Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension(Reading in Depth)(25 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.
The free enterprise had produced a technology 47 of providing the American consumer with the largest and most varied marketplace in the world. Technological advances, however, have come hand-in-hand with impersonal mass marketing of goods and services. Along with 48 too, have come some instances of manipulative(操纵性的;操作) advertising practices and a great increase to products whose reliability, safety and quality are difficult to 49 .
Today’s consumers buy, enjoy, use and throw away more types of goods than could possibly have been imagined even a few years ago. Yes, too often consumers have no idea of the materials that have gone into the manufacturer’s finished product or their own 50 in selecting one product over another.
Easy credit and forceful techniques of modern marketing persuade many consumers to buy what they cannot 51 . The consequent 52 of family budgets is a problem for consumers at all economic levels. It is not unusual for families to set aside 20 percent or more of their income to debt repayments without understanding the effect this allocation has upon other choices. Some families have such tight budgets that an illness, a period of unemployment, or some other crisis finds them without 53 reserves(储备;储蓄).
In addition to the growing complexity of the market, consumers are sometimes faced with unfair and 54 practices. Although there are laws 55 to protect the consumers, there are not a sufficient number of laws enforced to cover all the abuses of the marketplace.
An adult in today’s society should be knowledgeable in the use of credit. He should understand what is involved in purchasing a house, and the many pitfalls to be avoided when 56 into financial agreements. He should know enough about advertising and selling techniques to enable him to tell the honest from the deceptive. He should be knowledgeable about consumer protection laws so that he can demand his rights. When he needs help, he should know the private and public sources to which he can turn for assistance.
A) virtually
B) deceptive
C) supervisors
D) entering
E) evaluate
F) capable
G) efficiently
H) progress I) designed
J) likely
K) afford
L) adequate
M) overburdening
N) amazing
O) motivation
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. |
