1 . In an increasingly globalized business world, companies demand Human Resources (HR) leaders who can overcome cultural barriers to achieve key goals. This year, students in the Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations (MHRIR) Program will get hands-on experience leading multicultural teams as they work together with peers (同辈) from all corners of the globe.

“Our students get firsthand experience on global teams, which helps them understand the challenges and the opportunities they will face in the business world,” said MHRIR Program Director Stacy Hove.

Elishka Correa joined the program to explore how HR leaders can help businesses grow quickly in the global marketplace. “Companies appreciate diversity — not only in terms of products and markets, but the people they hire — so that they can expand their business and reach customers in different parts of the world,” she said. “When I go into an organization, I’m not only going to work with Indians or Americans, it’s going to be a mix of people. That trend is beginning to grow, so I think it’s very important to appreciate people from different backgrounds.”

As they progress through the program, the students are discovering unexpected challenges as they work on projects in diverse teams. Each contributor brings a different approach to solving problems, communicating, and challenging one another’s opinions.

Devin Roll, a student from North Dakota, appreciating the unique views his classmates share, said, “The benefits of having cross-cultural experiences go far beyond the classroom. Diverse teams and companies outperform their competitors, and HR leaders act as a vital partner in acquiring and maintaining diversity in the workforce.”

Many of the international students in the program said they would return to their home countries after graduation and bring along connections to their classmates, who would build careers (职业) in countries around the world. They hope to stay in touch, and share their expert knowledge.

1. What is the aim of the program?

A．To help students to set clear goals.

B．To provide jobs for foreign students.

C．To teach students to run their own business.

D．To train students to build multicultural teams.

2. Which statement about cultural diversity does Elishka Correa probably agree with?

A．It prevents social advance.	B．It makes it easy to hire people.
C．It can help business growth.	D．It can put an end to the conflict.

3. What does Devin Roll think of the effect of the program?

A．It is predictable.

B．It is short-lived.

C．It is unidentifiable.

D．It is far-reaching.

4. What do many students expect to do after graduation according to the text?

A．Work for the university.	B．Keep closely connected.
C．Stay in their home countries.	D．Reform teaching methods.

3 . Imagine this: You walk into a place and the atmosphere is light and airy. The subtle scent of coffee beans fills the air and everyone that approaches you is friendly and welcoming. You’re comfortable and feel like you belong. As in most cities, it’s a place where people meet, discuss ideas, and conduct business. After taking a few sips of that Caramel Macchiato, you immediately get that feeling of energy and optimism. Perhaps it’s partly due to the caffeine and sugar rush, or maybe it’s that the presence of a Starbucks typically indicates a city on the rise.

In December of 2017, Trenton’s first Starbuck’s café was opened to the public at 102 Warren Street. Walking in, people living in Trenton scream at everything about this café, from the diverse but local stuff to the Trenton themed décor (室内装饰) and art. To make things better, this Starbucks also serves as an “opportunity café” which essentially means the young people in our communities are recruited and offered job training and employment. This program not only uplifts our youth, but also increases the amount of minority business in the city.

In the interviews with customers, a trend in responses arose. To many, the Starbucks was a “favorite place to stop in after work” and provided “a very relaxing environment.” The staff were often highly praised, noted as being friendly, helpful, and working in harmony. The interior décor of the café struck a lot of people’s attention, given the familiarity of the atmosphere. Painted on the walls, all around the store, are murals (壁画) with bright, colorful, graffiti-like designs very sui generis in Trenton, showcasing local monuments like the State House and the famous “Trenton Makes” bridge.

This new Starbucks brings a sense of modernity to Downtown Trenton and reminds us that our city is always developing. Open from 6 a. m. until 7 p.m. every day, the building is hardly ever empty. This space is made for everyone in Trenton, even the non-coffee lovers.

1. What is the major function of Paragraph 1 in the passage?

A．To present an introduction to the topic.

B．To set a background for the main theme.

C．To summarize the main idea of the passage.

