Question

Almost everybody in America will spend a part of his or her life behind a shopping cart(购物手推车). They will, in a lifetime, push the chrome-plated contraptions many miles. But few will know--or even think to ask--who it was that invented them.

Sylvan N. Goldman invented the shopping cart in 1937. At that time he was in the supermarket business. Every day he would see shoppers lugging(吃力地携带) groceries（杂货物品) around in baskets they had to carry.

One day Goldman suddenly had the idea of putting baskets on wheels. The wheeled baskets would make shopping much easier for his customers, and would help to attract more business.

On June 4, 1937, Goldman’s first carts were ready for use in his market. He was terribly excited on the morning of that day as customers began arriving. He couldn’t wait to see them using his invention.

But Goldman was disappointed. Most shoppers gave the carts a long look, but hardly anybody would give them a try.

After a while, Goldman decided to ask customers why they weren’t using his carts. “Don’t you think this arm is strong enough to carry a shopping basket?” one shopper replied.

But Goldman wasn’t beaten yet. He knew his carts would be a great success if only he could persuade people to give them a try. To this end, Goldman hired a group of people to push carts around his market and pretend they were shopping! Seeing this, the real customers gradually began copying the phony(假冒的) customers.

As Goldman had hoped, the carts were soon attracting larger and larger numbers of customers to his market. But not only did more people come--those who came bought more. With larger, easier-to-handle baskets, customers unconsciously bought a greater number of items than before.

Today’s shopping carts are five times larger than Goldman’s original model. Perhaps that’s one reason Americans today spend more than five times as much money on food each year as they did before 1937--before the coming of the shopping cart.

1.The underlined words “chrome-plate contraptions” in Paragraph 1 refer to ______. (No more than 3 words)

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2.What was the purpose(目的) of Goldman’s invention? (No more than 10 words)

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3.Why was Goldman disappointed at first? (No more than 10 words)

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4.Why did Goldman hire people to push carts around his market? (No more than 10 words)

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5.What do you think of Goldman? Please give your reasons. (No more than 20 words)

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Answer 1

1.shopping carts

2.It was to make shopping easier and attract more business.

3.Because few customers used his carts.

4.Because he wanted to promote his shopping carts.

5.He was a smart businessman. He invented the shopping cart and made it accepted by customers.

【解析】

试题分析：题目主要考查学生联系上下文并从文中提取有效信息的能力。做题时需要注意题目后面的词数要求。

1.Almost everybody in America will spend a part of his or her life behind a shopping cart.”可知，划线部分指的是超市的购物手推车，故填shopping carts。

2.The wheeled baskets would make shopping much easier for his customers, and would help to attract more business.”可知，用手推车代替手提的篮子能够节省很多体力，也能促使人们购买更多的商品，故填It was to make shopping easier and attract more business.。

3.Most shoppers gave the carts a long look, but hardly anybody would give them a try.”可知，几乎没有人愿意使用手推车，这让Goldman感到失望，故填Because few customers used his carts.。

4.He knew his carts would be a great success if only he could persuade people to give them a try.”可知，Goldman想在顾客中推广他的手推车，所以他雇人在超市里推着购物车转圈，以此来引起人们的注意，故填Because he wanted to promote his shopping carts.。

5.Sylvan N. Goldman invented the shopping cart in 1937.”和倒数第二段“As Goldman had hoped, the carts were soon attracting larger and larger numbers of customers to his market.”可知，Goldman不仅发明了手推车，他还成功地让顾客接受了手推车，故填He was a smart businessman. He invented the shopping cart and made it accepted by customers.。

考点：联系上下文；提取有效信息