【推荐1】WHY DO WE CELEBRATE FESTIVALS?

Festivals are celebrated all around the world. They have a wide range of origins, such as the seasons of the year, religions, famous figures, and important events. Every festival has its different customs and unique charms. However, no matter how different they may seem, all over the world, the spirit of sharing joy, gratitude, love, or peace is common in all festivals.

Of all the traditional festivals, the harvest festival can be found in almost every culture. This important agricultural festival takes place after all the crops have been gathered in. People celebrate to show that they are grateful for the year’s supply of food. In ancient Egypt, the harvest festival was celebrated during the springtime— the Egyptian harvest season. It featured a parade and a great feast with music, dancing, and sports. Today, in some European countries, people decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit, and get together to celebrate over a meal. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, families gather to admire the shining moon and enjoy delicious mooncakes.

Customs play a significant role in festivals, but sometimes they can change over time. With the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas, some traditions may fade away and others may be established. One example is the typical Chinese Spring Festival custom of lighting firecrackers to drive away the evil spirits and celebrate the new year. Nowadays, many big cities have given up this custom in order to avoid air pollution. Another example is Halloween, which slowly became an exciting festival for children, in spite of its religious origins.

Festivals are becoming more and more commercial, with businesses taking advantage of the celebrations. Online shopping websites and social media apps have made it much easier for the public to spend more on gifts for their loved ones. Although some believe festivals should not be commercialised, others believe the increase in spending is good for the economy and public happiness.

Festivals are an important part of society. They reflect people’s wishes, beliefs, faiths, and attitudes towards life. They are occasions that allow us to relax and enjoy life, and forget about our work for a little while. They help us understand where we came from, who we are, and what to appreciate. And if you study festivals carefully, you may be surprised to find that different cultures actually have a lot in common after all.

请从所给的六个选项中选择合适的答案

A.Though festivals have different origins B.As festivals play a significant role in our society C.it is held after all the crops have been gathered in D.Anyhow, festivals are an important part in our society E.some traditions of celebrating festivals may fade away F.with the development of online shopping and social media

1. ________, the spirit of sharing joy, gratitude, love, or peace is common in all festivals.
2. The harvest festival can be found in almost every culture and ________.
3. With the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas, ________.
4. Nowadays many festivals are becoming commercial ________.
5. ________ because they reflect people’s wishes and beliefs.

【推荐2】How to Trick or Treat

The jack-o-lanterns are carved,your costume（服装）is all picked out,and the sun is just starting to set on Halloween night.    1    With a few simple tips,you can have a safe and successful trick-or-treat experience.

Start trick-or-treat at around 6:00 or 6:30 pm.You’ll probably want to start trick-or-treat as soon as you get home from school,but be patient!Have a good dinner to fuel you up for the night,and wait until the sun starts to get a little lower before you head out.    2    

Wear or make a costume that you can move in easily.When you are deciding what to dress up as,choose a costume that doesn’t drag on the ground.Make sure your shoes are comfortable,too-you’ll be walking around in them all night!    3    Go with face paint instead!

Knock on the door or ring the doorbell.If no one answers your knock after a minute or so,you can try one more time.    4    It might feel a little disappointing,but you’ll save time and get more candy if you move on fast.

    5    After you’ve gotten your candy,look up and say“Thank you!Happy Halloween!”This shows that you’re polite and appreciative,and is especially important if you decide to come back next year.They might remember you and give you an extra piece!

A．Go in a group with two or more friends.

B．Skip it and go on to the next one instead.

C．Now it’s time for the best part:trick or treat!

D．Aiming to leave by 6:00 or 6:30 pm is a good goal.

E．Thank them and wish them a happy Halloween.

F．If no one answers after that,just go on to the next house.

G．Avoid wearing masks,as well,which can make it hard to see.

【推荐1】Tired of standing in line? Wait a bit longer, and you may never have to again. Everyone from Amazon to Silicon Valley startups is trying to lines in retail stores.

Amazon has opened 24 of its Amazon Go stores, which use cameras and artificial intelligence to see what you've taken off shelves and charge you as you walk out. Some startups are closely copying Amazon's approach to using AI-powered cameras fixed in ceilings. But others are trying an entirely different way to skip the checkout: smart shopping carts. These companies have added cameras and sensors to the carts, and are using AI to tell what you’ve placed in them. A built-in scale weighs items, in case you have to pay by the pound for an item. Customers pay by entering a credit card, or through an online payment system. When a customer exits the store, a green light on the shopping cart indicates that their order is complete, and they’re charged.

The startups behind the smart carts, including Caper and Veeve, say it’s much easier to add technology to the shopping cart than to an entire store. Amazom's Go stores rely on hundreds of cameras in the ceiling. The shelves also include sensors to tell when an item is removed. Ahmed Beshry, co-founder of Caper, believes the technology to run Go is too expensive to use in a large­ format grocery store. Neither Caper nor Veeve have said how much their smart shopping carts will cost, making it difficult to compare the different formats. Shariq Siddiqui, CEO of Veeve, said he’s finding increased interest from retailers given Amazon’s steady expansion of Go since opening the first store in Seattle in 2018. “We’re always happy when Amazon is doing something,” Siddiqui said. “They force retailers to get out of their old school thinking.”

Each time a business uses artificial intelligence and cameras, it raises questions about customer privacy and the impact on jobs. Beshry notes that the cameras in his shopping cart point down into the cart, so only a customer’s hand and part of their arm will be captured on camera.

