I needed to get some money so, after Christmas, I took a job in the clothes department at Graham's for the first fortnight of the January sale. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but it was an experience I'll never forget.

I could never understand why there were so many things in the sales; where did they all come from? Now I know the secret! Firstly, there is the special winter stock(货物) and the stock that people buy all the year round; some of these things are slightly reduced. Secondly, there are the summer clothes they couldn't sell last year; these are heavily reduced to clear them. Thirdly, there are cheap clothes bought in specially for the sales; these are put out at high prices ten days before the sale begins and then are reduced by 60% in the sale. Clever! Lastly, they buy in “seconds”(clothes not in perfect condition) for the sale and they are sold very cheaply.

When I arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there was already a queue around three sides of the building. This made me very nervous.

When the big moment arrived to open the doors, the security guards, looking less

 confident than usual, came up to them, keys in hand. The moment they had unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for protection as the noisy crowd charged in. I couldn't believe my eyes; this wasn't shopping, it was a battlefield! One poor lady couldn't keep her feet and was knocked over by people pushing from behind.

Clothes were flying in all directions as people searched for the sizes, colours and styles they wanted. Quarrels broke out. Mothers were using their small child

ren to crawl(爬行) through people's legs and get hold of things they couldn't get near themselves.

Within minutes I had half a dozen people pushing clothes under my nose, each wanting to be the first served. Where had the famous English queue gone? The whole

day continued like that, but I kept my temper(脾气)! I was taking money hand over fist and began to realise why, twice a year, ?Graham's? were happy to turn their expensive store into a battlefield like this.

In the sale fever, people were spending money like water without thinking whether they needed what they were buying. As long as it was a bargain it was OK.

You won't believe this but as soon as I got home I crashed out for four hours. Then I had dinner and went back to bed, fearing the sound of the alarm which would tell me to get ready for the second day of the sale.

1.What kind of clothes is likely to be sold 5% cheaper?  

Last summer's clothes.

B.Clothes not in perfect condition.

C.Clothes bought in specially for the sales.     

D.Clothes for winter. 

2.Which of the following statements is true?        

A.The customers gave up the queuing, for which the English are famous.        

B.The customers kept their temper while looking for clothes they wanted.        

C.Small children enjoyed crawling through people's legs.        

D.The security guards were fearless of the crowd. 

3.In the author's opinion, why were Graham's happy to make their expensive store into a “battlefield”?

A.There were too many clothes and they wanted to clear them in the sales.

B.They were eager to show that they were clever at doing business.        

C.They could take the chance to raise the prices of all their clothes.        

D.They wanted to make more money by having sales. 

4.The expression “_________crashed out” means ________.

A.chatted with her friendsB.slept soundlyC.broke downD.dined out 

5.  What would be the best title for the passage?

A.The Best Bargain                B.Hunting for a Job

C.Sale Fever                      D.A Pleasant Fortnight 

Several weeks ago, my friend advised us to sell some of our things which we will not use any more. I thought it was a good chance to  46  my 7-year-old son’s room and  47  some toys that were no longer suitable for him to play with. We  48  that all the money we got from selling the toys would be his money.

The night before the  49 , we loaded up the truck with toys and a little bike that was too  50  for him. In the yard he  51  the bike for the last time and then happily put it onto the truck. This little bike had at least two previous owners as far as we  52  . It wasn’t in the best  53  and was certainly not new, but the tires were  54  good.

We put a price of $10 on it, but it didn’t sell. So, after the sale was  55  , my friend put it on the sidewalk with a sign that  56  “FREE BIKE”. Within five minutes her doorbell rang. A little boy was   57  there. In poor English he asked whether the bike was  58  free. She said yes and that he could have it for  59  . He smiled, got on the bike and rode away.

Later that evening when I told my son how much money he had made at the sale, he was very  60  , shouting happily. He asked about a few of his things, wondering  61  they had been sold. When he asked about the bike, I told him about the little boy and that made him  62  . He was much happier than when I told him how much he had  63  . He was so happy to  64  that someone else would make good  65  of that little bike!

（B）
I needed to get some money so, after Christmas, I took a job in the clothes department at Graham’s for the first fortnight of the January sale. I can’t say that I enjoyed it, but it was an experience I’ll never forget.
I could never understand why there were so many things in the sales; where did they all come from? Now I know the secret! Firstly, there is the special winter stock (货物) and the stock that people buy all the year round; some of these things are slightly reduced. Secondly, there are the summer clothes they couldn’t sell last year; these are heavily reduced to clear them. Thirdly, there are cheap clothes bought in specially for the sales; these are put out at high prices ten days before the sale begins and then are reduced by 60% in the sale. Clever! Lastly, they buy in “seconds? (clothes not in perfect condition) for the sale and they are sold very cheaply.
When I arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there was already a queue around three sides of the building. This made me very nervous.
When the big moment arrived to open the doors, the security guards, looking less confident than usual, came up to them, keys in hand. The moment they had unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for protection as the noisy crowd charged in. I couldn’t believe my eyes; this wasn’t shopping, it was a battlefield! One poor lady couldn’t keep her feet and was knocked over by people pushing from behind.
Clothes were flying in all directions as people searched for the sizes, colours and styles they wanted. Quarrels broke out. Mothers were using their small children to crawl(爬行) through people’s legs and get hold of things they couldn’t get near themselves.
Within minutes I had half a dozen people pushing clothes under my nose, each wanting to be the first served. Where had the famous English Queue gone? The whole day continued like that, but I kept my temper(脾气)! I was taking money hand over fist and began to realize why, twice a year, Graham’s were happy to turn their expensive store into a battlefield like this.
In the sale fever, people were spending money like water without thinking whether they needed what they were buying. As long as it was a bargain it was OK.
You won’t believe this but as soon as I got home I crashed out for four hours. Then I had dinner and went back to bed, fearing the sound of the alarm which would tell me to get ready for the second day of the sale.
61. What kind of clothes is likely to be sold 5% cheaper?
A. Last summer’s clothes.     B. Clothes not in perfect condition.
C. Clothes bought in specially for the sales.   D. Clothes for winter.
62. Which of the following statements is true?
A. The customers gave up the queuing for which the English are famous.
B. The customers kept their temper while looking for clothes they wanted.
C. Small children enjoyed crawling through people’s legs.
D. The security guards were fearless of the crowd.
63. In the author’s opinion, why were Graham’s happy to make their expensive store into “Battlefield?
A. There were too many clothes and they wanted to clear them in the sales.
B. They were eager to show that they were clever at doing business.
C. They could take the chance to raise the prices of all their clothes.
D. They wanted to make more money by having sales.
64. The expression “crashed out” means ________.
A. chatted with her friends    B. slept soundly
C. broke down       D. dined out
65. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. The Best Bargain.     B. Hunting for a job.
C. Sale Fever.         D. A Pleasant Fortnight.

