They will , in a lifetime , push the chrome-plated contraptions many miles. But few will know-or even
think to ask-who it was that invented them. Sylvan N. Goldman invented the shopping cart in 1937. At
that time he was in the supermarket business. Every day he would see shoppers lugging (吃力地携带)
groceries around in baskets they had to carry.
One day Goldman suddenly had the idea of putting baskets on wheels. The wheeled baskets would
make shopping much easier for his customers , and would help to attract more business.On June 4,1937 ,
Goldman"s first carts were ready for use in his market. He was terribly excited on the morning of the day
as customers began arriving.He couldn"t wait to seethem using his invention.But Goldmanwas disappointed. Most shoppers gave the carts a long look , but hardly anybody would give them a try. After a while.
Goldman decided to ask customers why they weren"t using his carts. " Don"t you think this arm is strong
enough to carry a shopping basket?" one shopper replied.But Goldman wasn"t beaten yet. He knew his carts would be a great success if only he could persuade people to give them a try.
To this end, Goldman hired a group of people to push carts around his market and pretend they were
shopping! Seeing this, the real customers gradually began copying the phony(假冒的) customers. As
Goldman had hoped, the carts were soon attracting larger and larger numbers of customers to his market. But not only did more people come-those who came bought more. With larger, easier-to-handle baskets , customers unconsciously bought a greater number of items than before. Today"s shopping carts are five
times larger than Goldman"s original model. Perhaps that"s one reason Americans today spend more than
five times as much money on food each year as they did before 1937-before the coming of the shopping
cart.
1. The underlined words"chrome-plated contraptions" in Paragraph refer to
_____________. ( No more than 3 words. )
2. What was the purpose of Goldman"s invention? ( No more than 10 words. )
___________________________________________________________________
3. Why was Goldman disappointed at first? ( No more than 10 words. )
___________________________________________________________________
4. Why did Goldman hire people to push carts around his market? ( No more than 10 words. )
__________________________________________________________________
5. What do you think of Goldman? Please give your reasons. ( No more than 20 words)
_____________________________________________________________
1 . shopping carts
2. It was to make shopping easier and attract more business.
3. Because few customers used his carts
4. Because he wanted to promote his shopping carts.
5. He was a smart businessman. He invented the shopping cart and made it accepted by customers.
(答案不唯一)
online friendships.However, I have become __1__with the typical chat and internet all together.__2__, I
decided to take a __3__.
After about a week of being off line, I returned late one night to check my __4__.In my box was an
email from an old friend I had met in a __5__room.She was talking on and on about a man who had
recently entered the room and thought he was my "male __6__". I wasn"t interested at all in the email and
__7__my business.
Later that night, I found myself wandering the Internet and I __8__across an photo gallery that was
quite entertaining.As I clicked from one __9__to the next, I ran across one gentleman"s photo.I was
stunned(打晕)by his presence.About 10 minutes had gone by when I finally __10__myself away from the
Photo and decided to venture(斗胆)into chat.There, I found the __11__who had sent me the email earlier
that week.She __12__to tell me something else about this man."You just have to meet him."she said, "How much alike you are". I laughed at her thinking it was __13__."No, I am serious!You have got to talk to him."I finally agreed that I would make effort to do __14__later on and left the chat quickly.Again, finding
myself staring at this anonymous(匿名的)photo I had found __15__.
