Do you like shopping? Or does the thought of wandering around the shops fill you with terror? For some of us, shopping is an enjoyable way of spending our spare time and our money. For me, it’s something I would rather avoid. Thank goodness for the Internet! It’s more convenient to buy CDs, electrical items, even food from the comfort of your sofa. But that’s not the only reason: price is an important factor. We can buy goods and services cheaper online. But sometimes the problem is knowing what to buy. This has led to a type of shopping called “showrooming”.

Showrooming is something I’ve done. I will go to a shop to see, touch and try out products but then go home and buy them online at a knock-down price. I’m not alone in doing this. Research by a company called Foolproof, found 24% of people showroomed while Christmas shopping in 2013.

Amy Cashman, head of Technology at TNS UK, says the reasons for this new shopping habit are that “people are lacking time, lacking money and they want security about the products they are buying”. She explains that consumers are not only shopping online at home but they are using the Internet in store or on their smartphones to shop around.

But does this mean technology will kill shops? Certainly shops will change. They will have to offer more competitive prices or encourage people to buy more by giving in-store discounts or free gifts.

We mustn’t forget that buying in a shop means you can get expert advice from the sales assistant and you can get good aftercare. It’s good to speak to a real human rather than look at a faceless computer screen, but at least by showrooming, you get the best of both worlds!

1.The two questions in Paragraph 1 are raised to ________.

A. introduce the topic

B. give two examples

C. compare different opinions

D. get answers from readers

2.According to Amy Cashman, which is not the reason for showrooming?

A. The lack of time.

B. The comfort of the sofa.

C. The shortness of money.

D. The security of the product.

3.The author’s attitude towards showrooming is ________.

A. criticalB. neutralC. casualD. supportive

練習(xí)冊系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目:高中英語 來源:2016-2017學(xué)年廣東高州中學(xué)高二上期中考試英語試卷(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

I don’t think there is anything more important than health. “Health is the greatest wealth,” wise people say. You can’t be good at your studies or work well when you are ill.

If you have a headache, toothache, backache, earache or bad pain in the stomach, if you complain of a bad cough, if you run a high temperature and have a bad cold, or if you suffer from high or low blood pressure, I think you should go to the doctor. The doctor will examine your throat, feel your pulse, test your blood pressure, take your temperature, sound your heart and lungs, test your eyes, check your teeth or have your chest X-rayed. After that, he will advise some treatment, or some medicine. The only thing you have to do is to follow his advice.

Speaking about doctor’s advice, I can’t help telling you a funny story. An old gentleman came to see the doctor. The man was very ill. He told the doctor about his weakness, memory loss and serious problems with his heart and lungs. The doctor examined him and said there was no medicine for his disease. He told his patient to go to a quiet place for a month and have a good rest. He also advised him to eat a lot of meat, drink two glasses of red wine every day and take long walks. In other words, the doctor advised him to follow the rule: “Eat with pleasure, drink with pleasure and enjoy life as it is.” The doctor also said that if the man wanted to be well again, he shouldn’t smoke more than one cigarette a day. A month later the gentleman came into the doctor’s office. He looked cheerful and happy. He thanked the doctor and said that he had never felt a healthier man.“ But you know, doctor,” he said, “it’s not easy to begin smoking at my age.”

1.The writer thinks that ________.

A.health is more important than wealth

B.work is as important as studies

C.medicine is more important than pleasure

D.nothing is more important than money

2.The doctor usually tells his patient what to do ________.

A.without examining the patient

B.a(chǎn)fter he has examined the patient

C.if the patient doesn't take medicine

D.unless the patient feels pain

3.The underlined part means “________”.

A.he was feeling better than ever

B.he wasn't a healthy man

C.he was feeling worse than before

D.he will be well again

4.From the last sentence of the passage, we learn the man ________ before the doctor told him not to smoke more than one cigarette a day.

A.was a heavy smoker

B.didn't smoke so much

C.didn't smoke

D.began to learn to smoke

5.Which of the following is NOT true?

A.The doctor usually tests his/her blood pressure when a person is ill.

B.The man told the doctor he couldn't remember things.

C.The man thanked the doctor.

D.The man didn't follow the doctor's advice.

