1、雅思（阅读）模拟试卷 42及答案与解析 一、 Reading Module (60 minutes) 0 “Freebie“ marketing A In the late 18905. while traveling as an itinerant salesperson for the Crown. Cork and Seal Company. King C. Gillette observed how his corked bottle caps were discarded immediately after opening. Nevertheless, his company tur
2、ned a healthy profit and there was immense business value. Collette soon came to realize, in a product that was used only a few times. Gillette had his own personal breakthrough while struggling with a straight-bladed razor a slow. fiddly and potentially dangerous instrument that required sharpening
3、 on a regular basis. A simple. disposable blade that could be thrown away when it dulled would meet a real need and generate strong profits, he correctly reasoned. After founding 1:he American Safety Razor Company in 1901, his sales leapt from 168 blades in 1903 to 123,648 blades only a year later.
4、B What King C. Gillette pioneered is far more than a convenient: and affordable way for men to shave, however; it is the business practice now known as “freebie marketing“ hat: has inspire many more companies over the years. Gillettes approach was contrary too 1:he received wider of his era, which h
5、eld tha1 a single, durable, high-quality and relatively expensive consumer item with a high profit margin was the best foundation for a business. Freebie marketing involves two sets of items: a master product that is purchased once, and a consumable product: that is frequently disposed of and repurc
6、hased on an ongoing basis. In this instance, the master product is often sold with little to no profit margin and is sometimes even dispensed at a loss. As the consumables are purchased over months and years, however, this can yield a much greater overall profit. C Freebie marketing only works if th
7、e producer of the master item is also able to maintain control over the creation and distribution of the consumables. If this does not happen, then cheaper versions of the consumable items may be produced, leaving the original company without a source of profit. The video game company Atari, for exa
8、mple, initially sold its Atari 2600 consoles at cost price while relying on game sales for profit. Several programmers left Atari, however, and began a new company called Activision which produced cheaper games of a similar quality. Suddenly, Atari was left with no way to make money. Lawsuits to blo
9、ck Activision failed, and Atari survived only by adding licensing measures to its subsequent 5200 and 7800 consoles. D In other instances, consumers sometimes find that uses for a master product circumvent the need to purchase consumables. This phenomenon is well known to have afflicted the producer
10、s of Cue Cat barcode readers. These were given away free through Wired magazine with the intention that they would be used by customers to scan barcodes next to advertisements in the publication and tubs generate new revenue flows. Users discovered, however, that the machines could be easily modifie
11、d and used for other purposes, such as building a personal database of book and CD collections. As no licensing agreement was ever reached between Wired and its magazine subscribers, Cue Oat were powerless to intervene, and after company liquidation the barcode readers soon became available in quant
12、ities over 500,000 for as little as US$0.30 each. E Not all forms of freebie marketing are legal. One Hal: able example of this is the use of freebie marketing to “push“ habit-forming goods in areas where there is otherwise no market. For illegal substances this is already restricted on the basis of
13、 the products illegality, but the use of freebie marketing to promote legal goods such as tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals is also outlawed because the short-term gain to a small number of commercial outlets is not deemed worth the social cost of widespread substance abuse. F Another practice th
14、at is prohibited under antitrust laws is a form of freebie marketing known as “tying“. This is when a seller makes the sale of one good conditional on the acquisition of a second good. In these instances 1:he first good is typically important and highly desirable, while the second is inferior and un
15、desirable. A music distributor who has the rights to an album that is in high demand, for example, might only allow stores to purchase copies of this album if they also buy unpopular stock that does not sell very easily. Because this typically relies on the manipulation of a natural monopoly on the
16、pant of the distributor, such practices are widely understood to constitute anti-competitive behavior. You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 on the following pages. Questions 1-6 Reading Passage 1 has six sections, A-F. Choose the correct headings
