"While protected areas are generally designed to be safe havens, unchecked human pressures car have a negative impact," says zoologist Femke Broekhuis, lead author of a new study by the University of Oxford that has raised questions about levels of tourism in protected areas.
The study focused on female cheetahs（非洲猎豹）in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Cheetahs have babies of one to six, few of which make it to adulthood. The study claims that the already low cubs（幼崽）survival rate is made even worse by tourist pressure. It found that one or no cub survived to adulthood in areas with high levels of tourism, while an average of two survived in areas with low levels.
The higher death rate is likely to be caused by poor food supplies for the cubs. "Cheetahs, especially those with cubs, are a major tourist attraction and commonly attract large numbers of vehicles," says Broekhuis. "High tourist numbers have been found to negatively impact cheetah hunts and even if a hunt is successful, the presence of tourists can result in a cheetah abandoning its kill."
While Broekhuis is eager to stress the positive role of conservation, she also admits the results are worrying. Cheetah numbers are already being squeezed. Predation（掠夺）from lions as well as habitat reduction means the big cats have experienced sharp population decline. In fact, their numbers are thought to have halved in Kenya in the past 40 years to around 7,000. They have also disappeared from 91 percent of their historic range.
Researchers suggest stricter limits on the number of cars allowed near the animals. Growth rates for cheetahs inside the protected areas need to be high if they are to make up for declines outside of them.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Cheetah numbers halved. |
| B．Conservation has a positive effect， |
| C．Tourism reduced cheetah numbers, |
| D．Tourists are not allowed to get close to cheetahs. |
| A．Because the birth rate is low, |
| B．Because hunman hunt them cruelly. |
| C．Because their habitat is reduced. |
| D．Because they have poor food supplies. |
| A．Disappointed | B．Worried. |
| C．Satisfied. | D．Shocked. |
| A．Set more preserves. | B．Stop hunting cheetahs. |
| C．Give cheetahs more food. | D．Limit cars near cheetahs. |
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【推荐1】Windbreaks are barriers formed by trees and other plants. Farmers plant these barriers around their fields, which help prevent the loss of soil and stop the wind from blowing soil away. They also keep the wind from damaging or destroying crops. Besides, extra trees and plants can be cut down and used or sold for wood.
Windbreaks can be highly valuable for protecting grain crops. For example, in parts of West Africa grain harvests were twenty percent higher in fields protected by windbreaks compared to fields without them.
But here is something interesting about windbreaks. They seem to work best when they allow some wind to pass through the barriers of trees or plants around a field. If not, then the movement of air close to the ground will lift the soil. Then the soil will be blown away. For this reason, a windbreak works best if it contains only 60 to 80 percent of the trees and plants that would be needed to make a solid line. An easy rule to remember is that windbreaks can protect areas up to 10 times the height of the tallest trees in the windbreak.
There should be at least two lines in each windbreak.One line should be large trees. The second line, right next to it, can be shorter trees or other plants with leaves. Locally grown trees and plants are considered the best choices for windbreaks. Trees reduce the damaging effects of wind and rain. Their roots help protect soil from being washed away. And trees can provide animals with shade from the sun.
1. The advantages of building a windbreak are as follows EXCEPT ________ ．| A．keeping the wind from destroying grain crops | B．increasing the production of grain harvests |
| C．providing humans with shade from the sun | D．reducing the damaging effects of wind and rain |
| A．the movement of air lifts the soil | B．windbreaks allow some wind to pass through |
| C．large trees are lined with short ones | D．windbreaks can stop the wind getting through |
| A．100 square feet | B．151 square feet | C．240 square feet | D．300 square feet |
| A．Extra trees and plants can be cut down for wood. |
| B．The environment is going from bad to worse. |
| C．Trees and plants from abroad are the best for windbreaks. |
| D．Windbreaks can contribute to agriculture harvests. |
【推荐2】Marks & Spencer (M&S) is planning to remove “best before” labels (标签) from 300 varieties of fruit and vegetables in its stores to cut food waste. The change will rely on customers using their judgment to determine whether goods are still fine to eat.