D．To describe a common phenomenon for the readers.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．People are amazed at the number of job opportunities provided by the Starbucks.

B．“Opportunity café” program helps achieve booming economy and bring spiritual benefits.

C．Most respondents regarded the Starbucks as a harmonious and entertaining workplace.

D．Numerous people are attracted to stop in after work by the murals with original designs.

3. What does the underlined word “sui generis” mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Substantial.

B．Delicate.

C．Inspirational.

D．Unique.

4. What could be the best title for the passage?

A．Starbucks Is Designed for Everyone

B．Starbucks Gains Popularity in Trenton

C．Starbucks Sets an Atmosphere of Progress

D．Starbucks Creates More Job Opportunities

4 . Dear boss — You have always tried to attract young and youngish consumers, and our consultants have always come up with new ways to label them. I don’t need to remind you that “millennials” and, increasingly, “Gen Z” are our most important markets. The trouble is that coming up with rules to define a swathe of humanity is more art than science. It is liable to apply stereotypes. Luckily you have me, and I’m here to tell you that much of what is written about marketing to today’s most prized consumers is a myth.

Social media has just changed the ways people discover brands from viewing television, newspapers and magazines to surfing Instagram and TikTok; it has weakened the power of marketing as a whole. Such is the ease with which digital natives can fact-check our tricky marketing claims that it is getting harder to build brand loyalty. Online, communication is cheap and prices are readily Googled.

There is a similar temptation to think that physical shops no longer matter. Young consumers love their Amazon deliveries. But what works best is the seamless combination of the digital and physical worlds. Remember those online-only influencer-backed beauty brands like Glossier, which took the world by storm during the pandemic? It turns out that they struggle to get repeat business and have had to pair up with physical retailers. If we want to succeed, we need to offer the best of both physical and virtual worlds.

Gen Z will consider a brand’s sustainability and social impact, but considering something isn’t surrendering to it. They are never brand-slaved. It is chiefly youngsters who buy cheap “fast-fashion” outfits to wear once and then send to landfill. Also, youngsters care less for consumer boycotts than its virtue-signaling parents, thus open to various brands. No wonder, most brands originate from youngsters with duel identities of producers and consumers.

What determines the shopping mode of a generation is their mindset. In Gen Z, lies are easily exposed online, where everyone loves a takedown and hates hypocrisy. We are people just as our young customers are and people will always buy sincerity.

1. What is the article primarily warning readers against in marketing?

A．The excessive use of digital advertising and ignoring traditional media.

B．The use of influencers and social media platforms for product promotion.

C．Focusing solely on Gen Z without considering other demographic groups.

D．Relying on outdated perceptions of young consumer behaviors.

2. Why is it challenging to build brand loyalty among younger consumers in the digital age?

A．Young consumers are less interested in brand loyalty.

B．Digital natives can check out marketing claims.

C．Young consumers prefer shopping in physical stores.

D．Social media platforms are misguiding in brand establishment.

3. What is suggested about the importance of physical stores in modern retailing?

A．Physical stores are becoming obsolete due to the rise of e-commerce.

B．Young consumers only prefer online shopping and home deliveries.

C．A combination of digital and physical retail experiences is most effective.

D．Physical stores should be completely replaced by digital marketing strategies.

4. What’s the attitude of young consumers towards brands?

A．They commit to social justice and boycott unethical brands.

B．They consider a brand’s sustainability but are not controlled by it.

C．They are indifferent to a brand’s quality and social influence.

D．They only support brands that are created by their peers.

5 . Recently turning 25, Amazon is undergoing great changes. One thing is sure: Amazon has big plans for you, your money and your data.

The main site and shopping experience are unlikely to change much over the next few years unless the company is forced to by the EU or US authorities. Instead, Amazon is looking to get into the physical world. However, there are still some things that people prefer to test in person rather than buy blind online. Aside from the main site, the future of retail (零售) for Amazon looks to be using abandoned department stores. According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon will make some stores into fulfilment centres (仓储中心) while turning others into Amazon Department Store.