1. What do we know about the smart shopping carts?

A．They are linked to the cameras fixed in the ceilings.

B．They can tell customers where to find what they want.

C．They flash the green light when the order is cancelled.

D．They are able to recognize purchases placed in them.

2. What does Beshry think of the technology applied in Amazon’s Go stores?

A．It is far more expensive than their shopping carts.

B．It may increase the cost of running a store greatly.

C．It has attracted many more retailers than before.

D．It is likely to help retailers to think differently.

3. What is the best title for the text?

A．The New Technology Promotes Retail Sales

B．AI-powered Cameras Are Used in Retail Stores

C．Smart Shopping Carts Will Let You Skip the Line

D．Artificial Intelligence Affects the Future Job Market

【推荐2】You need some bread and milk. But half an hour later, you leave the supermarket with a trolley (手推车) full of food. What games do supermarkets play to make us spend so much money?

The tricks start just when you go into the supermarkets and, of course, a small basket would be fine, but all they have are trolleys. And of course the problem with a trolley is that it looks sad and lonely with just one or two products inside. So we may fill it with something. In fact, supermarket trolleys are actually getting bigger so that we buy more.

Of course, many people shop in supermarkets because they think everything is cheaper than in other shops. So supermarkets offer very cheap prices on some things but then have higher prices for other products. One new trick is to put red stickers (标签) on products. Customers usually connect red stickers with lower prices so the red stickers are easy to be noticed, even when there is no reduction! Interestingly, this trick appears to work more with men than with women.

There is a story behind the position of everything in the supermarket. For example, customers often go only to buy milk. So they put it right at the back, forcing you to go past hundreds of shelves full of other products. The position of products on each shelf is also important. The most expensive products are usually at eye-level so you see these immediately. The exception is anything that children might like. These products are on lower shelves so that kids see them.

Apart from what you see and smell in a supermarket, what about what you listen to? In most supermarkets they have soft, slow music. It’s so relaxing that you slow down and spend more time (and money) in the store. You also move more slowly when the supermarket is busy. Experts suggest it’s better to shop when it’s quieter, on a Monday or a Tuesday for example. And be careful with queues at the checkouts. These are sometimes deliberate, to make you buy something from the checkout shelves while you wait.

So, next time you go into your local supermarket, remember these tricks and see if you can come with just the things you went for.

1. Supermarkets provide trolleys instead of small baskets because ________.

A．trolleys can help customers move quickly and save time

B．baskets can hold only one or two products inside

C．it is inconvenient for customers to use baskets

D．trolleys are bigger so that customers can buy more

2. What’s the main purpose of putting red stickers on some products?

A．To attract customers and mislead them into thinking those goods are cheaper.

B．To tell the men customers those goods are especially made for them.

C．To remind customers those products are bargain goods.

D．To make them look fresher and more beautiful.

3. Where are the most expensive products usually put in the supermarkets?

A．Right at the back of the supermarkets.

B．At the entrance to the supermarkets.

C．On lower shelves where kids can get them easily.

D．On eye-level shelves where customers can see them immediately.

4. We can learn from Para. 5 that supermarkets usually ________.

A．stop people lining up at the checkouts

B．make customers spend more money by playing relaxing music

C．have no customers on Mondays and Tuesdays

D．force customers to buy something from the checkout shelves

【推荐3】What is the first thing you notice when you walk into a shop? The products displayed at the entrance? Or the soft background music?

But have you ever noticed the smell? Unless it is bad, the answer is likely to be no. But while a shop’s scent may not be outstanding compared with sights and sounds, it is certainly there. And it is providing to be an increasing powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase.

A brand store has become famous for its distinctive scent which floats through the fairly dark hall and out to the entrance, via scent machines. A smell may be attractive but it may not just be used for freshening air. One sports goods company once reported that when it first introduced scent into its stores, customers’ intention to purchase increased by 80 percent.

When it comes to the best shopping streets in Pairs, scent is just as important to a brand’s success as the quality of its window displays and goods on sales. That is mainly because shopping is a very different experience to what it used to be.

Some years ago, the focus for brand name shopping was on a few people with sales assistants’ disproving attitude and don’t-touch-what-you-can’t-afford displays. Now the rise of electronic commerce has opened up famous brands to a wider audience. But while e-shops can use sights and sounds, only bricks-and-mortar stores (实体店) can offer a full experience from the minute customers step through the door to the moment they leave. Another brand store seeks to be much more than a shop, but rather a destination. And scent is just one way to achieve this.

Now a famous store uses complex man-made smell to make sure that the soft scent of baby powder floats through the kid department, and coconut scent in the swimsuit section. A department store has even opened a new lab, inviting customers on a journey into the store’s windows to smell books, pots and drawers, in search of their perfect scent.

1. Why are e-shops mentioned in the passage?

A．To introduce the rise of e-commerce.

B．To push stores to use sights and sounds.

C．To urge shop assistants to change their attitude.

D．To show the advantages of brick-and-mortar stores.

2. What does the underlined word “destination” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．A platform that exhibits goods.	B．A spot where travelers like to stay.
C．A place where customers love to go.	D．A target that a store expects to meet.

3. According to the passage, what is an increasingly powerful tool in the success of some brand stores?

A．Friendly assistants.	B．Unique scents.
C．Soft background music.	D．Attractive window display.

4. The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A．compare and evaluate	B．examine and assess
C．argue and discuss	D．inform and explain