The measure, to be rolled out this week, will affect 85% of the supermarket's fresh produce offering. “Best before” labels differ from “use by” dates, with the former often merely a measure of aesthetes (美学), while the latter tending to indicate a safety risk if ignored. “Best before” labels were meant to help consumers, but instead were blamed (for creating mountains of waste from perfectly eatable food).
Tesco. the UK's largest supermarket chain, had already announced the end of best before dates on its own-brand fruit and vegetables as far back as 2018, while the German supermarket LidI also says it does not include best before information to reduce food waste. Now M&S is doing the same, with the aim to halve (减半) food waste from its products by 2030 compared with 2018. Achieving those targets would put it in line with the UK's commitment to meet the United Nations' goal of halving food waste by 2030 compared with 2007.
Reducing food waste is a vital part of dealing with carbon emissions associated with farming and food distribution (分配). WRAP, a food waste charity, estimates that as much 45% of global greenhouse gas emissions can only be dealt with by changing the way we make and consume products and food. It said that removing dates on fresh fruit and vegetables can save the equal of 7 million shopping baskets of food a year.
Catherine David, a director at WRAP, said, “We’re thrilled to see this move from M&S. which will reduce food waste and help solve the climate crisis. We urge more supermarkets to get ahead on food waste by cutting date labels from fresh produce, allowing people to use their own judgment.”
1. What does Marks &Spencer intend to do?| A．Maintain the safety of their products. |
| B．Sell its own-brand fruit and vegetables. |
| C．Ask customers to pick out eatable produce. |
| D．Remove “use by” labels from its fresh produce. |
| A．The problem of climate crisis can ho solved by reducing food waste. |
| B．Marks &Spencer has stopped using the “Best before” labels this week. |
| C．“Best before” labels are responsible for the huge waste of food sold in supermarkets. |
| D．Consumers should decide whether the food is safe to eat by checking “Best before” labels. |
| A．Meet government regulations. | B．Improve food safety standards. |
| C．Increase sales of fresh produce. | D．Get rid of date labels on fresh produce. |
| A．M&S's new move to reduce food waste. |
| B．Tesco follows M&S’s lead on food labels. |
| C．M&S calls for a fight against climate crisis. |
| D．Effective methods to protect the environment. |
【推荐3】Well, to pick up where we left off last time, I believe all of you know now how plastics developed. But a piece of sad news, every year about 8 million metric tons of plastic is thrown into our oceans. That's as much as a truckload of plastic waste every minute. As you may know, plastic waste chokes and hooks turtles and seabirds. Worse still, plastic pieces are often mistaken for food by marine (海洋的)animals. Tiny pieces of plastic are even blocking the stomachs of marine creatures and fish.
According to Plastic Oceans, packaging accounts for just over 40% of total plastic usage. Annually approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. More than 1 million bags are used every minute. 14% of all litter comes from beverage containers (plastic bottles). Sadly, a plastic bag has an average “working life” of 15 minutes. Over the last 10 years we have produced more plastic than during the whole of the last century. Plastic takes 500 years to break down. Once it enters our environment, it stays there.
This is why it is important to stop using plastic items that we use for about 15 minutes before we dispose of it. Hopefully, we can help put an end to plastic pollution by choosing not to use single use plastic items, such as plastic bags and straws. And this July, people around the world will take a pledge(请愿)to live a plastic free life. You can either give up the top four ——straws, bottles, bags and coffee cups or you can refuse as much single use plastic as you can every day. Another way to help reduce the problem is to take part in beach clean-ups. On the first Saturday of every month Clean C, an initiative that gets volunteers to clean up our beaches, hosts beach clean-ups on beaches across Cape Town. You can find details of upcoming events on their website.
