Until recently, women in advertisements wore one of three things — an apron, an attractive dress or a frown. Although that is now changing, many women still feel angry about offending advertisements. “This ad degrades women.” they protested（抗议）.Why does this sort of advertising exist? How can advertisers and ad agencies still produce, sometimes, after months of research, advertising that offends the consumer?

The ASA, the body which deals with complaints about print media, is carrying out research into how women feel about the way they are pictured in advertisements. Its conclusions are likely to be what the advertising industry already knows: although women are often annoyed by the ads, few feel strong enough to complain.

Women are not the only victims of poor and boring stereotypes（老套）— in many TV commercials men are seen either as useless, childish fools who are unable to perform the simplest household tasks, or as inconsiderate fellows, always on the lookout for an escape to the pub. But it is women who seem to suffer more from the industry’s inability to put people into an authentic present-day situation. Yet according to Emma Bennett, director of a London advertising agency, women are not aggressive or extremely angry about those stereotypes and sexist （歧视妇女）advertising. “They just find it annoying or tiresome.”

She says that it is not advertising’s use of the housewife role that bothers women, but the way in which it is handled. “The most important thing is the advertisement’s tone of voice. Women hate being insincerely praised or given desperately down-to-earth common-sense advice.”

In the end, the responsibility for good advertising must be shared between the advertiser, the advertising agency and the consumer. Advertising does not set trends but it reflects them. It is up to the consumer to tell advertisers where they fail, and the process of change will remain slow until people on the receiving end take the business seriously and make their –feelings known.

1.Despite recent changes in attitudes, some advertisements still fail to        .

2.According to the writer, the commonest fault of present-day advertising is to         .

3.Emma Bennett suggests that advertisement ought to        .

4.We can learn from the passage that advertising industry should         .

Anger at the practice of demanding dowries，which can lead to violence against brides，has prompted a takeoff of “Angry Birds” called “Angry Brides” that aims to highlight the illegal practice still prevalent in many South Asian countries.

Dowries—such as jewelry，clothes，cars and money—are traditionally given by the bride’s family to the groom and his parents to ensure she is taken care of in her new home.

The custom was outlawed more than five decades ago.But it is still widely practiced，with the groom’s family demanding even more money after marriage，leading to mental and physical annoyance that can drive the woman to suicide.

“The Angry Brides game is our way of throwing a spotlight on the nuisance(陋习) of dowry.” said Ram Bhamidi，senior vice president and head of online marketing for Shaadi.com，a matrimonial(婚姻的) website with two million members.

According to a 2007 study，there is a dowry?related death every four hours in India；we condemn this and have consistently run campaigns on social media to help create awareness of the issue.

The name of the app，available on the group’s home page，is a spinoff from the globally popular “Angry Birds” game.Its home page shows a red?clad，eight?armed woman resembling a powerful female Hindu goddess.Underneath，there is a caption，“A woman will give you strength，care and all the love you need NOT dowry！”

To play the game，users have to try and hit three dodging grooms—a pilot，a builder and a doctor.There are a variety of weapons to choose from，including a frying pan，broomstick，tomato and loafer.

Each groom has a price tag，starting at 1.5 million rupees($29,165)．Every time the player hits a groom，his value decreases and money is added to the player’s Anti?Dowry Fund，which is saved posted on their Facebook page.

“Since we launched the game last week，more than 270,000 people have liked the app.Both men and women seem to be playing it，” said Bhamidi.

1.What caused “Angry Brides” to appear online?

A．Women’s rights being seriously abused.

B．Anger at the practice of demanding dowries.

C．The bride’s giving a great many dowries.

D．The popularity of “Angry Birds” online.

2. Which of the following is TRUE about “Dowries”？

A．The custom of giving dowries has been in practice for five decades.

B．Lack of abundant dowries may lead to the bride’s being in violence.

C．The illegal practice of dowries is still popular in many African countries.

D．More dowries the bride gives mean a high social status of her family.

3. The underlined word “spinoff” probably means “________”．

A．relation? B．connection

C．copy? D．fake

4. Which of the following is NOT TRUE about the game “Angry Bride”？

A．There are a variety of weapons to choose from.

