Endless playing of songs like All I want for Christmas in shops during the festive season doesn’t just drive us mad —the songs also make us more careless with our money, research has warned.
While repeated performance of Jingle Bells may seem like an innocent attempt to raise customers’ spirits during the nightmare of Christmas shopping, the songs also have a more delicate impact.
“Background music, or “Muzak”,can be used by marketers to impose cultures ---such as the commercialization of Christmas--- onto consumers and influence their behaviour,” experts said.
Dr. Alan Bradshaw of Royal Holloway, University of London, said, “Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood, influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy. In other words, this is an attempt to control your shopping habits in a way that you might hardly be aware of.”
“Often we are told that we have the freedom to choose where we want to shop, but during Christmas the use of music in this way is so common that our freedom to choose disappears.”
Dr. Bradshaw and Prof Morris Holbrook of Columbia University examined the phenomenon and found that retailers often “dumb down” the music played in shops to relax customers, meaning it is easier to control their behaviour.
It is thought that slowing down the rhythm of music in shops can trick customers into thinking less time has passed, and therefore spend more time examining the shelves, for example.
Some providers of background music have been known to promote their services by claiming they can boost profits by controlling the behaviour of customers.
“A common trick is to take a popular current song and record an instrumental version which can be slowed down or sped up at different time of the day to influence behaviour in different ways,” Dr. Bradshaw said.
Background music is often classed as “Muzak” in honor of the Seattle-based company which began producing its soft-sounding melodies in the 1930s.
1.According to Dr. Bradshaw, in what ways does Christmas music influence customers?
①their mood ②their income
③their sense of time ④ the sort of products they buy
A.①②③ B.①③④ C.②③④ D.①②④
2. Shopkeepers slow down the rhythm of music in shops to ___________.
A. let customers spend more time shopping
B. make customers and sales assistants relaxed
C. let customers enjoy the beautiful music
D. help customers find what they really want
3.What kind of music is now often adapted to influence customers in shops?
A. Classical music B. Popular modern songs.
C. Folk songs. D. Jazz music.
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A. Music makes happy Christmas
B. Christmas “Muzak”
C. How to make Christmas music?
D. Christmas music makes us spend more
1.B
2.A
3.B
4.D
【解析】
試題分析：文章介紹了一項研究發現，商店里面播放的圣誕音樂可以影響人們的情緒，對時間的感覺和他們買的東西的種類。如果店主放慢音樂的節奏可以讓顧客花更多時間購物，最終的目的是讓顧客多花錢。
1.細節題：從文章第四段的句子：Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood, influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy.可知Dr. Bradshaw認為圣誕音樂會影響人們的情緒，對時間的感覺和他們買的東西的種類。選B
2.細節題：從文章第七段的句子：It is thought that slowing down the rhythm of music in shops can trick customers into thinking less time has passed, and therefore spend more time examining the shelves, for example.可知店主放慢音樂的節奏是為了讓顧客花更多時間購物，選A
3.細節題：從文章倒數第二段的句子: A common trick is to take a popular current song and record an instrumental version which can be slowed down or sped up at different time of the day to influence behaviour in different ways,”可知現代的流行音樂經常被改編來影響商店的顧客，選B
4.標題確定題：從第一段的句子： the songs also make us more careless with our money, research has warned. 可知圣誕音樂會讓我們花更多的錢，選D。
考點：考查社會現象類短文
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Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today.
During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors" Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus. For his play "Macbeth", Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity（強度）of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
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What can we infer from the passage？
A.Many of Shakespeare's works were influenced by earlier writings.
B.Shakespeare was hard??working when he was a student.
C.The experience of living in London helped a lot with Shakespeare's works.
D.Shakespeare became rich later because of the popularity of his works.
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A."King Lear" B."The Comedy of Errors" C. "Macbeth" D."Othello"
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B.Because he produced too many works that nobody else could do.
C.Because he was a rich and influential person of his time.
D.Because his works were rich in imagination and language.
Shakespeare's greatest influence should be on .
A.the English language B.paintings C.television D.music and dance
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A.an introduction to Shakespeare’s life and his works
B.the main features and styles of Shakespeare's plays
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During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in Shakespeare’s play “The Comedy of Errors”, Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus. For his play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity（強度）of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
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1. From the passage, we can see that ________.
A. Shakespeare was hardworking when he was a student
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C. the experience of living in London had no effect on Shakespeare’s works
D. Shakespeare became rich later because of the popularity of his works
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A. Because there were so few people writing plays in his time.
B. Because he produced too many works that nobody else could do.
C. Because his works were rich in imagination and language.
D. Because he was a rich and influential person of his time.
3.Shakespeare’s greatest influence should be on .
A. paintings B. television
C. the English language D. music and dance
4.The passage is mainly about .
A. an introduction to Shakespeare’s life and his works
B. the main features and styles of Shakespeare’s plays
C. Shakespeare’s greatest influence on the world culture.
D. how culture influenced Shakespeare and he influenced culture.
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Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today.
During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors"（《錯誤的喜劇》）Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus. For his play "Macbeth"（《麥克白》）, Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity（強度）of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.
Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He described the sights and sounds of London in his plays. His works include observations about political struggles, the fear of diseases, and the popular language of the city’s tradesmen. Shakespeare's knowledge of the English countryside is also clear. His works include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular traditions of rural people.
It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare’s works have influenced the world culture. But the first and greatest example would be his great influence on the English language. During his time, the English language was changing. Many new words from other languages were being added. Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create hundreds of new words and rework old ones. For example, he created the noun forms of "critic", "mountaineer” and "eyeball". Many common expressions in English come from his plays, including "pomp and circumstance（裝腔作勢）"from "Othello"（《奧賽羅》）, "full circle（繞圈子地）" from "King Lear"（《李爾王》）, etc. The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is almost endless. From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare was well represented. Shakespeare's plays have been translated into every major language in the world.
Shakespeare became a well-known writer during a golden age of theater. His years of hard work paid off.
1.What can we infer from the passage？
A. Many of Shakespeare's works were influenced by earlier writings.
B. Shakespeare was hardworking when he was a student.
C. The experience of living in London helped a lot with Shakespeare's works.
D. Shakespeare became rich later because of the popularity of his works.
2.Shakespeare might have learnt some information from ancient Roman works in .
A."King Lear" B."The Comedy of Errors" C. "Macbeth" D."Othello"
3.Shakespeare's greatest influence should be on .
A. the English language B. paintings C. television D. music and dance
4.The passage is mainly about .
A. an introduction to Shakespeare’s life and his works
B. the main features and styles of Shakespeare's plays
C. how culture influenced Shakespeare and he influenced culture.
D. Shakespeare’s greatest influence on the world culture.
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