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.
【小题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 |
| 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 |
| A．Classical music | B．Popular modern songs. |
| C．Folk songs. | D．Jazz music. |
| A．Music makes happy Christmas |
| B．Christmas “Muzak” |
| C．How to make Christmas music? |
| D．Christmas music makes us spend more |
【小题1】B
【小题2】A
【小题3】B
【小题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。
【小题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
【小题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
【小题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
【小题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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寒假创新型自主学习第三学期寒假衔接系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Most people know precious gemstones (宝石) by their appearances. An emerald flashes deep green, a ruby seems to hold a red fire inside, and a diamond shines like a star. It’s more difficult to tell where the gem was mined, since a diamond from Australia or Arkansas may appear the same to one from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, recently, a team of scientists has found a way to identify a gemstone’s origin.
Beneath the surface of a gemstone, on the tiny level of atoms and molecules, lie clues to its origin. At this year’s meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, Catherine McManus reported on a technique that uses lasers to clarify these clues and identify a stone’s homeland. McManus directs scientific research at Materialytics, in Killeen, Texas. The company is developing the technique. “With enough data, we could identify which country, which mining place, even the individual mine a gemstone comes from,” McManus told Science News.
Some gemstones, including many diamonds, come from war-torn countries. Sales of those “blood minerals” may encourage violent civil wars where innocent people are injured or killed. In an effort to reduce the trade in blood minerals, the U.S. government passed law in July 2010 that requires companies that sell gemstones to determine the origins of their stones.
To figure out where gemstones come from, McManus and her team focus a powerful laser on a small sample of the gemstone. The technique is called laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Just as heat can turn ice into water or water into steam, energy from the laser changes the state of matter of the stone. The laser changes a miniscule part of the gemstone into plasma, a gas state of matter in which tiny particles called electrons separate from atoms.
The plasma, which is superhot, produces a light pattern. (The science of analyzing this kind of light pattern is called spectroscopy.) Different elements produce different patterns, but McManus and her team say that gemstones from the same area produce similar patterns. Materialytics has already collected patterns from thousands of gemstones, including more than 200 from diamonds. They can compare the light pattern from an unknown gemstone to patterns they do know and look for a match. The light pattern acts like a signature, telling the researchers the origin of the gemstone.
In a small test, the laser technique correctly identified the origins of 95 out of every 100 diamonds. For gemstones like emeralds and rubies, the technique proved successful for 98 out of every 100 stones. The scientists need to collect and analyze more samples, including those from war-torn countries, before the tool is ready for commercial use.
Scientists like Barbara Dutrow, a mineralogist from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, find the technique exciting. “This is a basic new tool that could provide a better fingerprint of a material from a particular locality,” she told Science News.
【小题1】We learn from Paragraph 1 that __________________.
| A．an emerald and a ruby are names of diamonds. |
| B．it’s not difficult to tell where the gem was mined. |
| C．appearances help to identify the origin of gemstones. |
| D．diamonds from different places may appear the same. |
| A．To look for more gemstones. |
| B．To encourage violent civil wars. |
| C．To reduce the trade in blood minerals. |
| D．To develop the economy. |
| A．Heat can turn ice into water or water into steam. |
| B．Gemstones from the same area produce similar light patterns. |
| C．Laser can changes a miniscule part of the gemstone into plasma. |
| D．Materialytics has already collected patterns from thousands of gemstones. |
| A．It is ready for commercial use. |
| B．People can use the new tool to find more gemstones. |
| C．It can significantly reduce the gemstones trade in blood minerals. |
| D．It will bring about a revolutionary change in identifying the origin of minerals. |
| A．tell us how to identify the origin of diamonds. |
| B．introduce a laser technique in identifying a stone’s origin |
| C．prove identifying the origin of gemstones are difficult |
| D．attract our attention to reducing trade in blood minerals |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
We all like watching online videos of dogs and cats doing funny things. But if you had to decide, which of the two animals would you say you might like better? Your answer may say something about your personality.
According to a 2010 study led by Sam Gosling, a scientist at the University of Texas, US, dog people are about 15 percent more outgoing and 13 percent more pleasant to be friends with than cat people.
This is not hard to understand, since cats and dogs behave differently themselves. “Cats will occasionally engage in social activities, but usually after only a few minutes, they will abandon the game. Dogs, on the other hand, will often engage in play, like fetching a thrown ball, for hours at a time,” said Modern Dog Magazine.
Although cat people are less social, Gosling’s study showed that they are 11 percent more open-minded than dog people. They usually like art, adventures and unusual ideas. They also have more imagination and curiosity. But dog people are more likely to stick to old beliefs and traditional interests.
