2013考研英语一真题及答案
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her, Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant’s sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to departments stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.
This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn’t be more out of date or at odds with the feverish would be described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline’s three-year indictment of “fast fashion”. In the last decade or so, advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent release, and more profit. These labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposable-meant to last only a wash or two, although they don’t advertise that –and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.
The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-pius stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.
Overdressed is the fashion world’s answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “Mass-produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable and wasteful,” Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a year – about 64 items per person – and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.
Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes – and beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example can’t be knocked off.
Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment – including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line –Cline believes lasting change can only be effected by the customer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they can’t afford not to.
21. Priestly criticizes her assistant for her
[A] poor bargaining skill.
[B] insensitivity to fashion.
[C] obsession with high fashion.
[D] lack of imagination.
22. According to Cline, mass-market labels urge consumers to
[A] combat unnecessary waste.
[B] shut out the feverish fashion world.
[C] resist the influence of advertisements.
[D] shop for their garments more frequently.
23. The word “indictment” (Line 3, Para.2) is closest in meaning to
[A] accusation.
[B] enthusiasm.
[C] indifference.
[D] tolerance.
24. Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?
[A] Vanity has more often been found in idealists.
[B] The fast-fashion industry ignores sustainability.
[C] People are more interested in unaffordable garments.
[D] Pricing is vital to environment-friendly purchasing.
25. What is the subject of the text?
[A] Satire on an extravagant lifestyle.
[B] Challenge to a high-fashion myth.
[C] Criticism of the fast-fashion industry.
[D] Exposure of a mass-market secret.
Text 2
An old saying has it that half of all advertising budgets are wasted-the trouble is, no one knows which half. In the internet age, at least in theory, this fraction can be much reduced. By watching what people search for, click on and say online, companies can aim “behavioural” ads at those most likely to buy.
In the past couple of weeks a quarrel has illustrated the value to advertisers of such fine-grained information: Should advertisers assume that people are happy to be tracked and sent behavioural ads? Or should they have explicit permission?
In December 2010 America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed adding a "do not track "(DNT) option to internet browsers ,so that users could tell advertisers that they did not want to be followed .Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Safari both offer DNT ;Google's Chrome is due to do so this year. In February the FTC and Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) agreed that the industry would get cracking on responding to DNT requests.
On May 31st Microsoft Set off the row: It said that Internet Explorer 10, the version due to appear windows 8, would have DNT as a default.
It is not yet clear how advertisers will respond. Getting a DNT signal does not oblige anyone to stop tracking, although some companies have promised to do so. Unable to tell whether someone really objects to behavioural ads or whether they are sticking with Microsoft’s default, some may ignore a DNT signal and press on anyway.
Also unclear is why Microsoft has gone it alone. After all, it has an ad business too, which it says will comply with DNT requests, though it is still working out how. If it is trying to upset Google, which relies almost wholly on default will become the norm. DNT does not seem an obviously huge selling point for windows 8-though the firm has compared some of its other products favourably with Google's on that count before. Brendon Lynch, Microsoft's chief privacy officer, blogged: "we believe consumers should have more control." Could it really be that simple?
26. It is suggested in paragraph 1 that “behavioural” ads help advertisers to:
[A] ease competition among themselves
[B] lower their operational costs
[C] avoid complaints from consumers
[D] provide better online services
27. “The industry” (Line 6,Para.3) refers to:
[A] online advertisers
[B] e-commerce conductors
[C] digital information analysis
[D] internet browser developers
28. Bob Liodice holds that setting DNT as a default
[A] many cut the number of junk ads
[B] fails to affect the ad industry
[C] will not benefit consumers
[D] goes against human nature
29. Which of the following is true according to Paragraph.6?
[A] DNT may not serve its intended purpose
[B] Advertisers are willing to implement DNT
[C] DNT is losing its popularity among consumers
[D] Advertisers are obliged to offer behavioural ads
30. The author's attitude towards what Brendon Lynch said in his blog is one of:
[A] indulgence
[B] understanding
[C] appreciation
[D] skepticism
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