1 . People generally like to pick out the best-looking fruits and vegetables when shopping for produce (农产品), but Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws is attracting customers with badly-shaped and faulty produce at the price of 30% lower than normal-looking one.
A trial run of the ugly food line, named “Naturally Imperfect”, began with only apples and potatoes to choose from. Consumer demand has been so huge that Loblaws is going to introduce more ugly vegetables and fruits like onions and mushrooms.
All the produce that will be sold through Naturally Imperfect would otherwise have been used in juices, sauces, or soups, or have not been harvested at all. The director Dan Branson explained that this program benefited both food producers who would otherwise have to let abnormal produce go to waste, and consumers who could buy fresh produce at low prices. And he was right, given how popular the line has become.
“It really went well beyond our expectation,” Branson said. “I think it really spoke to the fact that Canadians are out there really looking for some options.”
Of course, Canadians know that beauty is more than skin deep, and they also recognize that they can get the same flavor and nutritional benefits in spite of appearances. The positive response to the initial offering of apples and potatoes showed the opportunity to expand the line and offer more options at a greater price to Canadian families.
“If you grow produce in your backyard, there will be a lot of produce that won’t look as pretty as what you will see in a grocery store”, said Branson. “And nature doesn’t grow everything perfectly. I’d like to think if somebody were to take a No Name Naturally Imperfect apple, put it right beside a No.1 apple, close his eyes and eat them, there would be no difference.”
1. Loblaws is different from other supermarkets in that ______.| A．more fruits are offered at lower prices | B．normal-looking produce is forbidden there |
| C．only apples and potatoes are sold every day | D．imperfect produce is sold at lower prices there |
| A．prevents people from wasting their food | B．happens to be a win-win mode |
| C．teaches food producers how to grow | D．enables consumers to eat more fresh produce |
| A．Canadians are used to eating perfect produce. |
| B．Smart consumers know the importance of ugly produce. |
| C．Loblaws intends to improve customers’ quality of life. |
| D．Customers’ support promotes the development of the ugly food line. |
| A．Imperfect fruits are as tasty and nutritious as perfect ones. |
| B．The world is usually full of imperfect things. |
| C．We should eat imperfect apples with our eyes closed. |
| D．The fruits grown by ourselves are more nutritious than those in the store. |
Just over six months ago, I saw an advertisement in the Morning Mail for a set of the complete works of William Shakespeare. Your company, Cosmo books Ltd, offered this set (eight books of plays and two books of poetry) at what was claimed (宣称) to be a ‘remarkable’ price: fifteen pounds and fifty pence, including postage and packing. I had wanted a set of Shakespeare’s plays and poems for some time, and these books, in red imitation leather, looked particularly attractive; so I sent for them.
Two weeks later, the books arrived, together with a set of the complete works of Charles Dickens which I had not ordered. So I returned the Dickens books to you, with a cheque (支票) for fifteen pounds and fifty pence for the works of Shakespeare. Two more weeks passed. Then there arrived on my doorstep a second set of the works of Shakespeare, the same set of novels by Dickens and a six book set of the plays of Moliere, in French. Since I do not read French, these were of no use to me at all. However, I could not afford (付得起) to post all these books back to you, so I wrote to you at the end of August of last year, instructing you to come and collect all the books that I did not want, and asking you not to send any other books until further notice.
You did not reply to that letter. Instead you sent me a bill for forty two pounds, and a set of the plays of Shiller, in German. Since then, a new set of books has arrived every two weeks, the works of Goethe, the poems of Milton, the plays of Strindberg; I hardly know what I have. The books are still all in their boxes, in the garage, and my car has to stand in the rain outside. I have no room for any more books, and even if I read from now until the Last Judgment, I should not finish reading all the books that you have sent me.
Please send no more books, send no more bills, send no more angry letters demanding payment. Just send one large lorry and take all the books away, leaving me only with the one set of the complete works of Shakespeare for which I have paid.
Yours faithfully,
SIMON WALKER
1. Simon Walker wrote the letter to _________.| A．complain about sending him books he had not ordered |
| B．advise readers not to order books from Cosmo Books Ltd. |
| C．laugh at Cosmo Books Ltd. |
| D．urge (督促) Cosmo Books Ltd. to take away the books he had not ordered. |
| A．a set of 10 books of the works of Shakespeare |
| B．unlimited number of Cosmo Books |
| C．a book containing all the plays and poems of Shakespeare |
| D．fifteen pounds and fifty pence |
| A．he had ordered the set and had been waiting for them to come for some time |
| B．he claimed that the books were being offered at a remarkable price |
| C．he wanted a set of Shakespeare’s works, and this set was cheap, and looked attractive |
| D．the set he already had was not particularly attractive |
| A．Cosmo Books have sent bills for books that they have not sent |
| B．Mr. Walker took some action after receiving the books he did not order |
| C．Mr. Walker hasn’t received the books that he ordered |
| D．Several sets of books have been sent to Mr. Walker free of charge |
| A．annoyance | B．sadness | C．respect | D．humor |
| A．＄17.50. | B．＄19.95. | C．＄35. |
4 . Between 30 and 40 percent of food produced for humans never gets eaten in the USA, ending up in landfills (垃圾填埋场), where it breaks down and produces greenhouse gases. Now, Elena Belavina, a professor from Cornell University, has an interesting solution. He says that opening more grocery (食品杂货) stores could reduce (减少) food waste greatly.