1. What was probably talked about last time?| A．The history of plastics. | B．The creation of plastics. |
| C．When plastics was made. | D．How plastics was created. |
| A．Plastic packaging is still on the rise. |
| B．Plastic bottles are the most serious global problems. |
| C．Plastics can break down within centuries. |
| D．Single-used plastics contributes to ocean pollution. |
| A．take control of | B．go in for | C．get rid of | D．watch out for |
| A．To appeal to factories to stop making plastics. |
| B．To call on people to refuse plastic pollution. |
| C．To organize activities to clean up the beaches. |
| D．To gather volunteers to protect the marine animals. |
【推荐1】Leonora Buenviaje has been making women’s clothes out of waste materials, usually dresses. She says wearing clothes made from waste materials can be both economical and look good.
Buenviaje is 51-years-old and from Cainta in the Philippines. To make her dresses, she uses a foot-operated sewing machine (缝纫机) to join together the waste materials. These include recycled newspapers, plastic wrapping and rice sacks. She creates new and beautiful clothes women can wear. They are sometimes completed with a piece called a headdress that goes on top of the head.
“The bubble wraps (气泡包装) from delivery packages are nice looking and make for a good design, especially the black and white wraps,” she said. Bubble wrap is a plastic product that is used to protect goods that are being delivered. She said white bubble wraps were good for making wedding dresses. The dresses sell for between $30 to $50. They are used for everything from coming-of-age parties for a woman’s 18th birthday, called debuts (首秀), to weddings.
In Asia, there is plenty of waste material for Buenviaje to work with: about 80 percent of the world ocean plastic is estimated to come from Asian rivers. A 2021 report by Oxford University’s online publication, Our World in Data, found that the Philippines is responsible for one third of Asia’s ocean plastic pollution.
“It’s important to recycle or utilize waste materials so we can help our earths,” said Lalaine Alcalde, who buys clothes from Buenviaje. Buenviaje said the recycled materials used for each dress depend on what her buyers are looking for.
1. What can we learn about Buenviaje from paragraph 2?| A．She likes wearing beautiful clothes. | B．She is considerate and responsible. |
| C．She made headdress from newspapers. | D．She is creative and positive. |
| A．Modern weddings. | B．Protecting goods. |
| C．Special occasions. | D．Reducing pollution in Asia. |
| A．Make use of. | B．Get rid of. | C．Pick up. | D．Clear up. |
| A．Bubble Wraps: An Inspiration for Good Designs |
| B．Philippine Designer Makes Women’s Clothes Out of Waste |
| C．Ocean Plastic Pollution: A Threat to People’s Life |
| D．Philippine Designer Provides Recycled Clothes for Women |
【推荐2】Advertising is an audio or visual form of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, a service or an idea. Sponsors of advertising are often businessmen who wish to promote their products or services. Advertising is different from public relations since an advertiser usually pays for and has control over the message. It is different from personal selling since the message is non-personal, i.e. not directed to a particular individual.
Advertising is communicated through various mass media, including old media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as search results, blogs, websites or text messages. The actual presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement or “ad”．
Commercial ads often seek to increase consumption of products or services through “branding”, which associates a product name or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. Noncommercial advertisers who spend money in advertising items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Non-profit organizations may use free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement. Advertising may also be used to reassure employees or shareholders that the company is successful.
Modern advertising was created with the techniques, with tobacco advertising in the 1920s.The most significant example was the campaigns of Edward Bernays, considered the founder of modern“Madison Avenue” advertising.
In 2015, the world spent an estimate of $ 529.43 billion on advertising.Its projected distribution for 2017 is 40.4% on TV,33.3% on digital,9% on newspapers,6.9% on magazines,5.8% on outdoor activities and 4.3% on radio. Internationally , the largest “big four” advertising conglomerates are IPG, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, and WPP.
