“I find myself glancing at my watch to see how long I’ve been standing in line,” she said. “Everywhere I go, I notice if the dumpster(垃圾罐)gates are open or if there’s trash in the parking lot.” Ms. Clark is a “mystery shopper”, one of thousands of contract workers that companies hire to pretend as regular customers in order to judge customer service, cleanliness and whether a store is selling a product that meets company specifications (规格).
Mystery shoppers can be found or, rather, not found, everywhere from restaurants and automotive shops to convenience stores and department stores. They play a constant cat-and-mouse game with store and restaurant employees and managers. However it’s not all fun and games. Once in the field, a mystery shopper will typically visit several stores or restaurants per hour, taking mental notes while inside, then jotting down physical notes after they leave.
It’s important for mystery shoppers to be as exact as possible, because the client companies are looking for data they can use to improve their service. The questionnaire won’t say, “Does the trash can need to be emptied?” What an educated shopper will say is, “The trash can to the left of the front door was overflowing with 10 pieces of trash on the ground.” Companies don’t need opinion but facts.
Nowadays mystery shoppers are armed with a number of high-tech devices, such as a digital scale and a digital thermometer, as well as a handheld PC for recording the entire experience. It’s a challenging job but a rewarding one. Mystery shoppers can be full time or part time, but the full-time workers tend to stick to standard mystery shopping while part-timers often choose the less complex reward-based programs. In those , the shoppers stay disguised(装扮的) only until the “shop” is finished, and then reveal (透漏) themselves to the store management and award prizes to employees who provided excellent service.
To be a mystery shopper, it’s important to be a good observer, but sometimes it’s important to have the right profile(外表), too. Companies often hire shoppers from particular backgrounds to better blend in with clients’ regular customers. If a secret shopper will be sent in, for example, to do a high-end automotive shop, the candidate must have a particular profile that meets a high-end, luxury car-type buyer profile. “It’s a challenge to perform your shop without being discovered,” Ms. Clark said, “because most of the people that we work for are very aware of the mystery shopping program.”
67. According to the text a “mystery shopper” would not have to .
A. sign a contract with the employer B. travel a lot around the city
C. provide exact facts to the company D. fill in questionnaires
68. We learn from the text that Ms. Clark .
A. visits some shops regularly and sometimes does something special
B. pretends to be a shopper and evaluates the services
C. is a government official looking into the services
D. is a manager of a company offering good services
69. People are willing to become a mystery shopper mainly because they can .
A. get the best service and get paid at the same time
B. play a cat-and-mouse game with shop employees and managers
C. do the job either full time or part time and get paid well
D. observe clearly what happens in the shops
70. What does the underlined word “those” in the 4th paragraph refer to?
A. The shops where the mystery shoppers go.
B. The less complex reward-based programs.
C. Part-time jobs.
D. Excellent services.
Just as mankind has always had a desire to fly, the human race has wanted to swim under the water since prehistoric times. Pictures of primitive devices to enable people to breathe underwater have been found dating from 3000 years ago, but our dream of moving freely beneath the ocean waves for long periods of time was only realized about 60 years ago, when French diving legend Jacques Cousteau developed the first practical Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus(SCUBA). Since then the sport of SCUBA diving has gone from strength to strength.
Lovers of SCUBA diving like the feeling of weightlessness, the peace and quiet under the water, the ability to move in three dimensions and the sense of adventure they get while on a dive. SCUBA divers often travel to some of the most beautiful and remote places in the world in the search for rare underwater flora and fauna(动、植物). Palau, The Red Sea, The Maldives and Hawaii have many of the most popular diving sites, but recreational divers often have to make do with less exotic local destinations, like the North Sea in Britain.
SCUBA diving is not without its dangers, however. The mixture of nitrogen and oxygen divers breathe underwater, combined with the pressure under the water can be deadly if a diver rises too quickly to the surface, causing a condition called ‘the bends’. Divers can also get lost or trapped when diving on wrecks, and fatalities(死亡)are particularly common in cave diving, where divers add to the dangers of diving by swimming through underground caves filled with water. Diving can also be harmful to the underwater environment. However with proper precautions diving can open up a whole new world, far from the stresses of daily life.
63. What is the writer trying to do in the text?
A. Advertise some popular diving sites.
B. Describe how to dive underwater.
C. Warn people against diving in the sea.
D. Give information about SCUBA diving.
64. What can the reader learn from the text?
A. There is uncertainty about SCUBA diving safety.
B. Divers have caused a lot of damage to the environment.
C. SCUBA diving is an old sport with a long history.
D. Divers always face the pressures in their life.
65. How might the writer describe SCUBA diving?
A. Interesting. B. Relaxing. C. Frightening D. Unpleasant.
66. What do you think the author is most likely to suggest if he continues to write?
A. Getting out to dive underwater. B. Stopping damaging environment.
C. Making better use of SCUBA. D. Getting over the troubles of daily life.
Bicycles for rent could become as common as newspaper stands and mail boxes on Germany’s street corners if a scheme launched by Deutsche Bahn is successful.
The German rail operator has launched a bicycle-hire scheme designed for simple one-way trips.
“It’s a new concept,”said Andreas Knie, head of the project.
Users must first register with Call-A-Bike at a cost of 15 euros（US$14.7）. With a simple phone call, they can hire one of the many bikes parked outside stations, at a cost of 3 to 5 cents per minute. At the end of their journey, they ring a computer and tell it where the bike is parked.
The bikes are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
No one will be breaking speed records with Call-A-Bike bicycles. They weigh in at 25 kilograms, at least double the weight of a normal bicycle, though they do have eight gears（齿轮）.
“They are pretty heavy, but we don’t want people taking them on the train or into the subway,” Knie said.
