1 . Americans spend a lot of money in their daily lives. Working people spend money on transportation to and from work and on various expenses throughout the day, Americans enjoy shopping and buy many things that they need and want,    1    They buy sports equipment, go to movies and do many things that cost money.

However, many Americans don't pay cash or write checks for these things.    2    Credit cards are small, rectangular plastic cards, It is very convenient to carry them about.

    3    When the customer buys something at a store, he shows his card at the store. This permits the store to charge the bank for the customer's purchase, The bank collects all the charges for each customer, Then once a month the bank requires the customer to pay the charges for that month.    4    It allows the customer to pay for the charges in several payments over a period of time,

However, the bank requires the customer to pay interest(利息)on the unpaid part of the charges. In this way the bank allows customers to buy things they cannot afford at one time. People can use the card to buy what they want and pay for it over a period of time,     5    

A．It brings great benefits to the rich.

B．Banks give these cards to their customers.

C．They spend a lot of money on entertainment.

D．They also do not need to carry a lot of money.

E．People may spend less money in this way.

F．More and more Americans pay for things with credit cards.

G．The bank does not force the customer to pay the full amount.

2 . BEIJING (News Agency) — Children in China today spend five times more money than their parents did when they were young.

So what are all these children buying? The list is long: iPads, cell phones and jeans are typical items that children “have to” buy. And they will do anything to get them. They ask their parents over and over until they buy them.

But parents also need to take the blame(责备) for spending so much money. They want their children to have the best things. They end up competing with other parents over whether their children have the latest products.

So it’s no wonder children find it hard to learn the importance of saving money rather than spending it all the time.

And it's hard to save when companies use advertising (打广告)and clever slogans (口号) to encourage young people to buy their products. They even encourage children to keep asking their parents for something until they get it.

Today, you don’t even need to have money in order to buy something. Banks give out credit cards and loans (贷款) all the time, so people are saving less and less. We are used to carrying lots of money around. And if you don’t have much, you can always borrow some.

But this hasn’t always been the case. When our grandparents were young, there was very little money and everyone had to save hard for things they bought. They only bought things they needed, not things they just wanted.

The older generation made the wise expression, “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” This is as true now as it was 50 years ago. They give money a great deal of value. And we all have a lot to learn from them.

1. The text mainly tells us ________.

A．differences between teenagers and their parents

B．what is popular among children at the moment

C．how to spend money wisely

D．children’s high consumption(消费) of products

2. Parents are to blame for children’s spending a lot of money because ________.

A．they don’t give children positive guidance in consumption

B．they offer to buy the latest fashions for their children

C．they always give children too much pocket money

D．their consumption habits set a bad example to children

3. The saying “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” in the last paragraph seems to tell us that ______.

A．the older generation understood how to teach children to save

B．in the past, people attached more importance to saving money

C．money has a great deal of value both in the past and at present

D．money is not easily earned and people should be careful when we spend it

3 . In many types of face-to-face retailing (零售), it pays to size up your customer and change your price accordingly. The Internet, by allowing nameless browsing and rapid price-comparing, was supposed to mean low and equal prices for all. Now, however, online retailers are being offered software that helps them detect shoppers who can afford to pay more or are in a hurry to buy, so as to present more expensive products to them or simply charge more for the same product.

Cookies stored in shoppers’ web browsers (浏览器) may show where else they have been looking, giving some clues as to their income and price-sensitivity. A shopper’s Internet address may be linked to his physical address, letting sellers offer, say, one price for a rich area, another for a poor area. Doug Bryan of iCrossing, a digital-marketing consultancy, explains that the most up-to-date “price customisation (定制化)” software can collate (对照) such clues with documents of individual shoppers that Internet sellers buy from online-data-aggregation firms. All this is fairly cheap, he says.

One of the few big online firms that admit to using such techniques is Orbitz, a travel website. Its software detects whether people browsing its site are using an Apple Mac or a Windows PC and, since it has found that Mac users tend to choose more expensive hotels, which are what it recommends to them. Orbitz stresses that it does not charge people different rates for the same rooms, but some online firms are believed to be doing just that, for example by charging full whack (份儿) for those who are willing and able to pay it, while offering discounts to the rest.