I needed to get some money so, after Christmas, I took a job in the clothes department at Graham's for the first fortnight of the January sale．I can't say that I enjoyed it, but it was an experience I'll never forget．
I could never understand why there were so many things in the sales, where did they all come from? Now I know the secret! Firstly, there is the special winter stock （货物） and the stock that people buy all the year round;  some of these things are slightly reduced．Secondly, there are the summer clothes they couldn't sell last year; these are heavily reduced to clear them．Thirdly, there are cheap clothes bought in specially for the sales; these are put out at high prices ten days before the sale begins and then are reduced by 60% in the sale．Clever! Lastly, they buy in “seconds”（clothes not in perfect condition） for the sale and they are sold very cheaply．
When I arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there was already a queue around three sides of the building．This made me very nervous．
When the big moment arrived to open the doors, the security guards looking less confident than usual, came up to them, keys in hand．The moment they had unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for protection as the noisy crowd charged in．I couldn't believe my eyes; this wasn't shopping, it was a battlefield! One poor lady couldn't keep her feet and was knocked over by people pushing from behind．
Clothes were flying in all directions as people searched for the sizes, colours and styles they wanted．Quarrels broke out．Mothers were using their small children to crawl through people's legs and get hold of things they couldn't get near themselves．
Within minutes I had half a dozen people pushing clothes under my nose; each wanting to be the first served．Where had the famous English queue gone? The whole day continued like that, but I kept my temper81 was taking money hand over fist and began to realize why twice a year, Graham's were happy to turn their expensive store into a battlefield like this．
In the sale fever; people were spending money like water without thinking whether they needed what they were buying．As long as it was a bargain it was OK．You won't believe this．But as soon as I got home I crashed out for four hours．Then I had dinner and went back to bed, fearing the sound of the alarm which would tell me to get ready for the second day of the sale.
【小题1】What kind of clothes is likely to be s0ld 5% cheaper?

Taste is such a subjective matter that we don’t usually conduct preference tests for food. The most you can say about anyone’s preference is that it’s one person’s opinion. But because the two big cola companies—Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed so aggressively, we’ve wondered how big a role taste preference actually plays in brand loyalty. We set up a taste test that challenged people who identified themselves as either Coca-Cola or Pepsi fans: Find your brand in a blind tasting.

We invited staff volunteers who had a strong liking for either Coca-Cola Classic (传统型) or Pepsi, Diet (低糖的) Coke, or Diet Pepsi. These were people who thought they’d have no trouble telling their brand from the other brand.

We eventually located 19 regular cola drinkers and 27 diet cola drinkers. Then we fed them four unidentified samples of cola one at a time, regular colas for the one group, diet versions for the other. We asked them to tell us whether each sample was Coke or Pepsi; then we analyzed the records statistically to compare the participants’ choices with what mere guess-work could have accomplished.

Getting all four samples right was a tough test, but not too tough, we thought, for people who believed they could recognize their brand. In the end, only 7 out of 19 regular cola drinkers correctly identified their brand of choice in all four trials. The diet-cola drinkers did a little worse----only 7 of 27 identified all four samples correctly.

While both groups did better than chance would predict, nearly half the participants in each group made the wrong choice two or more times. Two people got all four samples wrong. Overall, half the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first, so tiredness, or taste burnout, was not a factor. Our preference test results suggest that only a few Pepsi participants and Coke fans may really be able to tell their favorite brand by taste and price.

1.According to the passage the preference test was conducted in order to ________.

A. show that a person’s opinion about taste is mere guess-work

B. compare the ability of the participants in choosing their drinks

C. find out the role taste preference plays in a person’s drinking

D. reveal which cola is more to the liking of the drinkers

2. It is implied but not stated in the first paragraph that ________.

A. the competition between the two colas is very strong

B. blind tasting is necessary for identifying fans

C. the purpose of taste tests is to promote the sale of colas

D. the improvement of quality is the chief concern of the two cola companies

3.The word “burnout” (Line3, Para. 5) refers to the state of _________.

A. being seriously burnt in the skin

B. being badly damaged by fire

C. being unable to function because of excessive use

D. being unable to burn for lack of fuel

4.The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to ________.

A. emphasize that taste and price are closely related to each other

B. recommend that blind tasting be introduced in the quality control of colas

C. show that taste preference is highly subjective

D. argue that taste testing is an important marketing strategy