Passage B
“Welcome to the U.S.A.! Major Credit cards accepted!”
By the millions they are coming, no longer the tired, the poor, the wretched mass longing for a better living. These are the wealthy. “We don’t have a budget,” says a biologist from Brazil, as she walks with two companions through New York City’s South Street. “We just use our credit cards.”
The U.S. has long been one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, but this year has been exceptional. First there was the World Cup, which drew thousands from every corner of the globe; then came the weakening of the U.S. dollar against major currencies. Now the U.S., still the world’s superpower, can also claim to be the world’s bargain basement. Nobody undersells America these days on just about everything, from consumer electronics to fashion clothes to tennis rackets. Bottom retail prices—anywhere from 30% to 70% lower than those in Europe and Asia—have attracted some 47 million visitors, who are expected to leave behind $79 billion in 1994. That’s up from $74 billion the year before.
True, not everyone comes just for bargains. There remains an undeniable fascination in the rest of the world with all things American, nourished by Hollywood films and U.S. television series. But shopping in the U.S.A. is proving irresistible. Every week thousands arrive with empty suitcases ready to be filled; some even rent an additional hotel room to hold their purchases. The buying binge has become as important as watching Old Faithful Fountains erupt in Yellowstone Park or sunbathing on a beach in Florida.
The U.S. has come at last to appreciate what other countries learned long ago: the pouring in of foreign tourists may not always be convenient, but it does put money in the bank. And with a trade deficit at about $130 billion and growing for the past 12 months, the U.S. needs all the deposits it can get. Compared with American tourists abroad, visitors to the U.S. stay longer and spend more money at each stop: an average of 12.2 night and $1624 a traveler versus the Americans’ four nights and $298.
From what the Brazilian biologist says, we know that tourists like her ________.
根据第二段最后两句“We don’t have a budget,” says a biologist from Brazil, as she walks with two companions through New York City’s South Street. “We just use our credit cards.”可知，许多美国人花钱不用做 预算，想买就刷信用卡，并不在意花了多少钱，因此答案选B。
The reason why 1994 was exceptional is that ________.
根据第三段前两句“The US has long been one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, but this year has been exceptional. First, there was the World Cup, which drew thousands from every corner of the globe; then came the weakening of the US dollar against major currencies.”可知，美国早已成为旅游胜地，1994年世界杯吸 引了大批游客，美元下跌使在美国购物更加便宜，又吸引了大量的游客。因此答案选A。
By saying “nobody undersells America” (Para. 3), the author means that ________.
根据第二段第三句“Now the US, still the world’s superpower, can also claim to be the world’s bargain basement.”以及第五句“Bottom retail prices anywhere from 30 % to 70% lower than those in Europe”可知，美国 的物价非常低，零售底价比欧洲低30%，即没有哪个国家的物价水平比美国更低，因此答案选D。
Why does the author assert that all things American are fascinating to foreigners?
根据第四段第二、三句“There remains an undeniable fascination in the rest of the world with all things American, nourished by Hollywood films and US television series. But shopping the USA is proving irresistible.”可知，电影电视等媒体使人们迷恋美国商品，因此答案选A。
From the passage we can conclude that the U.S. has come to realize ________.
根据最后一段第一句“The US has come at last to appreciate what other countries learned long ago: the pouring in of foreign tourists may not always be convenient, but it does put money in the bank.”可知，美国认识到 旅游业将会带来许多财富，促进经济发展，因此答案选C。