Today, when I think of my friend, I remember the way her face _____ when she saw the picture of a handsome fellow.

A. cheered up               B. shone up                  C. stood up                  D. lit up  

Celebrity endorsements

Despite the fact that companies believe celebrities had a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers, researchers have discovered that this does not seem to be the case. British and Swiss researchers carried out a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people.

In a sample of 298 students, researchers presented a magazine advertisement for a digital camera that was endorsed (為…做廣告宣傳) by a fictional student claiming the camera was “hot” and his “preferred choice”. The same advertisement was shown to other students, but with a difference: The camera was endorsed by a famous person in Germany.

While the students said that both advertisements were beneficial, the one made by the student topped the celebrity one if students aimed to impress others with their purchases (購(gòu)買). More than half of the students, who admitted purchasing products that would impress others, said they were influenced by the student’s advertisement. Only 20％ said the celebrity one would affect their buying decision.

Professor Brett Martin of the University of Bath’s School of Management, explained that the findings could be used not only in Germany, but in other countries as well. “ Our research questions whether celebrities are the best ways to sell products,” said Prof Martin.“Celebrities can be effective but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from a fictional fellow student. This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy.”

1.Some companies think the celebrities endorsement          ．

A．is popular with the consumers

B．can pull all the consumers into the shops

C．can affect the consumers’ purchasing

D．is as effective as an endorsement from common people

2.Which of the following ads would be more effective to common consumers, according to

the experiment?

An ad featuring lovely pandas.

An ad made by David Beckham.

An ad made by fictional common people.

An ad with beautiful natural scenery.

3.The underlined words “the Jones” in the last paragragh refer to“     ”．

A．someone called Jones                    B．common people

C．the Jones family                         D．celebrities

4.We can infer from the passage that       ．

A．celebrities cheat consumers in advertisement

B．the researchers here are against celebrity endorsement

C．the student’s ads are more reliable than those made by celebrities

D．companies needn’t spend so much money on celebrity endorsement

5.We can probably read the article in       ．

A．a(chǎn) local newspaper                       B．a(chǎn) science report

C．a(chǎn)n academic journal                     D．a(chǎn) textbook

 

Last Friday my brother and I were driving home together after doing some shopping and gave our attention to an interesting conversation. Because of this distraction (分心)my brother took a wrong turn.
Unfortunately, the wrong turn took us towards a bridge and we had no way to turn back. Unwillingly, my brother paid the bridge fee and drove on. He was clearly frustrated by the mistake and the needless waste of $4.
We eventually reached an exit and, as we took it, my brother noticed a young fellow pulled over to the side of the road. He came out of his car and tried to phone someone. I was busy trying to figure out which way we would go next but my brother pulled over and asked the guy if he needed any help. And he did. He had a flat tire and needed a tool to get it off.
My brother gave him a wrench, and then began to help him change the flat. The young man said that this had been a bad week for him: earlier he had gotten into a minor car accident, and now this flat on his way home from work. But he called us “a breath of fresh air” and kept thanking us because he really would have been stuck if we hadn’t come along.
After we finished the job he thanked us again and pulled out $20 from his pocket and tried to give it to us. “No,” I said. “We were never supposed to even get on that bridge,we took a wrong turn. But now we know why we did. It was to help you. Thank you for turning our mistake into an opportunity to serve.” 
What I loved most was that my brother was able to see a chance to help. His reaction in the situation is a lesson for everyone and we felt so good the rest of the day.
【小題1】When did the author and his brother notice the young man who had a flat tire?

A．Before they arrived at a bridge.

B．When they were passing through an exit.

C．When the young man stopped them for help.

D．After they came back to the right road.

【小題2】We can learn from the text that the writer’s brother ________.

A．didn’t know the roads well

B．was a warm-hearted young man

C．made the turn to help the young man

D．regretted making a wrong turn all the way home

【小題3】What did the young man mean by calling the writer and his brother “a breath of fresh air” ?

A．He had been in the hot sun waiting for help for so long.

B．His car’s air conditioner was broken.

C．They calmed him down by offering him a cold drink.

D．They changed his bad luck and the bad mood he was in.

【小題4】Which of the following sentences best describes the writer’s experience?

A．It’s no use crying over spilt milk.

B．God helps those who help themselves.

C．Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it.

D．If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.

I shall never forget the night, a few years ago, when Marion J. Douglas was a student in one of my adult-education classes. He told us how tragedy had struck at his home, not once, but twice. The first time he had lost his five-year-old daughter. He and his wife thought they couldn’t bear that first loss; but, as he said, “Ten months later, God gave us another little girl and she died in five days.”

