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A

“Lemons” in Used Car Market

Suppose that you， a college student of limited income， are in the market of a used pickup truck. The following ad in a local used car publication catches your eyes.

1993 Ford Ranger（福特漫游者）， 4WD， a/c.

AM/FM/cass.， showroom condition.

Call 555-1234 after 5pm.

This is exactly the kind of car you want， so you call to ask about the price. The price you are told over the phone is $2，000 lower than the price for this model with this equipment listed in a used car guidebook. Instead of being interested， however， you are suspicious.

For many products， when you must pay less than the going rate， you believe you are getting a great deal. This is not necessarily the case for used cars or other durable goods（耐用消费品）（washing machines and television sets， for example） because with expensive products you must be particularly careful about getting a “lemon”.

In addition to asking the price， the age of a car is a factor when you are trying to determine whether a seller is attempting to sell a lemon. While people have all sorts of reasons for wanting to sell their cars—even relatively new cars—most people hold off until they have put many thousands of miles on a car or until the used car is several years old. You would probably be as suspicious of a car that is “too new” as you would a car that is “too good” a deal. In fact， you are probably willing to pay a high price for a high-quality used car. While this price would certainly be acceptable to the seller， the competitive market might not facilitate（有利于）such trades.

1. How may you feel when the product is unexpectedly cheap according to the text？

A. Very happy. B. Quite surprised.

C. Rather doubtful. D. A little interested.

2. “Lemon” in this passage refers to ___ .

A. a kind of fruit

B. a kind of used car

C. a product of low price

D. a product of poor quality

3. What should you consider to make sure to get a good buy according to the author？

A. The miles the car has run.

B. The price and the age of the car.

C. The trade condition of the car market.

D. The reason of the seller for selling the car.

4. We can infer from the last two sentences of the text that used cars are ___ .

A. relatively new B. generally cheap

C. usually of poor quality D. very attractive to buyers

B

Having a sister is good for your health， according to scientists. Those of us who grow up with at least one sister tend to be happier and more balanced than those who have only brothers. It is thought that girls get families talking， help them unite and encourage members to reach their full potential.

Psychologists tested the emotional health of 571 people aged 17 to 25. Some had only sisters or brothers， some had both and others were only children. They found that those who had at least one sister were more optimistic， less stressed and better at dealing with troubles in life.

Researcher Tony Cassidy， of the University of Ulster， said， “Our explanation for it is that the presence of girls opens up channels of communication and it becomes a much more expressive situation and that’s positive. Emotional expression is necessary to good psychological health and having sisters promotes（促进）this in families.”

Those with sisters were also more ambitious， the British Psychological Society’s annual conference heard today.

Professor Cassidy said， “It is about that natural desire to want to do better every time， to struggle towards goals. It is something that strengthens career development and success in all sorts of things. It seems there is something about the family situation with the number of girls in it that leads to more encouragement to achieve and be independent.”

Both men and women benefited from having sisters. Men and women who grew up in broken homes benefited equally from the sister effect， but in stable homes， women obtained more benefit.

Brothers have a less positive effect， with the lowest scores overall being achieved by the men who had lots of brothers. Professor Cassidy said， “The more natural trend for boys is not to talk about things. When there are a number of boys together， it is almost like a conspiracy（密谋策划）of silence not to talk， whereas a girl in that circumstance breaks it down.”

5. According to the passage， girls ___ .

A. are more independent than boys

B. do well in dealing with troubles in life

C. can promote emotional expressions in families

D. tend to be happier and more balanced

6. According to the text， if you have a sister， you will probably be ___ .

A. healthier B. happier

C. more optimistic D. better at communication

7. We can infer from Paragraph 5 that girls are ___ .

A. born positive B. hard working

C. friendlier than boys D. strong-willed in a way

8. What will boys probably do when they get together according to this passage？

A. Invite girls.

B. Tend to keep silent.

C. Try to break the silence.

D. Plan something secretly.

1. A ____（锤子）has a metal head and a wooden or metal handle.

2. What happens to the ____（灵魂）when it is divorced from the body？

3. The tailor carefully examined the cloth before starting to cut out a ____（衣服）.

4. One f mistake can involve you in a good deal of trouble.

5. I shall say your products have found a f footing in our market.

Today is Sunday. I had been studying all day long. On the morning， I had a dry breakfast. I had no water to drink because the water supply had cut off. The water came back in the evening. I did math exercises then. I didn’t stop after 12 o’clock. After the short lunch I had a break. Then I went to my Sunday English Class. After a long and tired class for more than two hours， I got home. Some work had been done but some hadn’t. I must review all my subject such as the Sciences， the Humanities which they include Chinese， English， Politics and History as well. That’s terribly， especially when there were no water.

1. 如果你往树后更远处看，就正好可以看见远处的村庄。

2. 竞争对手可能已树立了稳固的形象，因此你可以依附它传递与之相关的信息。

3. 我们只能希望她很快就明白她这是多么傻。

4. 我母亲和父亲在上学的时候就彼此爱上了。

1. It’s no use ___ the text by heart without understanding it.

A. learned B. to learn

C. learning D. being learned

2. Can you explain how it ___ that you were an hour late？

A. came about B. came over

C. came out D. came up

3. — Have you brought my football？

— Oh no！ I ___ again. That was stupid of me.

A. forget B. have forgotten

C. forgot D. had forgotten

4. I ___ make the dress by myself， but in the end I had to ask for help.

A. set about B. got down to

C. set off D. set out to

5. ___ that her handbag was missing， she went to the police for help.

A. Finding B. Found

C. Having found D. Being found

Many people try to lose weight and never manage to，and this is why you need to make the most of the best exercise that is around-walking.

If you are walking more，you will find that you’re able to burn more calories and therefore lose more weight. If you think about the things that you do in your life，you probably find that you get out of walking whenever you can.

You should try to take the stairs rather than the lift wherever you can，as this means that you will raise your heart beat higher. If you get a newspaper delivered to your door， think about whether you could walk to the shops in the morning and pick it up instead.This would raise your metabolism（新陈代谢）at the most important time in the day.

In addition，if you take the bus a lot，then you should try getting off a couple of stops earlier than you might have done in the past. Not only will this help you to get more exercise，but it will also help you to save a little bit of money at the same time because you won’t have to pay for as much time on the bus as you would have done in the past.

If you choose to take these tips，then you should find that you are able to lose a little more weight than you are at this moment in time. Every little helps，no matter how small；even getting out of the house and walking around the block is better than simply sitting at home and not doing anything at all.

1. Why should people need to make the most of walking？ （within 9 words）

2. What’s the advantage of taking the stairs in place of lift？ （within 5 words）

3. What does the author suggest doing when taking a bus？ （within 8 words）

4. What should you find if you take these tips？ （within 5 words）

5. What is the main idea of the text？（within 5 words）