Question

  As goods and services improved，people were persuaded to spend their money on changing from old to new,and found the change worth the expense. When an airline equipped itself with jets，for example，its costs (and therefore air fare) would go up，but the new planes meant such an improvement that the higher cost was justified. A new car (or wireless，washing machine， electric kettle) made life so much more comfortable than the old one that the high cost of re?placement was ftilly repaid. Manufacturers still cry their goods as persuasively as ever,but are the improvements really worth paying for? In many fields, things have now reached such a high standard of performance that further progress is very limited and very,very expensive. Airlines, for example, go to enormous expense in buying the latest prestige jets,in which vast research costs have been spent on relatively small improvements. If we abandon these vast costs, we might lose the chance of cutting minutes away from flying times;but wouldn't it be better to see airfares drop dramatically，as capital costs become relatively insignificant? Again，in the context of a 70 mph. Limit, with lines of cars traveling so close as to control each other's speeds, im?provements in performance are actually irrelevant;improvements in handling are unnecessary，as most production cars grip(抓牢) the road perfectly, and comfort has now reached a very high level. Small improvements here are unlikely to be worth the thousands that anybody replacing an ordinary family car every two years may have spent on them. Let us instead have cars―or wire?less，electric kettles，washing machines, television sets―which are made to last，and not to be replaced. Significant progress is obviously a good thing,but the insignificant progression from model-change to model-change is not.

(   ) 1. The author is obviously challenging the social norm(社会规范) that        .

   A.it is important to improve goods and services

   B.development of technology makes our life more comfortable

   C.it is reasonable that prices are going up all the time

   D.slightly improved new products are worth buying

(   ) 2. According to the author, passengers would be happier if they        .

   A.could fly in the latest model of good planes

   B.could get tickets at much lower prices

   C.see the airlines make vital changes in their services

   D.could spend less time flying in the air

(   ) 3. In the case of cars,the author advises that we        .

   A.cancel the speed limit

   B.further improve their performance

   C.change models every two years

   D.improve their durability(耐久性)

Answer 1

 1-3 DBD

A篇文章批评了一种社会现象：随着商品和服务的改进，商家劝说人们花钱不断更新产品以获得更高的享受。作者分析，当产品性能达到一定水平以后，再花钱获得款式等方面小的改变是没必要的。

1.D深层理解题。由第四句...but are the im?provements really worth paying for?及第五句可推出答案。

2.B逻辑推理题。由第七句but wouldn't it be better to see airfares drop dramatically…可推知答案。

3.D深层理解题。由倒数第二句中的which are made to last可知。