1. In what way does advertising differ from public relations?| A．Advertisers pay for and are in charge of the message. |
| B．Messages advertised are non-profit. |
| C．Advertising is communicated through various mass media. |
| D．Advertising is used to reassure employees or shareholders. |
| A．direct mail | B．Television | C．websites | D．newspapers |
| A．Profits. | B．Popularity. | C．Consumers. | D．Brands. |
| A．businessmen | B．companies | C．stores | D．organizers |
【推荐3】In need of some encouragement, kind words or smile? Try calling “Peptoc”, a free hotline created by students at West Side Elementary in Healdsburg, California, to offer advice and uplifting messages to those going through a difficult time.
Martin, together with other teachers at West Side Elementary, is behind the program. “There are depressing periods when we really needed to hear from the children — their extraordinary advice and their continual joy,” Martin told NPR.
They spoke to their students, aged 6 to 11, about the idea and asked them to think of how they’ve stayed positive throughout the pandemic. They also asked them to recall moments when they received helpful advice. “So all of the responses are really coming from the kids and their own life experiences, and the advice they’ve gleaned (搜集) over their short years on this planet,” Martin told The Guardian. The teachers and their students also hung posters and fliers (传单) throughout town spreading positive messages.
The hotline, launched in less than a week, went viral, receiving 500 calls per hour in just two days. It currently receives up to 9,000 calls per hour. After dialing, you’ll be prompted (提示) with a menu of options, such as words for encouragement and life advice, inspiring talks from kindergartners, kids’ laughing with delight. “The world is a better place with you in it”, “If you re frustrated, you can always go to your bedroom, punch (拳打) a pillow or cry on it and just go to scream outside” are such uplifting tips, voiced by excited, optimistic children.
According to Martin, the children’s creativity and resourcefulness is something that is amazing, because that level of joy and love and imagination is what’s going to warm and save us in the end.
Amy McWilliams, who has suffered from cancer, says she’s called the hotline several times for encouragement and has even shared it with fellow cancer patients. “It’s joy straight from the literal mouths of babies,” she told CNN. “We adults forget that spreading kindness and positive thinking can really be that simple.”
1. What do we know about “Peptoc”?| A．It offers service for a fee. | B．It is intended for students. |
| C．It can help us feel relieved. | D．It assists us to leave messages. |
| A．By offering the callers pillows to punch. | B．By collecting the callers’ suggestions. |
| C．By chatting with those calling for help. | D．By putting up posters across the state. |
| A．Critical. | B．Influential. |
| C．Meaningless. | D．Shameful. |
| A．Students launched a hotline to spread encouragement. |
| B．A teacher gave her students a special calling training. |
| C．A teacher told her students an inspiring story. |
| D．Students were taught tips on getting rid of frustration. |
【推荐1】In the Caucasus (高加索) region of Russia, nearly 50 out of every 10,0000 people live to celebrate their 100th birthday, and many don't stop at 100! By comparison, in America only 3 people in 100,000 reach 100. But these Russian old people aren't alone. The Pakistanis, who live high in the Himalaya Mountains, and the Ecuadorans (厄瓜多尔人) of the Andes Mountains seem to share the secret of long life, too.
These people remain healthy in body and spirit despite the passage of time. While many older persons in industrial societies become weak and ill in their 60s and 70s, some Caucasians aged 100 to 140, work in the fields beside their great-grandchildren Even the idea of aging is foreign to them. When asked “at what age does youth end?” most of these old people had no answer. Several replied, “Well, perhaps at age 80.”
What accounts for this ability to survive to such old age, and to survive so well? First of all, hard physical work is a way of life for all of these long-living people. They begin their long days of physical labor as children and never seem to stop. For example, Mr. Rustam Mamedov is 142 years of age. His wife is 116 years old. They have been married for 90 years. Mr. Mamedov has no intention of retiring from his life as a farmer. “Why? What else would I do?” he asks. All these people get healthful rewards from the environment in which they work. They all come from mountainous regions. They live and work at elevations of 1,660 to 1,000 meters above sea level. The air has less oxygen and is pollution-free. This reduced-oxygen environment makes the heart and blood vessel system stronger.