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2015-2016學(xué)年黑龍江大慶中學(xué)高一上期末考試英語卷(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

About 12 years ago, I began making a series of dolls called “Wee Mountain Folk.” At first, I made them from cloth but then began using a kind of polymer clay(軟陶)called cernit. The cloth dolls were beautiful, but it was impossible to get the level of detail(細(xì)節(jié))I can get with clay.

First, I use wire(金屬絲)to build the shape of the doll. Then I cover the head, hands, and feet around the wire using the cernit. Then I make the doll’s clothes myself, using lots of different materials. The completed dolls are fixed onto hardwood bases made by my father, Jim Logan.

Generally, the dolls I make show older people taking part in traditional activities. I’ve always had a great respect for the older generation.

Inspiration for the dolls often comes from people I know. Once I was caught looking too closely at the wrinkles(皺紋)on the face of one of my mom’s friends. But I explained that her laugh lines made her more attractive.

Now I work as a teacher’s assistant, and while I was raising my two daughters, Keri and Sheryl, I could work on the dolls only late in the day. The girls loved to come downstairs the next morning to see who’d arrived in the night.

It’s the detail that I enjoy working on the most. I once made a fisherman doll for a lady to give her father, including a tiny creel — a basket used by fishermen for carrying fish. When the man got the doll, he immediately opened the creel to see what was inside. Luckily, I’d made a small fish out of cernit and placed it in the basket.

Hopefully my story will inspire others to try their hand at doll making — I find it very relaxing and interesting.

1.The dolls called “Wee Mountain Folk” were ________.

A. totally hand made

B. mainly made of cloth

C. usually small kids

D. often designed by the author’s father

2.Why did the author look closely at her mother’s friend’s face?

A. To guess her age.

B. To get creative ideas.

C. To give her a surprise.

D. To find out why she was so attractive.

3.The author’s daughters ________.

A. thought doll making was a waste of time

B. thought the dolls’ styles were too old

C. showed great interest in the dolls

D. paid little attention to the dolls

4.The author tells the story of the fisherman doll to show that ________.

A. it takes much effort to make a doll

B. it is difficult to satisfy everyone

C. the old also love her dolls

D. her dolls have fine details

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2017屆湖南長株潭岳益五市十校高三12月聯(lián)考英語試卷(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

Every day, millions of shoppers hit the stores in full force—both online and on foot—searching for the perfect gift. Aside from purchasing holiday gifts, most people regularly buy presents for other occasions throughout the year, including weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and baby showers. This frequent experience of gift-giving can cause ambivalent feelings in gift-givers. Many enjoy the opportunity to buy presents because gift-giving offers a powerful means to build stronger bonds with one’s closest persons. At the same time, many fear the thought of buying gifts; they worry that their purchases will disappoint rather than delight the intended receivers.

What is surprising is that gift-givers have considerable experience acting as both gift-givers and gift-recipients, but nevertheless tend to overspend each time they set out to purchase a meaningful gift. In the present research, we propose a unique psychological explanation for this overspending problem — i.e., that gift-givers equate how much they spend with how much receivers will appreciate the gift (the more expensive the gift, the stronger a gift-recipient’s feelings of appreciation). Although a link between gift price and feelings of appreciation might seem intuitive (憑直覺得到的) to gift-givers, such an assumption may be unfounded. Indeed, we propose that gift-receivers will seldom tend to base their feelings of appreciation on the significance weight of a gift than givers assume.

Why do gift-givers assume that gift price is closely linked to gift-recipients’ feelings of appreciation? Perhaps givers believe that bigger (i.e., more expensive) gifts convey stronger signals of thoughtfulness and consideration. According to Camerer (1988) and others, gift-giving represents a symbolic ritual(禮節(jié)), by which gift-givers attempt to signal their positive attitudes toward the intended receiver and their willingness to invest resources in a future relationship. In this sense, gift-givers may be motivated to spend more money on a gift in order to send a “stronger signal” to their intended receiver. As for gift-receivers, they may not consider smaller and larger gifts as representing smaller and larger signals of thoughtfulness and consideration.

In practical terms, people spend hundreds of dollars each year on gifts, but somehow never learn to measure their gift expenses according to personal insight.

1.The underlined word “ambivalent” most nearly means ________.

A. unrealisticB. conflictedC. appreciativeD. supportive

2.The authors indicate that people value gift-giving because they feel it ________.

