雅思阅读高分需要打牢的基础

雅思阅读高分是很多人的理想，但是想要拿到高分还是有很多东西需要准备的。今天小编给大家带来了雅思阅读高分需要打牢的基础,希望能够帮助到大家，下面小编就和大家分享，来欣赏一下吧

【阅读高分必备】雅思阅读高分需要打牢的基础

一般雅思阅读高分需要的基础有两个，就是拥有扎实的词汇语法基础及丰富的背景知识。

考生想要在雅思考试过程中游刃有余，拿到雅思阅读高分，没有一定的词汇量基本是没有办法达成的。当然我们在考试中可以通过上下文，转折词等等猜测生词的意思。但是，一旦生词量超过一定比例，势必会影响考生的理解。说到理解，在雅思考试中碰到长难句是常有的事情。那么扎实的语法基础也是考生正确理解文章意义的一个重要的必备素质。

除去扎实的词汇语法基础之外，丰富的背景知识也是一名雅思阅读高分考生所必须的。雅思阅读考试人文社科类和自然科学类当中有众多小分支话题，涉及天文、地理、生物、地质、语言学、发展史等等众多领域。为了保证考试时的阅读效率及答题的正确性，考生需要在平时多多查阅相关资料，了解各类文章背景。至于常考的老话题及最新出现的新话题，考生可以通过对于机经的总结去获取相关信息。另外，在了解各类相关背景文章的同时，考生还可以增加相关的词汇量，实是一举两得的好办法。

雅思考试阅读模拟试题及答案解析

How shops can exploit people's herd mentality to increase sales

1.　　A TRIP to the supermarket may not seem like an exercise in psychological warfare—but it is. Shopkeepers know that filling a store with the aroma of freshly baked bread makes people feel hungry and persuades them to buy more food than they had intended. Stocking the most expensive products at eye level makes them sell faster than cheaper but less visible competitors. Now researchers are investigating how “swarm intelligence” (that is, how ants, bees or any social animal, including humans, behave in a crowd) can be used to influence what people buy.

2.　　At a recent conference on the simulation of adaptive behaviour in Rome, Zeeshan-ul-hassan Usmani, a computer scientist from the Florida Institute of Technology, described a new way to increase impulse buying using this phenomenon. Supermarkets already encourage shoppers to buy things they did not realise they wanted: for instance, by placing everyday items such as milk and eggs at the back of the store, forcing shoppers to walk past other tempting goods to reach them. Mr Usmani and Ronaldo Menezes, also of the Florida Institute of Technology, set out to enhance this tendency to buy more by playing on the herd instinct. The idea is that, if a certain product is seen to be popular, shoppers are likely to choose it too. The challenge is to keep customers informed about what others are buying.

3.　　Enter smart-cart technology. In Mr Usmani's supermarket every product has a radio frequency identification tag, a sort of barcode that uses radio waves to transmit information, and every trolley has a scanner that reads this information and relays it to a central computer. As a customer walks past a shelf of goods, a screen on the shelf tells him how many people currently in the shop have chosen that particular product. If the number is high, he is more likely to select it too.

4.　　Mr Usmani's “swarm-moves” model appeals to supermarkets because it increases sales without the need to give people discounts. And it gives shoppers the satisfaction of knowing that they bought the “right” product—that is, the one everyone else bought. The model has not yet been tested widely in the real world, mainly because radio frequency identification technology is new and has only been installed experimentally in some supermarkets. But Mr Usmani says that both Wal-Mart in America and Tesco in Britain are interested in his work, and testing will get under way in the spring.

5.　　Another recent study on the power of social influence indicates that sales could, indeed, be boosted in this way. Matthew Salganik of Columbia University in New York and his colleagues have described creating an artificial music market in which some 14,000 people downloaded previously unknown songs. The researchers found that when people could see the songs ranked by how many times they had been downloaded, they followed the crowd. When the songs were not ordered by rank, but the number of times they had been downloaded was displayed, the effect of social influence was still there but was less pronounced. People thus follow the herd when it is easy for them to do so.

6.　　In Japan a chain of convenience shops called RanKing RanQueen has been ordering its products according to sales data from department stores and research companies. The shops sell only the most popular items in each product category, and the rankings are updated weekly. Icosystem, a company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, also aims to exploit knowledge of social networking to improve sales.

7.　　And the psychology that works in physical stores is just as potent on the internet. Online retailers such as Amazon are adept at telling shoppers which products are popular with like-minded consumers. Even in the privacy of your home, you can still be part of the swarm.

