单选题
Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in
demand for luxury goods and services that took place in eighteenth-century
England. McKendrick has explored the Wedgwood firm's remarkable success in
marketing luxury pottery; Plumb has written about the proliferation of
provincial theater, musical festivals, and children's toys and books. While the
fact of this consumer revolution is hardly in doubt, three key questions remain:
Who were the consumers? What were their motives? And what were the effects of
the new demand for luxuries? An answer to the first of these
has been difficult to obtain. Although it has been possible to infer from the
goods and services actually produced what manufacturers and servicing trades
thought their customers wanted, only a study of relevant personal documents
written by actual consumers will provide a precise picture of who wanted what.
We still need to know how large this consumer market was and how far down the
social scale the consumer demand for luxury goods penetrated. With regard to
this last question, we might note in passing that Thompson, while rightly
restoring laboring people to the stage of eighteenth- century English history,
has probably exaggerated the opposition of these people to the inroads of
capitalist consumerism in general; for example, laboring people in eighteenth-
century England readily shifted from home-brewed beer to standardized beer
produced by huge, heavily capitalized urban breweries. To
answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians
have pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively
uncensored press. This, however, hardly seems a sufficient answer. Mckendrick
favors a Veblem model of conspicuous consumption stimulated by competition for
status. The "middling sort" bought goods and services because they wanted to
follow fashions set by the rich. Again, we may wonder whether this explanation
is sufficient. Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of
self-gratification? If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of
new concepts of individualism and materialism, but not necessarily of the frenzy
for conspicuous competition. Finally, what were the
consequences of this consumer demand for luxuries? McKendrick claims that it
goes a long way toward explaining the coming of the Industrial Revolution. But
does it? What, for example, does the production of high-quality pottery and toys
have to do with the development of iron manufacture or textile mills? It is
perfectly possible to have the psychology and reality of a consumer society
without a heavy industrial sector. That future exploration of
these key questions is undoubtedly necessary should not, however, diminish the
force of the conclusion of recent studies: the insatiable demand in
eighteenth-century England for frivolous as well as useful goods and services
foreshadows our own world.
单选题
In the first paragraph, the author mentions McKendrick and Plumb to
A. contrast their views on the subject of luxury consumerism in 18th century
England.
B. indicate the inadequacy of historiographical approaches to 18th century
English history.
C. give examples of historians who have helped to establish the fact of
growing consumerism in 18th century England.
D. support the contention that key questions about 18tb century consumerism
remain to be answered.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。根据题干中的McKendrick and Plumb可将本题的答案迅速确定在首段的第二句。根据篇章结构来分析，本段是介绍事实，引出问题的。文章在第三句提出了问题，那么上文肯定会介绍到史学家对其研究这一事实，否则从何引出问题?所以，文章举例的目的就是为了列举对英国奢侈品研究的例子，所以C项为本题答案。
单选题
Which of the following statements would provide an example of the kind
of documents mentioned in lines 3-4, paragraph 2?
A. A written agreement between a supplier of raw materials and a supplier of
luxury goods.
B. A diary that mentions luxury goods and services purchased by its
author.
C. A theater ticket stamped with the date and name of a particular
play.
D. A payroll record from a company that produced luxury goods such as
pottery.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。题干中的信息词已将本题的答案定位在第二段的三、四行。第二段第二句的主句only a study of relevant personal documents written by actual consumers，即：只有具体的客户所记载下来相关的私人文件才能提供关于“谁想要什么”的准确信息。关键词是personal documents，B项中的diary与之对应，表述完全符合原文中提到的要求，所以本题的答案是B。
单选题
Which of the following may be the laboring people's attitude in 18th
century toward capitalist consumerism?