A. functions as a form of self-expression

B. is an inexpensive way to show appreciation

C. requires the gift-receivers to return

D. can serve to strengthen a relationship

3.The authors refer to work by Camerer and others in order to__________.

A. offer an explanationB. introduce an argument

C. question an intensionD. support a conclusion

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2017屆湖南瀏陽市高三上期中考試英語試卷(解析版) 題型:完形填空

The other evening we had a knock at the door. It was a ________ neighbor who introduced himself and his boys to us. He also invited us to a block party as a way to know the people in the ________ as well as well as celebrate the first anniversary of his two ________ sons coming to live with him.

We've lived here for almost six years and no one has ever come to ________ themselves. I suppose we should have ________ it on to introduce ourselves to people moving in but we haven't. In my opinion it took the initiative (首創(chuàng))of a young ________ and his adopted sons to show me how I could ________ better attention to my own community. We have many local friends but I have to ________ that I haven't usually been the one to develop the ________ in my own neighborhood.

This ________ reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, "When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was ________ to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to ________ my town. I couldn't change the town and as a(n) ________ man, I tried to change my ________. Now, as an old man, I ________ the only thing I can change is myself and ________ I realize that if long ago I had change myself, I could have made an impact on my family and ________ on our town. The impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the ________."

For those of us who want to make a(n) ________ in the world, it's important we remember what Bucky Fuller said, ”Think globally, but act ________.”For me, I’m going to make it point to meet more of my neighbors—starting now.

1.A. familiarB. friendlyC. newD. old

2.A. townB. neighborhoodC. companyD. city

3.A. acceptedB. adoptedC. adaptedD. appointed

4.A. helpB. treatC. introduceD. enjoy

5.A. putB. focusedC. turnedD. taken

6.A. manB. studentC. womanD. mother

7.A. drawB. fixC. offerD. pay

8.A. forgiveB. admitC .agreeD. consider

9.A. habitB. concernC. friendshipD. business

10.A. accidentB. activityC. thoughtD. experience

11.A. convenientB. possibleC. interestingD. difficult

12.A. make outB. concentrate onC. get intoD. refer to

13.A. olderB. youngerC. smarterD. wiser

14.A. studentB. familyC. friendD. mind

15.A. realizeB. forgetC. recognizeD. regret

16.A. suddenlyB. happilyC. actuallyD. luckily

17.A. everB. evenC. onlyD. still

18.A. environmentB. worldC. villageD. lifestyle

19.A. decisionB. adjustmentC. differenceD. discovery

20.A. carefullyB. selflesslyC. immediatelyD. locally

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2016-2017學(xué)年重慶萬州第二高級中學(xué)高一上期中考試英語卷(解析版) 題型:七選五

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容,從短文后的選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng),并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。

Q & A

Question: I have recently got a senior position within my company.One of my new tasks is to make monthly progress reports on my department in front of other senior officials. During my first meeting, I presented and then opened the floor to questions. 1. _ My first reaction was to answer defensively(防衛(wèi)地;戒備地).Later, I realized that I shouldn’t have felt that way.But how can I keep cool and effectively answer questions in this type of settings?

Answer: Congratulations on your new position! Presenting in front of your peers (同事)is a hard task in itself and it becomes much more difficult when a question-and-answer period is required! Question-and-answer periods are a great way to clarify (使…清楚) the message and strengthen key points. 2. __

3.

When a person is asking a question, show interest and a desire to understand the question by listening and asking for clarification.

● Buy time

When facing a hard question, most people can’t give an answer immediately.Buy time by repeating the question in your own words. 4. These techniques allow you to quickly organize your thoughts as well as to make sure you will be correctly answering the question.

● Suggest a private meeting.

A one-to-one meeting is a calmer setting than speaking in front of your peers. 5.

A.Show your true interest.

B.Restate the question with respect.

C.Some ideas can be quite concrete.

D.There were many difficult questions.

E.It can also be more effective in exchanging ideas.

F.You may also ask for clarification on the question.

G.Here are some ideas that can help prepare for your next meeting.

