| A．£5.00 per hour. | B．£6. 00 per hour. | C．£6.50 per hour. |
2 . You need some bread and milk. But half an hour later, you leave the supermarket with a trolley (手推车) full of food. What games do supermarkets play to make us spend so much money?
The tricks start just when you go into the supermarkets and, of course, a small basket would be fine, but all they have are trolleys. And of course the problem with a trolley is that it looks sad and lonely with just one or two products inside. So we may fill it with something. In fact, supermarket trolleys are actually getting bigger so that we buy more.
Of course, many people shop in supermarkets because they think everything is cheaper than in other shops. So supermarkets offer very cheap prices on some things but then have higher prices for other products. One new trick is to put red stickers (标签) on products. Customers usually connect red stickers with lower prices so the red stickers are easy to be noticed, even when there is no reduction! Interestingly, this trick appears to work more with men than with women.
There is a story behind the position of everything in the supermarket. For example, customers often go only to buy milk. So they put it right at the back, forcing you to go past hundreds of shelves full of other products. The position of products on each shelf is also important. The most expensive products are usually at eye-level so you see these immediately. The exception is anything that children might like. These products are on lower shelves so that kids see them.
Apart from what you see and smell in a supermarket, what about what you listen to? In most supermarkets they have soft, slow music. It’s so relaxing that you slow down and spend more time (and money) in the store. You also move more slowly when the supermarket is busy. Experts suggest it’s better to shop when it’s quieter, on a Monday or a Tuesday for example. And be careful with queues at the checkouts. These are sometimes deliberate, to make you buy something from the checkout shelves while you wait.
So, next time you go into your local supermarket, remember these tricks and see if you can come with just the things you went for.
1. Supermarkets provide trolleys instead of small baskets because ________.| A．trolleys can help customers move quickly and save time |
| B．baskets can hold only one or two products inside |
| C．it is inconvenient for customers to use baskets |
| D．trolleys are bigger so that customers can buy more |
| A．To attract customers and mislead them into thinking those goods are cheaper. |
| B．To tell the men customers those goods are especially made for them. |
| C．To remind customers those products are bargain goods. |
| D．To make them look fresher and more beautiful. |
| A．Right at the back of the supermarkets. |
| B．At the entrance to the supermarkets. |
| C．On lower shelves where kids can get them easily. |
| D．On eye-level shelves where customers can see them immediately. |
| A．stop people lining up at the checkouts |
| B．make customers spend more money by playing relaxing music |
| C．have no customers on Mondays and Tuesdays |
| D．force customers to buy something from the checkout shelves |
3 . China’s popular “Singles’Day”, better known as “Double Eleven”, started out as a day to celebrate singles symbolized by the four number ones on the date of November 11.
With time that meaning has changed. In 2009, China’s e-commerce leader Alibaba set the day as a lucky shopping day for online sales as the date was both easy to remember and perfectly timed as it hit between the consumer spending lull (间歇) between National Day and Chinese New Year. It soon became a hit, and Double Eleven became a buying frenzy (疯狂) spread across the world’s second largest economy.
In 2019, the Double Eleven Shopping Festival entered its eleventh year. During this decade, Alibaba, Chinese e-commerce giant, and other e-commerce platforms, together with consumers, have co-created a very big shopping event whose heat has swept the world. Foreign readers share their ideas on Singles’ Day in China:
GhostBuster (UK) I think Double Eleven is unbelievable. It is not a religious festival that people of the same religion but living in different countries share. As an e-commerce faithful fan, I really love the shopping festival.
Emanreus (Australia) I work in Shanghai. Many of my young female colleagues are still single. They simply haven’t time to date, as they tend to work long hours then travel two hours by subway to get to and from work. Single’s Day is a day when they give themselves a treat with online shopping.
BlondeAmber (Ireland) There is not hing to be proud of to be in a country that spends so much online on a particular day. It does nothing more than show the superficiality (肤浅) of the temporary pleasure of shopping, and produces nothing more than a mountain of environmental waste. I bet there is plenty of buyers’ deep regret after this day.
Ionstar (US) Singles Day became a big deal for Valentine’s Day not for the singles! Well, Alibaba’s 11. 11 has become more famous and important than that of Black Friday and Cyber Monday!