雅思考试阅读模拟试题及答案解析

A.

When Denis Hennequin took over as the European boss of McDonald’s in January 2004， the world’s biggest restaurant chain was showing signs of recovery in America and Australia， but sales in Europe were sluggish or declining. One exception was France， where Mr Hennequin had done a sterling job as head of the group’s French subsidiary to sell more Big Macs to his compatriots. His task was to replicate this success in all 41 of the European countries where anti-globalisers’ favourite enemy operates.

B.

So far Mr Hennequin is doing well. Last year European sales increased by 5.8% and the number of customers by 3.4%， the best annual results in nearly 15 years. Europe accounted for 36% of the group’s profits and for 28% of its sales. December was an especially good month as customers took to seasonal menu offerings in France and Britain， and to a promotion in Germany based on the game of Monopoly.

C

Mr Hennequin’s recipe for revival is to be more open about his company’s operations， to be “locally relevant”， and to improve the experience of visiting his 6，400 restaurants. McDonald’s is blamed for making people fat， exploiting workers， treating animals cruelly， polluting the environment and simply for being American. Mr Hennequin says he wants to engage in a dialogue with the public to address these concerns.

D.

He introduced “open door” visitor days in each country which became hugely popular. In Poland alone some 50，000 visitors came to McDonald’s through the visitors’ programme last year. The Nutrition Information Initiative， launched last year， put detailed labels on McDonald’s packaging with data on calories， protein， fat， carbohydrates and salt content. The details are also printed on tray-liners.

E.

Mr Hennequin also wants people to know that “McJobs”， the low-paid menial jobs at McDonald’s restaurants， are much better than people think. But some of his efforts have backfired： last year he sparked a controversy with the introduction of a “McPassport” that allows McDonald’s employees to work anywhere in the European Union. Politicians accused the firm of a ploy to make cheap labour from eastern Europe more easily available to McDonald’s managers across the continent.

F.

To stay in touch with local needs and preferences， McDonald’s employs local bosses as much as possible. A Russian is running McDonald’s in Russia， though a Serb is in charge of Germany. The group buys mainly from local suppliers. Four-fifths of its supplies in France come from local farmers， for example. (Some of the French farmers who campaigned against the company in the late 1990s subsequently discovered that it was， in fact， buying their produce.) And it hires celebrities such as Heidi Klum， a German model， as local brand ambassadors.

G.

In his previous job Mr Hennequin established a “design studio” in France to spruce up his company’s drab restaurants and adapt the interior to local tastes. The studio is now masterminding improvements everywhere in Europe. He also set up a “food studio”， where cooks devise new recipes in response to local trends.

H.

Given France’s reputation as the most anti-American country in Europe， it seems odd that McDonald’s revival in Europe is being led by a Frenchman， using ideas cooked up in the French market. But France is in fact the company’s most profitable market after America. The market where McDonald’s is weakest in Europe is not France， but Britain.

I.

“Fixing Britain should be his priority，” says David Palmer， a restaurant analyst at UBS. Almost two-thirds of the 1，214 McDonald’s restaurants in Britain are company-owned， compared with 40% in Europe and 15% in America. The company suffers from the volatility of sales at its own restaurants， but can rely on steady income from franchisees. So it should sell as many underperforming outlets as possible， says Mr Palmer.

J.

M.Mark Wiltamuth， an analyst at Morgan Stanley， estimates that European company-owned restaurants’ margins will increase slightly to 16.4% in 2007. This is still less than in the late 1990s and below America’s 18-19% today. But it is much better than before Mr Hennequin’s reign. He is already being tipped as the first European candidate for the group’s top job in Illinois. Nobody would call that a McJob.

Questions 1-6

Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?

Write your answer in Boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

TRUE if the statement reflects the claims of the writer

FALSE if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1. McDonald was showing the sign of recovery in all European countries except France after Denis Hennequin took office as the boss of Euro-markets.

2. Starting from last year， detailed labels are put on McDonald’s packaging and detailed information is also printed on tray-liners.

3. France is said to be the most anti-American country in Europe， but the ideas of the “open door” visiting days and “McPassport” are invented in the French market.

4. Britain possesses the weakest McDonald market among European countries and approximately 1214 McDonald’s restaurants are company-owned.

5. According to David Palmer， a restaurant analyst at UBS， David Hennequin should treat the problem about McDonald in Britain as the most important thing.

6. David Palmer suggested that the management of McDonalod in Italy should sell as many its outlets which lose money in business as possible for revival.