B．Ram Bhamidi thinks highly of the game.

C．Men players don’t find the game enjoyable.

D．The game character looks like a Hindu goddess.

Studies show that sunshine, fresh air, and plenty of rest often _______ a person’s recovery from sickness．

    A．arrest       B．accelerate      C．betray      D．condemn

There were red faces at one of Britain’s biggest banks recently. They had accepted a telephone order to buy ￡100,000 worth of shares from a 15-year-old schoolboy (they thought he was 21). The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up. The bank lost ￡20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back, because, for one thing, the young boy does not have the money, for another, being under 18, he is not legally liable for his debts. If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell, he would have pocketed ￡20,000 profit. It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper. In another case, a boy of 14 found, in his grandmother’s house, a suitcase full of foreign banknotes. But they were now not used in their country of origin or anywhere else. This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his pockets filled with notes. The cashiers did not realize the country in question had reduced the value of its currency by 90%. They exchanged the notes at their face value at the current exchange rate. In three days, before he was found out, he took ￡200,000 from nine different banks. Amazingly, he had already spent more than half of this before the police caught up with him. Because he is also under 18 the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money, and several cashiers have lost their jobs.

Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising and showing initiative or condemn them for their dishonesty? Maybe they had managed for years with tiny amounts of pocket money that they got from tight-fisted parents. Maybe they had done Saturday jobs for peanuts. It is hardly surprising, given the expensive things that young people want to buy, such as fashionable running shoes and computer games, if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of making money than delivering newspapers. These youngsters saw the chance to make a lot of money and took it.

Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his six-year-old daughter￡300 a week pocket money. He then charged her for the food she ate a few coins for her piggy bank（存钱灌）“She will soon learn the value of money, ” he said. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better.” At the other extreme there are fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown-up children, While even the most hard-hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets, we all know of people in their twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents. Surely there comes a time when everyone has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life. But when is it?

1..

 Recently one of Britain’s biggest banks _____.

   A. bought a lot of shares for a customer and brought him a great loss

   B. lost money as its young customer had no money to pay his debts

   C. lost much money because the shares they bought fell in value

   D. received a telephone order to buy shares for a 21-year-old boy

2..

. The author’s attitude to the example of the two boys who cheated the banks is _____.

   A. objective     B. subjective       C. questioning      D. negative

3..

 The man paid his daughter ￡300 a week pocket money and then required her to pay for her living expenses because _____.

   A. he wanted her to know making money was not easy

   B. he wanted to save money for her future education

   C. he thought it useful for family members to bear life hardships together

   D. he wanted her to learn the value of money 

4..

It can be concluded from the passage that the author believes that _____.

   A. children should leave the parental nest as soon as possible

   B. grown-up children should live on their own

   C. children should be taught not to cheat others

   D. parents should give more pocket money to their children

The Rockford police chief and some city officials want to install （安装） video cameras in all 100 police cars．They think this will reduce the number of lawsuits （法律诉讼）．In the last five years, Rockford has paid out more than five million dollars to settle about 40 lawsuits．
The chief said, "If cameras had been in those cars．we wouldn't have had to pay one cent． We're always pulling over drunks or drug users who try to fight the police or shoot them．Then they always claim （声称） that the police start beating them first or start shooting at them first．"
The cost of installing cameras will be about $500 each．The city council （委员会） will vote on the proposal （提议） next Monday．Ten of the 13 council members said that they like the idea． One member said that it makes good sense．
The police officers enthusiastically support camera use．One officer said that too many people think the police often lie; cameras would show citizens that police tell the truth．"The money that we've been spending on lawsuits will be better spent on more cameras," said one officer．
Citizen opinions to the idea of police car cameras are mixed．One person, said that the police should have started doing this years ago when video cameras were invented．But an elderly man strongly objected．'These police are trying to stick their nose into everything," he said．He was going to attend the council meeting to condemn the proposal．He hoped that other citizens would join him.
【小题1】We can learn from what the chief said that with cameras on ___．

A．Council members,	B．Police officers．
C．Local people．	D．Drug users．