1. How many bottles are there in the large pack?
| A．20. | B．24. | C．48. |
| A．At 11:00 a.m. | B．Before 12:00 a.m. | C．Around 1:00 p.m. |
Lovely dog aged 5 I'm moving and can't take him with me. Very good with children. I'd like to give it away to a good home. Tel: 8631966 | Wanted Welcome to the Hilo's Store Take any old pair of shoes to us between now and 30 Sep. And you will pay not more than ten dollars for any new pair of shoes. Your old shoes will be given to the poor people. Tel: 2455919 or 2456836 |
A women's dress size 12 silk $150. Also three dresses for girls between 5 and 9 years old, $120 the three. More information call Laura at 5998326. |
1. What can you get for free according to the given information?
| A．a pair of shoes | B．a women's dress | C．a girl's dress | D．a lovely dog |
| A．8631966 | B．5998326 | C．2455919 | D．2456836 |
| A．Recycling. | B．Sales. | C．Charity. | D．Exhibition. |
3 . Have you ever been on social media and seen your favourite celebrity talking about a product? These endorsements—might not be totally random, and are actually seen as a vital part of the marketing process. The question is: How do social media influencers ‘influence’ what you buy?
Human desire for status and making friends, combined with our need to belong to a group, make us susceptible to being ‘socially influenced’. Companies often use that desire to have a similar lifestyle to a celebrity we admire to hawk or launch a product. So, what do these endorsements actually do?
Firstly, they can be used to build brand awareness. A social media influencer should have a strong understanding of the platform they operate on, and therefore can create engaging content that not only adheres to the brand image, but sparks their followers’ interests in a product they might never have seen before.
Secondly, influencers can improve a company or product’s relationship with their customer base. According to In Moment’s 2018 US Retail CX Trends Report on customer loyalty, 77% of buyers have been brand loyal for more than ten years. This is also true of 60% of millennials. popular celebrity can target key demographics and talk or blog about a product, which can create an instant and lasting bond with the consumer.
Lastly, influencers can improve customer buying habits with seemingly ‘unbiased opinions’. We are more likely to respond to ‘peer recommendation’ than traditional ads, meaning the fact we see an influencer as a ‘friend’ can make us less likely to be sceptical about what we are seeing.
So, the next time you see a celebrity talking about a product, you might want to consider that this could be a carefully crafted marketing strategy designed to target your core needs. If you find yourself perusing a product you’ve seen on social media, you may well have been influenced.
1. Why can social influencers make such engaging content? Because they ________.| A．are internet celebrities |
| B．know how to use the platform they are working on. |
| C．have used the products themselves |
| D．are involved in the making of the products |
| A．Being independent | B．Making friends |
| C．Belonging to a group. | D．Human desire for status |
| A．We are not much influenced. |
| B．We believe everything they say. |
| C．We are less doubtful about adverts we are seeing. |
| D．We want to make friends with them. |
| A．It is exactly what I need. |
| B．We don’t need it at all. |
| C．There’s more to learn about the celebrity. |
| D．Our essential needs are being targeted. |
4 . You may not have noticed it as you shop online, but the experience is changing. Clicking through a navigation bar of a website to find an item has become outdated. A search bar that allows you to look up a specific product is faster. In some cases, chatting with a bot (robot) may be even more efficient.
We have experimented with chatbots for years. Facebook has offered tools for businessmen to make bots that deal with customers. Retailers like Amazon have used chatbots to answer customers' questions, and when the bots can't help, a person can take over. “Now that visiting a physical retail store has largely become impractical in the pandemic, we can expect such conversational technologies to gain popularity.” said Julie Ask, a technology analyst for Forrester Research. “There are already plenty of examples. Recently, I shopped for a pair of shoes at Beckett Simonon, an online fashion brand, and asked an employee via a chat box about the correct shoe size for my feet.” she added.
More companies are also using augmented reality to help people with online shopping, Ms. Ask said. Jins Eyewear, which sells glasses, lets you take a photo of your face to virtually try on glasses before deciding whether to buy them. Snap, the parent company for Snapchat, has teamed up with luxury brands like Gucci and Dior to offer virtual try-ons.
Augmented reality is ready to become especially popular this year because the technology keeps improving. New high-end Apple and Android smartphones include sensors for detecting depth, which makes it easier for augmented reality apps to place objects like virtual furniture in physical spaces.