Another factor that may contribute to the good health of these people is their isolation. To a great extent, they are separated from the pressures and worries of industrial society. Inherited factors also play some role Most of the longest-living people had parents and grandparents who also reached very old ages. Good family genes may, therefore, be one factor in living longer.
1. The example of Mr. and Mrs. Mamedov implies that some Caucasians aged 100 to 140 ________.| A．become weak and hopeless. | B．benefit from physical work. |
| C．are too old to work in the fields. | D．are still working in the fields. |
| A．Retiring from their lives as farmers. | B．Having been married for 90 years. |
| C．Hard physical work. | D．Having no intentions. |
| A．the state of being separated. | B．pressure. |
| C．lack of physical labour. | D．worry. |
| A．Russian people live longer than Americans. |
| B．People in the city live longer than those in the country. |
| C．The reason why mountainous people live longer. |
| D．Pressures and worries contribute to long life. |
【推荐2】After nearly falling down onstage, the singer mentions he was diagnosed with a rare and weakening brain condition. Country music's famous singer Drake White was singing as usual on the night of Aug 16, taking the stage for an outdoor concert series in Roanoke. Then, 15 minutes into his performance, he suddenly fell down, his bandmate catching him before he collapsed to the ground. Rushed to the hospital, the "Livin’ the Dream" singer later apologized to fans in Facebook: "Sorry we had to cut it short… Thanks for your prayers and continued support.”
While the incident shocked many, Drake was finally ready to reveal a secret health battle he had faced for months: In January he was diagnosed with an AVM(动静脉畸形), an abnormal tangle of blood vessels in his brain that disturbs normal blood flow. Since then Drake has been undergoing a series of operations which have weakened his brains--the last just four days before his onstage collapse.
Though Drake suffered a lot from his disease, he had kept up his touring schedule, often appearing onstage just days after a treatment. "There was a show in April that I played for 48 hours after surgery, ” he says, "Emotionally it made me realize that I could still do this. Maybe I wasn't jumping around like I usually do, but I was doing it.”
As Drake and his wife Alex wait for further test results and news on his condition, they will be relying on their faith to see them through. "Drake and I are grateful to life and all he has done, "says Alex, speaking from her husband's bedside "He has worked miracles in the last 24 hours.”
1. How was Drake during the first 15 minutes at the concert?| A．He almost fell off the stage. | B．He performed as usual. |
| C．He was dancing to a song. | D．He stopped singing suddenly. |
| A．He kept touring around the world. | B．He called off all the performances. |
| C．He insisted on turning up onstage. | D．He waited for operations in hospital. |
| A．Drake has recovered entirely. | B．Alex is afraid and pessimistic. |
| C．Drake's condition worries them much. | D．They are optimistic and grateful to life. |
| A．A Country Star’s Health Crisis | B．Painful Life of a Country Star |
| C．A Singer’s Country Music Dream | D．Rise and Fall of Country Music |
【推荐3】The microplastics(微型塑料) problem in the oceans has made its way to sea turtles in a big way. A new study has found microplastics in the stomach of every single turtle they tested—a total of 102 sea turtles.
The researchers tested more than 100 sea turtles from all seven kinds and three different oceans, and they were looking for man-made things less than 5 mm long. The most things the team found were fibers, which most likely came from clothing and fishing equipment.
“The influence of these particles on turtles is unknown,” said Emily Duncan. “Their small size means they can pass through the stomach without causing a problem, as is frequently reported with larger plastic pieces.”
The researchers found more than 800 man-made particles in the turtles, but since they only tested part of the stomach, they believe the total number of particles could be 20 times higher. They don’t know how the turtles take in the particles, but they think they are from polluted seawater and polluted plants.
