Question

　　Today business cards are distributed with abandon by working people of all social classes, illustrating not only the uniquity of commercial interests but also the fluidity of the world of trade. Whether one is buttonholing potential clients for a carpentry service, announcing one's latest academic appointment, or“networking” with fellow executives, it is permissible to advertise one's talents and availability by an outstretched hand and the statement“Here's my card.” As Robert Louis Stevenson once observed, everybody makes his living by selling something. Business cards facilitate this endeavor.

　　It has not always been this way. The cards that we use today for commercial purposes are a vulgarization of the nineteenth century social calling cards, an artifact with a quite different purpose. In the Gilded Age, possessing a calling indicated not that you were interested in forming business relationships, but that your money was so old that you bad no need to make a living. For the calling-card class, life was a continual round of social visits, and the protocol（礼仪）governing these visits was inextricably linked to the proper use of cards. Pick up any etiquette manual predating World War I, and you will find whole chapters devoted to such questions as whether a single gentleman may leave a card for a lady; when a lady must, and must not, turn down the edges of a card; and whether an unmarried girl of between fourteen and seventeen may carry more than six or less than thirteen cards in her purse in months beginning with a “J”. The calling card system was especially cherished by those who made no distinction between manners and mere form, and its preciousness was well defined by Mrs John Sherwood. Her 1887 manual called the card“the field mark and device” of civilization.

　　The business version（说法）of the calling card came in around the turn of the century, when the formerly well defined borders between the commercial and the personal realms were used widely, society mavens（专家）considered it unforgivable to fuse the two realms. Emily Post's contemporary（当代的）Lilian Eichler called it very poor taste to use business cards for social purposes, and as late as 1967 Amy Vanderbilt counseled that the merchant's marker “may never double for social purposes.”

(1) Business cards are usually used to ________.

[　　]

A．announce one's latest academic appointment

B．establish business relationships

C．make a living

D．illustrate the fluidity of the world of trade

(2) The statement which has not been mentioned in the passage is ________.

[　　]

A．business cards are a vulgarization of the nineteenth century social calling card

B．The calling card system was especially cherished by those who made no distinction between manners and mere form

C．most people thought it improper to use business cards for social purposes

D．everyone makes his living by selling something

(3) The sentence that“your money was so old” in the second paragraph means ________.

[　　]

A．you have an old pound note

B．your money was useless

C．you have a lot of money

D．you inherited a fortune from your ancestors

(4) Business cards are likely to have appeared ________.

[　　]

A．at the beginning of the nineteenth century

B．at the beginning of the twentieth century

C．before the nineteenth century social calling card

D．after World War Ⅰ

(5) In the Gilded Age, people who possessed a calling card ________.

[　　]

A．had to make their living

B．were interested in forming business relationships

C．boasted of their wealth

D．advertised their talents and availability

Answer 1

答案：D;C;D;B;C
解析：

(1)本题为细节题。相关内容位于第一段首句中对“business cards”作用的描述，“它不仅表明了商业利益的独特性，而且展示了世界贸易的流动性”。故应选D。 (2)本题为判断题。选项A位于第二段第二句对名片发展历史的描述中；选项B位于第二段倒数第二句中；而选项D内容为文中第一段第三句的原话。 (3)本题为推理题。题干信息位于第二段第句中，从随后对其作用的描述（不需要谋生）可知它应为一大笔财产，结合下文中对“calling card”持有者生活的描述可知其确切含义应为“遗产”一类。 (4)本题为推理题。相关内容在第三段首句：“calling card”的商业称呼出现在世纪交会时。联系上文“calling card”是出现于十九世纪，可知“business card”应出现于二十世纪初。故B为正确答案。 (5)本题为推理题。见文章第二段第三句中对持有“calling card”者生活细节的描述，同时结合各种个选项含义，可知当时拥有“calling card”的人都会炫耀自己的财富。