However, their love of a free lifestyle also means that cat people dislike making plans. They just follow whatever ideas pop into their heads without planning ahead. But dog people are different. They usually have strong self-control and like to carry out their plans.
Despite these big differences between dog people and cat people, there are some things that they have in common, “Both types of people consider themselves close to nature, dislike animal-print clothing, and are generally optimists,” noted Mother Nature Network.
But can personality change? Can a cat person become a dog person, or the other way around? In a study done by Stanley Coren, a scientist based in Canada, he asked cat owners: “If you had enough living space and there were no objections form other people in your life, and someone gave you a puppy as a gift, would you keep it?”
About 68 percent of them said they would not accept a dog as a pet. But when dog owners were asked the same question about a kitten, almost 70 percent said they would allow a cat into their lives.
【小题1】According to the article, dog people _____________ cat people.
| A．perform better in school than | B．are more open-minded than |
| C．have closer friends than | D．are more traditional than |
| A．take little interest in | B．take part in | C．benefit from | D．suffer from |
| A．Both of them like planning ahead |
| B．Both of them love travelling and adventures |
| C．Both of them are imaginative and curious |
| D．Both of them care about nature. |
| A．Cat people are more likely to become dog people. |
| B．Dog people are more likely to accept cats into their homes than cat people are to accept dogs. |
| C．Neither dog nor cat people like to accept a new pet. |
| D．It is difficult to find out whether dog people or cat people will make a change. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
The Importance of Accessibility Awareness
At a recent Teen Leadership of Jewish Family Services meeting, people with disabilities talked about their lives. 【小题1】 However, what amazed me most was the great importance of education about handicap accommodations (残疾人便利设施).
One school-teacher who is blind, and a woman who has used a wheelchair all her life are two important members of the National Group for Disabled Persons, devoted to raising awareness about disabilities. 【小题2】 These include handicap parking spots, handrails, and wheelchair ramps. One big concern is the people who take advantage of aids, such as handicap parking spaces. 【小题3】 And the meeting focused on educating the public.
Some handicap spots have extra room next to them, marked with the “No Parking” signs. “As long as I'm not in the spot, I can take the no-parking area next to it,” some people say. However, the woman who uses a wheelchair disagrees to this. The space exists to allow someone in a wheelchair to have room to get in or out of their car. 【小题4】
Some walkways have handrails next to them to help those who require extra assistance. Whether it is a blind person seeking guidance or an elderly person seeking support, the rail is there for walking. Sometimes the rail is blocked, by a parked bicycle for instance, and consequently made useless. 【小题5】 People who are informed of the rail’s use would be less likely to mistake it for a bike rack.
Meeting some of the people who are affected by the lack of education about accommodations made me see that there is work to be done. If more people were educated about the proper uses of accommodations, there would be fewer challenges for people with physical disabilities.
| A．Accommodations will vary according to the needs of the disabled. |
| B．As with the parking spot, this is more likely a case of lack of education. |
| C．They educate about all the accommodations for people with disabilities. |
| D．Improvement must be made so that disabled people can fully participate. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Celebrities(名人) are more in love with themselves than the average person，according to a new study．
In case anyone needed proof, a new study supports the widely held perception：Famous people are more narcissistic(自我陶醉的)，which means they are more in love with themselves than the average person is．That is the conclusion drawn by Drew Pinsky and S．Mark Young of the University of Southern California，whose study of 200 celebrities will appear in the Journal Of Research in Personality．
It is not the entertainment industry that turns stars into narcissists，the study found．Rather, it suggests，the self-adoring(自恋的)people seek jobs in show business．The study, whose subjects were a11 celebrities from Pinsky’s‘Loveline’radio show, found that reality TV stars were the most narcissistic of all celebrities．Female stars were also more likely than the male stars to exhibit narcissistic characteristics．
It’s “common sense” that celebrities are narcissists，said Jeremy Ritzlin，a longtime Hollywood psychologist who has not seen the study．“Everyone knows famous people are really in love with themselves，”he said．“So it would be natural for narcissists to be attracted toward the stage and spotlight，where other people will also think highly of them．”
Pinsky, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at USC’S Keck School of Medicine，said narcissists desire attention，are overconfident，behave strangely and lack sympathy．“However, they are easily-liked，especially on first meeting，are outgoing and perform well in public，” added Pinsky, who has hosted the radio show“Loveline”for 20 years．
Celebrity guests appearing on the program were randomly chosen to participate in the study．They anonymously(匿名地)took the Narcissistic Personality Inventory test．which rates self-love levels based on seven components：superiority, exhibitionism，entitlement，vanity，authority, exploitativeness，and self-sufficiency．
【小题1】Who are most likely to be self-adoring in the study?
