As societies develop, their members start to see things not so much according to what they need, but according to what they want. When people have enough money, these wants become demands.
Now, it' s important for the managers in a company to understand what their customers want if they are going to develop effective marketing strategies (策略). There are various ways of doing this. One way at supermarkets ( 超市), for example, is to interview(采访) customers while they're doing their shopping. They can be asked what they prefer to buy and then the results of the research can be studied. This provides information on which to base future marketing strategies. It' s also quite normal for top managers from department stores to spend a day or two each month visiting stores and mixing freely with the public, as if they were ordinary customers, to get an idea of how customers act.
Another way to get information from customers is to give them something. For example, some fast food restaurants give away tickets in magazines or on the street that permit customers to get part of their meal for nothing. As well as being a good way of attracting customers into the restaurants to spend their money, it also allows the managers to get a feel for where to attract customers and which age-groups to attract.
Another strategy used at some well-known parks such as Disneyland is for top managers to spend at least one day in their work, touring the park dressed as Mickey Mouse or something like that. This provides them with a perfect chance to examine the scene and watch the customers without being noticed.
1.The text is designed for _______
A. managers B. salesmen C. researchers D. customers
2.Which of the following can help managers get useful information?
A. Visiting customers themselves. B. Giving customers free food on the street.
C. Visiting parks as ordinary customers. D. Asking customers questions at supermarkets.
3. What does the word "this" underlined in the last sentence refer to?
A. Visiting Disneyland. B. Wearing attractive clothes.
C. Acting Mickey Mouse. D. Dressing up and walking around.
4. The main idea of the text is _________.
A. how to do market research B. how to develop marketing strategies
C. how to find out customers' social needs D. how to encourage customers to spend more money
How to Be a Winner
Sir Steven Redgrave
Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals
“In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes (糖尿病) . Believing my career (职业生涯)was over, I felt extremely low. Then one of the specialists said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was it----the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way.”
Karen Pickering
Swimming World Champion
“I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that sort of workload by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success—you can’t follow a career in any field without being well-organized. List what you believe you can achieve. “Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them.”
Kirsten Best
Poet ＆ Writer
“When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve something. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to concentrate. When I feel tense, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘calm’, ‘peace’ or ‘focus’, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit that can become second nature quite easily and is a powerful psychological (心理的) tool.”
1. What does Sir Steven Redgrave mainly talk about?
A. Difficulties influenced his career. B. Specialists offered him medical advice.
C. Training helped him defeat his disease. D. He overcame the shadow of illness to win.
2. What does Karen Pickering put on top of her diary?
A. Her training schedule. B. Her daily happenings.
C. Her achievements. D. Her sports career.
3.What does the underlined word “distractions” probably refer to?
A. Ways that help one to focus. B. Words that help one to feel less tense.
C. Activities that turn one’s attention away. D. Habits that make it hard for one to relax.
4.According to the passage, what do the three people have in common?
A. Courage. B. Devotion. C. Hard work. D. Self-confidence.
When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.
“Now go clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.
1.What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
A. To introduce Stephanie to her. B. To prevent her from seeing his painting.
C. To put the materials back in the yard. D. To show his artwork to her.
2. In his mother’s eyes, the writer_______.
A. was a born artist B. always caused trouble
C. was a problem solver D. worked very hard
3.The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
A. the rainbow in the sky B. the stripes on the pavement
C. something imaginative and fun D. important lessons learned in childhood
4.It can be learned from the passage that parents should ________.
A. encourage children to paint B. value friendship among children
C. discover the hidden talent in children D. protect rather than destroy children’s dreams
People from Great Britain brought the English language to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. And in the __36__ 300 years, there were so many___37__ in both places that now people can easily___38__ an English person from an American in the___39__ he or she talks.
Many old words___40__ in England but were kept in America．For example,300 years ago people in Great Britain got their water from something they__41__either a“faucet”,“spigot”,or a“tap”.All these words are___42__ heard in different parts of America, but only “tap”is still___43_ in England．Americans often make___44__ new words or change old ones. “Corn”is one kind of plant in America and__45__ in England．
Also, over the last three centuries the English language has___46__ thousands of new words for things that weren’t___47__ before. And often, American and English people used two__48__ names for them. A tin can is called“tin”for short in English, but a “can”in America．The word “radio”is__49__all over the world, including America．But many English people call it a “wireless”.And almost anything___50__ something to do with cars, railroads, etc．has different___51__ in British and American English.
But now American and British English may be___52__ closer together. One thing is that__ 53_ people can hear a large amount of American speech daily in___54__, on television, or from travelers. Because of this, Americans___55__ to be influencing the British more and more. So some day, English may even be the same on both sides of the Atlantic．
1.A. past B．recent C．oldest D．latest
2.A. citizens B．inventions C．changes D．advances
3.A. pick B．tell C．take D．judge
4.A. voice B．place C．language D．way
5.A. disappeared B．stayed C．returned D．formed
6.A. said B. talked C．spoke D．called
7.A. then B．hardly C．clearly D．still
8.A. necessary B．native C．common D．lively
9.A. of B．into C．up D．out
10.A. another B．the other C．none D．something
11.A. discovered B．added C. improved D．learned
12.A. accepted B．known C．introduced D．understood
13.A. new B．short C．different D．surprising
14.A. produced B．made C．developed D．used
15.A. having B．bringing C．getting D．making
16.A. types B．names C．degrees D．parts
17.A. putting B．staying C．living D．growing
18.A. British B．American C．educated D．ordinary
19.A. families B．buses C．movies D．newspapers
20.A. need B．expect C．seem D．happen
When we reached looked like a large market, I realized that I had been transported into the future of was still my hometown.
A, where, which B, what, where C, what, what D, where, where
Eating too much fat can heart diseases.
A, result from B, contribute to C, devote to D, control of
