资料：Some companies are more creative in their use of history than others. HSBC’s History Wall, a striking art installation at the bank’s London headquarters, is made up of 3,743 images drawn from the bank’s archives and arranged in chronological order.Even this is dwarfed by Coca Cola, the American classics. In May, Coca Cola opened a new corporate museum in Atlanta, which is expected to pull in more than 1 million visitors annually, Attractions include the first Coke cans to go into space, a functioning botting line and a tasting lounge.The benefits of knowing your corporate history can be very practical. Companies often use their history as inspiration for new products. Disney constantly mines its archives of old films. Carmakers have overhauled old designs for the modern era: Volkswagen’s New Beetle is an obvious example.But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible — that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees. Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness, brewers and banks are fond of flaunting（炫耀） their deep roots. Jim Gilmore, co-author of “Authenticity”, argues that history is also vital in giving companies a genuine sense of personality. Ritz-Carlton’s use of cobalt-blue glasses in its hotel dining rooms can be traced back to Boston in the 1920s, for example, where window glass that had been imported from Europe and turned blue in the New England air was a symbol of wealth. Rather than commissioning dusty biographies to mark anniversaries, Mr. Gilmore believes that firms should search the archives for inspiring stories of this kind.Younger companies can use history, too. Before giving up their old jobs, the founders of Innocent, a British drinks firm formed in 1998,sold an initial batch of smoothies from a market stall in London. They asked customers to put their empty bottles into one of two labeled bins to indicate whether they should focus on their new venture or stick to their day jobs. The rest, as they say, is history. The firm now uses the story to illustrate its folksy image.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?A.Activities did by HSBC are better than those of Coca -cola.B.New designs inspired by old products are not good.C.Young companies do better than old companies in using history.D.Consumers often trust old-aged companies more.
资料：Some companies are more creative in their use of history than others. HSBC’s History Wall, a striking art installation at the bank’s London headquarters, is made up of 3,743 images drawn from the bank’s archives and arranged in chronological order.
Even this is dwarfed by Coca Cola, the American classics. In May, Coca Cola opened a new corporate museum in Atlanta, which is expected to pull in more than 1 million visitors annually, Attractions include the first Coke cans to go into space, a functioning botting line and a tasting lounge.
The benefits of knowing your corporate history can be very practical. Companies often use their history as inspiration for new products. Disney constantly mines its archives of old films. Carmakers have overhauled old designs for the modern era: Volkswagen’s New Beetle is an obvious example.
But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible — that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees. Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness, brewers and banks are fond of flaunting（炫耀） their deep roots. Jim Gilmore, co-author of “Authenticity”, argues that history is also vital in giving companies a genuine sense of personality. Ritz-Carlton’s use of cobalt-blue glasses in its hotel dining rooms can be traced back to Boston in the 1920s, for example, where window glass that had been imported from Europe and turned blue in the New England air was a symbol of wealth. Rather than commissioning dusty biographies to mark anniversaries, Mr. Gilmore believes that firms should search the archives for inspiring stories of this kind.
Younger companies can use history, too. Before giving up their old jobs, the founders of Innocent, a British drinks firm formed in 1998,sold an initial batch of smoothies from a market stall in London. They asked customers to put their empty bottles into one of two labeled bins to indicate whether they should focus on their new venture or stick to their day jobs. The rest, as they say, is history. The firm now uses the story to illustrate its folksy image.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
Even this is dwarfed by Coca Cola, the American classics. In May, Coca Cola opened a new corporate museum in Atlanta, which is expected to pull in more than 1 million visitors annually, Attractions include the first Coke cans to go into space, a functioning botting line and a tasting lounge.
The benefits of knowing your corporate history can be very practical. Companies often use their history as inspiration for new products. Disney constantly mines its archives of old films. Carmakers have overhauled old designs for the modern era: Volkswagen’s New Beetle is an obvious example.
But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible — that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees. Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness, brewers and banks are fond of flaunting（炫耀） their deep roots. Jim Gilmore, co-author of “Authenticity”, argues that history is also vital in giving companies a genuine sense of personality. Ritz-Carlton’s use of cobalt-blue glasses in its hotel dining rooms can be traced back to Boston in the 1920s, for example, where window glass that had been imported from Europe and turned blue in the New England air was a symbol of wealth. Rather than commissioning dusty biographies to mark anniversaries, Mr. Gilmore believes that firms should search the archives for inspiring stories of this kind.
Younger companies can use history, too. Before giving up their old jobs, the founders of Innocent, a British drinks firm formed in 1998,sold an initial batch of smoothies from a market stall in London. They asked customers to put their empty bottles into one of two labeled bins to indicate whether they should focus on their new venture or stick to their day jobs. The rest, as they say, is history. The firm now uses the story to illustrate its folksy image.
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A.Activities did by HSBC are better than those of Coca -cola.
B.New designs inspired by old products are not good.
C.Young companies do better than old companies in using history.
D.Consumers often trust old-aged companies more.
B.New designs inspired by old products are not good.
C.Young companies do better than old companies in using history.
