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 he 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.

1. 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

2. 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

3. “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 health

4. 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

    Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers (青少年). But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son: suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut.” Joanns noted.

    Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year- old daughter. “She used to cuddle up (蜷伏) with me on the sofa and talk, ” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is figuring out which time is which.”

    Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their minds. “In fact, parents are first on the list.” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years,” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”

    Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.

1. “The door to his room is always shut” suggests that the son _______.

A. is always busy with his studies

B. doesn’t want to be disturbed

C. keeps himself away from his parents

D. begins to dislike his parents

2. What troubles Tina and Mark most is that ______.

A. their daughter isn’t as lovely as before

B. they can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly

C. they don’t know what to say to their daughter

D. their daughter talks with them only when she needs help

3. Which of the following best explains “the wall of silence” in the last paragraph?

A. Teenagers talk a lot with their friends.

B. Teenagers do not want to understand their parents.

C. Teenagers do not talk much with their parents.

D. Teenagers talk little about their own lives.

4. What can be learned from the passage?

A. Parents are unhappy with their growing children.

B. Parents have suitable ways to talk with their teenagers.

C. Parents should be patient with their silent teenagers.

D. Parents should try to understand their teenagers.

Monarch butterflies (黑脉金斑蝶) are a common summer sight in the northern United States and Canada. These large orange and black insects (昆虫) brighten parks and gardens as they fly lightly among the flowers. What makes monarchs particularly interesting is that they migrate (迁飞) —all the way to California or Mexico and back. They are thought to be the only insect that does this.

    Every year in the late summer monarchs begin their journey to the south. Those heading for Mexico go first for the Louisiana-Mississippi area, and then fly across the Gulf of Mexico into Texas. Once in Mexico, they settle themselves in one of about fifteen places in a mountain forest filled with fir trees. Each place provides a winter home for millions of monarchs. The butterflies are so many that they often cover entire trees. When spring comes, they begin their long journey north.

    The question is often asked whether every butterfly makes the round-trip journey every year. And the answer is no. The average monarch lives about nine months. So one flying north might lay eggs in Louisiana and then die. The eggs of that generation may be found in Kentucky; the eggs of the next generation may end up in Wisconsin or Michigan. The last generation of the season, about the fourth, will make their way back to Mexico and restart the journey.

    Scientists learn about monarchs’ migration by catching and making marks on the insects. By re-catching a monarch with such a mark and noticing where it came from, the next scientist can get to know things like the butterfly’s age and its routing (路线).

1. One of the places where monarchs spend the winter is _____.

A. the Gulf of Mexico

B. an area in Mississippi

C. a forest in Mexico

D. a plain in Texas

2. The routing of monarchs’ migration can be learned _______.

A. by examining the marks made on them

B. by collecting their eggs in the mountains

C. by comparing their different ages

D. by counting the dead ones in the forests

3. What is the subject discussed in the passage?

A. Migration of monarchs.

B. Scientists’ interest in monarchs.

C. Winter home of monarchs.

D. Life and death of monarchs.

    Holiday Inns and McDonald’s both saw unmatched growth in the 1960s. Their growth opened another direct business operation—franchising (特许经营).

    These operations have the same general pattern. The franchisor, the parent company, first establishes a successful retail (零售) business. As it expands, it sees a profit potential in offering others the right to open similar business under its name. The parent company’s methods and means of identification with consumers are included in this right. The parent company supplies skill, and may build and rent stores to franchisees. For these advantages the franchisee pays the franchisor a considerable fee. However, some of the advantages and disadvantages are different.

    By extending a “proven” marketing method, a parent can profit in several ways. First, the franchisee’s purchase price gives the parent an immediate return on the plan. Then the sale of supplies to the franchisee provides a continuing source of profits. As new businesses are added and the company’s reputation spreads, the value of the franchise increasesお and sales of franchises become easier. The snowballing effect can be dramatic. Such growth, too, brings into play the economies of scale (规模经济). Regional or national advertising that might be financially impossible for a franchisor with 20 franchises could be profitable for one with 40.

    The parent, then, finds immediate gains from the opportunity to expand markets on the basis of reputation alone, without having to put up capital or take the risk of owning retail stores. Added to this advantage is a less obvious but material one. Skilled, responsible retail managers are rare. People who invest their capital in franchises, though, probably come closer to the ideal than do paid managers. In fact, the franchisee is an independent store operator working for the franchisor, but without an independent’s freedom to drop supplies at will. Of course the factory’s costs of selling supplies are less. But also certainly the franchisee buying goods that have had broad consumer acceptance will not casually change supplies, even when the contract permits. If the hamburger is not what the customer expected, they may not return.  Having paid for the goodwill, the franchisee won’t thoughtlessly destroy it.

    Franchising may give you the idea that as a franchisor, you need only relax in the rocking chair. Franchising, however, has problems to be solved.