People of most US cities don’t have enough choices when it comes to grocery shopping, which means that people will overbuy when visiting a store. They buy more than what they can really eat, which means food goes to waste. However, when there are more stores in a neighborhood, people will shop daily or many times a week, buying just what they need, which means less food goes to waste.
For example, Belavina found that in Chicago, adding just three or four markets within a 10-square-kilometer area reduced food waste by 6 percent to 9 percent. Europe (and much of the rest of the world) is famously good at this, with stores meeting shoppers’ different needs, such as bread, cheese, meat and produce.
Belavina’s research did find that increasing the number of grocery stores would lead to more food waste by sellers, but this is less than food waste produced by customers. “We at home throw away 10 times more food than the grocery stores,” she said. This is why focusing on solutions to reducing life rubbish will have a greater help than focusing on sellers. Belavina suggests that when adding more stores isn’t workable, people should explore other shopping methods such as online orders. “Any service that makes it easier and allows you to shop more often is helpful. To reduce food waste, what people need to do is bring fewer groceries home.”
1. What will people do when there are more shops around?| A．They will eat more healthily. |
| B．They will shop more often. |
| C．They will eat more food. |
| D．They will buy too much. |
| A．To compare it with other US cities. |
| B．To show it has the similar problem. |
| C．To point out its importance in the US. |
| D．To prove Belavina’s solution is workable. |
| A．We should try to avoid shopping online. |
| B．We should shop at stores near our home. |
| C．We should shop in small shops more often. |
| D．We should increase the ways of shopping. |
| A．The reasons for food waste. |
| B．The change of shopping methods. |
| C．The advantage of more shops around. |
| D．The importance of self-control in shopping. |
| A．It is easy. | B．It is secure. | C．It is comfortable. |
6 . Money Matters
Parents should help their children understand money.
● The basic function of money
Begin explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the things he wants to have.If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier(收银员).
● Money lessons
Approach money lessons with openness and honesty.
●
Begin at the grocery store. Pick out two similar brands of a product—a kind of name-brand butter and a generic (无商标消费品),for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money.
| A．Wise decisions |
| B．The value of money |
| C．Permit the child to choose between them |
| D．Tell your child why he can—or cannot—have certain things |
| E．Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you |
| F．Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store |
| G．The best time to teach a child something about money is when he shows an interest |
注意:1.词数80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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8 . Since I learned that shoppers who do less research are happier with their purchases (购买的东西), I’ve been proud of my “good enough” method of shopping. Unlike my husband, who does weeks of research, looking at various choices, and weighing his preferences compared to costs, I always buy the first item I come across that fits my needs and price range.
According to Barry Schwartz, author of the book The Paradox of Choice, my method of shopping is called “satisficing,” while my husband engages in (参与) “maximizing.” Maximizers want the best and believe that there’s a perfect one of whatever they’re looking for. Satisficers, on the other hand, focus on what will be good enough to meet their minimum (最低的) standards.
I recently purchased a desk chair. I wanted one that offered more lumbar (腰部的) support, so I went to a store and picked out a chair that felt comfortable and was within my price range. I was happy with my purchase for six months, until the day I put just a little weight on the back of the chair, and it broke. Turned out that the chair’s back was made of particle board and it was just a matter of time before some weight broke the board. Now I have to buy a new one. It would have been less expensive if I’d researched various chairs, even if I’d ended up with a pricier chair.
While I am very much a satisficer, there are purchases that bring out the maximizer in me. One of them is blank notebooks. Recently I spent nearly two hours looking through the notebooks at a store to find the perfect one for a creative project. While I could use any notebook to take notes and draw pictures, the one I found fitted the project I had in mind.
While I’m always glad to be a satisficer, I admit my satisficing ways can sometimes prevent me from getting the satisfaction of finding exactly what I want. I know making sure that I raise my standards and get the enjoyment of finding the right choice for me will help me to enjoy the best of both worlds.
1. What can we learn about the author from paragraph 1?| A．She dislikes shopping at all. |
| B．She wants every purchase to be perfect. |
| C．She is proud of every choice she has made. |
| D．She is a quick decision-maker when shopping. |
| A．To suggest that satisficing can save time. |
| B．To show that satisficing can often be silly. |
| C．To show that satisficing can be expensive. |
| D．To prove that satisficing can bring happiness. |
| A．She regretted buying it. | B．She felt satisfied with it. |
| C．She thought it was affordable. | D．She found it was not good enough. |
| A．It pays to be a patient shopper. |
| B．Shopping can provide pleasure. |
| C．Spending wisely saves one trouble. |
| D．One never wastes time on what to buy. |
9 . Do you like to shop online?
One common shopper strategy is “showrooming.” This means that customers go into a store, look at the product, talk to a salesperson, and then use their smartphones or other mobile devices to find a better price. “Reverse showrooming” is another strategy.
The number of online shoppers is rising, but not as fast as retailers (零售商) first thought. People still like to go into stores. Teens especially prefer to shop at the shopping center.
In order to keep customers coming into stores, managers need to train salespeople well. In-store shoppers want salespeople to give them a lot of attention, be polite, and know a lot about the product.
However, online shopping doesn't work for every product. People prefer to shop for food in a store.
| A．What products do shoppers like to buy online? |
| B．With online shopping, you can't try before you buy. |
| C．Usually the products we find online have better prices. |
| D．Or do you prefer to go into a store and look at a product? |
| E．If you're buying a new car, you can research prices online. |
| F．Shopping for them is not about finding the best price; it's a social experience. |
| G．Customers first go online to do research and then go into a store to get the product. |
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