Many shops cut prices just before Christmas in an attempt to s_____ sales.

？Read the article about supermarket.

？Choose the best sentence to fill each of the gaps.

？For each gap 8—12, mark one letter (A—G) on your Answer Sheet.

？Do not use any letter more than once.

？There is an example at the beginning.

Supermarket

Supermarket is a type of retailing institution that has a moderately broad product assortment spanning groceries and some nonfood lines, that ordinarily emphasizes price in either an offensive or defensive way. As a method, supermarket retailing features several related product lines, a high degree of self-service, largely centralized checkout, and competitive prices. The supermarket approach to retailing is used to sell various kinds of merchandise, (8) .

The term supermarket usually refers to an institution in the grocery retailing field. Most supermarkets emphasize price. Some use price offensively by featuring low prices in order to attract customers. Other supermarkets use price more defensively by relying on leader pricing to avoid a price disadvantage. Since supermarkets typically have very thin gross margins, they need high levels of inventory turnover to achieve satisfactory returns on invested capital.

Supermarkets originated in-the early 1930s. They were established by independents (9) . Supermarkets were an immediate success, and the innovation was soon adopted by chain stores. In recent decades supermarkets have added various nonfood lines to provide customers with one-stop shopping convenience and to improve overall gross margins.

Today stores using the supermarket method of retailing are dominant in grocery retailing. However, different names are used to distinguish these institutions (10) .

A superstore is a larger version of the supermarket. It offers more grocery and nonfood items (11) . Many supermarket chains are emphasizing superstores in their new construction.

Combination stores are usually even larger than superstore. They, too, offer more groceries and nonfoods than a supermarket but also most product lines found in a large drugstore. Some combination stores are joint ventures between supermarkets and drug chains such as Kroger and Sav-on.

For many years the supermarket has been under attack from numerous competitors. For example, a grocery shopper can choose among not only many brands of supermarkets but also various types of institutions (ware house stores, gourmet shops, meat and fish markets, and convenience stores). Supermarkets have reacted to competitive pressures (12) : Some cut costs and stressed low prices by offering more private brands and generic products and few customer services. Others expanded their store size and assortments by adding more nonfood lines (especially products found in drugstores), groceries attuned to a particular market area (foods that appeal to a specific ethnic group, for example), and various service departments (including video rentals, restaurants, delicatessens, financial institutions, and pharmacies).

A including building materials, office products, and, of course, groceries

B attracting more customers with their low prices

C primarily in either of two ways

D to compete with grocery chains

E a type of retailing institution

F by size and assortment

G than a conventional supermarket does

(8)

听力原文：W(NFC): Thank you for agreeing to see us. As you know, we represent the local branch of the National Food Council. We have been asked to talk to you about the high mark up prices in our shops. Recently, food prices have increased very much. In particular, the prices of tinned food products seem extremely high.

M1(R1): Are you referring to certain shops in the district or to all shops in general？

W(NFC): Not just certain shops. All shops in the district. Now we're used to a mark up of roughly 50%, but we've been shocked to find that with most food and household products there's been a mark up of at least 70%. In a few cases, the mark up price has been 90% of the original wholesale price of the product supplied to you by food processing companies.

M2(R2): But selling food demands special knowledge of the market and long experience of pricing. We don't raise prices just because we feel like it. A lot of work is done in this field and there's a lot of discussion before any decision is made with regard to prices.

W(NFC): Yes, but the National Food Council has conducted a large number of surveys concerning the reasons for price increases and the effects of these increases on customers.

M2(R2): I think the higher prices we are charging reflect better services that we give to our customers now, and we know customers want these improved services.

W(NFO): What do you mean by “better services”？

M2(R2): Well, many of us have built larger stores and supermarkets. These have cost huge amounts of money, especially since we have had to buy extra land so we can build good car parks. Nowadays we stock a larger range of goods than ever before. Also, we allow customers to return anything they're unhappy with. And we now open longer hours, which means paying overtime rates to our staff.

W(NFC): But that doesn't explain why you make such a big profit all the time.

M3(R3): Today, there's so much competition that our profits are really very small. Many stores and large shops are left with less than two percent profit on their sales after taxes have been deducted. That's not a lot of money, you know. We used to be able to count on at least five percent profit, and sometimes even ten percent.

Questions 23-30

•You will hear people from the National Food Council complaining to retailers about the high prices they are charging for food products and household goods. They complain that the shops have marked up wholesale prices far too much.

•For each question (23-30), mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.

•After you have listened once, replay the recording.

The meeting is being held to discuss

A．an increase in the price of food.

B．the high price of tinned food.

C．certain shops in the district.

根据下列材料请回答 56～60 题：

A

There are many shops in Singapore where customers still bargain, although prices are clearly shown on the goods. There is nothing out of the ordinary in haggling; some shopkeepers expect you to and will be surprised if you accepted their prices immediately. We know that the prices in some stores are a bit higher than those in Change Alley, but we also realize that to keep a store like Robinson’s is by no means cheap. Besides, in such places we shop in air-conditioned(空调)comfort. For all these, we pay a little extra.

