Section C: Reading Comprehension

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Supermarkets have long been suffering as one of the thinnest-margined businesses in existence and one of the least-looked-forward-to places to work or visit. For more than a decade, they have been under attack from e-commerce giants, blamed for making Americans fat, and accused of contributing to climate change.

Supermarkets can technically be defined as giants housing 15,000 to 60,000 different products. The revolutionary idea of a self-service grocery, where people could hunt and gather food from aisles rather than asking a clerk to fetch items from behind a counter, first came about in America. There is some debate about which was the very first, but over the years a consensus has built around King Kullen Supermarket, founded in New York in 1930.

For some 300 years, Americans had fed themselves from small stores and public markets. Shopping for food involved mud, noisy chickens, clouds of flies, nasty smells, bargaining, and getting short-changed. The supermarket imitated the Fordist factory, with its emphasis on efficiency and standardization, and reimagined it as a place to buy food. Supermarkets may not feel cutting-edge now, but they were a revolution in distribution at the time. They were such strange marvels that, on her first official state visit to the United States in 1957, Queen Elizabeth II insisted on an impromptu tour of a suburban-Maryland Giant Food.

The typical supermarket layout has barely changed over the past 90 years. Most stores open with flowers, fruit and vegetables at the front as a breath of freshness to arouse our appetite. Meanwhile, they keep the milk, eggs, and other daily basics all the way back so you'll travel through as much of the store as possible, and be tempted along the way.

In the early days, as the supermarket multiplied, so did our suspicion of it. We have long feared that this “revolution in distribution” uses corporate black magic on our appetite. The book The Hidden Persuaders, published in 1957, warned that supermarkets were putting women in a “hypnoidal trance,” causing them to wander aisles bumping into boxes and “picking things off shelves at random.”

46. What problem have supermarkets been facing?

A) They are actually on the way to bankruptcy.

B) They have been losing customers and profits.

C) They are forced to use e-commerce strategies.

D) They have difficulty adapting to climate change.

47. What does the passage say about the idea of a self-service grocery?

A) It was put forward by King Kullen.

B) It originated in the United States.

C) It has been under constant debate.

D) It proves revolutionary even today.

48. What did supermarkets do by adopting the Fordist factory approach?

A) They modernized traditional groceries in many ways.

B) They introduced cutting-edge layout of their stores.

C) They improved the quality of the food they sold.

D) They revolutionized the distribution of goods.

49. What is the typical supermarket layout intended to do?

A) Arouse customers' appetite to buy flowers, fruit and vegetables.

B) Provide customers easy access to items they want to buy.

C) Induce customers to make more unplanned purchases.

D) Enable customers to have a more enjoyable shopping experience.

50. What have people long feared about supermarkets?

A) They use tricky strategies to promote their business.

B) They are going to replace the local groceries entirely.

C) They apply corporate black magic to the goods on display.

D) They take advantage of the weaknesses of women shoppers.

Passage Two

The traditional school year, with three months of vacation every summer, was first implemented when America was an agricultural society and the summer months were needed for farm work. Since then, we've completely changed as a nation. Students no longer spend summers farming, but they aren't in school, either. The average American student receives 13 weeks off from school each calendar year - with about 11 of those during the summer. Few other countries have more than seven weeks off in a school calendar.

With the U.S. lagging behind other countries in academics, it's time to consider year-round schooling. One benefit of this change is that students will not fall victim to the “summer slide,” or the well-documented phenomenon where students forget some of the knowledge they have acquired when too much time is taken off from school. Decades of research shows that it can take from 8 to 13 weeks at the beginning of every school year for students to get back to where they were before the summer holiday.

But year-round schooling isn't just about academics. Teachers and students experience a closer relationship in year-round schools than they do in traditional schools and, in the absence of any long-term break, students do not feel detached from the school environment. These closer bonds and greater attachment pay off. Research shows that students in year-round schools are more self-confident and feel more positive about their schooling experience.

But don't kids need time to relax? Some childhood development experts believe that time off from school is vital to healthy development as kids are not designed to spend so much of their time inside classrooms and the summer break provides a perfect opportunity to get outside. The problem with this argument is that most children aren't playing outside or even spending time with other kids. While some children visit summer camps, most stay at home, watching TV or playing games on electronic devices, which hardly benefits them.

The U.S. has changed from a farming economy to a knowledge- and innovation-based economy, so it makes sense for the school year to change as well.

51. Why did America's traditional school year have a three-month summer vacation?

A) Students needed to help with farm work.

B) Students needed time to learn necessary farming skills.

C) The agricultural society then attached less importance to academics.

D) America lagged behind other countries in making a scientific school calendar.

52. What benefit will year-round schooling bring students in addition to improving their learning?

A) It will help them get back to where their lessons started.

B) It will enable them to absorb what they have learned.

C) It will familiarize them with the school environment.

D) It will strengthen their relationship with teachers.

53. What do some childhood development experts believe about the long summer vacation?

A) It meets students' need to study on their own.

B) It enables students to learn about the outside world.

C) It satisfies students' desire to stay longer at home.

D) It contributes to students' healthy growth.

54. What is the argument against the experts' idea of a long summer vacation?

A) It does little good to most students.

B) It benefits few students playing outside.

C) It leads students to neglect their studies.

