Nothing says love like a dozen long – stemmed roses on Valentine’s Day. More than a million roses will be sold during this festival for lovers, the biggest day of the year for the nation’s rose industry. It’s going to remain the most popular flower because love never goes out of style.
Yes, a rose is a rose is a rose. But selling them is no longer a beautiful experience for traditional flower shops. Supermarkets now offer convenience to the busy and discount rose shops help those hopelessly in love save money. Roses only is a good example of a discount rose retailer that was transformed from a traditional shop to answer the challenge in the’ 90s.
Inside this store on Sixth Avenue near 40 th Street, contemporary white furniture and wall – to – wall mirrors give it an expensive look. Customers move about freely among the counters, looking eagerly at the roses in more than 50 colors from shelf to shelf. Some customers say it’s the high quality of the roses that attracts them there. “I spent $ 20 but the flowers looked like I paid 60 or 70 dollars,” says one customer.
Studies show more people are buying roses in ones, two and threes these days. In fact, more than half of all roses are sold in bunches of fewer than a dozen. But Roses Only's low prices encourage people to spend. Even on Valentine's Day, when the price of a dozen roses and delivery can soar as high as $150, 12 of Roses Only's most expensive flowers sell for just $35. The company's key to success is to hold prices down by controlling every link in the rose chain. It grows its own roses in the sunshine of the Andes Mountains. In addition, the company also sells other items such as ballons and stuffed animals.
While discount rose retailers are witnessing their business bloom, U.S. rose growers aren’t able to compete with the fierce foreign competition. More than 57% of roses sold in the USA are grown in other countries. The biggest foreign producers are Colombia and Ecuador, which accounted for almost 90% of the total imported last year. The trend has hurt domestic rose growers such as Johnson Flowers of California, considered to be this country's leading producer.
Now, instead of fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. "We have a few big fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. “We may also widen our business to include the service area and be a representative for overseas flower producers.”
As a result of severe competition, those in the rose business long for the good old days, whereas ordinary people benefit from the low price.
60．What is the central theme of this text?
A．The US rose business is going from bad to worse in spite of the efforts made.
B．The rose will remain the most popular flower as love never goes out of date.
C．The rose business is trying to meet the challenges in the market to succeed.
D．The rose industry plays an important role in American economy.
61．How does Roses Only obtain success in the discount rose retailing field?
A．By setting up more chain stores across the country.
B．By selling roses in supermarkets.
C．By selling high quality roses at a low price.
D．By selling roses by the dozen.
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科目：高中英語
來源：福建省南安一中2009-2010學(xué)年高二下學(xué)期期末考試試題英語
題型：閱讀理解
All over Britain there are ruins of castles that reflect their entire past. Over the years, legends have focused on these castles.
Castell Coch
This castle was built in the 1870's. Lfor Bach was once the owner of this castle many decades ago, and it is told that he hid a treasure in the nearby tunnel（地道）. Rumors say that it is guarded by three eagles waiting for Lfor to return to collect his treasure.
Luffness Castle
In the basement(地下室) of this castle is a huge door leading to a room. The family kept this door open at all times, but one day the door was found locked and the key was missing. The whole family was surprised. The door was so big that it could not be broken down. One day the son of the family shone of a torch the door. He discovered that the key was on the inside of the room. To this day the door remains locked from the inside.
Toddington Castle
This castle was built during the 13th century. This castle has a local legend that tells about a witch who was put in prison within the castle and died. It is told that her spirit remains and if you put your ear to the floor at Easter, you can hear her cooking below.
Castell Gwynionydd
A legend rests on this castle that states the devil(魔鬼) was the one who built it. It is said the devil had a problem with some people and had planned on punishing them. On his way, the devil met a cobbler（修鞋匠）.The cobbler pointed out that it was still a reasonable distance until he would reach his destination. The cobbler displayed how many shoes he had worn out. Listening to him, the devil did not think his plan was worth so much effort and gave up his plan.
50．Which of the castles mentioned in the passage is said to be guarded by several birds?
A．Castell Coch. B．Luffness Castle.
C．Toddington Castle. D．Castell Gwynionydd.
51．Which of the following castles is related to the legend about a witch?
A．Castell Coch.
B．Luffness Castle.
C．Toddington Castle.
D．Castell Gwynionydd.
52．We can learn from the passage that .
A．Castell Coch is said to be built by the devil
B．Castell Gwynionydd is a great place to celebrate Easter
C．Luffness Castle was once broken down
D．Toddington Castle dates back to the 13 th century
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科目：高中英語
來源：安徽省合肥市2010年高三下學(xué)期第三次教學(xué)質(zhì)量檢測(cè)試題（英語）
題型：閱讀理解
A team from Krakow, in
Poland, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (機(jī)能性核共振成像) (FMRI) to assess brain
activity when 40 volunteers were shown various images. Men showed activity in
areas which dealt with what action they should take in order to avoid or face
up to danger. But the study found more activity in the emotional centers of
women's brains. The researchers, from another university, carried out scans on
21 men and 19 women. Brain activity was monitored while the volunteers were
shown images of objects and images from ordinary life designed to remind
different emotional states.
The images were displayed in two runs. For
the first run, only negative pictures were shown. For the second run, only
positive pictures were shown.
While viewing the negative images, women
showed stronger and broader activity in the left thalamus（神經(jīng)床）. This is an area which
passes sense information to the pain and pleasure centres of the brain. Men
showed more activity in an area of the brain called the left insula（腦島）, which plays a key role in
controlling natural functions, including breath, heart rate and digestion.
