Celebrity endorsements
Despite the fact that companies believe celebrities had a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers,researches have discovered that this does not seem to be the case．British and Swiss researchers conducted a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people．
In a sample of 298 students,researchers presented a magazine advertisement for a digital camera that was endorsed by a fictional student claiming the camera was“hot”and his “preferred choice”．The same advertisement was shown to other students，but with a difference：The camera was endorsed by a famous person in Germany．
While the students said that both advertisements were beneficial,the one made by the student topped the celebrity one if students aimed to impress others with their purchases.More than half of the students，who admitted purchasing products that would impress others，said they were influenced by the student’s advertisement．Only 20％ said the celebrity one would affect their buying decision．
Professor Brett Martin，of the University of Bath’s School of Management，explained that the findings could be used not only in Germany,but in other countries as well．“Our research questions whether celebrities are the best ways to sell products，”said Prof Martin．“Celebrities can be effective but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from a fictional fellow students．This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy．”
46．Some companies think the celebrities endorsement ____________．
A．is popular with the consumers
B．can pull all the consumers into the shops
C．can affect the consumers’ purchasing
D．is as effective as an endorsement from common people
47．Which of the following ads would be more effective to common consumers, according to the experiment?
A．An ad featuring lovely pandas． B．An ad made by David Beckham．
C．An ad made by fictional common people．D．An ad with beautiful natural scenery．
48．The underlined words“the Jones”in the last paragragh refer to“____________ ”．
A．someone called Jones B．common people
C．the Jones family D．celebrities
49．We can imply from the passage that ____________．
A．celebrities cheat consumers in advertisement
B．the researchers here are against celebrity endorsement
C．the student’s ads are mole reliable than those made by celebrities
D．company needn’t spend so much money on celebrity endorsement
50．We can probably read the article in____________ ．
A．a local newspaper B．a science report
C．an academic journal D．a textbook
“Can I see my baby?”asked the happy new mother. The bundle(婴儿包)was placed in her arms and when she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped-the baby had been born without ears. Time, however, proved that the baby’s hearing was perfect except his appearance．
One day when he rushed home from school and threw himself into his mother’s arms，he cried out bitterly，“A boy, a big boy…called me－a f—…freak．”She sighed, knowing that his life was to be endless of heartbreaks．
He grew up，handsome for his misfortune．A favorite with his fellow students,he might have been class president,but for that．He developed a gift for literature and music．
The boy’s father had a talk with the family doctor．Could nothing be done?“I believe we could graft(移植)on a pair of outer ears，if they could he donated(捐献)，”the doctor decided．So the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice(牺牲)for a young man．Two years went by．Then,“You’re going to the hospital，son．Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need．But it’s a secret．”said the father．
The operation was a brilliant success．His talents blossomed into genius．School and college became a series of successes．Later he married and entered the diplomatic(外交)service．“But I must know!”he urged his father．“Who gave so much for me? I could never do enough for him．”
“I do not believe you could,”said the father，“but the agreement was that you are not to know…not yet．”The years kept the secret,but the day did come …one of the darkest days that ever passed through a son．He stood with his father over his mother’s casket(棺材)．Slowly and tenderly，the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick，reddish-brown hair to let out the secret．
41．The story is mainly about____________．
A．hew a boy had new ears through an operation
B．what a devoted parent privately did for the child
C．how a disabled boy turned into a useful person
D．why a donator made a sacrifice to a bright boy
42．From the first paragraph we know that the mother____________．
A．was determined to donate her ears to pedect her son
B．kept her husband unknown about the baby’s situation
C．felt shocked and disappointed to see her new baby
D．complained of her bad luck to have a disabled child
43．The underlined word“freak”in Paragraph 3 is the closest in meaning to“____________”．
A．slow—acting person B．ugly—looking child
C．badly—behaved student D．strangely—shaped creature
44．What can be inferred from the passage?
A．The agreement was between the donator and the family．
B．The boy was so popular that he was made class president．
C．Finally the boy came to know who the donator was．
D．The mother donated her ears to her son after she died．
45．What moral lesson can we draw from this reading? A．Real love lies in what is done unknown rather than what is done known．
B．It is up to parents to help their children heart and soul．
C．True beauty lies only in the heart not in appearance．
D．It is a virtue for young generations to learn to be grateful．
第二部分：阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Dear Cary,
I’m writing because I’ve understood you’ve struggled with alcoholism(酗酒)．I’ve been fighting mine ever since I went through 9-11．After that，I’ve been more or less useless professionally –I’m a lawyer–and have had to resign from my job because I was discovered passed-out drunk in front of my computer.I’ve taken some medicine and it has helped somewhat.I can manage about a month without drinking，but after that I end up having a crazy stage where nothing matters except drinking．After a week or so of heavy drinking，I start having nightmares of people jumping.After that，it’s a week of not being able to get out of bed.