Professor Brendan Godley said that eating microplastics isn’t the biggest problem to sea turtles at the moment, but it is a clear sign that we need to do a better job watching global waste.
This turtle study shows that we need to reduce the amount of plastic waste, so we can keep clean and healthy oceans for future people.
1. The underlined part in paragraph 1 probably means “________”.| A．has gone into | B．has made great effect on |
| C．has been walking to | D．has tried to escape from |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By comparing sea life. |
| C．By studying different sea animals. | D．By testing turtles from different seas. |
| A．Larger plastic pieces cause trouble to sea turtles |
| B．Eating microplastics is the biggest danger to sea turtles |
| C．Scientists know clearly how sea turtles eat plastic pieces |
| D．The number of particles inside sea turtles is much higher |
| A．stop killing sea animals | B．find out more plastic waste |
| C．control pollution to oceans | D．carry out further researches |
【推荐1】Although it has been revealed in recent years that plants are capable of seeing, hearing and smelling, they are still usually thought of as silent. But now, for the first time, they have been recorded making ultrasonic cries when stressed, which researchers say could open up a new field of precision agriculture where farmers listen for water-starved crops.
Itzhak Khait and his colleagues at Tel Aviv University in Israel found that tomato and tobacco plants made cries at frequencies humans cannot hear when stressed by a lack of water or when their stem is cut.
Microphones placed 10 centimetres from the plants picked up sounds in the ultrasonic range of 20 to 100 kilohertz, which the team says insects and some mammals would be capable of hearing and responding to from as far as 5 metres away. A moth may decide against laying eggs on a plant that sounds water-stressed, the researchers suggest. Plants could even hear that other plants are short of water and react accordingly, they speculate.
On average, drought-stressed tomato plants made 35 sounds an hour, while tobacco plants made 11. When plant stems were cut, tomato plants made an average of 25 sounds in the following hour, and tobacco plants 15. Unstressed plants produced fewer than one sound per hour, on average.
It is even possible to distinguish between the sounds to know what the stress is. The researchers trained a machine-learning model to discriminate between the plants’ sounds and the wind, rain and other noises of the greenhouse, correctly identifying in most cases whether the stress was caused by dryness or a cut, based on the sound’s intensity and frequency. Water-hungry tobacco appears to make louder sounds than cut tobacco, for example.
Enabling farmers to listen for water-stressed plants could “open a new direction in the field of precision agriculture”, the researchers suggest. They add that such an ability will be increasingly important as climate change exposes more areas to drought.
“The suggestion that the sounds that drought-stressed plants make could be used in precision agriculture seems feasible if it is not too costly to set up the recording in a field situation,” says Anne Visscher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK.
She warns that the results can’t yet be broadened out to other stresses, such as salt or temperature, because these may not lead to sounds. In addition, there have been no experiments to show whether moths or any other animal can hear and respond to the sounds the plants make, so that idea remains speculative（推测的）for now, she says.
1. The experiment by researchers at Tel Aviv University shows that_______.| A．tobacco plants make louder sounds than tomato plants when hurt |
| B．water-hungry tomato plants are more sensible than tobacco plants |
| C．unstressed plants produced sounds of laughter when being watered |
| D．plants respond to the sounds the plants make and protect themselves |
| A．Appreciative | B．Doubtful |
| C．Cautious | D．Optimistic |
| A．greenhouse effects can be avoided |
| B．soil condition can be adjusted in time. |
| C．plant condition can be diagnosed faster. |
| D．insects can be detected and removed easily. |
| A．Plants Get Stressed Just Like Us |
| B．Plants Scream in Presence of Stress |
| C．Sounds of Plants Detected Far Away |
| D．Sounds of Plants Break Farmers’ Hearts |
【推荐2】Can you think of a day without music? We can hear music everywhere: in the streets and at home, over the radio and on TV, in the shops and in the parks. People all over the world are fond of music. They listen to music, they dance to music, and they learn to play musical instruments.
