christmas--- onto consumers and influence their behaviour,” experts said.
Dr. Alan Bradshaw of Royal Holloway, University of London, said, “Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood, influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy. In other words, this is an attempt to control your shopping habits in a way that you might hardly be aware of.”
“Often we are told that we have the freedom to choose where we want to shop, but during Christmas the use of music in this way is so common that our freedom to choose disappears.”
Dr. Bradshaw and Prof Morris Holbrook of Columbia University examined the phenomenon and found that retailers often “dumb down” the music played in shops to relax customers, meaning it is easier to control their behaviour.
It is thought that slowing down the rhythm of music in shops can trick customers into thinking less time has passed, and therefore spend more time examining the shelves, for example.
Some providers of background music have been known to promote their services by claiming they can boost profits by controlling the behaviour of customers.
“A common trick is to take a popular current song and record an instrumental version which can be slowed down or sped up at different time of the day to influence behaviour in different ways,” Dr. Bradshaw said.
Background music is often classed as “Muzak” in honor of the Seattle-based company which began producing its soft-sounding melodies in the 1930s.
1.According to Dr. Bradshaw, in what ways does Christmas music influence customers?
①their mood ②their income
③their sense of time ④ the sort of products they buy
A.①②③ B.①③④ C.②③④ D.①②④
2. Shopkeepers slow down the rhythm of music in shops to ___________.
A. let customers spend more time shopping
B. make customers and sales assistants relaxed
C. let customers enjoy the beautiful music
D. help customers find what they really want
3.What kind of music is now often adapted to influence customers in shops?
A. Classical music B. Popular modern songs.
C. Folk songs. D. Jazz music.
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A. Music makes happy Christmas
B. Christmas “Muzak”
C. How to make Christmas music?
D. Christmas music makes us spend more
1.B
2.A
3.B
4.D
【解析】
试题分析：文章介绍了一项研究发现，商店里面播放的圣诞音乐可以影响人们的情绪，对时间的感觉和他们买的东西的种类。如果店主放慢音乐的节奏可以让顾客花更多时间购物，最终的目的是让顾客多花钱。
1.细节题：从文章第四段的句子：Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood, influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy.可知Dr. Bradshaw认为圣诞音乐会影响人们的情绪，对时间的感觉和他们买的东西的种类。选B
2.细节题：从文章第七段的句子：It is thought that slowing down the rhythm of music in shops can trick customers into thinking less time has passed, and therefore spend more time examining the shelves, for example.可知店主放慢音乐的节奏是为了让顾客花更多时间购物，选A
3.细节题：从文章倒数第二段的句子: A common trick is to take a popular current song and record an instrumental version which can be slowed down or sped up at different time of the day to influence behaviour in different ways,”可知现代的流行音乐经常被改编来影响商店的顾客，选B
4.标题确定题：从第一段的句子： the songs also make us more careless with our money, research has warned. 可知圣诞音乐会让我们花更多的钱，选D。
考点：考查社会现象类短文
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Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today.
During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors" Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus. For his play "Macbeth", Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity（强度）of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He described the sights and sounds of London in his plays. His works include observations about political struggles, the fear of diseases, and the popular language of the city’s tradesmen. Shakespeare's knowledge of the English countryside is also clear. His works include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular traditions of rural people.
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What can we infer from the passage？
A.Many of Shakespeare's works were influenced by earlier writings.
B.Shakespeare was hard??working when he was a student.
C.The experience of living in London helped a lot with Shakespeare's works.
D.Shakespeare became rich later because of the popularity of his works.
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B.Because he produced too many works that nobody else could do.
C.Because he was a rich and influential person of his time.
D.Because his works were rich in imagination and language.
Shakespeare's greatest influence should be on .
A.the English language B.paintings C.television D.music and dance
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A.an introduction to Shakespeare’s life and his works
B.the main features and styles of Shakespeare's plays
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During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in Shakespeare’s play “The Comedy of Errors”, Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus. For his play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity（强度）of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
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1. From the passage, we can see that ________.
A. Shakespeare was hardworking when he was a student
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A. Because there were so few people writing plays in his time.
B. Because he produced too many works that nobody else could do.
C. Because his works were rich in imagination and language.
D. Because he was a rich and influential person of his time.
3.Shakespeare’s greatest influence should be on .
A. paintings B. television
C. the English language D. music and dance
4.The passage is mainly about .
A. an introduction to Shakespeare’s life and his works
B. the main features and styles of Shakespeare’s plays
C. Shakespeare’s greatest influence on the world culture.
D. how culture influenced Shakespeare and he influenced culture.
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Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today.
During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors"（《错误的喜剧》）Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus. For his play "Macbeth"（《麦克白》）, Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity（强度）of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He described the sights and sounds of London in his plays. His works include observations about political struggles, the fear of diseases, and the popular language of the city’s tradesmen. Shakespeare's knowledge of the English countryside is also clear. His works include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular traditions of rural people.
It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare’s works have influenced the world culture. But the first and greatest example would be his great influence on the English language. During his time, the English language was changing. Many new words from other languages were being added. Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create hundreds of new words and rework old ones. For example, he created the noun forms of "critic", "mountaineer” and "eyeball". Many common expressions in English come from his plays, including "pomp and circumstance（装腔作势）"from "Othello"（《奥赛罗》）, "full circle（绕圈子地）" from "King Lear"（《李尔王》）, etc. The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is almost endless. From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare was well represented. Shakespeare's plays have been translated into every major language in the world.
Shakespeare became a well-known writer during a golden age of theater. His years of hard work paid off.
1.What can we infer from the passage？
A. Many of Shakespeare's works were influenced by earlier writings.
B. Shakespeare was hardworking when he was a student.
C. The experience of living in London helped a lot with Shakespeare's works.
D. Shakespeare became rich later because of the popularity of his works.
2.Shakespeare might have learnt some information from ancient Roman works in .
A."King Lear" B."The Comedy of Errors" C. "Macbeth" D."Othello"
3.Shakespeare's greatest influence should be on .
A. the English language B. paintings C. television D. music and dance
4.The passage is mainly about .
A. an introduction to Shakespeare’s life and his works
B. the main features and styles of Shakespeare's plays
C. how culture influenced Shakespeare and he influenced culture.
D. Shakespeare’s greatest influence on the world culture.
查看答案和解析>>
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