| A．The women stars． | B．The men stars |
| C．The average people． | D．It is not mentioned in the passage． |
| A．is common in the entertainment industry |
| B．is a misunderstanding of Jeremy Ritzlin |
| C．is known to most of the people |
| D．is unreal on the stage |
| A．hope to attract attention |
| B．be kind to poor people |
| C．believe in themselves |
| D．be liked by others easily |
| A．They were interviewed by Drew Pinsky and S．Mark Young． |
| B．They were invited to the University of Southern California． |
| C．They appeared on Pinsky’s‘Loveline’radio show． |
| D．They took the Narcissistic Personality Inventory test． |
| A．how psychologists make a study |
| B．how entertainment industry produces celebrities |
| C．how people think of the famous stars |
| D．how celebrities feel about themselves |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
7 ways a government shutdown will affect your daily life
(CNN) -- Democrats and Republicans were unable to resolve (解决) their differences over Obamacare (奥巴马医改计划）and now the government is shut down. The two previous shutdowns — 1995 and early 1996 — cost the country $1.4 billion. But what will the shutdown mean for you? Here are 7 ways the government shutdown will affect you.
7. Vacation all I ever wanted: Need to get away? Well, you can’t. At least not to national parks. Or to national zoos. Or to national museums. They'll be closed. Were you thinking more along the lines of a trip to France? If you don’t already have a passport, you might not get your blue book in time. The last time the government shut down, 200,000 applications for passports went unprocessed.
6. If you drive a car, I'll tax the street: You may be thinking, “No functioning government, no need to pay taxes.” Think again. The Man would continue to collect taxes. U.S. bonds would still be issued. And other essential banking functions will go on.
5. Wait a minute, Mr. Postman: You know that whole “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night” thing? Apparently, the U.S. Postal Service works through shutdowns as well. Sorry, you won’t catch a break from the junk mail.
4. I want a new drug: Oh, the irony (讽刺的). Republicans still want to defund, delay or otherwise withdraw gradually at Obamacare in exchange for funding the government. But the health care act at the center of this storm would continue its process during a shutdown. That is because its funds aren’t dependent on the congressional budget (预算) process.
3. Pass the ammunition (军火): Not so fast. A shutdown would affect the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Translation: That gun permit you wanted processed won’t happen anytime soon if this goes on for a while.
2. Money (that's what I want): Well, if you owned a small business and needed a loan from the government, you would have to wait, depending on how long this lasts. If you were planning to buy a house and needed a federal loan, you would have to wait.
1. I'm proud to be an American: Perhaps the biggest hit would be to the collective psyche (下意识心理). America is the largest economy in the world and a beacon for how democracy ought to work. A recent CNN Research Corporation found that 51% would blame Republicans for the shutdown. The United States has operated without a budget since 2009 and has avoided a government shutdown with last-minute deals. Not only did the government run out of money on Tuesday, but the nation is set to hit its borrowing limit and potentially default on its debt in mid-October. Together, they serve as a double whammy (打击）.
【小题1】Which is the most probably meaning of the underlined word?
| A．Raise some money. | B．Take the money back. |
| C．Borrow some money. | D．went on a strike. |
| A．Apply for a gun permit. | B．Apply for a new passport. |
| C．Apply for a loan. | D．Pay taxes. |
| A．Once. | B．Twice. | C．Three times. | D．Not mentioned. |
| A．The government of America ran out of money. |
| B．The government of America is on debts. |
| C．America is set to hit the borrowing limit of its debts. |
| D．The American government ran out of money and may fail in repaying its debts. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Millions of girls grow up with the hope of becoming a famous singer. Some even win local talent competitions as children, but only a few such early successes and dreams turn into reality. Jessica Andrews is one of the few whose dreams have come true.
Andrews, first taste of success came at the age of 10. She won a talent competition in her home town of Huntingdon, Tennessee, singing I Will Always Love You, originally sung by Whitney Houston. Houston's version of the song appeared on The Bodyguard sound track, which happened to be the first album Andrews ever bought.
Within two years, talk of Andrews had spread to Nashville and caught the attention of producer Byron Gallimore, whose credits include work with Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Jo Dee Messina. With Gallimore signed on to produce, Andrews soon had a recording contract (合同)with Dream Works' Nashville label.
Andrews' professional career was launched with 1999's Heart Shaped World, recorded when she was 14 years old. The album included the country hit I Will Be There For You, which also appeared on The Prince Of Egypt. She followed up the release of the album by touring as a support act for such country superstars as Faith Hill and Trisha Yearwood.
With the release of 2001's Who I Am, Andrews became a star in her own right. The album was certified (证明）gold for sales of 500,000 copies. Andrews returned in April 2003 with Now, an album that she promised would show a new side of the young artist. "This album has a very different feeling for me," she said. "It's a lot more personal and there's a confidence that wasn't quite there on the first two. I feel especially connected to this group of songs."