17、for sections A-F from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet. List of Headings i No give-always for addictive products ii Sales of razor blades increase astronomically iii Monopoly of consumables is vital for success iv Video gaming a risky busin
18、ess v A novel method of dual marketing ruled out vi Freebie marketing restricted to legal goods vii Buyer ingenuity may lead to bankruptcy viii A marketing innovation ix A product innovation x More money to be made from high quality products 1 Section A 2 Section B 3 Section C 4 Section D 5 Section
19、E 6 Section F 7 The new tactic of freebie marketing ran against the _ of Gillettes time. 8 Occasionally people who buy a master product find ways of using it that get around the necessity of buying more _. 9 Wired never had a _ with its customers about the use of the barcode readers. 9 Complete the
20、summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet. Freebie marketing is not permitted by law for either illegal or legal (10) products. This type of promotion of goods such as tobacco and alcohol is not considered worth
21、 the (11) and has consequently been outlawed. “Tying“ is also prohibited. This is when the sale of an attractive product is (12) on the purchase of another. It tends to occur when the seller takes advantage of a natural monopoly and is generally considered to be 13 (13) . 13 Tacoma Narrows Bridge Di
22、saster Strikes When the Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened for traffic on 1 July 1940, it was celebrated as a major engineering achievement. Even before construction was completed, however, flaws in the design were apparent; workers sucked on lemon slices to avoid motion sickness as the structure swayed i
23、n the relatively mild winds. Engineers tried three different revisions during construction to address the vibration problem. Initially, fie-down cables were anchored to fifty-tone bulkheads on the river banks. These were ineffective, as the cables soon detached. Then a pair of inclined cable locks w
24、as introduced to connect the main cables to the bridge deck at mid-span. These stayed throughout the bridges lifespan, but did nothing to reduce vibration. A further measure the installation of hydraulic dampers between the towers and the floor system was nullified because the dampers were compromis
25、ed when the bridge was sand-blasted before painting.Shortly after opening, the bridge quickly acquired the fond nickname of “Galloping Gertie“ because of the way it would roll in either side-to-side or length-ways movements known in physics terms as the longitudinal and transverse modes of vibration
26、 respectively. These movements did not compromise the core integrity of the structure, but did make the crossing a somewhat white-knuckle affair. Many drivers reported seeing cars ahead disappear from sight several times as they sank into troughs from transverse vibrations (imagine the ripple across
27、 a packed stadium during a Mexican wave ). The experience of a longitudinal wave is closely analogous, but more accurately associated with the waves one would encounter in the ocean. On a suspension bridge though, these waves are a unique experience some dare-devils were happy to pay the 75c toll ju
28、st for the thrill! Four months later, however, a never-before-seen type of vibration began afflicting the bridge in what were still fairly gentle winds (about 40 kemp). Rather than the simple “wave“ motion that characterizes longitudinal and transverse vibration, the left side of the bridge would ri
29、se while the right side fell, but the centre line of the road would remain completely level. This was proved when two men walked along the centre of the bridge completely unaffected by the rocking motions around them. Visually the bridges movements seemed to be more like a butterfly flapping its win
30、gs than a simple rolling motion. Engineers now understand this to be the tensional mode of vibration, and it is extremely hard to detect. In aero plane design, for example, even minute shifts of the aircrafts mass distribution and an alteration in one component can affect a component with which it h
31、as no logical connection. In its milder forms this can cause a light buzzing noise, similar to that which a wasp or a bumble bee makes, but when allowed to develop unchecked it can eventually cause the total destruction of an aero plane. The tensional mode of vibration is the consequence of a set of
32、 actions known as aerostatic flutter. This involves several different elements of a structure oscillating from the effect of wind, with each cycle of fluttering building more energy into the bridges movements and neutralizing any structural damping effects. Because the wind pumps in more energy than
33、 the structure can dissipate, and the oscillations feed off each other to become progressively stronger, the aerostatic fluttering and tensional vibrations were all but assured to destroy the Tacoma Bridge on the morning of 7 November. At 11.00 a.m. the fluttering had increased to such amplitude tha
