I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps (快照), maybe occasionally for magazines. Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand. So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?” He looked perturbed (不安).“Do you want to try it first?" he said. It didn't quite sound like a question. "Do I need to?" I replied. "There's nothing wrong with it?" This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad. "No, no. But you should try it," he said encouragingly." Compare it with the others. "

     I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly H into account at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.

     But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The assistant seemed a sincere man. So I let him take out my chosen camera from the cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers... and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.

      Why do we think that new options (选择) still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.

1. The shop assistant insisted that the writer should __ .

     A. try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it

     B. compare the camera he had chosen with the others

     C. get more information about different companies

     D. trust him and stop asking questions

2. What does the writer mean by "it would be worth half what I paid for it"  (Paragraph 2) ?

     A. He should get a 50% discount.

     B. The price of the camera was unreasonably high.

     C. The quality of the camera was not good.

     D. The camera would soon fall in value.

3. The writer decided to try the model he had chosen because he __ .

     A. knew very little about it

     B. didn't trust the shop assistant

     C. wanted to make sure the one he chose would be the best

     D. had a special interest in taking pictures of his fellow shoppers

4. It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer's opinion, __

     A. people waste too much money on cameras

     B. cameras have become an important part of our daily life

     C. we don't actually need so many choices when buying a product

     D. famous companies care more about profit than quality

 

I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps (快照), maybe occasionally for magazines. Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand. So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?” He looked perturbed (不安).“Do you want to try it first?" he said. It didn't quite sound like a question. "Do I need to?" I replied. "There's nothing wrong with it?" This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad. "No, no. But you should try it," he said encouragingly." Compare it with the others. "

     I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly H into account at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.

     But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The assistant seemed a sincere man. So I let him take out my chosen camera from the cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers... and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.

      Why do we think that new options (选择) still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.

1. The shop assistant insisted that the writer should __ .

     A. try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it

     B. compare the camera he had chosen with the others

     C. get more information about different companies

     D. trust him and stop asking questions

2. What does the writer mean by "it would be worth half what I paid for it"  (Paragraph 2) ?

     A. He should get a 50% discount.

     B. The price of the camera was unreasonably high.

     C. The quality of the camera was not good.

     D. The camera would soon fall in value.

3. The writer decided to try the model he had chosen because he __ .

     A. knew very little about it

     B. didn't trust the shop assistant

     C. wanted to make sure the one he chose would be the best

     D. had a special interest in taking pictures of his fellow shoppers

4. It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer's opinion, __

     A. people waste too much money on cameras

     B. cameras have become an important part of our daily life

     C. we don't actually need so many choices when buying a product

     D. famous companies care more about profit than quality

 

I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps (快照), maybe occasionally for magazines. Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand. So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?” He looked perturbed (不安).“Do you want to try it first?" he said. It didn't quite sound like a question. "Do I need to?" I replied. "There's nothing wrong with it?" This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad. "No, no. But you should try it," he said encouragingly." Compare it with the others. "

     I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly H into account at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.

     But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The assistant seemed a sincere man. So I let him take out my chosen camera from the cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers... and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.

      Why do we think that new options (选择) still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.

1. The shop assistant insisted that the writer should __ .

     A. try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it

     B. compare the camera he had chosen with the others

     C. get more information about different companies

     D. trust him and stop asking questions

2. What does the writer mean by "it would be worth half what I paid for it"  (Paragraph 2) ?

     A. He should get a 50% discount.

     B. The price of the camera was unreasonably high.

     C. The quality of the camera was not good.

     D. The camera would soon fall in value.

3. The writer decided to try the model he had chosen because he __ .

     A. knew very little about it

     B. didn't trust the shop assistant

     C. wanted to make sure the one he chose would be the best

     D. had a special interest in taking pictures of his fellow shoppers

4. It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer's opinion, __

     A. people waste too much money on cameras

     B. cameras have become an important part of our daily life

     C. we don't actually need so many choices when buying a product

     D. famous companies care more about profit than quality

 

I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps（快照）, maybe occasionally for magazines. Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand. So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?” He looked perturbed （不安）.“Do you want to try it first?" he said. It didn't quite sound like a question. "Do I need to?" I replied. "There's nothing wrong with it?" This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad. "No, no. But you should try it," he said encouragingly." Compare it with the others. "

I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly H into account at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.