Allocating (配置)   discounts with price-customisation software typically brings in two to four times as much money as offering the same discounts at random, claims Ravi Vijayaraghavan of [24]7, a Bangalore-based firm that develops and operates such software. One way to do this is to monitor how quickly shoppers click through towards the online seller’s payment page: those who already seem set on buying need not be attracted with a special offer.

Andrew Fano, a consultant in Accenture’s Chicago office, believes that at least six of America’s ten biggest web retailers are now customising prices in some way, but it is hard for shoppers to spot when this is going on. If they knew, many would feel that it is “pushing the boundaries” of fairness. Companies should be careful to escape the painful experience pioneered (率先做) by Amazon in the autumn of 2000. It was said that the Internet giant was selling DVDs at different prices, to see which browsers happened to be favored by shoppers least concerned about cost. The resulting backlash (激烈反应) prompted it to refund those who paid more.

Users of price-customisation software have so far been unwilling to monitor potential customers’ social media pages, for fear that this would cause a privacy backlash. But the operators at the call centres that [24]7 runs for its clients are beginning to scan Twitter for information on the shoppers they are talking to — and sometimes their tweets give useful clues about whether a discount is needed to make the sale.

1. According to Paragraph 1, online retailers are benefiting from _____.

A．knowing more about their customers

B．charging high prices for their goods

C．making their prices competitive

D．making price comparisons

2. Online retailers use price customisation software to _____.

A．locate customers’ addresses

B．guide customers to their products

C．create documents for old customers

D．judge customers’ purchasing power

3. The example of Amazon in Paragraph 5 is mentioned to show it _____.

A．practices price customisation successfully

B．gets into trouble for unfair pricing

C．pioneers the use of pricing software

D．finds out the browsers favoured most by shoppers

4. Why weren’t social media pages monitored by online retailers?

A．[24] 7 has occupied the market.

B．Social networks block pricing software.

C．Online retailers are afraid of causing angry reaction.

D．Social media users are not interested in discounts.

5. The author’s attitude towards price customisation software is _____.

A．positive	B．negative
C．objective	D．unconcerned

6. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Online price competition

B．Personalizing online prices

C．Problems of price facing online retailers

D．Online retailers’ pricing methods

4 . According to the most recent census (人口普查) figures, nearly half of women between the ages of 15 and 44 don’t have children. Half of women is a lot of women, and yet, advertisers continue to behave as though they don’t exist. “The majority of marketing talks to adult women like they are all moms or want to be mothers,” Adrianna Bevilaqua, chief creative officer at M Booth, a public relations company, told The New York Times.

Industry experts explained to The Times that the absence of childless women in marketing materials is likely the result of inertia (惯性). Advertisers have long targeted moms because they buy their goods. In 2015, American moms were in charge of $3.4 trillion worth of spending decisions, which makes them the largest consumer group in the United States.

While they might not have the collective spending power of moms — many of whom, I suspect, would be very happy to give up some   power of choosing laundry detergent (洗衣粉) in exchange for power of choosing something else with equal pay — childless women also have the potential to improve a business’ bottom line. One report has found that they spend twice as much on beauty products as women with children, and spend 60 percent more time abroad. The Times also notes that they spend 35 percent more on groceries than moms.

Of course, advertising has had a long time to adapt to the ongoing change in gender (性别) roles, and still, brands has made sexist ads that many find degrading (降低品格的). And even when brands do try to get with the times, as is the case with Dove and Pantene, many women still think them unpleasant. These critics are angry about the way such campaigns overstate female empowerment when, in reality, such empowerment is far from being fully realized.

Earlier this year, ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi researched moms’ understanding of their representation in advertising and found that they weren’t happy either. They surveyed nearly 8,000 women from around the world, the majority of whom responded with feelings of frustration (挫败) at the outdated mom images, including the busy mom and the saintly (神圣的) and perfectionist mom we so often see. Above all, they resented the view of motherhood as a job. “Motherhood is about being, not doing,” said Mary Mills, worldwide director of strategic intelligence from Saatchi & Saatchi, when describing the findings.

So as it turns out, both childless women and moms are motivated by the same desire. They want advertisers to let go of motherhood as an all-consuming identity for women and instead present them as the varied and unique beings they’ve long known themselves to be.

1. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Few American women do not want to have children.

B．Moms are happy because they are targeted by advertisers.

C．Moms were the largest consumer group in America in 2015.

D．Half of American women have no children according to the recent census figures.

2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．Childless women spend mainly on beauty products and travel.

B．A report about women’s spending power has been produced.

C．Moms spend less on groceries than childless women.

D．Childless women’s spending power is not lower than that of moms.

3. What does the underlined word “resented” mean in Paragraph 5?

A．Respected.	B．Hated.
C．Misunderstood.	D．Formed.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Moms’ representation in advertising has been researched by ad agencies.

B．Most American women want to be seen as unique beings.

C．Advertisers should pay attention to childless women.

D．Advertisers misunderstand moms’ images.

5 . 青少年研究专家Richard在自己的英文网站上开辟专栏，邀请大家分享自己身边的小故事。请你根据故事梗概，用英文发帖，写一个小故事并给故事设计一个出人意料的结局。
故事梗概：
Sam在去购物的路上遇到一个需要帮助的盲人，他热心地将盲人扶过马路。他购物回来的时候又遇到了那个盲人，但是他惊讶地发现……
注意：1. 词数150左右；

2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

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6 . Americans are buying more products and services than ever before through the Internet. And experts say the popularity of online sales is likely to spread to other countries. Online sales now represent as much as 10% of all retail sales in the United States. This has led traditional stores to seek new ways to keep their customers loyal.

Lynne used the Internet to buy everything she needed for her wedding and holiday gifts for her husband and stepdaughter. Other than food, 90% of her purchases were made on her home computer. “I find that, by being able to go online, choose the things that I need, and have them delivered to me right at my doorstep, I eliminate all the driving, all the crowds, all the noise of that, and I usually get a better selection.”

There are a lot of people like her. Experts say American online shopping hit records in both November and December. 57% of Americans have bought something electronically. Store owners worry that this growing amount of online sales will hurt their business. Cornell University marketing professor Ed Melaughlin says they can keep their customers by selling goods like clothing, which buyers may want to see and try on before purchasing. The stores could also offer things that are difficult to ship. Besides, some stores can please customers by offering to repair electronic products.

Bill Martin is the founder of Shopper Trak. His business helps stores learn about their customers. He said, “There is still a lot of emotion in the buying decision, you know, that takes place. Often you need that last sense of ‘Boy, this is exactly what I want’ before you are ready to part with money, and you can’t always get that online. It’s a rather cold process.”

While online shopping worries some business owners, the only worry for delivery services like FedEx and UPS is keeping up with the number of packages. UPS Manager Dana Kline says her company is very busy at this time of year. UPS is so busy that it has filled 55, 000 temporary worker positions during the holiday season.

1. The example of Lynne is mentioned in the passage to show ________.

A．online business has changed many Americans’ life

B．online sales will replace traditional sales sooner or later

C．traditional stores can't offer enough food to their customers

D．traditional stores find new ways to keep their customers loyal

2. The underlined word “eliminate” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “________”.

A．include	B．decrease
C．discourage	D．avoid

3. From the passage we can infer ________.

A．UPS has filled more worker positions than FedEx

B．business owners are concerned about delivery services

C．FedEx is keeping up with UPS on the number of packages

D．delivery services are facing more and more pressure from online sales

4. The purpose of this passage is to tell us ________.

A．the challenge online owners are faced with

B．the challenge e­commerce causes to traditional sales

C．the difference between online sales and traditional sales

D．the trouble that customers often meet when purchasing online

7 . I was desperately nervous about becoming car-free. But eight months ago our car was hit by a passing vehicle and it was destroyed. No problem, I thought: we’ll buy another. But the insurance payout didn’t even begin to cover the costs of buying a new car－I worked out that, with the loan, we’d need plus petrol, insurance, parking permits and tax, we would make a payment as much as £600 a month.

And that’s when I had my fancy idea. Why not just give up having a car at all? I live in London. We have a railway station behind our house, a tube station 10 minutes’ walk away, and a bus stop at the end of the street. A new car club had just opened in our area, and one of its shiny little red Peugeots was parked nearby. If any family in Britain could live without a car, I reasoned, then surely we were that family.