34、t the suspender cables were placed under excessive strain. When these buckled, the weight of the deck transferred to the adjacent cables which in turn were unable to support the weight. These cables buckled, leaving nothing to stop the central deck breaking off into the Tacoma River. It was at aroun
35、d 10.15 a.m. on 7 November that tensional vibration began afflicting the bridge. This made driving treacherous, and newspaper editor Leonard Coats worths car was jammed against the curb in the centre of the bridge as he attempted to cross. Coats worth tried to rescue his daughters cocker spaniel fro
36、m the back seat but was unsuccessful, and fearing for his life, crawled and staggered to safety on his own. At this point, an engineering professor named Bert Farquharson proceeded onto the bridge in an attempt to save the frightened animal. Farquharson had been video-recording from the banks of the
37、 fiver and had just returned from purchasing more rolls of film. As an avowed dog lover he felt obliged to attempt a rescue. Unfortunately, the professor too was bitten and retreated empty handed, walking off just moments before the cables snapped and the giant concrete mass of the central deck cave
38、d inwards and disappeared into the fiver.Questions 14-16 Complete the notes below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 4-16 on your answer sheet. Engineers used various techniques while building the bridge to reduce wobble: they attached (14) t
39、o heavy blocks on the shoreline they fastened main cables to the middle of the (15) (16) were placed between the tallest parts of the structure and the deck. 16 Complete the table below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 17-19 on your answer sheet. 19
40、 Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 20-24 on your answer sheet. (20) is a series of actions leading to tensional oscillation. Various components move back and forth from the force of the (21) Eventually the structur
41、e absorbs more (22) than it is able to disperse and the (23) increase in intensity until the structure collapses under the (24) . 24 Choose TWO letters A-E. Write your answers in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet. Which TWO of the following were on the bridge at the time of the collapse? A filmin
42、g equipment B a small dog C Leonard Coats worths daughter D a vehicle E Professor Farquharson 26 Ebonics Ebonics also known by a host of other names such as African American Vernacular English, Black English, Black Vernacular, and so on is an African-American language that has its roots in the trans
43、-Atlantic slave trade, as African captives devised the means to communicate with each other and with their captors. In the South of the United States, these Pan-African languages co-mingled with Standard English and the Southern dialect. Many uniquely African-American components have arisen over the
44、 last two centuries, and all of these influences have forged what is now known as Ebonics. In 1996, debates around the nature of “Ebonics“ in the United States came to a head. That year, the Oakland Unified School District in California enacted Resolution 597-003, which officially recognized that Af
45、rican American students “as part of their culture and history as African people possess and utilize a language“. Alternatively referred to as Ebonics (literally “black sounds“), African Communication Behaviors, and African Language Systems, this language was declared to be “genetically-based“ rather
46、 than a dialect of Standard English. Within the profession of language research and pedagogy, a strong consensus formed behind the Onuss decision to recognize Ebonics. Linguistics professor John Rockford noted that Ebonics was not simply characterized by erroneous grammar and a large slang vocabular
47、y, but that underlying this language was a structured form and process of grammar and phonology that made English learning for Ebonics speakers far more complex a task than simply dropping bad habits. English teachers, Rockford counseled, must therefore accept and embrace these complexities. The Lin
48、guistic Society of America (LSA) concurred with Rockford, adding that whether or not Ebonics should be defined as a dialect or a language does not matter in terms of its “validity“. While linguists studying Ebonics typically restrain from prescribing edicts in favor of tracking changes in form and s
49、tyle, the LSA did point to the fact that speakers of Swedish and Norwegian can typically understand each other while conversing in different “languages“ whereas Mandarin and Cantonese speakers cannot understand each others “dialects“ to conclude that spatial and social tensions, rather than strict linguistic criteria, were the crucial factors in defining these terms. For many others, however, the Onuss decision was tantamount to endorsing lazy, vulgar and “broken“ English the equivalent, per
