With polished stone floors and a plate-glass roof, a shining multi-storey shopping mall has just opened beside a motorway north of Paris. Named Qwartz, and costing 300m, it houses 165 shops and what developers call " eating concepts". Two other American-style shopping malls opened in the greater Paris region last year, and a third, So Ouest, in 2012. A country that prides itself on fashion designer boutiques and artisanal shops seems to be turning into one of mall rats.
Partly this is just catching up. Until recently, strict planning rules stopped big out-of-town shopping centres around the French capital. Most malls that existed, such as Velizy 2 or Rosny 2, dated from the 1970s, when five new towns were built in the Paris suburbs. But a new relaxed attitude has now let more modern projects go ahead.
It also points to two features of French society that escape the gaze of historic Paris. One is most shoppers' suburban way of life. Only 2. 2m people live in the capital itself. Yet the greater Paris region, excluding the city, counts over four times more inhabitants, many in small towns and car-dependent suburbs. The new malls, ringed by car parks, are handy, even alluring. Fully 62% of the French told one poll that malls were their favourite places to shop, ahead of the high street or traditional department stores.
The other trend is the global taste of consumers. Besides a huge French hypermarket, Qwartz's big pull is Primark, an Irish cheap-fashion retailer, and Marks & Spencer, a British chain. Just down the road, So Ouest boasts Hollister, an American surfwear brand, Starbucks, an American coffee house, and foreign fashion chains such as H&M and Zara. In today's temples of consumption, global is a
la mode
.
This is not quite the France favoured by Arnaud Montebourg, the industry minister and architect of a "Made in France" campaign. He is now trying to keep American hands off Alstom, the French maker of TGV fast trains. He once posed cheerfully for a magazine, dressed in a striped Breton top and holding a Moulinex food-blender.
Yet even French brands are not always home-made, as Benjamin Carle, a reporter, discovered filming a television documentary about his efforts to live for a year using only products made in France. The result was comic—and sobering. Not only was it impossible to find some items, including a fridge and coffee. Mr Carle initially had to empty his flat of anything that did not meet the test of 50% of its value being made in France. Out went the bicycle, computer, guitar, most of the furniture, beer, clothes, toothbrush and more. The share of his stuff that qualified as French-made? Just 4.5%.
单选题
According to Paragraph 1, France is proud of its______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：细节题。定位到第一段。根据题干France定位到最后一句a country，因为上文讨论到Paris，这里的country自然指的是“法国”。此外，该句的prides itself on与题干is proud of its是同义替换关系，故答案句为fashion designer boutiques and artisanal shops“时尚设计精品店和手工店”。与之同义替换的选项为[A]fashion industry“时尚产业”。选项[B]eating concepts“饮食理念”；[C]cooking culture“餐饮文化”；[D]shopping malls“购物中心”，这三项均与答案句无关，故排除。综上，本题选择[A]。
单选题
For shoppers who live in the suburb, the new shopping malls are______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：细节题。定位到第三段。题干shoppers who live in the suburb对应该段第二句：One is most shoppers’suburban way of life．而下一句再次提到many in small towns and cardependent suburbs，根据关键词the new shopping malls锁定答案句为第三段第四行：The new malls，ringed by car parks，are handy，even alluring．其中答案关键为handy“便利的”和alluring“诱人的”。与答案句同义替换的选项为[D]，其中convenient=handy；attractive=alluring。其余几项分别是：[A]modern and fashionable“现代时尚”；[B]luxurious and expensive“奢侈昂贵”；[C]distant and inconvenient“遥远且不方便”；这几项与答案句无法替换，故排除。综上，本题答案为[D]。
单选题
The word "la mode" (Line 5, Para. 4) most probably means______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：语义题。定位到第四段。本段中间都为细节，关键句只有首尾句，首尾句为该段中心句。本段首句说：The other trend is the global taste of consumers．“另一个趋势是消费者的全球化品味”。尾句说：In today’s temples of consumption，global is a la mode．“在如今的消费圣殿里，全球化正大行其道。”显然首尾句重复表达同一观点，故在这两句中一定可以找到同义替换。首句consumers=尾句consumption；首句说trend is global；尾句说global is a la mode；故推断出la mode=trend“趋势”。选项[A]taste“品味”；[B]notion“概念”；[C]popularity“流行”；[D]phenomenon“现象”。显然，trend“趋势”近似于popularity“流行”，故本题选择[C]。
单选题
According to the text, Arnaud Montebourg is______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：细节题。定位到第五段。答案句来自该段首句：This is not quite the France favoured by Arnaud Montebourg，the industry minister and architect of a“Made in France”campaign．其中答案关键为architect of a“Made in France”campaign“‘法国制造’运动的构建者”。选项[A]a supporter of American brands“美国品牌的支持者”；[B]an advocate of French products“法国产品的支持者”；[C]an architect of TGV fast trains“TGV高速列车的构建者”；[D]an opponent of French brands“法国品牌的反对者”。显然，与答案相符的选项为[B]。其中，advocate“倡导者，支持者”=architect“构建者”；French products“法国产品”=Made in France“法国制造”。故本题答案为[B]。
单选题
We can conclude from the last paragraph that______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：推理题。定位到最后一段。选项[A]French brands may be made in other countries“法国品牌可能由外国制造”；该项对应该段首句：Yet even French brands are not always home-made．“然而即使是法国品牌也不都是在国内制造的。”显然，[A]项与原文是同义替换。[B]a number of French products are actually fake“许多法国产品实际上是假货”；该项无法在文中找到对应信息，属于无中生有，故排除。[C]the quality of French products is questionable“法国产品质量令人质疑”；该项同样是无中生有，可以排除。[D]a large part of French brands are made at home“很大一部分法国品牌在本土制造”；该段首句是说：Yet even French brands are not always home-made．原文说的是not always home-made“不都是国内制造”，该项变成了a large part“少量，小部分”，显然与原文矛盾，故该项可以排除。同时，最后一段最后一句指出，他的东西中，符合法国制造的定义的，只有4．5％，说明法国制造的东西少。综上，本题答案为[A]。