Questions 7-10

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 7-10 on your answe sheet.

7. The word “sterling” in line 3 of Paragraph A means__________.

A. difficult

B. menial

C. terrible

D. excellent

8. Which of the following statements on the accusation of MacDonald is NOT TRUE?

A. It tends to make people fat.

B. Its operations are very vague.

C. It tends to exploit workers.

D. It tends to treat animals cruelly.

9. Which of the following measures taken by Denis Hennequin produced undesired result?

A. “Food Studio” scheme.

B. “Open Door” visitor days.

C. The “McPassport” scheme.

D. The Nutrition Information Initiative.

10. What did Denis Hennequin do so as to respond to local trends?

A. set up a “Food Studio” .

B. established a “Design Studio”.

C. hired celebrities as local brand ambassadors.

D. employed local bosses as much as possible.

Questions 11-14

Complete each of the following statements (Questions 11-14) with words or number taken from Reading Passage 1.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.

11. After January 2004， McDonald was making improvement following a period of slump in America and Australia， but sales in Europe were ………………………….

12. Business of McDonald in France and Britain was particularly good in December since customers took to ……………………………..

13. Compared with other countries， France is McDonald’s ………………………. next to America.

14. ……………………. of McDonald’s restaurants in America are companied–owned and the figure is much lower than that in Britain. Part II

Notes to Reading Passage 1

1.sterling高质量的

e.g. He has many sterling qualities. 他身上有许多优秀的品质。

2. menial 不体面的， 乏味的(工作、职业)

3. spruce up打扮整齐、漂亮、装饰

4. mastermind指挥、谋划(一个计划或活动)

e.g. The police know who masterminded the robbery.警察知道是谁策划了那次抢劫。

5. underperform表现不佳表现出低于标准的工作水平、企业出现亏本

Part III

Keys and explanations to the Questions 1-14

1. FALSE

See the second sentence in Paragraph A “One exception was France， where Mr Hennequin had done a sterling job as head of the group’s French subsidiary to sell more Big Macs to his compatriots. His task was to replicate this success in all 41 of the European countries…”.

2. TRUE

See the last sentence in Paragraph D “The Nutrition Information Initiative， launched last year， put detailed labels on McDonald’s packaging with data on calories， protein， fat， carbohydrates and salt content. The details are also printed on tray-liners.”

3. NOT GIVEN

See Paragraph D， E and H “Given France’s reputation as the most anti-American country in Europe， it seems odd that McDonald’s revival in Europe is being led by a Frenchman， using ideas cooked up in the French market.”.

4. FALSE

See the last sentence of Paragraph H and first sentence of Paragraph L “The market where McDonald’s is weakest in Europe is not France， but Britain…Almost two-thirds of the 1，214 McDonald’s restaurants in Britain are company-owned…”

5. TRUE

See the first sentence of Paragraph I “Fixing Britain should be his priority，” says David Palmer， a restaurant analyst at UBS”.

6. NOT GIVEN

See the last sentence of Paragraph I “So it should sell as many underperforming outlets as possible， says Mr Palmer”.

7. D

See the first sentence of Paragraph A “One exception was France， where Mr Hennequin had done a sterling job as head of the group’s French subsidiary to sell more Big Macs to his compatriots”.

8. B

See the second sentence of Paragraph D “McDonald’s is blamed for making people fat， exploiting workers， treating animals cruelly， polluting the environment”

9. C

See the second sentence of Paragraph E “But some of his efforts have backfired： last year he sparked a controversy with the introduction of a “McPassport” that allows McDonald’s employees to work anywhere in the European Union..”

10. A

See the last sentence of Paragraph G “He also set up a “food studio”， where cooks devise new recipes in response to local trends”.

11. sluggish or declining

See the first sentence of Paragraph A “When Denis Hennequin took over as the European boss of McDonald’s in January 2004， the world’s biggest restaurant chain was showing signs of recovery in America and Australia， but sales in Europe were sluggish or declining.”

12. seasonal menu offerings

See the last sentence of Paragraph B “December was an especially good month as customers took to seasonal menu offerings in France and Britain， and to a promotion in Germany based on the game of Monopoly”.

13.most profitable market

See the second sentence of Paragraph H “But France is in fact the company’s most profitable market after America”.

14. 15%

See the second sentence of Paragraph I “Almost two-thirds of the 1，214 McDonald’s restaurants in Britain are company-owned， compared with 40% in Europe and 15% in America”.