It is not always true to say that things in Change Alley cost less. I once bought a Czechoslovakian glass butter-dish from Robinson’s for a little under two dollars. I then went on to Change Alley and just by chance saw an article of the same shape, design and size, in one of the shops. I then asked about its price, and was surprised when the man demanded more than four dollars for it. “How much can you offer？” he shouted at me. I offered him exactly the same price I paid for the article and his reply was shockingly rude(粗鲁). I opened my bag, showed him my receipt, stared at him and walked out of his shop.

A buyer in England expects to find the price of goods clearly shown, or, to be told exactly what the price is. He knows this is the lowest price that will be accepted. If he thinks the price is beyond what he can afford, he shrugs(耸耸)his shoulders and walks away. He does not attempt to bargain with the shopkeeper. Even if he showed annoyance or surprise, he would expect to be told that if the price was unacceptable, he should try elsewhere.

第 56 题 The underlined word“hagglin9”(1ine 2，para．1)in the text most probably means＿＿＿．

A．accepting the prices immediately

B．fixing the right cost for some goods

C．arguing about the price of something

D．paying extra for comfortable shopping

ou get 【C1】______ for the same amount of money as before, inflation is the problem. Sometimes people describe inflation as a time when "a dollar is not 【C2】______ a dollar anymore".

Inflation is a problem for all consumers, especially people who live on a fixed income. Retired people, for instance, cannot 【C3】______ on an increase in income as prices rise. They face serious problems in stretching their incomes to 【C4】______ their needs in time of inflation. Many retired people must cut their spending to 【C5】______ rising prices. In many cases they must stop 【C6】______ some necessary items, such as food and clothing. Even 【C7】______ working people whose incomes are going up, inflation can also be a problem. The 【C8】______ of living goes up, and they must have even more money to maintain their standard of living. When incomes do not keep 【C9】______ with rising prices, living standard goes down. People may be earning the same amount of money, but they are not living 【C10】______ because they are not able to buy as many goods and services.

Government units gather information about prices in our economy and publish it as price indexes 【C11】______ the rate of price change can be determined. A price index measures changes in prices using the price for a 【C12】______ year as the base. The base price is set 【C13】______ 100, and the other prices are reported as a 【C14】______ of the base price. A price index makes 【C15】______ possible to compare current price with that in previous years.

【C1】______

A．few

B．fewer

C．little

D．less

l indicator. Inflation is a period of increased 【C1】______ that causes rapid rises in prices.【C2】______ your money buys fewer goods so that you get【C3】______ for the same amount of money as before, inflation is the problem. There is a general rise【C4】______ the price of goods and services. Your money buys less. Sometimes people describe inflation as a(n)【C5】______ when "a dollar is not worth a dollar anymore".

Inflation is a problem for all consumers. People who live on a fixed income are hurt the【C6】______ Retired people, for instance, cannot【C7】______ on an increase in income as prices rise. Elderly people who do not work face serious problems in stretching their incomes to【C8】______ their needs in time of inflation. Retirement income【C9】______ any fixed income usually does not rise as fast as prices. Many retired people must cut their spending to【C10】______ rising prices. In many cases they must stop【C11】______ some necessary items, such as food and clothing. Even 【C12】______ working people whose incomes are going up, inflation can be a problem. The【C13】______ of living goes up, too. People who work must have even more money to keep up their standard of living. Just buying the things they need costs more. When incomes do not keep【C14】______ with rising prices, the standard of living goes down. People may be earning the same amount of money, but they are not living【C15】______ because they are not able to buy as many goods and services.

Government units gather information about prices in our economy and publish it as price indexes

【C16】______ the rate of change can be determined. A price index measures changes in prices using the price for a 【C17】______ year as the base. The base price is set【C18】______ 100, and the other prices are reported as a 【C19】______ of the base price. A price index makes【C20】______ possible to compare current prices of typical consumer goods, for example, with prices of the same goods in previous years.

【C1】

A．spending

B．demanding

C．consuming

D．saving

Section B

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.

Energy analysts spent the first half of the year debating how expensive oil could get. Now they are asking the opposite question. On December 2nd the price of a barrel slipped below ＄ 47, the lowest level since May 2005 and legs than a third of the peak reached in July.

The main reason for the slump is the darkening outlook for the world economy. America's appetite for oil, for example, had been more or less stagnant(停滞的) for the past few years, but has recently dropped dramatically. Many now expect global oil demand to fall next year, and perhaps even this year -- which would be the first decline since 1993.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) does not seem able to cut its production fast enough to keep pace with all this grim news. In October the cartel agreed to pump 1.5 million fewer barrels each (lay from November 1st, reducing global supply by about 2%. But that cut is only just beginning to take effect, since it can lake more than a month for tankers to reach their destinations. Moreover, OPEC's members do not yet seem to be complying fully with their diminished quotas.

The king of Saudi Arabia recently "said that ＄75 a barrel would be a fair price --- an idea that other members of the cartel have echoed with enthusiasm. Oil's plunge has left many of them in dire fiscal straits. This suggests that when the group meets again on December 17th, it will resolve to cut its production further. But Saudi Arabia will not want to bear all the cost, so it will insist that other big producers, such as Iran and Venezuela, should not only agree to further cuts of their own but also implement them.

