Remember when a trip to the supermarket was nothing more than a boring
thing requiring little or no specialized knowledge? You could send your kinds
into a cart while you did shopping. You always bought the same brands, usually
the brands your mother bought. You didn't know about unit pricing, and
furthermore, you didn't care. It never occurred to you to read the labels on
anything. After all, you'd bought these things a hundred times.
But now, I really look on those days with a feeling of yearn. How innocent
we were! How carefree were those trips to the supermarket. No worries. Today a
trip to the supermarket is filled with social implication. Every time I buy pork
chops I think about the years I'm shaving from my life. I keep a wary eye on the
freshness date and examine the tamper-proof packaging. I am victim of that most
dangerous social disease: shoppers' panic. I didn't realize how
serious my condition had become until the last time I needed laundry soap. It
seemed simple enough. Just run into the market, grab a box of the old reliable
and pay for it. Can't get less complicated than that, right? I hadn't planned on
discovering Ecover, a new brand of laundry soap. It sat quietly on the shelf
right next to my old reliable. "Healthy, gentle but effective." My respect for
it deepened with each new claim as I read the entire package. Then I looked at
the price: $5.69 for 2 pound. $5.69! I cast a quick glance at the old reliable,
still on sale for $1.39. Six bucks for laundry soap! These
people must be crazy! Who's going to pay six bucks for laundry soap?
It's not as though I can't afford it. See, it's concentrated-use less, get
more. BUT SIX BUCKS! And the box is made from recycled materials...
This act went on for a solid half hour, after which I left the shelf
without any soap at all. Disagreement extends every self. Even
the cushion poses a multitude of burning questions. Healthy? Dust free? Or
natural? Surely the meat department is most threatening place. Remember what
protein was good for you? That's all over, Every bite you take kills you. I
won't even mention meat's moral implications. When all is said
and done, we still must eat. I gather up my healthy cooking oil and my recycled
paper towels and head to the checkout counter. The cashier smiles across that
strange and possible hazardous bar code reader and asks, "Paper or plastic?"
单选题
In the first paragraph, the author mainly wants to tell us that in the past ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】不难看出第一段第一句话是主题句,关键是对第一句话的正确理解。
单选题
Recalling the old days' shopping in the supermarket, the author thinks it was ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】第二段开头的but now显示了意思的转折,如果正确理解了第一段作者对超市的态度,即便不读下文也能猜测出一二。接着—F文又提到:I really look in those days with a feeling of yearn.如果不认识yearn,也还可以从下文获取信息How innocent we were! How carefree were those trips to the supermarket.尤其是no worries进一步点明了作者的观点。
单选题
According to the author, eating pork chops will mean that ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】参见文章第二段第三句。
单选题
In the sentence "See, it's concentrated", the word "concentrated" means ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】破折号暗示了答案就在后面:use less, get more,四个选项中只有condensed(浓缩了的)才能用得少,洗得多。
单选题
According to the passage, what's the author's problem?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】文章从Today a trip to the supermarket is filled with social implication.开始被分为两部分,前一部分谈的是过去的shopping in the super market,后一部分谈的是现在的方式。而这句话又是第二部分的总起句也是全文的中心。