This double bereavement was almost too much to bear. “I couldn’t take it,” this father told us. “I couldn’t sleep, eat, rest or relax. My nerves were entirely shaken and my confidence gone.” At last he went to the doctors: one recommended sleeping pills and another recommended a trip, but neither helped. He said, “My body felt as if it was surrounded in a vice(大鉗子), and the jaws of the vice were being drawn tighter and tighter.” The tension of grief(悲傷) --- if you have ever been paralyzed(使癱瘓) by sorrow, you know what the meant.

“But thank God, I had one child left --- a four-year-old son. He gave me the solution to the problem. One afternoon as I sat around feeling sorry for myself, he asked, ‘Daddy, will you build a boat for me?’ I was in no mood to build a boat; in fact, I was in no mood to do anything. But my son is a persistent fellow! I had to give in. Building that toy boat took me about three hours. By the time it was finished, I realized that those three hours spent building that boat were first hours of mental relaxation and peace that I had had in months! I realized that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking. In my case, building the boat had knocked worry out of the ring. So I determined to keep busy.”

“The following night, I made a list of jobs that ought to be done. Scores of items needed to be repaired. Amazingly, I had made a list of 242 items that needed attention. During the last two years I have completed most of them. I am so busy now that I have no time for worry.”

No time for worry! That is exactly what Winston Churchill said when he was working eighteen hours a day at the height of the war. When he was asked if he worried about his huge responsibilities, he said, “I am too busy. I have no time for worry.”

The underlined word “bereavement” in the second paragraph refers to _________.

A. having lost a loved one	B. having lost a valuable article
C. having lost a profit-making business	D. having lost a well-paid job

Marion felt his body as if it was caught in a vice because _________.

A. he couldn’t earn enough money to support his family

B. he was suffering from sleeplessness disease

C. he couldn’t get out of mental pressure

D. he felt tired of adult-education classes

Marion made a list of over 200 items that needed to be repaired because _________.

A. he hadn’t been able to spare time to mend them

B. he wanted to kill his free time by repairing them

C. the items had actually been broken and needed attention

D. repairing the items helped crowd worry out of his mind

At the end of the passage, the author wrote about Winston Churchill in order to ________.

A. prove that he followed Churchill’s example

B. support his student’s solution to his problem

C. show that he was successful in his career

D. make it clear how his conclusion was reached

I had planted different hot peppers in my garden. A Mexican fellow called Sam worked for me. He_36_ hot peppers, too. It was late summer and a beautiful sunny day. My son, Marcus, eight, and my daughter, Ellen, ten, picked several 37 hot peppers and entered our workroom, with their              38 ．They wanted to see if Sam could   39   more hot peppers than I.  After a little joking with them we agreed to the contest but they had to   40  ，too. That was not  41  terms for them so they left the room.

They  42   about an hour later with a new proposal and new hot peppers they had just picked．  43  they had reasoned that when a pepper was  44  in color it was the hottest kind. Marcus and Ellen would eat the green colored peppers   45  Sam and I would eat the red colored peppers. Giving Sam a wink（使眼色），we  46  . Showing good sportsmanship（體育精神），I had the kids  47  the peppers that Sam and I would eat.  They picked the largest two red peppers.  Then they picked a  48   green one for themselves. Knowing what was going to  49  ，I told them I would make it  50   for them.  I cut one pepper in half and removed the  51   to reduce the heat a little. The contest was one of speed rather than  52  ．Each child had pepper in hand and was  53  to start .

Looking at my  54   I said, OK, on three. One, Two, THREE. So much happened all at once. Tears, screams and spitting running around, the children  55   their mouth with fast waving hands.  A short time later, Sam and I agreed that the red tasted better than the green.

A. ate              B. liked          C. sold             D. studied

A. heavy                    B. colorful             C. large                  D. green

A. proposal             B. tricks                C. imagination        D. plans

A. plant                         B. pick                  C. harvest               D. eat

A. taste                   B. participate         C. contribute           D. share

A. acceptable              B. comfortable              C. profitable           D. tolerable

A. entered                  B. returned            C. responded           D. reached

A. Somehow                  B. Unfortunately    C. Unexpectedly      D. Anyhow

A. purple                   B. green                C. red                    D. orange

A. while              B. but            C. so              D. if

A. smiled              B. understood         C. agreed             D. jumped．

A. prepare           B. select          C. cut                 D. cook

A. fresh              B. small          C. delicious             D. hot

A. take in               B. take on              C. take place           D. take effect

A. more convenient     B. more interesting

C. happier           D. easier

A. seeds            B. leaves         C. skin                    D. flesh

A. time                   B. skill                  C. quality               D. quantity

A. nervous                 B. eager                C. willing          D. glad

A. watch                    B. children            C. partner          D. pepper

A. opened                  B. covered             C. fanned               D. washed