Social media, magazines and shop windows bombard people daily with things to buy, and British consumers are buying more clothes and shoes than ever before. In Britain, the average person spends more than £1,000 on new clothes a year, which is around four percent of their income.
People might not realize they are part of the disposable clothing problem because they donate their unwanted clothes to charities.
| A．Fast fashion' goes out of fashion as quickly as it came in and is often too poor quality to recycle; |
| B．Britain throws away 300,000 tons of clothing a year, most of which goes into landfill sites. |
| C．The British people are deeply shocked by the unexpected statistics. |
| D．On Buy Nothing Day people organize various types of protests and cut up their credit cards. |
| E．However, a 'buy nothing' trend is springing up in opposition to consumerism. |
| F．That might not sound like much. |
| G．But charity shops can't sell all those unwanted clothes. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Vanilla (香草) is one of the world’s most popular spices and an important ingredient in products ranging from chocolate to perfume. However, the wholesale price of vanilla has reached up to $ 600 per kilogram, when just a few years ago it was sold at tenth of that. What is happening?
Madagascar supplies more than 80% of the world’s natural vanilla. Today, vanilla represents 20% of Madagascan exports, worth around $600 million at current prices. However, it is a difficult crop to grow. A vine takes three to four years to mature. The flowers open for just one day a year, so pollination (授粉) is done completely by hand. Nine months later, the green beans must be hand-picked when perfectly ripe to get their content. Months of processing and gradual drying in the sun are then necessary to produce the spice. Six hundred hand- pollinated blossoms yield six kilos of green beans, which can turn into one kilo of dried beans.
The price of Madagascan vanilla was once set by the government. But such were the high prices that in the 1980s buyers turned their attention to the cheaper, poorer-quality version available elsewhere, in particular Indonesia. Madagascar’s government was finally forced to end its price-fixing policy. Food giants such as Nestle and Unilever increased their use of man- made vanilla, adding to the pressure. For 30 years, Madagascar’s vanilla farmers earned just a small amount of money, and many ended up leaving the business. But even with fewer producers, the price of natural vanilla stayed low.
It was not until public tastes started shifting to all things natural that farmers’ fortunes revived. From around 2011, some producers began to focus once more on natural vanilla. In 2015, Nestle announced plans to use only natural ingredients in five years and Hershey’s followed suit. Its demand and prices have therefore rocketed in part because natural supplies are insufficient.
1. How did the author illustrate his point in Paragraph 2?| A．By explaining studies. | B．By analyzing phenomena. |
| C．By listing figures. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Vanilla itself takes rather a long time to mature and bloom. |
| B．Fewer buyers chose Madagascan vanilla due to its high price. |
| C．The pollination and harvest of vanilla require too much labor. |
| D．Many vanilla farmers left the business to seek fortune in Indonesia. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．The cost of making vanilla spice. |
| B．The international vanilla business. |
| C．The truth behind the price of vanilla. |
| D．The process of planting natural vanilla. |
Hearing Specialists Develop New Ultra-Lightweight (超轻的) TV Listening Earbuds (耳塞): At just Half an Ounce, they Weigh 90% Less than Traditional TV Headphones!  | |
HAVING TROUBLE HEARING THE TV CLEARLY? Get ready to clarify TV dialogue like never before, with our new Ultra-Lightweight Wireless TV Listening Technology. Big and heavy TV headphones are now a thing of the past, thanks to Hearing Specialists who have developed new ultra-lightweight wireless TV earbuds, which enable the wearer to hear the speech and dialogue on any TV show with clarity. The unique speech clarification, audio works for those with any level of hearing loss, and has been proven to outperform even the most advanced digital hearing aids for TV clarity. TV VOICE PRO AUTOMATICALLY CLARIFIES TELEVISION DIALOGUE ♦ Revolutionary TV speech enhancement technology made simple ♦ Speech enhancement technique based upon clinical hearing assessments of over 1,000 people with varying levels of hearing loss and proven TV listening difficulty ♦ Connects to any TV in under 2 minutes FEATURES WITH THE TV VOICE PRO AIR SYSTEM ◊ Listen at your own volume without altering the TV audio for others in the room ◊ Uses state-oi-the-art Bluetooth technology for uninterrupted listening up to 35 feet from your TV. ◊ Simple volume control located on the earphones, with additional loud volume range to suit those with even severe hearing loss. ◊ Sit back, lie down, or move around. So comfortable to use, you can watch TV any way you like. | |
As a special offer, Readers Digest readers can use Gift Voucher (礼券) Code READERSDIGEST at the TV Voice Pro website checkout for $50 OFF the purchase price, and free shipping available until December 31, 2021. | Visit www.TvVoicePro.com to order online or over the phone on 415 277-2026. 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE |