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2016-2017學(xué)年內(nèi)蒙古包頭市高二上期中考試英語試卷(解析版) 題型:語法填空

閱讀下列材料,在空白處填入適當(dāng)?shù)膯卧~或用括號內(nèi)單詞的正確形式填空。

My name is Billy Smith. I’m 50 years old this year. I was about 440 pounds two years ago. __1.__ (fortunate), I managed to lose weight.

I began to gain weight when my mum developed Parkinson’s disease in 1994. I soon became her caregiver, and continued to provide her ___2.__ care for over 10 years. But when the pressure of taking care of my mother and __3.__ (keep) my job got too much for me, I began to skip meals and feed on fast food. I gained weight quickly.

My huge weight gain caused me to develop high blood pressure. I also had _4._____ (difficult) in breathing at times. In 2014 I went to see my doctor, ___5.___ told me that I would die within two years if I didn’t lose weight. This wasn’t what I expected. I wanted to see my young son grow up, and I knew it was time __6. (make) a change.

I started to eat healthy food and work out in the gym. Finally, I __7.____ (succeed) in losing weight. Now I weigh just 260 pounds. I had never been to my son’s Parents’ Meeting ___8.____ I was so ashamed and ___9._____ (scare) that my weight would lead to him being laughed at. Now, ___10.___ (look) normal, I can do the things I have never been able to do, but should have done as his father.

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2016-2017學(xué)年安徽蚌埠二中高一上期中考試英語卷(解析版) 題型:短文改錯

假定英語課上老師要求同桌之間交換修改作文,請你修改你同桌寫的以下作文。文中共有10處語言錯誤,每句中最多有兩處。錯誤涉及一個單詞的增加、刪除或修改。

增加:在缺詞處加一個漏詞符號(∧),并在其下面寫出該加的詞。

刪除:把多余的詞用斜線(\)劃掉。

修改:在錯的詞下面畫一橫線,并在該詞下面寫出修改后的詞。

注意:1.每處錯誤及其修改均僅限一詞;

2.只允許修改10處,多者(從第11處起)不計分。

Time and tide wait no man. My mother is becoming a middle-age woman quietly. She had been busy running after us all the years. My father is very busy every day outside. But the heavy burden falls on my mother's shoulder. Because my school is far from my home, I have to go to school by the train and my mother sees me off at the station every time. I often choose a seat where is close to the window, so I can see her. However, I always can't help run tears from my eyes. All the buildings and people outside the window disappear. I wave gentle to my mother and I look at her till the view of her back disappears. Up to now, even if he is busy, she still does it as usual. The view of my mother's back will never change in my heart.

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語 來源:2016-2017學(xué)年河北石家莊辛集中學(xué)高二11月考英語卷(解析版) 題型:七選五

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容,從短文后的選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng),選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。

Have you ever felt sick to your stomach during a test? Have you ever been so worried about something that you ended up with a terrible headache?

If so, then you know what it's like to feel stress. You've probably heard people say,“Wow,I'm really stressed out.” 1. But children have lots of things going on in their lives that can cause stress, too.

What is stress?

Stress is what you feel when you are worried or uncomfortable about something. This worry in your mind can make your body feel bad. You may feel angry, frustrated, scared, or afraid—which can give you a stomachache or a headache.

What causes stress?

Plenty of things can cause stress in a child's life. 2. Good or normal stress might show up when you're called on in class or when you have to give a report. Have you ever gotten butterflies in your stomach or sweaty hands? Those can be signs of good stress. 3. For example, you may do a better job on your book report if the anxiety inspires you to prepare well before you get up and read it to the class.

But bad stress can happen if the stressful feelings keep going over time. You may not feel well if your parents are fighting, if a family member is sick,if you're having problems at school, or if you're going through anything else that makes you upset every day. 4.

Once you recognize that you're feeling stressed, there are several things you can do. You can try talking about what's bothering you with an adult you trust, like a parent or teacher. 5. An adult may have ideas about how to solve whatever is worrying you or making you uncomfortable.

A.This kind of stress can help you to get things done.

B.Maybe you hear adults say those kinds of things all the time.

C.Bring up what's been on your mind and how it makes you feel.

D.Everyone experiences stress at times—adults, teens,and even kids.

E.There are ways to reduce stress and manage the stress that's unavoidable

F.That kind of stress isn't going to help you, and it can actually make you sick.

G.The trick is to remember that some types of stress are good and others are bad.

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊答案