Food delivery is also an area that Amazon is interested in, and it currently owns roughly 16 per cent of the food delivery company Deliveroo. Many of its stores will soon begin using fingerprint scans to pay for goods. If anyone can compete with supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, it’s Amazon.

The largest area of investment for Amazon is in the field of health, because it’s one of a few industries that offer it the large amounts of money needed when it comes to growth. Soon to offer services from telemedicine to insurance widely, Amazon has already offered some medicines. What’s more, from cameras outside your home to keyless entry, Amazon wants to deliver its packages more securely and directly.

These services mean Amazon will be in charge of more of your home than ever before. Amazon is thinking globally, too, planning to send several satellites into space to supply fast and affordable broadband services to tens of millions of people who do not have reliable Internet.

The next few years are important for Amazon’s continued success. The company needs your money and data to make that happen. While it was a huge force during the pandemic, Amazon’s next moves see them in new fields where success is important but not guaranteed. Time will tell whether you, and others, trust Amazon with their health and even more access to their homes.

1. What does Amazon intend to do, based on paragraph 2?

A．It will make big changes to its main site later.	B．It will focus on making use of physical stores.
C．It will be controlled by the EU to a great extent.	D．It will continue to focus on the virtual world.

2. Why is Amazon interested in the health industry?

A．Few enterprises have developed in this field.

B．The company has related industries which can offer help.

C．It offers the economic benefits required for enterprise expansion.

D．Offering medication has a bright future and can bring in big money.

3. How will Amazon achieve its global vision?

A．It will set up reliable Internet for online shopping.

B．It will offer broadband for free to people in remote areas.

C．It will support the aerospace industry by launching satellites.

D．It will provide various services including door to door delivery.

4. What is the author’s intention in the last paragraph?

A．To make a brief summary of Amazon’s plan.

B．To say Amazon needs people’s trust to succeed.

C．To state the social background that Amazon faces.

D．To describe the important role Amazon plays in daily life.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

This year marks the 15th anniversary of China’s Double 11 online shopping festival.

The first Double 11 event     1     (initiate) by Alibaba on November 11 in 2009 and has become the largest e-commerce shopping gala in the world today. Every year people usually look forward to this online shopping festival at     2     many merchants will do promotional activities. The     3     (innovation) marketing model has profoundly transformed China’s     4     (consume) market and injected enormous power into the country’s economic development.

This year’s Double 11 shopping festival witnessed     5     increase in consumers’ demand and enthusiasm     6     quality products.

According to Tmall, a leading online retail platform affiliated with Alibaba, 155 brands achieved sales of over 100 million yuan ($13.72 million) as soon as the event     7     (official) started at 8 pm on October 31. 71,900 brands broke the first-day     8     (sale) record of last year in the first hour     9     business volume of 29 livestreammg rooms hit 100 million yuan at the start.

Over the past 15 years, the Double 11 festival has become the most important platform     10     (satisfy) the needs of consumers as well as promote economic development in China.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

People have been applying silk, known as si in Chinese, into fabrics for 5,000 years. The     1     (produce) of silk involves the growing of mulberry trees (桑树) and raising of silkworms. It remains a     2     (tradition) practice even today. 

Once upon     3     time, when spring turned to summer, the Grand Canal, a vast waterway system connecting Beijing and Hangzhou, was very busy. Countless boats used the waterway     4     (transport) fabrics. This valuable goods would take two months to reach the capital city,     5     it would be transformed into cool clothes.

Silk has also played a significant role in Chinese interactions     6     the rest of the world. The Silk Road     7     (establish) during the Han Dynasty and promoted the exchange of goods and cultural     8     (practice). Chinese silk was one of the main goods traded, traveling as far as Rome.

In China, fabrics such as ling, luo, chou, and duan represent the improvement of techniques in making textile (纺织品) . Silk is processed     9     (different), which results in silks of different shapes and patterns. Silk combines the beauty of art and technology. It     10     (be) an important carrier of Chinese culture since ancient times and remains so today.

