Question

3．A bargain is something offered at a low and advantageous price．A more recent definition is：a bargain is a dirty trick to force money out of the pockets of silly and innocent people．
    The cost of producing a new---for example---toothpaste would make 80p the proper price for it，so we will market it at£1.20．It is not a bad toothpaste，and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with； but the attraction of novelty soon fades，so sales will fall．When that happens we will reduce the price to£1.15．And we will turn it into a bargain by printing 5p OFF all over it．
    Sometimes it is not 5p OFF but 1p OFF．What breathtaking rudeness to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or whatever!Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult（侮辱），but he doesn't．A bargain must not be missed．People say one has to have washing powder （or whatever） and one might as well buy it a penny cheaper．
The real danger starts when unnecessary things become‘bargains'．Many people just cannot resist bargains．Provided they think they are getting a bargain they will buy clothes they will never wear or furniture they have no space for．Once I heard of a man who bought an electric saw（电锯） as a bargain and cut off two of his fingers the next day．But he had no regrets：the saw had been truly cheap．
    Quite a few people actually believe that they make money on such bargains．A lady once told me："I've had a lucky day today．I bought a dress for£120，reduced from£400； and I bought a beautiful Persian carpet for£600，reduced from£900．"It will never occur to her that she has actually wasted£720．She feels as though she had made£580．She also feels，I am sure，that if she had more time for shopping，she could make a living out of it．
    Some people buy in large quantities because it is cheaper．Once a couple bought enough sugar for their lifetime and the lifetime of their children and grandchildren．They thought it a bargain not to be missed．When the sugar arrived they didn't know where to store it-until they realized that their toilet was a very spacious one．So that was where they piled up their sugar．Not only did their guests feel rather strange whenever they were offered sugar to put into their coffee，but the toilet became extremely sticky．
    To offer bargains is a commercial trick to make the poor poorer．When greedy fools fall for this trick，it serves them right．
28．What does the underlined word"novelty"in Paragraph 2 probably mean？D
A．Good quality．
B．Low price．
C．Curiosity．
D．Newness．
29．Which word best describes the language style of the passage？C
A．Polite．
B．Foolish．
C．Humorous．
D．Serious．
30．How does the author feel about 1p OFF a product？B
A．It's a gift for poor people．
B．It's an insult to shoppers．
C．It's a bargain worth trying．
D．It's a real reduction in price．
31．Which statement will the author probably agree with？D
A．Bargains are things people don't really need．
B．Bargains are often real cheap products．
C．Bargains help people make a living．
D．Bargains play tricks on people．

Answer 1

分析 这是一篇议论文阅读，讲述人们购物时盲目追求折扣却有可能造成不理性消费的现象．

解答 DCBD
28．D 词义猜测题．根据文章第二段的句子"as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with"（人们喜欢尝试新的东西，它一开始卖得很好），接下来说："but the attraction of novelty soon fades"（新奇的吸引力很快就消失了），可知"novelty"是"newness"的意思．故选D．
29．C 细节题．根据通过全文给出的几个例子，如第四段买锯结果把自己锯了，倒数第 二段的买糖结果放卫生间了等都能看出这是一种幽默的笔法，故选C．
30．B 细节理解题．根据文章第三段的句子"Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult （侮辱），but he doesn't．"可知作者认为一折的产品对消费者是一种冒犯．故选B．
31．D 推理判断题．根据文章最后一段的句子"To offer bargains is a commercial（商业的）trick to make the poor poorer．"可知作者认为廉价商品是在愚弄人们．故选D．

点评 本文是政治经济类阅读理解．做这类题材阅读理解时要求考生对文章通读一遍，做题时结合原文和题目有针对性的找出相关语句进行仔细分析，结合选项选出正确答案．推理判断题也是要在抓住关键句子的基础上合理的分析才能得出正确答案，切忌胡乱猜测，一定要做到有理有据．