They are also designed with parts that do not fit a normal bicycle. Even the screws are irregular and the bike looks so odd that thieves would stand out.
Vandalism and theft have led to the downfall of previous schemes which date back to Amsterdam’s 1966“White Bike”scheme.
In that short-lived experiment, anti-establishment groups painted bikes white and left them around the Dutch capital.
However, many were taken permanently and repainted, while the police took away others on the basis that ownerless bikes were street rubbish.
Copenhagen, Vienna and Helsinki also have free bike schemes, in which users deposit a coin in Copenhagen’s case 20 crowns（US$2.50）—to free a bike from a rack.
“The advantage these schemes have is ease of use. But because they’re so cheap, people tend to hold on to the bikes and then there are none on the streets,”the person in charge said.
Oslo is also planning a bike-hire system where users will pay a symbolic fee of 50 Norwegian crowns（US$6.50）for unlimited use in the city for a year.
Users will buy an electronic identity card as a key that will register when the bike is parked or taken from a rack.
59. How many European countries have already launched the free bike schemes?
A. Four. B. Five. C. Six. D. Seven.
60.What can be learned about Amsterdam’s 1966“White Bike”scheme?
A. The bicycles were twice as heavy as a normal bicycle.
B. A heavy rain stopped the scheme from being carried out.
C. Some bicycles were damaged or stolen and the scheme failed.
D. The police ended the scheme for traffic safety
61.What can be inferred from the text?
A. Bicycles for rent have become as common as newspaper stands and mail boxes on Germany’s street corners.
B. The bikes in Germany are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
C. German bicycles for rent are designed specially so that they will draw people’s attention.
D. Germany has taken some measures to stop the bicycles for rent from being taken away.
62.Which do you think is the best title?
A. Free Bicycles for Europeans.
B. Tough Transporters.
C. Customer is King.
D. Unpractical Scheme.
The New York Times is now better than ever－All the more reasons to order home delivery now.
NEW－Separate sections（版面）for the Arts, Monday through Thursday, and Sports 7 days a week that you can pull out, take with you or pass along.
NEW－The Dinning In, Dinning Out section, Wednesday, a banquet（宴会）of great meals you can make yourself order up or eat out.
NEW－The House & Home section, Thursday, filled with useful, interesting features（特别报道）and articles about making the most of all sorts of living spaces.
NEW－An Enlarged, two-part Weekend section, Friday with more ideas about movies, shows, art exhibitions, outdoor and indoor recreation.
Latest news and sports results daily. And of course, daily world and national news, Sunday’s special sections and all the other great features you’ll continue to find in the Times.
Find out just how much you can obtain from the Times every day.
Call 1－800－311－1969 or use the postage-paid order card to order convenient home delivery at 50％ OFF our regular price.
56. If you want to find out the more information of films you should _________.
A. call 1-800-311-1969 B. go over the House and Home section
C. read the Art section D. read Weekend section
57. From the passage we know that _______.
A. the Times sells at a lower price than before
B. the Times has improved a great deal and everyone likes to read it
C. many of the good features of the Times remain unchanged
D. you will learn everything by reading the Times every day
58. The owner of the passage advertises ________.
A. to introduce the new sections
B. to announce the new sections of the Times
C. to make known his new plan of the Times
D. to persuade people to buy the Times
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36～55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” Once 36 , such opportunities are like valuable diamonds hidden in the sand.
Several years ago, I spoke at a school about how we were surrounded by “__37 ” if we could only recognize them. A man stopped by to see me, and I 38 him as somebody who had suffered through a(n) 39 divorce (离婚) and was examining what was most important to him. He took a small 40 out of his pocket. Here is what he said to me that day.
“I 41 on this stone when I was leaving church last Sunday. You had spoken about 42 opportunities—diamonds. I put the stone in my 43 to remind me to look for those diamonds that I need. I have been trying to sell my 44 . On Monday morning, a man who seemed interested in 45 some of my stock (股票) stopped by. I thought, ‘Here’s my diamond—don’t let it 46 !’ I sold the entire stock to him by noon. Now my next diamond is to find a new 47 !”
Not long afterward, he did find a new and better job. From then on, he 48 to keep his stone with him all the time as a 49 to look for “diamonds” as he digs through the 50 of life.
Richard DeVos is right when he 51 . “This is an exciting world. It is filled with opportunities. 52 moments wait around every corner.” Those moments are diamonds that, 53 left unrecognized, will be forever lost.
Are you looking for “diamonds” every day? If not, you may 54 pass them by! Perhaps there is a diamond of opportunity hidden in the difficulty you’re 55 now.
36.A.given B.discovered C.sent D.made
37.A.opportunities B.dangers C.diamonds D.chances
38.A.considered B.treated C.remembered D.saw
39.A.painful B.stupid C.normal D.original
40.A.ball B.stone C.paper D.flower
41.A.stepped B.depended C.fought D.based
42.A.stealing B.accepting C.recognizing D.realizing
43.A.purse B.pocket C.bag D.house
44.A.stone B.position C.career D.business
45.A.selling B.buying C.hunting D.casting
46.A.go off B.give in C.stay up D.watch out
47.A.buyer B.job C.stock D.rock
48.A.hoped B.decided C.refused D.hated
49.A.scene B.prize C.reminder D.power
50.A.difficulties B.hopes C.characters D.cases
51.A.takes over B.leaves out C.points out D.calls for
52.A.Actural B.Great C.Dangerous D.Necessary
53.A.unless B.though C.for D.if
54.A.happily B.easily C.luckily D.dangerously
55.A.expressing B.satisfying C.breaking D.experiencing
They drove along with all the car windows ________.
|
A．wound up |
B．winding on |
C．winded up |
D．wind up |