But my new car-free idea, sadly, wasn’t shared by my family. My teenage daughters were horrified. What would their friends think about our family being “too poor to afford a car”? (I wasn’t that bothered what they thought, and I suggested the girls should take the same approach.)

My friends, too, were astonished at our plan. What would happen if someone got seriously ill overnight and needed to go to hospital? (an ambulance) How would the children get to and from their many events? (buses and trains) People smiled as though this was another of my mad ideas, before saying they were sure I’d soon realize that a car was a necessity.

Eight months on, I wonder whether we’ll ever own a car again. The idea that you “have to” own a car, especially if you live in a city, is all in the mind. I live—and many other citizens do too—in a place that has never been better served by public transport, and yet car ownership has never been higher. We worry about rising car costs, but we’d be better off asking something much more basic: do I really need a car? Certainly the answer is no, and I’m a lot richer because I dared to ask the question.

1. The author decided to live a car-free life partly because ______.

A．most families chose to go car-free

B．he was hurt in a terrible car accident

C．the cost of a new car was too much

D．the traffic jam was unbearable for him

2. What is the attitude of the author’s family toward his plan?

A．Supportive.	B．Disapproving.
C．Optimistic.	D．Unconcerned.

3. What did the author suggest his daughters do about their friends’ opinion?

A．Argue against it.	B．Take their advice.
C．Think it over.	D．Leave it alone.

4. What conclusion did the author draw after the eight-month car-free life?

A．Life cannot go without a car.

B．Life without a car is a little bit hard.

C．His life gets improved without a car.

D．A car-free life does not suit everyone.

8 . Dear sir,

Last year I buy a refrigerator in your store on Chang An Road. We all like shape of the refrigerator. And yesterday something went wrongly. Guess what! It made a noise when turning on. At first it was low but gradually it become louder and louder. To make matter worse, it even stopped working. We all felt disappointing. I am writing to ask for help.Would you please find someone to repair it? I would be at home this weekend. Please call me before you come to here. My telephone number is 66065531. Thank you very much.

Li Ming

9 . We all know that Apple iPad is designed mainly for business people. But besides business people there are many other people who are interested in getting one. Students are very interested in the latest technology. So you cannot keep Apple iPad away from students. The question is: Should they buy an Apple iPad?

Apple iPad has many features that would work for students, which means that students do not have to carry books for references. They can use e-Books because Apple iPad has a big screen that makes reading a pleasure. You can even write on iPad. So it works as an all in one tool that is so light that it can be put in any backpack. The battery life of Apple iPad is for around 10 hours, which is clearly a good point for students. The touch screen is big and iPad does not create any noise while it is working. In a word, Apple iPad does have some features that would do good to students.

However, students might have to slow down their work because Apple iPad struggles when it comes to doing many tasks at the same time. It would create a problem if the student has to take down notes quickly while the iPad does not allow him/her to work well. Another thing that students might not be happy with is that there is no keyboard. Though iPad has an on-screen keyboard, it might not be as useful as a real keyboard. Apple iPad has no USB port (端口) or SD card slot (插卡槽), which means students will not be able to share information quickly among themselves.

Therefore, I don’t think it’s necessary for students to buy an iPad. It may not work as well as they expect. They can buy a netbook for their study. It would work better for them.

1. What is the author mainly talking about?

A．Who should buy an Apple iPad.

B．What an Apple iPad can do for students.

C．Whether Apple iPad can attract students.

D．Whether students should buy an Apple iPad.

2. According to the author, Apple iPad is mainly designed for ________.

A．people who are in the business world

B．people who like reading books online

C．students who hate taking books for references

D．people who are interested in the latest technology

3. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that Apple iPad ________.

A．is easy to carry

B．can’t be used for a long time

C．makes a noise when it's working

D．doesn’t allow people to write on it

10 . 假设英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写上该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

This morning I go to the shop to change the coat I bought yesterday. But the salesgirl treated me very cold. At the first, she said the coat wasn’t selling in the shop, and then she said I had made it dirty. She gave me several different excuse and refused change the coat. So I got angry and argued with him. Just then the manager turned up. He asked that was the matter. After I told him the whole story, he said sorry to me but exchanged the coat for me. Satisfying, I said goodbye to them and took the new coat home.