It is expected to see a wave of new ads that take advantage of the format. This year, advertisers are expected to spend about S2.4 billion on augmented reality advertising, up 71 percent from $1.4 billion last year, according to the research firm eMarketer.
1. Which of the following best describes chatbots?| A．Brand new. | B．Convenient. | C．Impractical. | D．Primitive. |
| A．To prove a trend in online shopping. | B．To promote an online fashion brand. |
| C．To show the unrealistic way of shopping. | D．To introduce a chat box that she used. |
| A．A website widely used in advertisements. |
| B．An app newly developed to sell glasses. |
| C．A software deciding the future of online shopping. |
| D．A technology bettering online shopping experience. |
| A．New technology is changing our shopping habits. |
| B．Conversational technologies are well received. |
| C．A navigation bar has become a thing of past. |
| D．Augmented reality will be used in advertising. |
5 . When you buy a cup of coffee, you have probably noticed the three different size options: small, medium and large. The medium-sized serving often costs almost as much as the large one.
If so, you have been driven by a cognitive bias(认知偏误) known as the “decoy effect(诱饵效应)”.
Imagine you are choosing flights from the following options:
■Flight A costs $400 with a stopover of 60 minutes.
■Flight B costs $330 with a stopover of 150 minutes.
■Flight C costs $435 with a stopover of 60 minutes
The researchers found that most people would choose Flight A. It is cheaper than Flight C. Compared with Flight B it has a shorter waiting time—even though it is considerably more expensive.
Now look at a different set of flights:
■Flight A costs $400 with a stopover of 60 minutes
■Flight B costs $330 with a stopover of 150 minutes
■Flight C costs $330 with a stopover of 195 minutes.
In this case, most people’s preference was Flight B.
In each case, Flight C (the decoy) was designed. to appear similar to, but slightly less attractive than, one of the other options (the target).
The decoy effect was first investigated as a potential marketing strategy to influence consumer choices. However, by learning about it, you may become less likely to be affected by this unconscious influence.
If you are discussing travel pans with friends, for instance, and have not decided yet where to go, you might present two alternative arrangements at your city of choice, but one with a slightly more expensive hotel. Even if your friends might have otherwise selected a different location, the comparison might just tempt them to opt for your preferred option.
| A．Psychologists still debate the exact reasons for this particular effect. |
| B．Don’t allow yourself to become yet another victim of the decoy effect. |
| C．You may even discover ways to put it to your own use as a tool for persuasion. |
| D．That comparison altered the way the participants perceived(感知) the other possibilities. |
| E．The latest research shows that it could also have strong effects on recruitment (招聘), healthcare and even politics. |
| F．You are presented with a well-designed, additional, and slightly less attractive option. |
| G．Given the apparent bargain |
1. How many candles has the woman ordered?
| A．5. | B．10. | C．50. |
| A．He'll cancel the order. | B．He'll take the candles back. | C．He'll give the woman free candles. |
1. How old is the woman’s daughter?
| A．Thirteen years old. | B．Fourteen years old. | C．Fifteen years old. |
| A．The movie was expensive. |
| B．The movie was boring. |
| C．The movie was violent. |
| A．Eight dollars. | B．Nine dollars. | C．Eighteen dollars. |
8 . From: lisa.huang@internationalcoffee.com
To: Benjamin.kao@internationalcoffee.com
Subject: A danger to our business
Dear Benjamin,
I just read an article about the effects of climate change on coffee production. The article raises a number of concerns that will affect our own company in the future. I'm attaching a portion of the article. Please click on it below and read it.
The article mentions Ethiopia in particular and explains an important climate-related disadvantage that it has. This disadvantage may prevent that country from being a reliable source of coffee in the future. Currently, most of the coffee that our company distributes in Asia is imported from Ethiopia. Thus, I believe that our company should reduce its dependence on Ethiopian coffee and begin distributing coffee imported from other countries instead. One country that we should consider is Columbia. It does not suffer to the same degree from the disadvantage that Ethiopia faces.
I think that we should also ask our old friend Katherine Chen for advice about this. She has been a leader in our industry for more than 30 years and knows more about it than anyone else.
Please read the attached portion of the article and let me know what you think.