1. TV VOICE PRO AIR is aimed at ________.
| A．TV designers | B．people with hearing difficulty |
| C．hearing specialists | D．wearers of digital hearing aids |
| A．enjoy TV even over 35 feet from his/her house |
| B．improve his/her hearing ability in daily life |
| C．listen to TV clearly at whatever volume |
| D．watch more TV programs |
| A．You can get a refund within 30 days if dissatisfied with it. |
| B．You need to pay $50 for its shipping if you buy it in 2022. |
| C．You can get a discount as long as you use Gift Voucher Code. |
| D．You need to place a special order for it if you have severe hearing loss. |
【推荐3】This year has witnessed many new products hitting the market, and we have rounded up the most inviting product launches that you may have missed.
Woodfire Outdoor Oven
One of the newest, the most exciting products is the Woodfire Outdoor Oven, which can make not only pizza in three minutes, but plenty of other delicious dishes. It can also roast, bake or even keep items warm if your backyard party guests are running late. Our reviewer loves the oven because it cooks food evenly without you even needing to turn it.
Hatch Rest Go
It is one of the most unique in a long time. It’s a portable device you can take with you to provide comforting sleep sounds for your baby, which features ten sounds like white noise, heartbeat and the sound of the ocean. It runs on a rechargeable battery that lasts all day.
Mate Bluetooth Tracker
Built for attaching things like keys and backpacks via a key ring, it connects to your phone through Bluetooth for easy tracking. You don’t necessarily have to be close to whatever you’ve lost to find it; even when you’re out of Bluetooth range, you can open the accompanying app to see where on a map your thing is.
Silent Electric Coffee Grinder(研磨机)
It is an electric coffee grinder, perfect for whoever loves delicious coffee without all the noise. This wonderful device helps cut down on noise, so let this machine g rind coffee beans without waking everyone up in the house.
1. Why does the critic recommend the oven?| A．It makes pizza quickly. | B．It meets various needs. |
| C．It helps free the hands. | D．It is convenient to carry. |
| A．Woodfire Outdoor Oven. | B．Hatch Rest Go. |
| C．Mate Bluetooth Tracker. | D．Silent Electric Coffee Grinder. |
| A．Its operation style. | B．Its connection way. |
| C．Its location function. | D．Its guidance service. |
【推荐1】Chinese buyers used to prize foreign brands, thinking that products made by American or European companies are of higher quality (质量) than Chinese ones. Increasingly, that’s no longer the case.
Chinese people born before 1985 generally think that foreign brands are better than Chinese ones, billionaire William Li told Business Insider during a recent interview on CCTV 9. But for those who were born after 1985, it is a different picture.
“When I first went to the United Kingdom in 1997, I thought that the difference between China and Europe was quite big,” Li said. “But for those born in the 1990s, when they visit Europe or the US, they do not think there is a big difference.”
The change in thinking among Chinese buyers is showing up in many markets in China where western companies used to control. A study by Credit Suisse published in March found that young Chinese buyers are increasingly showing a “home brand bias”.
More than 90% of young Chinese buyers would prefer to buy home appliance brands, according to the study. Meanwhile, home companies producing food, drinks, or personal care products increased their share of the market by 3.3% over the last ten years to nearly 70%.
“Chinese buyers, especially the younger ones, don’t just believe that foreign brands are better. Right now, Chinese buyers think China is good and ‘Made in China’ is not bad at all,” Charlie Chen, head of China buyer research at Credit Suisse, told South China Morning Post in March.
The Chinese smartphone market is controlled by home companies- Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi. Apple is the only foreign brand in the top five, but it has lost large ground to the home brands in recent years. Its market share is believed to be down to 37% from a 2015 high of 54%.
1. What is this passage mainly about?| A．The quality of “Made in China”. |
| B．The change in Chinese buyers’ thinking. |
| C．Chinese products in the eye of foreigners. |
| D．The difference between older and younger Chinese buyers. |
| A．More and more foreigners go to buy Chinese products. |
| B．Foreign products are more expensive than Chinese ones. |
| C．More and more Chinese buyers prefer Chinese products. |
| D．Older Chinese people don’t like foreign products any more. |
| A．Apple had a market share of 54% in 2015. |
| B．More than 90% of young Chinese buyers prefer home brands. |
| C．Chinese people born before 1985 think that foreign brands are better. |
| D．William Li found a big difference between China and Europe in 1997. |
| A．Credit Suisse. |
| B．CCTV 9. |
| C．South China Morning Post. |
| D．Business Insider. |
| A．Chinese products get more popular at home |
| B．Young Chinese are crazy for foreign brands |
| C．Made in China is welcomed all over the world |
| D．Apple has lost large ground to Huawei in China |
【推荐2】Let’s say you want to purchase a camera, and you’re comparing two different advertisements. In one, the pictures, colors, and instructions make the information easy to read. The other has an unclear style that takes more time for you to understand. If you decide to purchase the second camera with the more confusing advertisement, new research out of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows that, over time, you’ll likely be happier with your choice.