I was supposed to travel to a conference but didn’t make it because I got so drunk at the airport that I fell down on my face and spent the rest of the day in the emergency room. I have been hiding from my family since then．Fortunately they won’t be expecting me to come back for a week or so.Otherwise, they would notice the bump on my forehead and two black eyes．
I don’t really know what I’m asking you．Cary,I need a way out that doesn’t involve causing pain to my family．I’m taking medicine，but I still have these attacks every few months．If there’s alcohol in the house，I can’t stay away from it．It seems that this will never end. I’m afraid of what will happen if something bad happens，like a family member dying,or getting fired again．
Thanks for reading．
Yours
T
36．The underlined sentence shows us all the following EXCEPT____________．
A．that the author is a lawyer by profession
B．that the author is a lawyer and he seldom gets drunk
C．the reason why the author had to resign
D．that the author was once discovered drunk as a fish
37．The author writes to Cary in order to____________．
A．offer advice B．tell a story
C．avoid nightmares D．ask for help
38．What is the author worried about?
A．Losing his job B．Missing the conference
C．Bring pain to his family D．Giving up drinking
39．What do we learn from the passage?
A．T’s family members don’t want to see him because of his alcoholism．
B．Getting drunk once prevented T from attending a conference．
C．T will have nightmares when he stops drinking．
D．T never attempted to give up his alcoholism．
40．We know from the passage that Cary____________．
A．likes to talk about the details of his life． B．is an expert on treating alcoholism
C．is probably a recovered alcoholic D．never suffered from alcoholism
第二节：完形填空(共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从16-35各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Kindness at fast-food restaurant
It was summer and I had gotten one of the few jobs a 14-year-old can find—working at Burger King，a fast－food restaurant．It 16 wasn’t a good job，but it meant money， 17 was something I needed.
One day，I was working behind the front counter，taking 18 .The customers were coming and going，and the woman who 19 didn’t seem any different from most others.
She ordered her meal and I told her the total.As she searched 20 her purse to find some change，the woman soon 21 that she was about a dollar short.“I’m 22 to say this,but I guess I won’t be able to make my purchase 23 ，”she said sadly
That’s when I had the idea of paying the difference for her. She refused at first，but after I 24 ,she agreed.She thanked me and moved to the end of the counter to 25 her order.I continued with my work and thought 26 more of it
About an hour later 27 had slowed down and I was waiting for my next customer.Then I glanced over towards the 28 and saw the same woman whom I’d helped with the money entering again．I 29 recognized her.
She walked straight up to me and said，“I want to thank you again for what you did.You see，I’m a diabetic(糖尿病患者),and 30 I need to eat something right away．That’s 31 I came in earlier．If you hadn’t helped me as you did，I 32 have fainted.Thank you．”
She handed me two dollars, 33 I’d given her.
34 the woman walk away,I realized that God had used me to help me.In the end,I was 35 not only with money but also with the satisfaction of knowing that I’d helped someone out of a tight spot.
16．A．firstly B．roughly C．certainly D．strictly
17．A．which B．what C．that D．it
18．A．menus B．orders C．service D．food
19．A．reached B．moved C．presented D．approached
20．A．through B．for C．about D．across
21．A．recognized B．realized C．admitted D．said
22．A．guilty B．disappointed C．embarrassed D．regret
23．A．above all B．first of all C．in all D．after all
24．A．insisted on B．insisted C．stuck to D．stuck
25．A．pick up B．pick out C．carry out D．bring out
26．A．none B．anything C．nothing D．something
27．A．cnstomers B．orders C．pressure D．business
28．A．entrance B．restaurant C．counter D．window
29．A．suddenly B．immediately C．surely D．completely
30．A．at a time B．at time C．sometime D．sometimes
31．A．when B．where C．why D．how
32．A．shall B．may C．might D．need
33．A．twice that B．twice what C．that twice D．what twice
34．A．Watching B．Looking C．Observing D．Noticing
35．A．awarded B．honored C．returned D．rewarded
一一What do you know about Mike?
一一Well,he got married and____________in Australia．
|
A．settled down |
B．got down |
C．took down |
D．turned down |
The students were studying in____________classroom when, all of ____________sudden,the lights went out.
|
A．不填;不填 |
B．a;the |
C．the;a |
D．the；不填 |
