6．Every year a couple of things rise to the top of the"must have"list，becoming the season's popular gifts．Hundreds of people line up outside stores，hoping to buy the gifts．Such gifts are examples of social epidemics（流行病）---cases when many people do the same thing at the same time．Why do we end up with the same presents？It could be that the popular gifts are simply better than the rest．But more likely，a gift's popularity is random（任意的）．
People's shopping behavior is not independent．Our behavior depends on the behavior of those around us．This influences both what people talk about and what they buy．Conversations are often driven to the common ground，so we talk about celebrities （like Lady Gaga），the weather or the local sports team．When it comes to the presents we are buying，we tend（傾向于） to bring up the things we think others have heard of．
Social influence leads us to buy what other people buy．Some scientists recently did an experiment．In the study，people visited a website where they could listen to songs and download them for free．Some people were given information about what previous（先前的） site visitors had downloaded，and this led to convergence（趨同）：People tended to download songs others had chosen．In addition，participants（參與者） in the experiment were divided into eight groups and could see the previous downloads only people of their own group．What the researchers found was powerful．Across the separate groups，the songs that became"hits"were greatly different．The top song in one social world was a failure in another．Why？Well，if people imitate（模仿） others，then whatever gets an early advantage in popularity is likely to stand out．
As with these"hit"songs，the popular gifts depend less on their qualities but more on human psychology（心理）．So as you stand in long line trying to get whatever it is that everyone else seems to want this year，stop to realize that this may have less to do with the gift and more about our instincts（本能）．And remember that whoever you are giving the present to may be just as happy with something else．
56．What's the passage mainly about？A
A．Our shopping behavior is influenced by our society．
B．We should learn to depend on ourselves in our life．
C．Everyone should line up and buy the gifts in order．
D．We should have to follow the rules in the market．
57．What does the underlined word"celebrities"probably mean？C
A．Peace．
B．News．
C．Famous people．
D．Friendship．
58．Why does the writer show the experiment to us in the third paragraph？D
A．To tell us how to carry out an experiment carefully．
B．To make us pay more attention to the achievements．
C．To explain why people buy different kinds of gifts crazily．
D．To show how social influence shapes common results．
59．We can make a conclusion from the passage thatA．
A．the gift you offer may not be the favorite of its owner
B．the price of all the gifts will be raised in a short time
C．we must make sure there is a trade mark on the gift
D．more and more gifts may be returned to the stores soon．
分析 本文講述了每年，總會有一些東西會出現(xiàn)在"你今年必須擁有的物品"清單的前列，并成為當季流行的禮品．數(shù)以百計的人們會在商店排隊，希望能夠買到這些禮物．這些禮物會像傳染病一般在社會上流行．人們購物的行為往往不是獨立的．我們的行為往往取決于周圍的人．
解答 56．A細節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)文中第二段中的原句People's shopping behavior is not independent．Our behavior depends on the behavior of those around us．可以得知人們購物的行為往往不是獨立的．我們的行為往往取決于周遭的人．而本文主要就是講述了這個現(xiàn)象．故選A．
57．C此意推測題．根據(jù)劃線詞所在的句子so we talk about celebrities （like Lady Gaga），括號中列舉了Lady Gaga說明celebrities指的是明星，即famous people．故選C．
58．D細節(jié)理解題．文中第三段中第一句話Social influence leads us to buy what other people buy．可以得知，社交的影響引導(dǎo)我們?nèi)ベI其他人買的東西．故選D．
59．A總結(jié)歸納題．根據(jù)第一段中的原句Every year a couple of things rise to the top of the"must have"list，becoming the season's popular gifts，意思是每年，總會有一些東西會出現(xiàn)在"你今年必須擁有的物品"清單的前列，并成為當季流行的禮品．以及文末的原句And remember that whoever you are giving the present to may be just as happy with something else．意思是記住，得到這個禮物的朋友對它的喜愛之情與其他任何東西是一樣的．所以我們可以推斷出，送出的禮物不一定是主人喜歡的，可能是受周圍人影響所選擇購買的．
點評 閱讀理解題，需要先讀題，理解清楚題目意思，接著帶著問題去文章中尋找、推斷答案．把握好細節(jié)，注意推敲才能保證正確率．