1. Franchising refers to a business operation in which a successful parent company ______.

A. sells name-brand goods to a private investor

B. rents proven ideas and techniques for investment

C. sells the right, the guidance to a business under its name

D. takes no advertising responsibility for individual investors

2. The advantages of franchising to the parent company are all the following EXCEPT ______.

A. an immediate investment return

B. the ownership of additional retail stores

C. the profit from the sale of supplies

D. the possibility of profitable advertising

3. The passage mainly tells the reader _______.

A. the advantages and disadvantages of franchising

B. the benefits of franchising to the franchisor

C. the unmatched economic growth in the 1960’s

D. some regional and national business operation

4. What will the author probably discuss after the last paragraph?

A. More advantages of franchising.

B. Risks of investment besides franchising.

C. The standard of consumer acceptance.

D. Negative aspects related to franchising.

We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.

    Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed—no examination is perfect— but to have noお tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose of each teacher.

    Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them—a form of favoritism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from an ill-respected school can’tお show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well-respected school. This defense of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school’s reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the favored school.

    The opponents of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.

1. The word “favoritism” in Paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that _______.

A. bright children also need certificates to get satisfying jobs

B. children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs

C. poor children with certificates are favored in job markets

D. children attending ordinary schools achieve great success

2. What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?

A. Schools for bright children would lose their reputation.

B. There would be more opportunities and excellence.

C. Children from poor families would be able to change their schools.

D. Children’s job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation.

3. The opponents of the examination system will agree that ________.

A. jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection

B. computers should be selected to take over many jobs

C. special classes are necessary to keep the school standards

D. schools with academic subjects should be done away with

4. The passage mainly focuses on _______.

A. schools and certificates

B. examination and equality

C. opportunity and employment

D. standards and reputation

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1. In advertisement 2, the Traveler enables us to learn ______.

A. the road conditions from London to Oxford

B. all the garages along the chosen route

C. the time and speed of the journey in Britain

D. the directions from London to Paris

2. In advertisement 3, the Quizmaster _______.

A. contains nothing but 5 400 questions

B. can only answer challenging questions

C. can be purchased in many shops

D. can be used by people of all ages

3. All these advertisements are aimed at those ______.

A. who like to order goods at home

B. who are going to travel abroad

C. who do market researches

D. who are interested in intelligence tests

For almost two months Dominic York, a 23-year-old   hairdresser, wandered about hospitals at night, wearing a    white coat and pretending he was a doctor. Yesterday he proudly claimed in court that despite his complete lack of medical experience or qualifications, he had saved several people's lives. He had even been allowed to assist a surgeon during an emergency operation on a patient who was about to die on something she had swallowed.

“I watched one of those TV dramas about a hospital and suddenly I felt like playing one of the roles myself. So I put on a white jacket and a stethoscope (听诊器) and walked around one of the biggest hospitals in London. At first I just watched. Once you learn how doctors talk to patients, nurses and others doctors, it's easy to take people in,” he said.

One of the patients he treated was Laura Kennan. She had been knocked down by a car and fainted. When she came to in hospital, York was standing over her.

“He looked very professional. He told me his name was Doctor Simon. Then he gave me some sort of injection,” she said. And then he suddenly cleared off when a nurse asked who he was. She didn't think there was anything wrong. “I would never have realized he was a fake if a policewoman hadn’t showed me his photograph a week later. When the policewoman told me who he really was, I could hardly believe my ears.”

Judge Raymond Adams told York that he was “shocked and horrified” that he got away with his deceiving for so long, and then sentenced him to eighteen months in a special prison for criminals with mental disorders.

 “I can only hope that this will not lead to further problems. After all, you will have considerable opportunity to study the behavior of the psychiatrists (精神科医生) who will look after you while you are there. If you try to persuade people that you yourself are a psychiatrist after you are set free, I shall make sure that you are given a much longer sentence.” Judge Adams warned York.

1. York was proud of the fact that ______.

A. a surgeon let him watch an operation

B. he could perform some duties of a doctor

C. he had cheated doctors for so long

D. people thought he could become a real doctor

2. York learned how to behave like a doctor by ________.

A. watching other doctors works

B. talking to doctors and nurses

C. getting some training and experience

D. observing doctors while he was a patient

3. Why was Laura Kennan in hospital?

A. She had swallowed something and almost died.

B. She had to have an emergency operation.

C. She had been injured in a road accident.

D. She had lost consciousness while driving.

4. The judge’s remark implied that York would be more severely punished if he ______.

A. pretended to be a psychiatrist

B. tried to get away from prison

C. was proud of what he had done

D. studied the behavior of the psychiatrist

How Long Can People Live? She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121^st birthday.

When it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world's record holder. She lived to the ripe old age of 122. So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span (寿命)? If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150—or beyond?