Music isn’t’ only combination of pleasant sounds. It is an art which reflects life. There are lot of different kinds of music. Some of them appeared long ago, and some are modern. Folk music appeared long ago, but it is still alive. Folk songs are very pleasant to listen to. Classical music is often associated with the music of the past. Rap is a modern musical style where the singer speaks or shouts the words in time to music with a steady beat.
Great Britain has produced more popular music stars than any other country. British groups often set new trends in music. New styles, groups and singers continue to appear. Many of the new bands have been able to use changes in technology to develop their music such as computerised drum machines, synthesisers and other electronic instruments.
Tastes differ. So people’s musical interests range from pop and rock music to classical music and opera. My favourite style of music is pop music, because it is full of energy. When I listen to pop music it makes me remember happy times and forget the problems of everyday life. I also enjoy listening to classical music. The music I hate is heavy metal, I find it noisy. When I listen to this style of music it presents to my mind pictures of dark days. My mother and father agree with my tastes in music. Though they prefer to listen to classical, they think that modern music is not too bad.
Music appeals to our hearts. It comforts our souls and enriches our minds. Music is beauty in sounds; it is our magic source of inspiration.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．Several types of music. | B．Different musical tastes. |
| C．The development of musical styles. | D．The importance of music in our lives. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By analysing reasons. |
| C．By describing courses. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．It is played with electronic instruments. | B．It is characterised by a steady beat. |
| C．It is loud and strong. | D．It sounds energetic. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Dissatisfied. | D．Unconcerned. |
【推荐3】Social media promotion (促销) has become so important nowadays that businesses are offering freebies to anyone with a certain following on popular social networks. Case in point, this Milan-based restaurant that offers free sushi to people with a bit of influence on Instagram.
Matteo and Tomaso Pittarello, the owners of the “This Is Not a Sushibar” restaurant in Milan, are well aware of the potential (潜力) of social networks like Instagram, and they’re more than willing to give away some sushi, if it means getting some exposure (曝光). At their restaurant, people have the classic payment choices-cash or card-plus a novel one, paying in Instagram followers. ① The idea is pretty simple: the more followers you have, the more you can eat without having to spend a cent.
It makes sense that Instagram stars with hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers get the most free food, but even a few 1,000 followers on the photo-sharing platform will get you a free bit to it Customers who have between 1,000 and 5,000 followers will get a free sushi plate. 5,000 to 10,000 followers get you two free plates, 10,000 to 50,000, four free dishes, 50,000 to 100,000 followers, eight dishes, and people with 100,000 Instagram followers get a free full lunch or dinner.
② Just having a lot of followers isn’t enough, customers also have to publish a post on their Instagram account and tag @thisisnotasishibar and include the hashtag #thisisnotasushibar. will only receive their free sushi after showing the publish post at the counter.
③ “Today, advertising (广告) on social networks and, in particular, Instagram, is what works best,” the Pittarello brothers said, adding that the aim of their Instagram payment method is twofold--by involving Instagrammers both big and small, the business will get bigger exposure, and it will also make customers feel engaged in the project.
“This Is Not a Sushibar” introduced the payment alternative (选择), but we’ll have to wait and see how long it will exist for. ④ . Without a set limit of daily Instagram payments, I think the restaurant may start recording losses pretty soon. After all, 1,000 followers on Instagram are not that hard to get, and people will rarely say no to a free lunch.
1. The underlined word “novel” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ________.| A．free | B．new |
| C．fun | D．easy |
| A．Customers prefer to pay by Instagram rather than in cash or by bank card. |
| B．Thousands of Instagram users have enjoyed the restaurant’s free sushi. |
| C．The Pittarello brothers don’t want to advertise through traditional media. |
| D．Asking customers to publish a post benefits both businesses and customers. |
| A．① | B．② |
| C．③ | D．④ |
| A．Concerned. | B．Optimistic. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Objective. |
