Question

    “Who made your T-shirt?” A Harvard University student raised that question. Piertra Rivoli, a professor of business, wanted to find the answer. A few weeks later, she bought a T-shirt and began to follow its path form Texas cotton, to Chinese factory and to charity bin (慈善捐赠箱). The result is an interesting new book, The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy.

Following a T-shirt around the world in a way to make her point more interesting, but it also frees Rivoli from the usual arguments over global trade. She goes wherever the T-shirt goes, and there are surprises around every corner. In China, Rivoli shows why a clothing factory, even with its poor conditions, means a step towards a better care for the people who work there. In the colorful used-clothing markets of Tanzania, she realizes that, “it is only in this final stage of life that the T-shirt will meet a real market,” where the price of a shirt changes by the hour and is different by its size and even color. Rivoli’s book is full of memorable people and scenes, like the noise, the bad air and the “muddy sweet smell of the cotton,” she says. “Here in the factory, Shanghai smells like shallow water Texas.”

Rivoli is at her best when making those sorts of unexpected connections. She even finds one between the free traders and those who are against globalization. The chances opened up by trade are vast, she argues, but free markets need the correcting force of politics to keep them in check. True economic progress needs them both.

1.What do we learn about Professor Rivoli?

A. She used to work on cotton farm.

B. She wrote a book about world trade.

C. She wants to give up her teaching job.

D. She wears a T-shirt wherever she goes.

2.By saying T-shirt “meet a real market”, Rivoli means in Tanzania _______.

A. cheaper T-shirts are needed

B. used T-shirts are hard to sell

C. prices of T-shirts rise and fall frequently

D. prices of T-shirts are usually reasonable

3.What does the word “them” underlined in the last paragraph refer to?

A. Free markets.

B. Price changes.

C. Unexpected connections.

D. Chances opened up by trade.

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A. What T-shirts Can Do to Help Cotton Farms

B. How T-shirts Are Made in Shanghai

C. How T-shirts Are Sold in Tanzania

D. What T-shirts Can Teach Us

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

【解析】

本文是人物故事类，叙述了商业教授皮尔特拉•里沃利买了一件T-shirt，通过研究T-shirt的生产、贸易过程，并从T-shirt的贸易反映出全球自由贸易的规律。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段Piertra Rivoli, a professor of business, wanted to find the answer. A few weeks later, she bought a T-shirt and began to follow its path form Texas cotton, to Chinese factory and to charity bin (慈善捐赠箱). The result is an interesting new book, The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy. 商业教授皮尔特拉•里沃利(Piertra Rivoli)想找到答案。几周后，她买了一件T恤，开始追随它的足迹，从得克萨斯州的棉花，到中国的工厂，再到慈善捐赠箱。结果是一本有趣的新书，《T恤在全球经济中的旅行》。故选B。

2.词义猜测题。根据划线的下一句where the price of a shirt changes by the hour and is different by its size and even color一件衬衫的价格会随着时间的推移而变化，它的尺寸甚至颜色也会有所不同。故选C。

3.推理判断题。根据but free markets need the correcting force of politics to keep them in check. 但自由市场需要政治的力量来约束它们。them是复数，代替前面的复数名词。根据句意应该指free markets，故选A。

4.主旨大意题。根据短文主要讲述了通过研究T-shirt的生产、贸易过程，并从T-shirt的贸易反映出全球自由贸易的规律，所以贴近原文主旨的标题是What T-shirts Can Teach Us，故选D。