Best regards,
Lisa
(Coffeearticle. txt) Climate change is creating environmental stress, which spreads parasites, pests and plant disease. All of these have increased the fragility of the coffee crop and created the possibility of a species-destroying. rot. Almost all the coffee cultivated in the world today is one of two species, Arabica or robusta, either of which might be wiped out in this way. There are other species of coffee, and scientists are hoping that, if worse comes to worst, a different species can be bred into coffee. Unfortunately, almost all of these species exist only in Ethiopia, a country that climate change is already hammering. As the environmental nonprofit USAID points out: “Ethiopia is one of the world's most drought-prone countries. The country faces numerous development challenges that exacerbate its vulnerability to climate change...” In other words, even as climate threatens coffee as it exists today, cumate change is also eating away at the root source to which we might turn to for replacement species. |
1. According to the article. what is true, about the coffee crop?
| A．It isn't as durable as it used to be. |
| B．It doesn't grow in tropical regions. |
| C．It's harvested using large machines. |
| D．It suffers no damage from insects. |
| A．Its employment rate is much higher these days. |
| B．It has received financial assistance from the United States. |
| C．Its relations with its neighbors have been calm. |
| D．It is less likely to have long periods without rain. |
| A．She has little interest in Asia. |
| B．She's an expert in her field. |
| C．She was encouraged to retire. |
| D．She's abroad at the moment. |
9 . In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her, Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant’s sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to departments stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.
This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn’t be more out of date or at odds with the feverish world described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline’s three-year indictment of “fast fashion”. In the last decade or so, advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent release, and more profit. These labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposable-meant to last only a wash or two, although they don’t advertise that-and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.
The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.
Overdressed is the fashion world’s answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “Mass-produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable and wasteful,” Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a year—about 64 items per person—and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.
Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes-and beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example can’t be knocked off.
Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment—including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line—Cline believes lasting change can only be affected by the customer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they can’t afford not to.
1. Priestly criticizes her assistant for her _____________.| A．poor bargaining skill. | B．insensitivity to fashion. |
| C．obsession with high fashion. | D．lack of imagination. |
| A．accusation. | B．enthusiasm. | C．indifference. | D．tolerance. |
| A．Vanity has more often been found in idealists. |
| B．The fast-fashion industry ignores sustainability. |
| C．People are more interested in unaffordable garments. |
| D．Pricing is vital to environment-friendly purchasing. |
| A．Satire on an extravagant lifestyle. | B．Challenge to a high-fashion myth. |
| C．Criticism of the fast-fashion industry. | D．Exposure of a mass-market secret. |
10 . In the 1994 film Forrest Gump, there's a famous saying, "Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get." The surprise is part of the fun. Now blind box toys are bringing the magic of surprise to online shopping.
A blind box toy is hidden inside uniform packaging(包装) but invisible from the outside. You don't know what will be inside，although the toys typically come from pop culture，ranging from movies to comics and cartoons, Blind boxes have caught on since they were first introduced from Japan to China in 2014.According to a 2019Tmall report，the mini-series of Labubu blind box, designed by Hong Kong-born Kasing Lung，was named Champion of Unit Sales with 55,000 sold in just 9 seconds during the Singles Day shopping event. Most customers for blind boxes are young people aged 18 to 35.
According to The Paper， blind box toys are popular in part because of their cute appearances. The typically cute cartoon figurines(小塑像) come in very small sizes，making them suitable for display almost anywhere.
Even if blind boxes are not their top choice for decorations, the mystery(神秘) and uncertainty of the process also attracts people. It's the main reason why people buy blind boxes one after another.
“Fear of the unknown is always a part of the box-opening process,”said Miss Cao，24，who lives and works in Shenyang，“Until you open all the boxes，you cannot know what it is inside.”
Opening a blind box is a delightful little surprise for our mundane daily lives，something small but fun to wait for each day，week or month. When people open this simple little box，they may be disappointed，but the uncertainty is part of the fun. People will open more blind boxes and hope for a better outcome.
When someone re-makes Forrest Gump，don't be surprised if he says，“Life is like a blind box.”
1. What feature of blind boxes attracts people?| A．They often get toys designed by famous artists. |
| B．They don 't know what they've got until they open them. |
| C．They can learn about pop culture from the packaging. |
| D．They can experience the excitement of online shopping. |
| A．They are cute and fashionable. |
| B．They are perfect for decorations. |
| C．She enjoys the mystery of the unknown. |
| D．She likes the simple way they are packaged. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Exciting. | C．Boring. | D．Hopeless. |
| A．The cultural effects of blind boxes. |
| B．The origin of blind boxes. |
| C．The problems with blind boxes. |
| D．The popularity of blind boxes. |
