There are thousands of products of all colors and shapes in a supermarket, making you believe that they are worth a try. How? Packaging （包装）is the silent but persuading salesman.

There on the shelves, each bottle, can, box, and jar has been carefully designed and measured to speak to the inner self of the consumer（消费者）, so that is buying not only a product but also his belief in life. Scientists have studied consumer behavior recently and found that the look of the package has a great effect on the “quality” of the product and on how well it sells, because “Consumers generally cannot tell between a product and its package. Many products are packages and many packages are products,” as Louis Cheskin, the first social scientist studying consumers’ feeling for packaging, noticed.

Colors are one of the best tools in packaging. Studies of eye movement have shown that colors draw human attention quickly. Take V8 for example. For many years, the bright red color of tomatoes and carrots on the thin bottle makes you feel that it is very good for your body. And the word “green” today can keep food prices going up.

Shapes are another attraction. Circles often suggest happiness and peacefulness, because these shapes are pleasing to both the eye and the heart. That’s why the round yellow M signs of McDonald’s are inviting to both young and old.

This new consumer response（反应）to the colors and shapes of packages reminds producers and sellers that people buy to satisfy both body and soul.

60．According to the passage, ______ seems to be able to persuade a consumer to buy the product.

       A．the pleasing color of the package    B．the special taste of the product

       C．the strange shape of the package     D．the belief in the product

61．If a package or a product is round in shape, it can ________.

       A．bring excitement to the consumers  B．attract the consumers’ attention

       C．catch the eye movement of the consumers   D．produce a happy and peaceful feeling

62． “And the word ‘green’ today can keep food prices going up.” This sentence suggests that consumers today are ________.

       A．starting to notice the importance of new food

       B．enjoying the beauty of nature more than before

       C．beginning to like green vegetables

       D．paying more attention to their healthy

63．It can be inferred from the passage that V8 is a kind of ________.

       A．vegetable dish  B．healthy juice    C．iced drink D．red vegetable

Family Vs Technology

Modern technology certainly changes family behavior, but does it really damage family life as many people fear? Not necessarily, says Dr. Silva, a professor in Sociology(社会学) at the Open University, she also argues it is wrong to assume technology erodes(腐蚀，侵蚀) the quality of family life.

“There is the idea that technology has an influence on the family and the family suffers. My take is quite different,” she explains. “Technological change happens because people’s lives change. And it is people’s choices of how to live that creates processes of innovation(革新) as well. The family has a role like the economy or like technology itself in changing the world. The imagination is important in driving the things technologists want to find for our daily lives. People desire to see nature as it is, so color television comes about,” she says.

In another case, the increase in working mothers helped create a market for labor-saving kitchen equipment. “The time that women have to shop every day for food is no longer available so there is a need to have a refrigerator for food storage,” says Dr. Silva. “The need to cook that food more easily and quickly, means you have developments in cooking technology like the microwave oven(微波炉). The microwave oven already existed because it was developed for the navy during World War Two but it wasn’t used in ordinary families until the early 1980s.

“Technologies for housework were as important as those for work itself,” she says, “So washing machines, refrigerators and microwave ovens are terribly important. We couldn’t imagine what life would be like if we didn’t have them.” Technological changes in the kitchen have played an important role in the changes of family behavior, creating a new social focus in the home.

“With advanced technology, you can feed the family in an easier manner. People can do housework with less difficulty. But that doesn’t mean that family practices are not important — it’s just a different way of doing things.”

1.What is Dr. Silva’s attitude towards the effect that technology has on family life?

A．Worried.                              B．Optimistic(乐观的).

C．Puzzled.                              D．Uncertain.

2.What causes advances in technology according to Dr. Silva?

A．People’s love for nature.

B．Great changes in people’s way of life.

C．People’s desire to change the world.

D．The wonderful imagination in inventing things.

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A．The microwave oven was first used by working mothers.

B．People cook less because of modern kitchen equipment.

C．Technology has little effect on the changes of family behavior.

D．People need less skill to do housework due to advanced technology.

 

The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on the earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.

It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas(热带草原). In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.

Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.

What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A．Disappearance of African elephants.

B．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.

C．The effect of African elephants’ search for food.

D．The eating habit of African elephants.

2.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?

A．Fixing the time.	B．Worsening the state.
C．Improving the quality.	D．Deciding the conditions.

3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．The African elephant is the largest animal on the earth.

B．African elephants have 300 pounds of plants every day, including small trees and underbushes.

C．The African elephant is in a way the builder of the environment like other land animals.

D．If the African elephant disappears, the whole ecosystem won’t be affected.

4.The passage is developed mainly by            .

A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes

B．pointing out similarities and differences

C．describing the changes in space order

D．giving examples

 

As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself” (DIY) trend (趋势) in the U.S. continues to grow.

“We needed furniture(家具) for our living room.” Says John Ross, “and we just didn’t have enough money to afford it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.

Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $ 420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”

John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.

1.We can learn from the text that many newly married people _______.

A．find it hard to pay for what they need

B．have to learn to make their own furniture.

C．take DIY courses run by the government.

D．seldom go to a department store to buy things

2.John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to _____

A．run a DIY shop	B．make or repair things
C．save time and money	D．improve the quality of life.

3. When the writer says Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ____

A．makes shoes in his home	B．does extra work at night
C．does his own car and home repairs	D．keeps house and looks after his children

 

Busy senior managers need no longer waste time in showering themselves－an Australian company has invented a suit that can be worn while they wash.

The suit has been specially designed so that it can be cleaned under the showerhead. There is no need for soaking (浸泡)，dry cleaning－or even soap.

The Japanese market has taken a liking to the “shower suit”，described as “revolutionary” by its owner Australian Wool Innovation (AWI)，which is the research and marketing body that represents Australian wool－growers. Orders have been placed for 170,000 of the woolen suits.

The suit could be worn in the shower，although it was probably better to hang it on a clothes hanger and carry it instead，AWI corporate affairs spokesman Stephen Feighan said.“The idea is that you hang it up and then...you give it a spray (喷雾)，and it’s dry the next morning，” Mr Feighan said.

A Japanese researcher working for AWI invented the suit by combining three technologies. The secret is the best lining (内衬)，which allows the suit to dry quickly.The shower suit attracted busy corporate people，particularly those who often traveled or stayed up late，Mr Feighan said.The airline industry was also interested.

Mr Feighan confessed he had not worn one of the suits yet，or tried to wash it in the shower，because they cut to fit Japanese figures.AWI believes that the shower suit will spread from the Japanese market through Europe and India. Mr Feighan hoped the suit，made from local wool，would be available in Australia in 12 to 18 months’ time.

1.What is the writing purpose of the article?

A．To introduce a newly－designed shower suit.

B．To help the white collars arrange their life more sensibly.

C．To provide suggestions on saving time in bath.

D．To praise AWI for its important achievement.

2.Which is true about the suit according to the passage?

A．It can spare the owner’s trouble of soaking，dry cleaning and applying soap.

B．It is of the quality of fast dry for its best cloth.

C．It is not suitable for hanging.

D．It has attracted more orders than any other suit.

3.The suit draws the attention from all the following groups EXCEPT________.

A．corporate people who are always on the go

B．people on occasional business trips

C．the airline industry

D．people burning the midnight oil

4.Which of the following has much to do with Mr Feighan?

A．The invention of the suit.

B．The try－on of the suit.

C．The combination of the three technologies on the suit.

D．The popularization of the suit and best wishes for it.