单选题 Queuing is nothing special in Japan. Every day, television programs show long lines of people queuing for up to one hour even in front of regular noodle shops, only to finish their food within less than ten minutes.
Why Japanese people queue so often? Do they love it? Probably they do. According to Japanese people, just like an excessively high price can evoke an image of equally high quality, long waiting lines act as an indicator for popularity, reduce availability and increase the subjective value of a good. Thus, for many Japanese customers, waiting lines are probably the most effective advertisement. For example, in an article published in The Japan Times in summer 2007, a Japanese woman confessed that she enjoyed queuing outside shops and restaurants and that she usually joined the line before asking the person in front of her what kind of product was sold. Standing in line also increases and extends anticipation until—yatto! (finally!)—patience is rewarded with the desired product. But when taken to an extreme level, the product one is actually queuing for ceases to be of any importance at all.
There are also some customers who are unable to queue or who are unwilling to wait, thinking it"s a waste of time queuing in a line. What could they do? They can rent a queuer who will stand in line and purchase the desired product for them. Obviously, this service is not free of charge. Some service companies who offer all kinds of unusual service provide rentable "queuers". What"s more, in addition to providing queuers to individuals, the service companies also provide queuers to some shops to increase the image of a hard-to-get product and make customers want to join the line by forming or extending lines. Therefore, waiting lines have become a marketing tool and it would not be surprising to find professional queuers in a line. Some people view it a pure speculation, but they can"t deny that it really works and the wage of a few professional queuers to keep the line in shape would be a minor investment compared with what would happen if the queue suddenly disappeared.
However, success is not always guaranteed because the attractiveness of waiting in line can easily backfire if the desired product does not meet expectations.

单选题 What is the marketing tool appears in the text?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题要求考生在通读第三段的基础上进行判断。第三段第六句“What"s more, in addition to providing queuers to. individuals. the service companies also provide queuers to some shops to increase the image of a hard-to-get product and make customers want to join the line by forming or extending lines. (而且，除了向个人提供排队人，这些服务公司还向一些商店提供排队人，通过排队扩大队伍使商店的产品有一个“不易购买”的形象，从而吸引消费者加入到队伍当中。)”是对marketing tool的一个解释。由此可知，所谓的营销手段是指雇用职业排队人在自己商店门前排队，给消费者造成商品不易购买的印象，从而吸引消费者。选项A、B和C均不符合。所以，本题选择D。

单选题 Which of the following is true according to the text?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 由第三段第一句“There are also some customers who are unable to queue or who are unwilling to wait, thinking it"s a waste of time queuing in a line. (还有一些消费者，他们不能排队，或是不愿等待，认为排队是浪费时间。)”可知，选项A不正确。选项B在文章中没有体现。由第二段第五句“rhus, for many Japanese customers, waiting lines are probably the most effective advertisement. (因此，对许多日本消费者而言，排队等待可能是最有效的广告。)”可知，排队对一些日本消费者很有吸引力，但并不是说日本的广告是排的长长的队伍。所以，本题选择C。

单选题 What does the word "backfire" (Line 2, Paragraph 4) mean?

单选题 It can be inferred from the text that ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 文章第一段提到“...long lines of people queuing for up to one hour even in front of regular noodle shops. only to finish their food within less than ten minutes. (…人们在普通的面条店门口也会排长达一个小时的队，却仅仅会在十分钟之内把饭吃完。)”，只是为了显示日本人经常排队，并不能由此推断出日本人吃饭很快，所以，选项A不正确。通读第三段可知，排队已经变成了一种营销手段，所以，可由此推断出一些商店雇用职业排队人在自己门前排队或是扩大队伍，所以，选项B正确。通读全篇可知，日本人经常排队，但并不能由此推断出容易使日本人遵守秩序，所以选项C不正确。由文章第二段最后一句“But when taken to an extreme level. the product one is actually queuing for ceases to be of any importance at all. (但是；从一种极端的角度来看，这时，排队等待的产品已经不再重要了。)”可知，从一种极端的角度来看，日本人有可能受到队伍本身的吸引，而忘记了产品本身。但并不能由此推断出大多数日本人都是这样。所以，本题选择B。