Michael Lewis of Deutsche Bank argues that OPEC's past efforts to prop up prices have succeeded more often than not. Since 1993, cuts in production have led to higher prices on three-quarters of occasions. The exceptions, however, have occurred when the world economy has slowed unexpectedly -- most notably in 1998, after the Asian crisis, and in 2001, after the dotcom bubble burst. On those occasions, the price kept falling for more than six months after OPEC first began reducing its output. In 2001, for example, the cartel had to resort to a series of cuts, totaling 5 million barrels, before the price finally began to recover.

If events take a similar turn this time, Mr. Lewis reckons, OPEC will have to keep cutting its output for another year. The price may not hit rock bottom until early 2010. But the world economy looks less healthy now than it did in 2001, so OPEC may face even more of a struggle this time, he thinks.

What does the author tell us about the general condition of oil price this year？

A．The oil price underwent decline in the first haft year and rise in the second haft.

B．The oil price in July is higher than ＄141 per barrel.

C．The stagnant situation of America's appetite caused oil price decline.

D．Oil price decline may. account for the world economy's darkening outlook.

l indicator. Inflation is a period of increased 【C1】______ that causes rapid rises in prices. 【C2】______ . your money buys fewer goods so that you get 【C3】______ for the same amount of money as before, inflation is the problem. There is a general rise 【C4】______ the price of goods and services. Your money buys less. Sometimes people describe inflation as a 【C5】______ when "a dollar is not worth a dollar anymore." Inflation is a problem for all consumers.

People who live on a fixed income are hurt the 【C6】______ . Retired people, for instance, can not 【C7】______ on an increase in income as prices rise. Elderly people who do not work face serious problems in stretching their incomes to 【C8】______ their needs in time of inflation. Retirement income 【C9】______ any fixed income usually does not rise as fast as prices. Many retired people must cut their spending to 【C10】______ rising prices. In many cases they must stop 【C11】______ some necessary items, such as food and clothing. Even 【C12】______ working people whose incomes are going up, inflation can be a problem. The 【C13】______ of living goes up, too. People who work must have even more money to keep up their standard of living. Just buying the things they need costs more. When incomes do not keep 【C14】______ with rising prices, the standard of living goes down. People may be earning the same amount of money, but they are not living 【C15】______ because they are not able to buy as many goods and services. Government units gather information about prices in our economy and publish it as price indexes 【C16】______ the rate of change can be determined. A price index measures changes in prices using the price for a 【C17】______ year as the base. The base price is set 【C18】______ 100, and the other prices are reported as a 【C19】______ of the base price. A price index makes 【C20】______ possible to compare current prices of typical consumer goods, for example, with prices of the same goods in previous years.

【C1】

A．spending

B．demanding

C．consuming

D．saving

an was Thomas Scott. (15[D])Captain Scott performed many brave deeds, but perhaps his most remarkable act was the saving of hundreds men, women, and children (16[A])who were crossing the Hudson River in a ferryboat. It was winter and the river was full of blocks of ice. As the ferry boat crossed the river, a tugboat ran into her. The collision cut a great V-shaped hole in her side. Men, women, and children were soon screaming with fright as the water poured into the engine room. In a few minutes the boat would have sunk, plunging all the passengers into the icy water.

Fortunately, Captain Scott happened to be passing in a river tugboat. He quickly pulled his boat up to the sinking ship and sprang to her deck. Rushing down to file engine room, he plugged the hole with everything he could find. Still, water came in. (14[C])Then he thrust his arm into the hole and stopped the water with his body. For an hour he held back the water until the boat reached the dock and everyone was saved.

It can be inferred that Scott was a hero because ______.

A．he was a sea captain

B．he crossed a river full of ice

C．he saved the boat almost at the price of his life

D．he saved many people with a tugboat

aimed at the intermediate operations between manufacturers and final customers. This practice usually attracts a lot of attention from the public and the press and the operation most talked about is what is often called wholesaling.

The wholesaler buys goods in large quantities from the manufacturers and sells them in smaller parcels to retailers, and for this service his selling price to the retailer is raised several percent higher. But his job is made more difficult by retail demand not necessarily running level with manufacturers' production. Because he adjusts or regulates the flow of goods by holding stock until required, he frees the manufacturer, to some extent, from the effect on production of changing demand and having to bear the whole risk.

The manufacturer can then keep up a steady production flow, and the retailer has no need to hold heavy stocks, who can call on the wholesaler for supplies any time. This wholesale function is like that of a valve in a water pipe. The middleman also bears part of the risk that would otherwise fall on the manufacturer and also the retailer.

The wholesaler provides a purely commercial service, for which he is too well rewarded. But the point that is missed by many people is that the wholesaler is not just someone adding to the cost of goods. It is true one could eliminate the wholesaler but one would still be left with his function: that of making sure that goods find their way to the people who want them.

"Middleman" in the passage almost equals to all the following in meaning EXCEPT______.

A．go-between

B．intermediary

C．manufacturer

D．wholesaler