2 . Earlier this month, British supermarket chain Morrisons announced that it would be removing “use by” dates on most of its milk. The idea behind this is to discourage people from throwing milk away based on a date, rather than sniffing (闻) and looking at it to determine whether it’s still safe for consumption.

The fact is that significant amounts of food get wasted every year by people blindly following expiration dates, rather than their senses. What makes matters worse is that most dates don’t mean much, anyway. They’re assigned somewhat randomly by food manufacturers that are not held to any regulatory standards for what determines a safe date nor what expertise (专门知识) is required to make such a judgment call—so it makes sense that they’d be too cautious.

What I find amusing, however, is that many people seem to be horrified by this approaching absence of “use by” dates.

In fact, I never look at expiration dates when I shop. To me, it’s as if they don’t exist. To be clear, I am not an absent-minded shopper. I pay close attention to both packaging and price. Despite having a full cart at checkout, I could tell you the exact price of every item in it. Any time I see a clearance rack (清仓货架) at the store, that’s usually where I go first because it’s exactly the stuff I want to buy—the cheaper, the better! If there’s any heavily discounted product that I’d normally use, I will certainly take it. Often, I’ll mentally adjust my weekly menu plan on the spot, based on what I find.

The handful of times I have looked at expiration dates have been for short-lived items like prepackaged salad greens. What I’ve found, however, is that the dates mean little. Even a package that claims to be fresh can still have rotten yellow leaves at the bottom, which turns me off. Therefore, the expiration date means next to nothing, but my visual assessment, combined with my intention for when I plan to eat it, is far more useful.

Food is your friend. Food is not out to kill you!

1. Why will Morrisons remove “use by” dates on most of its milk?

A．To reduce food waste.	B．To improve customers’ senses.
C．To meet the regulatory standards.	D．To be cautious about food quality.

2. What do we know about the author’s shopping habit from the text?

A．She shows little interest in packaging.

B．She cares more about the price.

C．She always avoids buying discounted products.

D．She is often careless about choosing goods.

3. Why does the author give the example of “prepackaged salad greens”?

A．To claim her favorite food.

B．To introduce her cooking habit.

C．To stress the uselessness of expiration dates.

D．To show the poor packaging of some food.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．What Makes Us Waste More Food	B．Why We Need “Use By” Dates
C．How I Choose Food for Cooking	D．Why I Ignore Food Expiration Dates

4 . 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.

2. What should marketing communicators do according to Gaurav Jain?

A．Make their message short.

B．Make their message attractive.

C．Make their message easy to understand.

D．Make their message hard to understand.

3. In which aspect can this discovery be used for marketers?

A．Writing a paper.	B．Selling a product.
C．Choosing a camera.	D．Designing a new brand.

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

A．Time Delay: What is it

B．Suggestions to the Marketers

C．How to Make Consumers Happy

D．Difficult Decision, Satisfactory Choice