2013考研英语真题英语一阅读部分

Text 1

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.

②

Priestly explains how the deep

blue color of the assistant's sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to department stores and to

the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.

①

This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn't be more out of date or at odds with the

feverish world described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline's three-year indictment of

“

fast fashion

”

.

②

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.

③

Quicker

turnarounds

mean

less

wasted

inventory,

more

frequent

releases,

and

more

profit.

④

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.

⑤

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.

①

The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers.

②

For H&M to offer a $$5.95

knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus 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.

①

Overdressed is the fashion world's answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan's The

Omnivore's Dilemma.

②

“

Mass- produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable

and wasteful,

”

Cline argues.

③

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.

①

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.

②

But as Cline is the first to

note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example can't be knocked off.

①

Though

several

fast-fashion

companies

have

made

efforts

to

curb

their

impact

on

labor

and

the

environment

—< /p>

including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line

—

Cline believes lasting change can

only be effected by the customer.

②

She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability,

be it in food or in energy.

③

Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they

can't afford not to.

ly criticizes her assistant for her __________.

[A] poor bargaining skill

[B] insensitivity to fashion

[C] obsession with high fashion

[D] lack of imagination

ing 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

word

< br>“

indictment

”

(Line 2

，

Para. 2) is closest in meaning to __________.

[A] accusation

[B] enthusiasm

[C] indifference

[D] tolerance

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.

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

①

An

old

saying

has

it

that

half

of

all

advertising

budgets

are

wasted

—

the

trouble

is,

no

one

knows

which half.

②

In the internet age, at least in theory, this fraction can be much reduced.

③

By watching what

people search for, click on and say online, companies can aim

“< /p>

behavioral

”

ads at those most likely to buy.

①

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 behavioral ads?

②

Or

should they have explicit permission?

①

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.

②

Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Safari both offer DNT; Google's Chrome is due to do so this year.

③

In

February

the

FTC

and

the

Digital

Advertising

Alliance

(DAA)

agreed

that

the

industry

would

get

cracking on responding to DNT requests.

①

On May 31st Microsoft set off the row.

②

It said that Internet Explorer 10

，

the version due to appear

with Windows 8

，

would have DNT as a default.

①

Advertisers are horrified.

②

Human nature being what it is, most people stick with default settings.

③

Few switch DNT on now, but if tracking is off it will stay off.

④

Bob Liodice, the chief executive of the

Association

of

National

Advertisers,

says

consumers

will

be

worse

off

if

the

industry

cannot

collect

information

about

their

preferences.

⑤

People

will

not

get

fewer

ads,

he

says.

⑥“

They'll

get

less

meaningful, less targeted ads.

”

①

It is not yet clear how advertisers will respond.

②

Getting a DNT signal does not oblige anyone to

stop tracking, although some companies have promised to do so.

③

Unable to tell whether someone really

objects

to

behavioral

ads

or

whether

they

are

sticking

with

Microsoft's

default,

some

may

ignore

a

DNT

signal and press on anyway.

①

Also unclear is why Microsoft has gone it alone.

②

After all, it has an ad business too, which it says

will comply with DNT requests, though it is still working out how.

③

If it is trying to upset Google, which

relies almost wholly on advertising, it has chosen an indirect method

：

There is no guarantee that DNT by

default

will

become

the

norm.

④

DNT

does

not

seem

an

obviously

huge

selling

point

for

Windows

8

—

though the firm has compared some of its other products favorably with Google's on that count before.

⑤

Brendon

Lynch,

Microsoft's

chief

privacy

officer,

blogged

：

“

We

believe

consumers

should

have

more

control.

”

⑥

Could it really be that simple?

is suggested in Paragraph 1 that

“

behavioral

”

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 4

，

Para. 3) refers to __________.

[A] online advertisers

[B] e-commerce conductors

[C] digital information analysts

[D] internet browser developers

Liodice holds that setting DNT as a default __________.

[A] may cut the number of junk ads

[B] fails to affect the ad industry

[C] will not benefit consumers

[D] goes against human nature

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 behavioral ads.

author's attitude towards what Brendon Lynch said in his blog is one of __________.

[A] indulgence

[B] understanding

[C] appreciation

[D] skepticism