【推荐1】One of the biggest challenges faced by brick- and-mortar retailers（实体零售店） in recent years has been the" showrooming". Driven by the desire to get the best prices, many shoppers are now visiting stores to check on products that interest them, only to leave and then buy the items online. The new trend is forcing retailers to find out new ways to keep consumers from leaving their stores for cheaper prices online.

Smart phones have pushed showrooming into the front. Shoppers no longer have to wait until they get home to see if they can find a cheaper price for the products they're considering buying. With smart phones, consumers can now compare online prices with those of brick-and-mortar stores while still inside a retail store. If they can find what they're seeking with less money online, the majority will seek the first exit. A recent study showed that 45 percent of consumers shopping at brick-and-mortar stores walk out and make their purchase online for a discount of as little as 2. 5 percent.

This puts pressure on retailers to provide both an in-store experience worth staying and an online presence that can attract shoppers who are showrooming in other businesses.

To cut down on showrooming, many retailers are adopting new methods to keep shoppers in their stores. Among the steps they're taking are price-matching guarantees that allow shoppers to pay a discounted price if they find it cheaper online. This ensures that even a showrooming shopper can make the purchase in the store regardless of whether he finds the cheaper price online.

Another popular method of fighting against showrooming is to give shoppers the ability to buy something online and pick it up at the store. This reduces shipping costs and gets customers in the store, where they may be encouraged to make an additional purchase.

It is also important for businesses to take into consideration what makes shoppers purchase something in a store rather than online, and meet those needs. Research has found that more than 8 in 10 Americans consider the most important aspects--being able to take the goods home immediately and the ability to touch and feel them when they are deciding to purchase in a store rather than online.

1. According to the passage, what does a showrooming shopper tend to do?

A．Pay for everything online.

B．Purchase online for a lower price.

C．Rush to buy things in a store.

D．Have better bargaining skills.

2. What contributes to growing popularity of showrooming?

A．The advertisement by online retail giants.

B．The competition among big stores.

C．The wide use of smart phones.

D．The decline of the brick-and-mortar stores.

3. What does the underlined words "seek the first exit" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Search for lower prices.

B．Make a purchase at once.

C．Locate the nearest exit quickly.

D．Leave as soon as possible.

4. What do the last three paragraphs mainly talk about?

A．Ways of increasing sales at stores.

B．Ways of promoting purchase online.

C．Ways of satisfying customers needs.

D．Ways of advising shoppers to buy more.

【推荐2】The Chinese are more likely to shop online than consumers from any other country, according to the latest survey by the International Post Corporation, a Brussels-headquartered association on postal services.

In the second annual study of 24,000 respondents in 26 markets across North America, the Asia-Pacific and Europe, the IPC found that 36 percent of Chinese buy from digital sites at least once a week, a frequency far outstripping peer buyers.

China is also the most popular market for consumers around the world to shop from, accounting for 26 percent of most recent cross-border purchases, followed by the United States with 16 percent, Germany’s 15 percent and the United Kingdom’s 15 percent.

Purchases from China are more popular with younger people and women, while purchases from Germany receive warmer welcome by men and the elderly, the international study found.

Online marketplaces such as Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc and Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd were the most sought-after avenues for buyers from almost all countries, accounting for around two-thirds of all cross-border purchases, the study said.

The survey also indicated that clear information about delivery charges, free returns and free delivery over a particular value, were the most important drivers for cross-border online shoppers.

It found that consumers were more likely to pay a premium for tracking rather than for speed of delivery. They preferred to pay for delivery of a tracked item that took five to eight days for delivery than an untracked item that took three to four days.

About 70 percent of cross-border online shoppers were offered tracking and 88 percent used it, mostly in the interim stage, to check on delivery progress.

Almost three-quarters of shoppers used the post for their most recent cross-border purchases. Overall, 87 percent were satisfied with their delivery experience. Only 6 percent returned their cross-border purchase, mostly using the post for the return.