But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The assistant seemed a sincere man. So I let him take out my chosen camera from the cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers... and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.

Why do we think that new options （选择）still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.

1．The shop assistant insisted that the writer should __ .

A．try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it

B．compare the camera he had chosen with the others

C．get more information about different companies

D．trust him and stop asking questions

2．What does the writer mean by "it would be worth half what I paid for it" （Paragraph 2） ?

A．He should get a 50% discount.

B．The price of the camera was unreasonably high.

C．The quality of the camera was not good.

D．The camera would soon fall in value.

3．The writer decided to try the model he had chosen because he ______ .

A．knew very little about it

B．didn't trust the shop assistant

C．wanted to make sure the one he chose would be the best

D．had a special interest in taking pictures of his fellow shoppers

4．It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer's opinion, __

A．people waste too much money on cameras

B．cameras have become an important part of our daily life

C．we don't actually need so many choices when buying a product

D．famous companies care more about profit than quality

Generation next is usually a powerful unknown. Sometimes called Generation Y, sometimes called the Millennials (千禧代), this group of 16-to-25-year-olds live in a world of high-tech advances, increasing racial diversity and economic growth. And it is a generation expected to affect major social change.

    "This is us," said Katie Stroud,16 from South Carolina, US. "This is how we are. Take it or leave it."

    The problem is, they're proving hard to define.

    "This group is unique," said Ken Shin, a sociology professor at the University of South Carolina. "They have different values. They're more informed. They're more tolerant."

    Generation Y is expected to do great things -- to move beyond thought to action.

    "As a generation, they are the strongest and most intelligent," said Joyce Fields, a professor at Columbia College in South Carolina.

    Generation Y has grown up in a digital, instant-messaging age. DVDs, iPods and cell phones are just part of everyday life for this Interact-surfing generation.

"I feel that we're very smart," said Shawn Rumph,18, of Columbia, S.C. "Look at all the technology we have to help us learn."

    Since they have grown up in good times, for Generation Y, success and wealth are almost certain. Their attitude, therefore, shows that they're optimistic and materialistic, Fields said.

    Richard Perry, an 18-year-old University of South Carolina student, agrees that Generation Y is materialistic. "Everybody is into new stuff," he said.

    To marketers selling soda, music, clothes and computers, members of Generation Y look like human dollar signs.

    With a "buy now, pay later" mentality, this group is assaulted with Web ads and TV commercials aimed at getting them to part with their and their parents' money.

    Despite the insistence on having modem-day conveniences, in many ways Generation Y is traditional, experts say. Getting an education and having a family are important.

    Besides, some Generation Y members say they are comfortable with racial diversity and expect discrimination to disappear.

    Elizabeth Pope,16, of South Carolina, said Generation Y probably will elect the first female or minority-race president.

    In any ease, Fields is confident in Generation Y. "I think we're in good hands."

1. In this passage, how many such optimistic young people are mentioned?

A. Four         B. Five          C. Six D. Two

2. Which of the following characteristics of Generation Y is NOT mentioned by Joyce Fields?

A. the strongest                     B. more tolerant

    C. the most intelligent              D. optimistic and materialistic

3. What does it mean by "Everybody is into new stuff."?

    A. Generation Y is in the direction of wealth.

    B. Generation Y has different social values.

    C. Generation Y is during a period of being lost.

D. Generation Y is interested in new things.                   

4. According to the passage, what's the attitude of the experts towards Generation Y?

    A. suspicious     B. sympathetic    C. optimistic     D. pessimistic

5. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. People of Generation Y are more informed and more tolerant.

    B. DVDs, iPods and cell phones are all of everyday life for Generation Y.

    C. Success and wealth are almost certain for Generation Y.

    D. In many ways people of Generation Y are traditional, though.