9 . The halo effect is a cognitive bias (认知偏见) that affects our opinions of quality in products, brands, businesses or people. It describes our tendency to judge a wider concept on our experience of a single moment or interaction. That is, your experience of using a product may colour your impression of an entire brand.

This is a very surface-level, quick-fire response that’s deep in our mind. If we see a good or bad quality, we really can’t help thinking this “thing” must flow through to the rest of the person, business or brand. Marketers understand this and have been using it against you for years.

Advertisers want to back winners, especially those on big stages. The Olympics, the World Cup and the Super Bowl all attract huge amounts of advertising spend. Why? Because when sports stars win big, they create huge amounts of feel-good factors and a brand can use the halo effect to project some of those feel-good factors onto themselves.

Studies have shown that when a product has a label that it is either fair trade, sustainably sourced or organic in nature, it will receive higher ratings in customer satisfaction and people will pay more for it. In a blind taste test though, that’s not necessarily the case. The product could be considered poor in taste or quality, but the act of adding a certain label to the packaging increases people’s liking for it.

The halo effect is a bias we cannot escape. It is in action everywhere in the modern world. Every high-end product you experience leaves a lasting impression and every advertisement that catches your eye is looking to direct your attention towards something you may not have otherwise been interested in. As a consumer, be careful. There are businesses that will go to any extent to influence your behaviour. Next time you find yourself really wanting something, stop and ask yourself why.

1. How does the halo effect influence our opinions?

A．It helps us see things in a better way.	B．It deepens our understanding of things.
C．It stops us from jumping to conclusions.	D．It works on us through former experience.

2. Why do advertisers back winners of big events?

A．To use halo effect to attract more audience.

B．To contribute to the development of sports.

C．To connect their brands with positive emotions.

D．To drive sports stars to create feel-good factors.

3. What can be inferred about the halo effect from Paragraph 4?

A．It leads to false advertisements.	B．It results in incorrect judgments.
C．It ensures the quality of products.	D．It improves environmental protection.

4. What is the purpose of the last part of the text?

A．To warn of unplanned buying.	B．To summarize the halo effect.
C．To expose the influence of advertising.	D．To show modern marketing strategies.

10 . The law of supply and demand (需求) explains how the prices of goods and services are determined. Prices rise when there is an increase in demand. When there is an increase in supply, prices go down.

When the amount of goods being demanded is the same as the amount of goods being supplied, it stabilizes prices. However, if either side increases too much, it can create economic (经济的) problems. Tulip Mania was a period in the Dutch Golden Age when the prices of tulips rose and dropped rapidly. In the 1630s, the demand for these flowers increased so much that prices went out of control.

After tulips were introduced to the Netherlands, they became a symbol of wealth and position. As a result, the rare types were seen as valuable things and were trade at high prices. Soon, they grew in popularity as a trading product, and traders bought them to make a lot of money. Even ordinary people started to believe it was an easy way to make money and got involved (参与) in the trade of the tulips.

Prices kept on rising as more people wanted tulips. Some people began selling all of their possessions (财产) in order to buy them. And the prices became unbelievably higher than the value of the actual things. As the supply increased, however, some people thought the demand for tulips would not last and began to sell their tulips. Finally, prices dropped, and many were left poor with worthless tulips.

1. What does the underlined word “stabilizes” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Brings something down.	B．Loses control of something.
C．Keeps something exactly the same.	D．Makes something unlikely to change.

2. What caused the huge increase in tulips’ prices in the 1630s?

A．Their high value.	B．Powerful demand.
C．Their extreme rareness.	D．The government’s economic policy.

3. According to the text, Tulip Mania __________________.

A．involved a wide range of people	B．helped create the Dutch Golden Age
C．went against the law of supply and demand	D．led to the slow economic growth in the Netherlands

4. Why did some people begin to sell their tulips during Tulip Mania?

A．Their tulips were just common types.	B．Their prices would remain unchanged.
C．They needed money to make a living.	D．They were worried about the demand for tulips.