The survey also looked at consumer delivery experiences, finding that most cross-border purchases had free shipping.

1. Which of the following statements is Not true according to the survey?

A．Younger people and women from Germany are superior to men and the elderly in purchasing.

B．America is the second most popular market for worldwide consumers.

C．The Chinese consumers like shopping online best in the world.

D．The majority of cross-border purchases can enjoy free shipping.

2. The following items are the most important drivers for cross-border online shopping Except ________.

A．delivery charges	B．the speed of delivery
C．free returns	D．free delivery over a particular value

3. Which can be the most suitable title for the passage?

A．Global Online Shopping

B．China, the Most Popular Purchasing Market

C．Chinese Top World’s Online Shoppers

D．Cross-border Purchases

【推荐3】Healthy See, Healthy Do

Visit the grocery store on an empty stomach, and you will probably come home with a few things you did not plan to buy. But hunger is not the only cause of additional purchases. The location of store displays (摆放) also influences our shopping choices.    1    

The checkout area is a particular hotspot for junk food. Studies have found that the products most commonly found there are sugary and salty snacks.    2     A 2012 study in the Netherlands found that hospital workers were more likely to give up junk food for healthy snacks when the latter were more readily available on canteen shelves, for example. In 2014 Norwegian and Icelandic researchers also found that replacing unhealthy foods with healthy ones in the checkout area significantly increased last-minute sales of healthier foods.

    3     It has been working with more than 1,000 store owners to encourage them to order and promote nutritious foods. “We know that the stores are full of cues (暗示) meant to encourage consumption,” says Tamar Adjoian, a research scientist at the department, “Making healthy foods more convenient or appealing can lead to increased sales of those products.”

Adjoian and her colleagues wondered if such findings would apply to their city’s crowded urban checkout areas, so they selected three Bronx supermarkets for their own study.     4     Then they recorded purchases over six three-hour periods in each store for two weeks.

Of the more than 2,100 shoppers they observed, just 4 percent bought anything from the checkout area. Among those who did, however, customers in the healthy lines purchased nutritious foods more than twice as often as those in the standard lines.    5     The findings were reported in September in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

The potential influence may seem small, but Adjoian believes that changing more checkout lines would open customers’ eyes to nutritious, lower-calorie foods. Health department officials are now exploring ways to expand healthy options at checkout counters throughout New York City.

A．These foods give people more energy.

B．They bought unhealthy foods 40 percent less often.

C．And it may make or break some healthy eating habits.

D．The supermarkets began to offer nutritious, lower-calorie foods.

E．These findings caught the attention of New York City Department of Health.

F．They replaced candies and cookies with fruits and nuts near the checkout counter.

G．And a few studies have suggested that simply swapping in healthier options can change customer behavior.

【推荐2】Despite being used by 1.34 billion people each year, traveling on the Tube in London can actually be quite lonely. An unwritten rule encouraging silence, mixed with classic British reserve, means that even though you’re packed into an enclosed space with hundreds of other people, the morning commute (上下班的路程) can leave you feeling somewhat disconnected.

An American living in London, however, is trying to change this. “You get on the Tube here and it’s completely silent and it feels a bit strange,” says Jonathan Dunne, 42, who has started a worldwide dialogue after giving out badges (证章；徽章) with the words “Tube chat?” last month, encouraging commuters in London to get talking to one another.

“I handed out 500 badges during rush hours in a city of 8 million, expecting most of them to be thrown away, but after about 24 hours it completely snowballed,” he says.

Dunne and his “Tube chat” campaign have been covered by media across the world since then, seeing TV interviews in Sweden, Brail and the UK, as well as a lot of website, newspaper and magazine appearances. Although Dunne says he’s received mostly positive feedback, not everyone agrees with his opinion. Londoner Brian Wilson started a campaign of his own, handing out 500 badges with the words “Don’t even think about it” on them. “I can’t stand the idea of having to talk to strangers on the Tube on my way to work,” he told the BBC. Michael Robinson, 24, a student from London, agrees. “Being on the Tube is the only place and quietness some people get on their journeys to and from work. Personally, I don’t want to be troubled by people coming up and chatting to you,” he says.