【小题1】 What's the meaning of the underlined word “launched" in the fourth paragraph?
| A．Aimed. | B．Sent. | C．Started. | D．Set. |
| A．The Bodyguard was the first album Andrews ever bought. |
| B．After Andrews sang Who I Am, she became a star in her own right. |
| C．I Will Always Love You was originally sung by Whitney Houston. |
| D．Now expresses a new feeling of Andrews. |
| A．Now. | B．Heart Shaped World. |
| C．The Prince of Egypt. | D．Who I Am |
| A．Jessica Andrews' Life | B．Jessica Andrews' Dream |
| C．Jessica Andrews' Songs | D．Jessica Andrews' Success as a Singer |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
We’ve considered several ways of paying to cut in line：hiring line standers，buying tickets from scalpers (票贩子)，or purchasing linecutting privileges directly from，say，an airline or an amusement park.Each of these deals replaces the morals of the queue (waiting your turn) with the morals of the market (paying a price for faster service)．
Markets and queues—paying and waiting—are two different ways of allocating things，and each is appropriate to different activities.The morals of the queue，“First come，first served，”have an egalitarian(平等主义的) appeal.They tell us to ignore privilege，power，and deep pockets.
The principle seems right on playgrounds and at bus stops.But the morals of the queue do not govern all occasions.If I put my house up for sale，I have no duty to accept the first offer that comes along，simply because it’s the first.Selling my house and waiting for a bus are different activities，properly governed by different standards.
Sometimes standards change，and it is unclear which principle should apply.Think of the recorded message you hear，played over and over，as you wait on hold when calling your bank：“Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.”This is essential for the morals of the queue.It’s as if the company is trying to ease our impatience with fairness.
But don’t take the recorded message too seriously.Today，some people’s calls are answered faster than others.Call center technology enables companies to“score”incomings calls and to give faster service to those that come from rich places.You might call this telephonic queue jumping.
Of course，markets and queues are not the only ways of allocating things.Some goods we distribute by merit，others by need，still others by chance.However，the tendency of markets to replace queues，and other nonmarket ways of allocating goods is so common in modern life that we scarcely notice it anymore.It is striking that most of the paid queuejumping schemes we’ve considered—at airports and amusement parks，in call centers，doctors’offices，and national parks—are recent developments，scarcely imaginable three decades ago.The disappearance of the queues in these places may seem an unusual concern，but these are not the only places that markets have entered.
【小题1】According to the author，which of the following seems governed by the principle“First come，first served”？
| A．Taking buses. |
| B．Buying houses. |
| C．Flying with an airline. |
| D．Visiting amusement parks. |
| A．the necessity of patience in queuing |
| B．the advantage of modern technology |
| C．the uncertainty of allocation principle |
| D．the fairness of telephonic services |
| A．justify paying for faster services |
| B．discuss the morals of allocating things |
| C．analyze the reason for standing in line |
| D．criticize the behavior of queue jumping |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
A survey reveals that employees in China say they are not engaged in their jobs. Judging by the survey data, many Chinese workplaces are black holes of misery and despair.
Only 6% of Chinese employees said they are "engaged" in their jobs, according to a global Gallup survey released this month. China's numbers equal the numbers out of war-weary（厌战的） Iraq.
Workers across all income levels and industries were surveyed by Gallup in China, defined by Gallup to mean they were "psychologically committed to their jobs and likely to be making positive contributions to their organizations".
Out of 94 countries polled, only six countries scored lower rates of job engagement than China, including Tunisia, Israel and Syria. Unsurprisingly, 0% of Syrians admitted to being engaged at work.
In a related survey, China ranked near the bottom in a poll measuring job satisfaction among 22 Asian countries. Only 49% of Chinese respondents said they were happy in their jobs.
Part of the problem, I suspect, is that very few in China have the luxury to pursue a career that truly interests them.
Even university graduates often feel they have no choice but to choose the positions with the government or state-run enterprises, since those jobs are thought to be stable.
That makes those who are happy at work in China a rare find indeed.
【小题1】What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
| A．The people in Israel are not engaged in their jobs. |
| B．People in Syria are more engaged at work than the Chinese. |
| C．Most Chinese people are happy in work. |
| D．China ranked the top in the job engagement. |
| A．happiness | B．dream | C．willing | D．courage |
| A．Because they don’t take the jobs they really like |
| B．Because many Chinese workplaces are full of misery and despair. |
| C．Because they have no choice but to choose the stable jobs. |
| D．Because they are not psychologically committed to their jobs. |
| A．Lawyers | B．Civil Servants (公务员) |
| C．self-made men | D．Doctors |
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