D) It makes students addicted to computer games.

55. What does the author think of the traditional school year in the U.S. today?

A) Well-grounded.

B) Culture-bound.

C) Outdated.

D) Welcomed.

Answers & Explanations

Passage One: The Evolution of Supermarkets

46. B。解析：题干问超市面临什么问题。定位第一段：Supermarkets have long been suffering as one of the thinnest-margined businesses... least-looked-forward-to places... under attack from e-commerce giants.（超市长期以来一直是利润最薄的行业之一...最不令人期待的地方...受到电商巨头的攻击）。这说明它们在流失利润和顾客，对应选项 B (They have been losing customers and profits 它们一直在流失顾客和利润)。

47. B。解析：题干问关于自助杂货店的理念文章怎么说。定位第二段：The revolutionary idea of a self-service grocery... first came about in America.（这种革命性的自助杂货店理念...首先产生于美国）。对应选项 B (It originated in the United States 它起源于美国)。

48. D。解析：题干问超市采用福特制工厂方法做了什么。定位第三段：The supermarket imitated the Fordist factory... they were a revolution in distribution at the time.（超市模仿了福特工厂...它们是当时分配领域的一场革命）。对应选项 D (They revolutionized the distribution of goods 它们彻底改变了商品的分配)。

49. C。解析：题干问典型的超市布局意图是什么。定位第四段：keep the milk, eggs... all the way back so you'll travel through as much of the store as possible, and be tempted along the way.（把牛奶、鸡蛋等日常必需品放在最后，以便你走过尽可能多的商店区域，并在一路上受到诱惑）。诱惑意味着促使计划外消费，对应选项 C (Induce customers to make more unplanned purchases 引诱顾客进行更多计划外的购买)。

50. A。解析：题干问人们长期以来对超市害怕什么。定位第五段：We have long feared that this “revolution in distribution” uses corporate black magic on our appetite... causing them to... picking things off shelves at random.（我们长期害怕它们在我们的食欲上使用公司的黑魔法...导致女性随机从货架上拿东西）。所谓黑魔法就是狡猾的商业策略，对应选项 A (They use tricky strategies to promote their business 他们使用狡猾的策略来促进业务)。

Passage Two: Rethinking the School Year

51. A。解析：题干问为什么美国传统的学年有三个月的暑假。定位第一段首句：...first implemented when America was an agricultural society and the summer months were needed for farm work.（最初实施时美国是农业社会，夏季几个月需要进行农活）。对应选项 A (Students needed to help with farm work 学生们需要帮忙做农活)。

52. D。解析：题干问全年制学校除了提高学习还能给学生带来什么好处。定位第三段：Teachers and students experience a closer relationship in year-round schools...（在全年制学校里，老师和学生的关系更亲密）。对应选项 D (It will strengthen their relationship with teachers 这将加强他们与老师的关系)。

53. D。解析：题干问一些儿童发展专家对长暑假有什么看法。定位第四段：Some childhood development experts believe that time off from school is vital to healthy development...（一些专家认为不上学的时间对健康发展至关重要）。对应选项 D (It contributes to students' healthy growth 它有助于学生的健康成长)。

54. A。解析：题干问反对专家关于长暑假观点的论据是什么。定位第四段：The problem with this argument is that most children aren't playing outside... most stay at home, watching TV... which hardly benefits them.（问题是大多数孩子不在外面玩...而是呆在家里看电视...这对他们几乎没有好处）。对应选项 A (It does little good to most students 它对大多数学生几乎没有好处)。

55. C。解析：题干问作者今天如何看待美国的传统学年。定位最后一段：The U.S. has changed from a farming economy to a knowledge- and innovation-based economy, so it makes sense for the school year to change as well.（美国已经从农业经济转变为以知识和创新为基础的经济，因此学年也应该随之改变）。既然时代变了，学年也该变，说明旧制度已经不适应现在，对应选项 C (Outdated 过时的)。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• come about：发生，产生（first came about in America）
• short-change：少找零钱，欺骗（getting short-changed）
• at random：随机地，随意地（picking things off shelves at random）
• lag behind：落后于（lagging behind other countries in academics）
• fall victim to：成为...的受害者（fall victim to the "summer slide"）
• pay off：取得成功，得到好结果（These closer bonds and greater attachment pay off）
• make sense：有道理，说得通（so it makes sense for the school year to change）
• well-documented：有据可查的，记录详尽的（the well-documented phenomenon）

【亮点句型解析】

• Such... that 引导结果状语从句：
  "They were such strange marvels that... Queen Elizabeth II insisted on an impromptu tour..."
  （它们是如此奇特的奇迹，以至于...伊丽莎白二世女王坚持进行即兴参观...）`such + 名词短语 + that` 结构用于强调某种程度导致的结果，句式极具张力，生动展现了当时超市作为新生事物的轰动效应。
• With 复合结构作原因/伴随状语：
  "With the U.S. lagging behind other countries in academics, it's time to consider year-round schooling."
  （随着美国在学术上落后于其他国家，是时候考虑全年制学校了。）`With + 宾语 + 现在分词` 构成的复合结构在这里作原因状语，引出改变制度的迫切背景，这比使用 `Because the U.S. is lagging...` 更加精炼高级，是四六级写作的王牌句式。