While London does not appear to be social, not everywhere lacks a sense of community. In Melbourne, Australia, commuters have set up a private Facebook group used to warn one another when ticket inspectors (售票员) board the city’s trams (有轨电车). Most Western cities’ tram stops have no barriers, which makes it possible for some travelers to ride them without buying tickets. Though the group comes with a disclaimer (免费申明), its purpose is actually to warn fare paying members that tickets inspectors are on so that they can ready their smiles and most importantly, their tickets.

Does Dunne hope that some of this community spirit will be mirrored in the UK following his campaign? “People believed that I just walk up and talk to strangers, which I don’t, but it’s been a great way to meet people you would never have normally spoken to,” he says. “On Monday, the curator (馆长) of the London Transport Museum had me over for tea.” So if you ever end up using public transport in the West, why not say hello to the person next to you? Just make sure to check for a badge first.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To blame the loneliness on London Tube.

B．To show the selfishness of Londoners.

C．To express the upset of the Tube riders.

D．To introduce the background of the campaign.

2. Which of the following is TRUE about Dunne’s campaign?

A．It encourages people to avoid chatting on the Tube.

B．It doesn’t win everyone’s support in London.

C．It’s known only to a small number of Londoners.

D．It gives out badges with “Don’t even think about it.”

3. What can be inferred from the underlined sentences?

A．They prefer drinking tea to chatting on the Tube.

B．Dunne didn’t expected to meet the curator on the Tube.

C．Dunne never walks up and talks to strangers on the Tube.

D．It is possible to make friends with a stranger on the Tube.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards Dunne’s campaign?

A．Doubtful	B．Worried
C．Supportive	D．Amazed

【推荐1】Livestreaming (直播) through channels such as Amazon Live and QVC is an increasingly popular way to sell goods online. It usually lasts between 5 and 10 minutes, and someone promotes a product. Viewers can then readily buy it by clicking on a link.

We analyzed 99,451 sales cases on a livestream selling platform and matched them with actual sales cases. In terms of time, that is equal to over 2 million 30-second television advertisements.

To determine the emotional (情绪的) expression of the salesperson, we used two deep learning models: a face model and an emotion model. The face model discovers the presence or absence of a face in a frame (镜头) of a video stream. The emotion model then determines the probability that a face is exhibiting any of the six basic human emotions: happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, fear or disgust. For example, smiling signals a high probability of happiness, while an off-putting expression usually points toward anger.

We wanted to see the effect of emotions expressed at different times in the sales cases so we counted probabilities for each emotion for all 62 million frames in our database. We then combined these probabilities with other possible aspects that might drive sales—such as price and product characteristics—to judge the effect of emotion.

We found that, perhaps unsurprisingly, when salespeople show more negative emotions-such as anger and disgust—the volume of sales went down. But we also found that a similar thing happened when the salespeople show high levels of positive emotions, such as happiness or surprise.

A likely explanation, based on our research, is that smiling can be unpleasant because it lacks true feelings and can reduce trust in the seller. A seller’s happiness may be taken as a sign that the seller is gaining interests at the customer’s expense.

1. What can we know about the livestreaming in the first paragraph?

A．It damages the physical economy.

B．It helps to sell the products abroad.

C．It helps big companies promote all goods.

D．It is very convenient for the buyers to buy goods.

2. How did the researchers get the findings?

A．By analyzing previous data.	B．By referring to a theory.
C．By giving some examples.	D．By concluding different views

3. What does the underlined word “off-putting” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Surprising.

B．Delighting.

C．Displeasing.

D．Embarrassing.

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．Livestreamers Sell Products Successfully

B．Expressions Affect Selling Products Online

C．Emotions and Faces: What’s the Difference

D．Smiling Can Increase the Sales in Reality