| ( )1．A. interested ( )2．A. Yet ( )3．A. breath ( )4．A. computer ( )5．A. chat ( )6．A. double ( )7．A. set out ( )8．A. found ( )9．A. photo ( )10. put ( )11. figure ( )12. continued ( )13. surprising ( )14. out ( )15. later | B．bored B．Still B．look B．line B．secret B．classmate B．set off B．ran B．website B．tore B．gentleman B．refused B．puzzling B．so B．sooner | C．delighted C．So C．break C．letter C．post C．example C．set about C．met C．picture C．kept C．angel C．began C．amusing C．up C．more | D．amazed D．Anyway D．moment D．mail D．duty D．image D．set up D．went D．mark D．broke D．lady D．wanted D．outgoing D．away D．earlier | |||||
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| Grandfather"s Clock In the dining room of my grandfather"s house stood a heavy grandfather"s clock.Meals in the dining room were a __1__for our four generations to become one.The grandfather"s clock always stood like a trusted old family friend,__2__us playing jokes and telling stories,which was already a __3__of our life. As a child,the old clock interested me.I watched and listened to it during __4__.I was surprised how at __5__times of the day,the clock would strike three times,six times or more,with a wonderful great __6__ that echoed(回音)throughout the house.The clock chimed year after year,a part of my __7__,a part of my heart. Even more __8__to me was my grandfather"s special action each day.He carefully __9__the clock with a special key each day.The key was magic to me.It __10__our family"s magnificent clock ticking and __11__all year round. After my beloved grandfather died,it was several days after the __12__before I remembered the clock!"Mama!The clock has wound down!"The __13__washed my cheeks when I entered the dining room.The clock stood hopelessly as serious and __14__as the funeral ceremony had been.Not quite as magnificent without my grandfather"s __15__touch.I couldn"t bear looking at it. Years later,it worked again.In the movement of the hands of the clock,my grandfather lived again. | ||||||||
| ( )1. A.time ( )2. A.seeing ( )3. A.start ( )4. A.stories ( )5. A.busy ( )6. A.shock ( )7. A.memories ( )8. A.comfortable ( )9. A.opened ( )10. A.made ( )11. A.singing ( )12. A.funeral ( )13. A.tears ( )14. A.attractive ( )15. A.brave | B. possibility B. hearing B. part B. jokes B. urgent B. sound B. minds B. hopeful B. wound B. controlled B. standing B. death B. sweats B. quiet B. special | C. problem C. watching C. signal C. periods C. happy C. song C. comfort C. wonderful C. turned C. kept C. knocking C. generation C. hair C. noisy C. kind | D. pleasure D. looking D. mark D. meals D. different D. music D. information D. skillful D. started D. fixed D. striking D. ceremony D. water D. magnificent D. strong | |||||
| 完形填空 | ||||||||
| "Two books per visit per week, "said the unsmiling librarian as she handed a library card.Neither the limits nor her attitude __1__ me, a 9yearold Jewish girl growing up in Berlin in the 1950s.I needed those visits.The books were filled with stories in which, however __2__ things seemed, everything __3__ well in the end, __4__ justice, bravery, and wisdom-a striking contrast to my everyday experiences. Thirty years later, I, a recent immigrant to the US with a daughter aged 13, stood in front of another librarian.This librarian was __5__. "What did she say?"I asked my daughter, who already knew a little English and often __6__ as my interpreter. "She said "Can I help you?"" "Ask if they have any books in German, "I requested. "No, they don"t."translated my daughter. While hunting for a job, I was told that the library needed people to __7__ books.The interview was short-the job didn"t require much English, just a __8__ of the alphabet.I started the next day.Every day, I handled hundreds of books whose meaning was __9__ from me, mentally dividing them by size and color. One day, while shelving, I found English for Beginners and began studying it on my own.Step by step English letters started forming words I could __10__, words combined into phrases, and-oh, __11__!-I was reading.It was a slow process, supported by dictionaries and __12__ by tears, but it was progress. Afterwards I got promoted to the front desk-__13__ books in and out and answering simple questions. Every day I receive dozens of people.Sometimes I spot new immigrants.They come from all over the world, so they look different, but the hesitant expression on their faces and their __14__ manners are similar.My heart goes out to them, for they are people like me.I fully understand the __15__ roads on which they have stepped."They"ve come to the right place, "I think to myself.Then I smile and say-just the way a librarian said to me a long time ago-"Can I help you?" | ||||||||
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