In a paper co-authored by Gaurav Jain, an assistant professor of marketing in the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer, researchers found that nonstop stimuli (刺激), or the difficulty for an individual to process a message, increases people’s attitudes toward that message after a time delay.
“This research has a real-life impact,” Jain said. “Most of the time, marketing communicators try to make their message clear. What we learned, however, is that there are certain times, especially when people need to make choices, when we should actually use nonstop stimuli so that whatever people are choosing, they will like it once time has passed.”
Using primary data collection designed by Jain of about 500 diverse individuals, researchers also found that consumers judge the time spent in the decision-making process wrongly. Rather than recognizing that the lengthy decision came from trying to understand the information, when looking back on the process, consumers instead believe they spent the time on making the decision. This leads the consumer to believe the decision they made was informed and worthy.
These findings are meaningful for marketing communications in many fields.
“When people are making decisions,” Jain said, “like choosing insurance products, retirement funds, or even when choosing an elected official, marketers and designers need to remember that if we can make an individual spend some time in that choosing process, it’s more likely people will stick with the option they chose over time.”
Jain says that when consumers’ attitudes about a product increase, the impact on post-purchase decisions like returns and reviews of the product will be more favorable to the brand.
1. How does the author introduce the topic?| A．By listing figures. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By using others’ words. | D．By showing people’s reviews. |
| A．Make their message short. |
| B．Make their message attractive. |
| C．Make their message easy to understand. |
| D．Make their message hard to understand. |
| A．Writing a paper. | B．Selling a product. |
| C．Choosing a camera. | D．Designing a new brand. |
| A．Time Delay: What is it |
| B．Suggestions to the Marketers |
| C．How to Make Consumers Happy |
| D．Difficult Decision, Satisfactory Choice |
【推荐3】For those of us who attempt to keep up with the fashion world to ensure our cupboards stay fresh, the real skeletons(骷髅) in our cupboards are those pieces we bought and only wore once or twice --- mostly from following each season’s new trends.
With fast fashion brands like Forever 21, H&M and Zara’s constant output of new trendy clothing at low prices, it’s easy to fall into the trap of buying clothes regardless of whether you really need them. But unnecessary purchasing, and the mass production of clothing, aren’t just hard on our wallets --- they are hard on the environment.
One of the first steps in getting unwanted clothes out of your cupboard is to sell or consign（寄送）them. But because popular resale shops like Buffalo Exchange and Crossroads don’t accept fast fashion brands because they don’t profit enough from them, people often turn to throwing their old clothing in the dustbins.
Many consumers don’t realize that clothing and textiles（纺织品）are recyclable or how to recycle them. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States generated 16.22 million tons of waste textiles in 2017 and recycled only 2.62 million tons. Ten and a half million tons of textiles were finally buried under the ground that year.
Vetements, a Parisian fashion brand worn by celebrities like Kanye West and Rihanna, aimed to bring awareness to the problem of fast fashion brands and clothing waste with a recent window display at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. The window contained a giant pile of clothes. The pile, which grew daily, was made up of old clothes donated by Saks employees and out-of-season items from the store.
On Aug.10, the clothing from the display was donated to RewearAble, a Long Island recycling program that collects old clothes and textiles, and prepares them for resale or repurposes the textiles.
1. What keeps customers coming back to fast fashion brands like Forever 21, H&M and Zara?| A．Good shopping environment. |
| B．Discounts and promotional activities. |
| C．Warm and thoughtful service of the salesmen. |
| D．Low prices and a continuous supply of new looks. |
| A．many consumers are aware of how to recycle textiles. |
| B．the United States are capable of producing tons of fashionable textiles. |
| C．fast fashion is hard on the environment. |
| D．it is an effective way to deal with waste textiles by burying them under the ground. |
| A．It can help the environment. |
| B．It does good to people’s health. |
| C．It can help change people’s lives. |
| D．It will take the lead in the latest fashion. |
| A．How to Stop Buying Unnecessary Clothes |
| B．Fast Fashion Brands Spread Around the World |
| C．The Advantages and Disadvantages of Fast Fashion |
| D．Fast Fashion Can Kill Your Wallet and the Environment |