1. Alibaba set the festival on November 11 mainly because ________.| A．it is a traditionally lucky day |
| B．it is a time for people to stay single |
| C．many foreigners like shopping on this day |
| D．it comes right between two consumer spending festivals |
| A．It is a festival that people living in different countries share. |
| B．It is a day for the singles to date. |
| C．People will certainly regret buying anything on this day. |
| D．Alibaba has made it as famous as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. |
| A．Ghost Buster. | B．Emanreus. |
| C．BlondeAmber. | D．Ionstar |
| A．At the station. |
| B．In a bookstore. |
| C．In a department |
| A．Buy some paper. | B．Check her work. | C．Start a business. |
| A．To buy something. | B．To make a work plan. | C．To go home. |
1. Why does the woman seldom go to the shop?
| A．It’s too far for her. |
| B．The prices at supermarkets are lower. |
| C．She doesn’t like the owner of the shop. |
| A．He doesn’t need to line up. |
| B．The prices are competitive. |
| C．He can get the most for his money. |
8 . You need some bread and milk. But half an hour later, you leave the supermarket with a trolley（推车）full of food. What games do supermarkets play to make us spend so much money?
The tricks usually start before you walk in. Outside the supermarket entrance, anybody who walks past can smell warm, fresh bread. That makes us hungry and ready to buy lots of food, not just bread.
Now you’re inside and, of course, a small basket would be fine, but all they have are trolleys. And of course the problem with a trolley is that it looks sad and lonely with just one or two goods inside. So we may fill it with something. In fact, supermarket trolleys are actually getting bigger so that we buy more.
Of course, many people shop in supermarkets because they think everything is cheaper than in other shops. So supermarkets offer very cheap prices on some things but then have higher prices for other goods. One new trick is to put red stickers（标签）on them. Customers usually connect red stickers with lower prices so the red stickers is
easy to be seen, even when there is no reduction! Interestingly, this trick appears to work more with men than with women.
There is a story behind the position of everything in the supermarket. The most expensive goods are usually at eye-level so you see these immediately. The exception is anything that children might like. These goods are on lower shelves so that kids see them.
Apart from what you see and smell in a supermarket, what about what you listen to? In most supermarkets they have soft, slow music. It’s so relaxing that you slow down and spend more time (and money) in the store. Experts suggest it’s better to shop when it’s quieter, on a Monday or a Tuesday for example. And be careful with queues at the checkouts（收银台）. These are sometimes on purpose, to make you buy something from the checkout shelves while you wait.
So, next time you go into your local supermarket, remember these tricks and see if you can come with just the things you went for.
1. There are no small baskets but trolleys in the supermarket because ______.| A．small baskets are not strong enough |
| B．people don’t like using baskets |
| C．it’s easy to go shopping with trolleys |
| D．trolleys are actually making people buy more goods |
| A．small jokes | B．clever methods |
| C．suggestions | D．advertisements |
| A．make them look more beautiful |
| B．show these goods are worth buying |
| C．let people know they are for men |
| D．draw the customers’ attention |
| A．It is better to be careful with the tricks and shop reasonably |
| B．there is no good listening to the soft music in supermarkets |
| C．supermarkets usually close earlier on Monday and Tuesday |
| D．we should be more careful when waiting at the checkout |
1. What size did the woman wear last year?
| A．7. | B．6. | C．8. |
| A．She walks too much each day. |
| B．Her shoes are the wrong size. |
| C．Her shoes are of very low quality. |
10 . Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for family, health, and life in general. However, Black Friday has turned it into a business.
Traditionally, the true value of Thanksgiving lies at home not the shopping centers. However, Black Friday has nowadays allowed society to ignore this as individuals(个人) long for something that they do not need or even truly want. Shopping on Black Friday becomes a sign of a shift into a culture that values material wealth（财富） over spending time with loved ones. People are willing to force their way through the crowds in their desperate search for marked-down sweaters and necklaces.
In recent years, Thanksgiving has become a pre-Black Friday holiday for many families. They are devoted to mapping out shopping routes and making organized schedules for which stores to hit first. By drawing individuals out to shopping centers with "matchless savings", businesses encourage this behavior of ignoring Thanksgiving. Many families take their home-cooked meals while camping out at the door of shopping centers. With each new year, Thanksgiving is becoming victim to over-commercialized（过度商业化）society—changing from a meaningful time for family to a day devoted to products and shopping.
Black Friday has shown that with current common standards(标准), people cannot even set aside a single day to appreciate what they already have without immediately buying more. Families have lost sight of what is truly important in life, and have found reasons in debating between a low cost HD television and an appreciation for what they already have. Remember, Thanksgiving should be a day in which people are grateful for all that they have.
1. What does the underlined word "this" in paragraph 2 probably refers to?| A．The sign of a shift. | B．The true value of Thanksgiving. |
| C．The shopping crowd. | D．The material wealth. |
| A．They’ll visit some newly-opened shopping centers in advance. |
| B．They’ll choose a big store for their first visit. |
| C．They’ll make full preparations for the Black Friday shopping. |
| D．They’ll go camping at the gate of shopping center for a good deal. |
| A．appreciate what we've possessed with our families |
| B．stay with our families as long as we can |
| C．try to spend less to get low cost products |
| D．set aside a single day to buy more |
| A．puzzled | B．unconcerned |
| C．happy | D．worried |