Generally, activity in this area tells the body to either run away from danger,
or meet it head on - the so-called "fight or flight response".
While viewing positive images, women showed
stronger activity in an area of the brain associated with memory. With men, the
stronger activity was recorded in an area associated with visual processing. Dr
Urbanik believes these differences suggest women may analyze positive stimuli（刺激）in a broader social context
and associate positive images with a particular memory.
For instance, viewing a picture of a
smiling child might remind memories of a woman's own child at this age. On the
contrary, male responses tend to be less emotional.
1．The research shows that men response differently
to compared with women.
A．different images B．ordinary life
C．different activities D．medical scan
2．According to the passage, when faced with
danger, .
A．women react more slowly than
men B．women usually try to avoid it
C．men usually have no reaction D．men react to it more directly
3．What is discussed in the 4 th paragraph?
.
A．Men and women’s different
memories
B．The different responses to the
children
C．Different reactions to positive
stimuli
D．Negative results of the visual
processing
4．The passage mainly
develops .
A．by inferring B．by comparing
C．by listing examples D．by giving explanations
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科目：高中英語
來源：2011-2012學(xué)年陜西省咸陽市高三上學(xué)期第一次月考英語題
題型：閱讀理解
Obama Still Smokes in Secret
US President Barack Obama has just made
life more difficult for cigarette makers．He has just signed a law that will set tough new rules for the
tobacco industry．The
new law gives the US Food and Drug Administration the power to strictly limit
the making and marketing of tobacco products．
At a White House signing ceremony Monday,
Obama said that he was among the nearly 90% of smokers who took up the habit
before their 18 th birthday．
Obama, who has publicly struggled to give
up smoking, said he still hadn’t completely kicked the habit．Every now and then he still
smokes in secret．
“As a former smoker I struggle with it all
the time．Do I still
smoke sometimes? Yes．Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No．” Obama said at a news
conference．
“I don' t do it in front of my lads．I don 't do it in front of my
family．I would say
that I am 95% cured, but there are times when I mess up, " he said．
"Once you go down this path, it' s
something you continually struggle with, which is exactly why the law is so
important．The new law
is not about me, it' s about the next generation of kids coming up．What we don ' t want is kids
going down that path," he said．
Nearly 20% of Americans smoke and tobacco
use kills about 440,000 people a year in the United States due to cancer, heart
disease, and other serious diseases．
1.The new law makes life difficult
for ．
|
A．Obama
|
B．tobacco industry
|
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C．White House
|
D．US Food and Drug Administration
|
2.What do we know about Obama?
|
A．He no longer smokes．
|
|
B．He still smokes as usual．
|
|
C．He began to smoke at eighteen．
|
|
D．He is trying hard to give up smoking．
|
3.According to the passage, Obama is most
concerned about ．
|
A．children
|
B．officials
|
C．his family
|
D．businessmen
|
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科目：高中英語
來源：高考真題
題型：閱讀理解
閱讀理解。 Discover
Newsmagazine of science devoted to the wonders an stories of modern science, written for the
educated general reader. Published (出版) by Disney Magazine Publishing Co., Discover tells many
of the same stories professionals (專業(yè)人員) read in Scientific American. A truly delightful family
science magazine, each issue (每期) brings to light new and newsworthy topics to make dinnertime
and water-cooler conversations interesting.
Cover Price: $59.88
Price: $19.95($1.66/issue)
You Save: $39.93(67%)
Issues: 12 issues/12 months
Self
Published by Conde Nast Publications Inc., Self is a handbook devoted to women's overall physical
and mental health. Every issue contains usable articles such as "Style Lab", in which wearable clothes
are mixed and matched on non-models and th e"Eat-right Road Map", with tips on how to eat properly.
Cover Price: $35.86
Price: $15.00($2.5/issue)
You Save: $20.86(58%)
Issues: 10 issues/12 months
Instyle
Instyle is a guide to the lives and lifestyles of the world's famous people. The magazine covers the
choices people make about their homes, their clothes and their free time activities. With photos and
articles, it opens the door to these people's homes, families, parties and weddings, offering ideas about
beauty, fitness and in general, lifestyles. Publisher: The Time Inc. Magazine Company.
Cover Price: $47.88
Price: $23.88($2.38/issue)
You Save: $24.00(50%)
Issues: 10 issues/12 months
Wired
This magazine is designed for leaders in the field of information engineering including top managers
and professionals in the computer, business, design and education industries. Published by Conde Nast
Publications Inc., Wired often carries articles on how technology changes people's lives.
Cover Price: $59.40
Price: $10.00($1.00/issue)
You save: $49.40(83%)
Issues: 10 issues/12months 1. Which of the following magazines is published monthly? A. Discover
B. Self
C. Instyle
D. Wired 2. Which two magazines are published by the same publisher? A. Wired and Instyle
B. Discover and Instyle
C. Self and Discover
D. Self and Wired 3. Which magazine offers the biggest price cut? A. Instyle
B. Wired
C. Discover
D. Self 4. The "Style Lab" in Self provides readers with articles which _____. A. offer advice to ordinary women on clothes
B. show how a woman can become famous
C. introduce places with the best food
D. discuss ways of training models 5. Those who are interested in management and the use of high technology would probably choose _____. A. Instyle
B. Self
C. Wired
D. Discover
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