Researchers don't entirely agree on the answers. “Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn't surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135,” says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas.

Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees. “People can live much longer than we think,” he says. “Experts used to say that humans couldn't live past 110. When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120. So why can't we go higher?”

The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it's all just guessing. “Anyone can make up a number,” says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan. “Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine.”

Won't new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries? Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120. Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most. So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller, “adding another 50 percent would get you to 120.”

So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers? That life span is flexible (有弹性的), but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington. “We can get flies to live 50 percent longer,” he says. “But a fly's never going to live 150 years.” Of course, if you became a new species (物种), one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story, he adds. Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve (进化) their way to longer life? “It's pretty cool to think about,” he says with a smile.

1. What does the story of Jeanne Calment prove to us?

A. People can live to 122.

B. Old people are creative.

C. Women are sporty at 85. D. Women live longer than men.

2. According to Steve Austad at the University of Texas,

A. the average human life span could be 110

B. scientists cannot find ways to slow aging

C. few people can expect to live to over 150

D. researchers are not sure how long people can live

3. Who would agree that a scientist will become famous if he makes the wildest guess at longevity?

A. Jerry Shay

B. Steve Austad.

C. Rich Miller.

D. George Martin.

4. What can we infer from the last three paragraphs?

A. Most of us could be good at sports even at 120.

B. The average human life span cannot be doubled.

C. Scientists believe mice are aging at a slower speed than before.

D. New techniques could be used to change flies into a new species.

Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?

To see whether babies know objects are solid, T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion (视觉影像) of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could reach out and touch, and then to show them the illusion. If they knew that objects are solid and they reached out for the illusion and found empty air, they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements. All the-16-to-24-week-old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.

Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land?

Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen.  When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to reappear. If the experimenter took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The researcher substituted(替换) a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week -old babies did not seem to notice the switch (更换). Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence”, while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object.

1. The passage is mainly about ________.

A. babies' sense of sight

B. effects of experiments on babies

C. babies' understanding of objects

D. different tests on babies' feelings

2. In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, an object _______.

A. still exists

B. keeps its shape

C. still stays solid

D. is beyond reach

3. What did Bower use in his experiments?

A. A chair.

B. A screen.

C. A film.

D. A box.

4. Which of the following statements is true?

A. The babies didn't have a sense of direction.

B. The older babies preferred toy trains to balls.

C. The younger babies liked looking for missing objects.

D. The babies couldn't tell a ball from its optical illusion.

It seems that some people go out of their way to get into trouble. That's more or less what happened the night that Nashville Police Officer Floyd Hyde was on duty. “I was on the way to a personal-injury accident in West Nashville. As I got onto Highway 40, blue lights and sirens (警笛) going, I fell in behind a gold Pontiac Firebird that suddenly seemed to take off quickly down the highway. The driver somehow panicked at the sight of me. He was going more than a hundred miles an hour and began passing cars on the shoulder. ”

But Hyde couldn't go after him. Taking care of injured people is always more important than worrying about speeders, so the officer had to stay on his way to the accident. But he did try to keep the Firebird in sight as he drove, hoping another nearby unit would be able to step in and stop the speeding car. As it turned out, keeping the Firebird in sight was not that difficult. Every turn the Pontiac made was the very turn the officer needed to get to the accident scene. Hyde followed the Pontiac all the way to his destination (目的地). At that point he found another unit had already arrived at the accident scene. His help wasn't needed. Now he was free to try to stop the driver of the Firebird, who by this time had developed something new to panic about.

“Just about that time,” Hyde says, “I saw fire coming out from under that car, with blue smoke and oil going everywhere. He'd blown his engine. Now he had to stop. ”“After I arrested him, I asked him why he was running. He told me he didn't have a driver's license (执照).” That accident cost the driver of the Firebird plenty—a thousand dollars for the new engine—not to mention the charges for driving without a license, attempting to run away, and dangerous driving.

1. The meaning of “panicked” in Paragraph 2 is related to

A. shame

B. hate

C. anger

D. fear

2. Why did the driver of the Firebird suddenly speed down the highway?

A. Because he was racing with another driver on the road.

B. Because he realized he had to hurry to the accident scene.

C. Because he thought the police officer wanted to stop him.

D.  Because he wanted to overtake other cars on the shoulder.

3. Which of the following statements is true?

A. Someone else was taking care of the injured person.

B. The Pontiac reached its destination at the accident scene.

C. Hyde knew where he was going by following the right car.

D. The policeman was running after a speeder on High- way 40.

4. The driver of the Firebird

A. took a wrong turn on the way

B. had some trouble with his car

C. was stopped by the police officer

D. paid for the expenses of the accident

5. What is probably the best title for the article?

A. Losing His Way?

B. Going My Way?

C. Fun All the Way?

D. Help on the Way?