1 . “Welcome to the U.S.A.! Major Credit cards accepted!”

By the millions they are coming no longer the tired, the poor, the wretched mass longing for a better living. These are the wealthy. “We don’t have a budget,” says a biologist from Brazil, as she walks with two companions through New York City’s South Street. “We just use our credit cards.”

The U.S. has long been one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, but this year has been exceptional. First there was the World Cup, which drew thousands from every corner of the globe; then came the weakening of the U.S. dollar against major currencies. Now the U.S. still the world’s superpower, can also claim to be the world’s bargain electronics to fashion clothes to tennis rackets. Nobody undersells America. Bottom retail prices - anywhere from 30% to 70% lower than those in Europe and Asia - have attracted some 47 million visitors, who are expected to leave behind $79 billion in 1994.

That’s up from $74 billion the year before.

True, not everyone comes just for bargains. There remains an undeniable fascination in the rest of the world with all things American, nourished by Hollywood films and U.S. television series. But shopping in the U.S.A. is proving irresistible. Every week thousands arrive with empty suitcases ready to be filled; some even rent an additional hotel room to hold their purchases. The buying binge has become as important as watching Old Faithful Fountains erupt in Yellow Stone Park or sunbathing on a beach in Florida.

The U.S. has come at last to appreciate what other countries learned long ago: the pouring in of foreign tourists may not always be convenient, but it does put money in the bank. And with a trade deficit at about $130 billion and growing for the past 12 months, the U.S. needs all the deposits it can get. Compared with American tourists abroad, visitors to the U.S. stay longer and spend more money at each stop; an average of 12.2 nights and $1624 a traveler versus the Americans’ four nights and $298.

1. From what the Brazilian biologist says, we know that tourists like her ________.

A．are not good at planning their expenditure

B．simply don’t care how much they spend

C．are reluctant to carry cash with them

D．often spend more money than they can afford

2. The reason why 1994 was exceptional is that ________.

A．it witnessed a drop in the number of tourists to the U.S.

B．it saw an unusually large number of tourists to the U.S.

C．tourism was hardly affected by the weakening of the U.S. dollar that year

D．tourists came to the U.S. for sightseeing rather than for bargains that year

3. By saying “nobody undersells America” (Para.3), the author means that ________.

A．no other country underestimates the competitiveness of American products

B．nobody restrains the selling of American goods

C．nobody expects the Americans to cut the prices of their commodities

D．no other country sells at a lower price than America

4. From the passage we can conclude that the U.S. has come to realize ________.

A．the weakening if the U.S. dollar can result in trade deficits

B．tourism can make great contributions to its economy

C．the lower the retail prices, the greater the profits

D．visitors to the U.S. are wealthier than U.S. tourists abroad