【推荐1】Amid weak job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades and industry professionals expect that trend to continue. Consumers saved 6.4 percent of their after-tax income in June. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years. In June, consumer spending and personal incomes were essentially flat compared with May, suggesting that the American economy, as dependent as it is on shoppers opening their wallets and purses, isn’t likely to rebound anytime soon.

On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.

If consumers end up sticking with their newfound spending habits, some tactics (策略) that retailers and marketers began using during the recession could become lasting business strategies. Among those strategies are offering goods that makes being at home more entertaining and trying to make consumers feel special by giving them access to exclusive events and more personal customer service.

While the current round of stinginess may simply be a response to the economic downturn, some analysts say consumers may also be permanently adjusting their spending based on what they’ve discovered about what truly makes them happy or fulfilled.

“This actually is a topic that hasn’t been researched very much until recently,” says Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of British Columbia, who is at the forefront of research on consumption and happiness. There’s massive literature on income and happiness. It’s amazing how little there is on how to spend your money.

Studies over the last few decades have shown that money, up to a certain point, makes people happier because it lets them meet basic needs. The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.

So just where does happiness reside for consumers? Scholars and researchers haven’t determined whether Armani will put a bigger smile on your face than Dolce & Gabbana. But they have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.

One major finding is that spending money for an experience — concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco — produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.

“‘It’s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch’ is basically the idea,” says Professor Dunn.

Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles.

1. What’s the dark side of American consumers’ saving more and spending less?

A．The job and housing markets will become even weaker.

B．There is little hope that the American economy will recover soon.

C．More and more retailers and marketers will have to go bankrupt.

D．It’s possible that the American economy will rebound sooner.

2. What will happen if customers keep their spending habits formed in the economic downturn?

A．They will get goods and services much cheaper.

B．It’s likely that they spend more time indoors.

C．Retailers will change their business strategies.

D．They will enjoy better services and experiences.

3. What surprises Elizabeth W. Dunn according to the passage?

A．There is little about how to spend money to make people happy.

B．Consumers unconsciously adjust their spending habits to be happy.

C．People started researches on consumption-happiness relationship so early.

D．Happiness is proved to have nothing to do with consumption.

4. Scholars such as Prof. Dunn and Prof. DeLeire agree that_______.

A．richer people feel happier and more satisfied

B．most consumers prefer leading brands like Armani

C．spending on vacations brings long-term happiness

D．people should curb their spending on material thing

【推荐2】BE A GOOD TOURIST

Tourism can be both good and bad. Yes, it brings in money for the local economy and creates lots of jobs for locals.    1    

    2     Tourists have used paint, rocks, or oven keys to write on the Luxor Temple in Egypt, the Colosseum in Rome, Stonehenge in the UK, memorial stones at the bottom of Qomolangma, and many, many other places. Thousands of tourists sites are being destroyed by tourists who “love them to death”.    3     If you want to leave a mark on the world, do it by changing someone’s life with kindness and love. Pass kindness along to future generations, not destruction.

Another big problem in some places has been tourists disturbing the local people and life. Some tourists wander around and take pictures of local people without asking for their permission. For example, Chiang Mai University in Thailand and Yonsei University in South Korea have great numbers of tourists visiting their campuses and walking through their libraries and other public areas, taking pictures of students and disturbing their studies. I have three words for tourists like this: please be considerate.    4    

The number of problems from tourists is endless: walking in large groups without considering others who need to walk by, crossing roads without observing local traffic laws, and many more. The only way to solve the issue of the terrible tourist is to make sure that you are not one!    5     Remember, whenever you step outside your country’s borders, you are representing your country to the rest of the world.

A．Just think from other aspects.

B．Have fun in a way that does not disturb others.

C．But it may also bring some problems.

D．Be the best, kindest, most polite tourist possible.

E．I have three words for people like this: please stop it.

F．One growing problem is tourists who want to prove that they have visited someplace.

G．Pass kindness along to future generations.

【推荐3】Blue Planet Ⅱ’s latest episode (情节) is about how plastic is having a terrible effect on the ocean and slowly poisoning our sea creatures. Researchers have also found that sea creatures living in the deepest place on Earth, Mariana Trench, have plastic in their stomachs. Indeed, oceans are drowning in plastic.

Though it seems that the world couldn’t possibly function without plastic, plastic is a very recent invention. The first plastic bags were introduced in the 1950s, the same decade (十年) that plastic packaging began gaining popularity in the United States. This growth has happened so fast that science is still catching up with the change. Plastic pollution research, for example, is still a very early science.

We put all the plastic into the environment, but we still don’t really know what the outcomes are going to be. What we do know, though, is disturbing. Ocean plastic is expected to kill millions of sea animals every year. Hundreds of species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. One in three leatherback turtles, which often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, have been found with plastic in their stomach. Ninety percent of seabirds are now eating plastic regularly. By 2050, that figure is expected to rise to 100 percent.

And it’s not just wildlife that is threatened by the plastic in our seas. Humans are consuming plastic through the seafood we eat. I could understand why some people see ocean plastic as a disaster, worth mentioning in the same breath as climate change. But ocean plastic is not as complicated (复杂的) as climate change. There are no ocean waste deniers (否认者), at least so far. To do something about it, we don’t have to remake our planet energy system.

This is not a problem where we don’t know what the solution is. We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to deal with it. We know how to recycle. We can all start by thinking twice before we use single-use plastic products. Things that may seem ordinary, like using a reusable bottle or a reusable bag — when taken collectively, these choices really do make a difference.

1. Why is plastic pollution research still a very early science?

A．The plastic pollution research is too difficult.

B．Plastic has produced less pollution than coal.

C．Plastic has gained popularity too fast for science to catch up.

D．The world couldn’t possibly function without plastic.

2. How did the author support his opinion in Paragraph 3?

A．By presenting reliable data.

B．By citing quotes from leading experts.

C．By making a comparison and contrast.

D．By listing examples from his own experiences.

3. What does the author intend to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．We reap what we sow.

B．The shortest answer is doing.

C．All things are difficult before they are easy.

D．Actions speak louder than words.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．The oceans become choked with plastic.

B．Ocean plastic is a global problem.

C．Blue Planet Ⅱ has left viewers heartbroken.

D．Plastic gains in popularity all over the world.