You’re in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You listen to their conversation:

“I can’t believe it —a Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn’t it beautiful? And it’s a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome.”

They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater.It's nice and the price is right.You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish.They must know.So, you buy it.You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency.They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo BertoHa clothes.

   Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating.If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too.This is the secret of undercover(暗中影响的) marketing.Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it.

   Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising.This is particularly true of the MTV generation----consumers between the age of 18 and 34.It is a golden group.They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.

   So advertising agencies hire young actors to "perform" in bars and other places where young adults go.Some people might call this practice deceptive, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative."Look at traditional advertising.Its effectiveness is decreasing."

   However, one might ask what exactly is "real" about of young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater? Adverting executives would say it's no less real than an ad.The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something.You don' t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance.

The two attractive young women were talking so that they could ________.

    A.get the sweater at a lower price      B.be heard by people around

    C.be admired by other shoppers                D.decide on buying the sweater

Lorenzo Bertolla is __________.

    A.a very popular male singer             B.an advertising agency

    C.a clothing company in Rome            D.the brand name of a sweater

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? 

    A.The two girls are in fact employed by the Lorenzo Bertolla Company.

    B.The MTV generation tend to be more easily influenced by ads.

    C.Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it's too direct.

    D.Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.

Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

    A.Two Attractive Shoppers          B.Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters

    C.Ways of Advertising               D.Undercover Marketing

Several years ago, I had a huge falling out with one of my best friends. So huge, in fact, that now I can’t even remember what happened.
In the past nine years, I’ve seen her twice, and each time we’ve been polite but distant. And that troubles me because we were once that close to each other. I’d like nothing more than to go back nine years, and continue our friendship. But how? How do you reconnect with friends you’ve lost throughout the years?
Linking to your past
The desire to reconnect with lost friend isn’t unusual. Why? Because friends link us to the past. Friends from years ago are custodians(监护人) of our past, says Sandy Sheehy, author of Connecting” The Enduring Power of Female Friendship.
Although you can’t share information about your past with friends you’ve met recently, you don’t have a shared history with them. So you wind up only telling them about your past, rather than sharing it with them.
But many people never try to reconnect. Women especially have trouble taking the first step. Shyness or fear that the other person doesn’t want to reconnect often stops many women. And that shouldn’t be. Your friends probably want to be in touch with you as much as you want to be in touch with them.
Searching for friends
Fortunately, finding lost friends isn’t as difficult as it once was, thanks to tools like the Internet. Our experts offer these suggestions for locating contact information:
Search Internet sites designed to locate people like classmates.com and switchboard.com.
Contact your high school or college alumni(校友)office to request current address information.
Surf online yellow pages. Check current phone records from your friend’s hometown.
Network with other friends who might have known your friend.
Get in touch with any of her relatives(亲戚), if you know where they live. If you know where she works, find the company’s web site and search the directory of personnel.
【小题1】What ‘s the subject discussed in the passage?

A.How to make new friends.B.How to rediscover friendships.
C.How to develop healthy friendshipsD.How to keep in touch with friends.
【小题2】The underlined sentence “Friends from years ago are custodians of our past” means _____.
A.many years ago old friends kept something for us
B.in the past old friends took care of us
C.old friends are part of our life history
D.old friends know what wrong things we did in the past
【小题3】What makes us unwilling to reconnect old friends?
A.Lack of moneyB.Shortage of time
C.Regret and shameD.Fear and shyness
【小题4】How can we make contact with the lost friends?
A.By asking other friends of the information on your lost friends.
B.By searching your friends’ telephone number in the net.
C.By asking the local post office about your friends’ new address.
D.By putting an ad in your friends’ local town.

“Your honor(法官大人)!Let me say a few words for myself. What they have told you is just not true. I was not trying to kill anyone, and it was hardly possible to try to kill three strong young men at the same time. I didn't have anything to tell people that night and was quite alone. I didn't know them and needn't hate them. I was attacked by them, and I knocked one of them down. It's true, but I was made to do it, or I might be killed by them. I did this not because I hated the white men as they said. I just had to do so. While I was beaten in the dark street by the three men, a policeman came, caught me and took me here. I know why I was beaten. I have just moved into a house next to these three white men. I have felt that I am not welcome and I have tried to be quiet. I think, as an American, I have the right to choose where to live. I am guilty. What makes me guilty is my color opposite to theirs and I can't enjoy justice(公正). Yes, I'm not guilty. This is all I want to say. Thank you, your honor.”
【小题1】Why did he speak for himself?

A.He wanted to live in the house next to the whites.
B.He wanted to have the right to choose where to live.
C.He wanted to show he was not guilty.
D.He wanted to show he didn't hate the whites.
【小题2】The speaker was caught because________.
A.the policeman wanted to save him
B.he was black and was fighting with the whites
C.he killed the three men in a dark street
D.he lived in a house next to the whites
【小题3】What's the right order of the story?
a. The speaker said something for himself.
b. The three men said something.
c. The speaker knocked down one of the three men.
d. The speaker was beaten by the three men.
e. He was caught by the policeman.
f. The speaker moved into a house near the whites.
A.a­b­f­d­c­eB.b­a­f­c­d­eC.f­d­c­e­b­aD.f­c­d­e­a­b

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