D.Consumers often trust old-aged companies more.
参考解析
解析：本题考查的是细节理解和同义转换。
【关键词】inferred; passage
【主题句】第4自然段 But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible— that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees.Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness,brewers and banks are fond of flaunting their deep roots. 但更大的回报往往是无形的——即与客户和雇员建立更牢固的纽带。年龄本身就能给人一种信任感，啤酒商和银行都喜欢炫耀自己的深厚根基。
【解析】本题问的是“以下哪一项可以从文中推断？”选项A意为“HSBC做的比可口可乐更好”，选项B意为“受旧产品启发的新设计并不好”，选项C意为“年轻公司在使用历史方面比老公司更好”，选项D意为“顾客常常更加信任老牌公司”，根据主题句，
【关键词】inferred; passage
【主题句】第4自然段 But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible— that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees.Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness,brewers and banks are fond of flaunting their deep roots. 但更大的回报往往是无形的——即与客户和雇员建立更牢固的纽带。年龄本身就能给人一种信任感，啤酒商和银行都喜欢炫耀自己的深厚根基。
【解析】本题问的是“以下哪一项可以从文中推断？”选项A意为“HSBC做的比可口可乐更好”，选项B意为“受旧产品启发的新设计并不好”，选项C意为“年轻公司在使用历史方面比老公司更好”，选项D意为“顾客常常更加信任老牌公司”，根据主题句，
相关考题：
We may infer from the second paragraph that[A] DNA technology has been widely applied to history research.[B] in its early days the U.S. was confronted with delicate situations.[C] historians deliberately made up some stories of Jefferson’s life.[D] political compromises are easily found throughout the U.S. history.
We may infer from the second paragraph thatA．DNA technology has been widely applied to history research.B．in its early days the U.S. was confronted with delicate situations.C．historians deliberately made up some stories of Jefferson's life.D．political compromises are easily found throughout the U.S. history.
The author's opinion on Machiavelli's History of Florence is that[A] history has much to do with the person who records it.[B] the charm lies in the style. rather than in the content.[ C] most people failed to read Machiavelli's intention in it.[D] any history of this kind should be written in this way.
In 1784, five years before he became president of the United States, George Washington,52, was nearly toothless. So he hired a dentist to transplant nine teeth into his jaw-having extracted them from the mouths of his slaves.That's a far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most people remember from their history books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation. They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one child with his slave Sally Hemings. And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up. Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the nation's early leaders and the fragile nature of the country's infancy. More significantly, they argue that many of the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrong-and yet most did little to fight it.More than anything, the historians say, the founders were hampered by the culture of their time. While Washington and Jefferson privately expressed distaste for slavery, they also understood that it was part of the political and economic bedrock of the country they helped to create.For one thing, the South could not afford to part with its slaves. Owning slaves was "like having a large bank account," says Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and The Creation of America． The southern states would not have signed the Constitution without protections for the "peculiar institution," including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.And the statesmen's political lives depended on slavery. The three-fifths formula handed Jefferson his narrow victory in the presidential election of 1800 by inflating the votes of the southern states in the Electoral College. Once in office, Jefferson extended slavery with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; the new land was carved into 13 states, including three slave states.Still, Jefferson freed Hemings's children-though not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 other slaves. Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will. Only a decade earlier, such an act would have required legislative approval in Virginia．We may infer from the second paragraph that__A.DNA technology has been widely applied to history researchB.in its early days the U.S. was confronted with delicate situationsC.historians deliberately made up some stories of Jefferson's lifeD.political compromises are easily found throughout the U.S. history
Text 4 In 1784,five years before he became president of the United States,George Washington,52,was nearly toothless.So he hired a dentist to transplant nine teeth into his jaw–having extracted them from the mouths of his slaves.That’s a far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most people remember from their history books.But recently,many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation.They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998,which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one child with his slave Sally Hemings.And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up.Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the nation’s early leaders and the fragile nature of the country’s infancy.More significantly,they argue that many of the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrong–and yet most did little to fight it.More than anything,the historians say,the founders were hampered by the culture of their time.While Washington and Jefferson privately expressed distaste for slavery,they also understood that it was part of the political and economic bedrock of the country they helped to create.For one thing,the South could not afford to part with its slaves.Owning slaves was“like having a large bank account,”says Wiencek,author of An Imperfect God:George Washington,His Slaves,and the Creation of America.The southern states would not have signed the Constitution without protections for the“peculiar institution,”including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.And the statesmen’s political lives depended on slavery.The three-fifths formula handed Jefferson his narrow victory in the presidential election of 1800 by inflating the votes of the southern states in the Electoral College.Once in office,Jefferson extended slavery with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803;the new land was carved into 13 states,including three slave states.Still,Jefferson freed Hemings’s children–though not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 other slaves.Washington,who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War,overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will.Only a decade earlier,such an act would have required legislative approval in Virginia.37.We may infer from the second paragraph thatA.DNA technology has been widely applied to history research.B.in its early days the U.S.was confronted with delicate situations.C.historians deliberately made up some stories of Jefferson’s life.D.political compromises are easily found throughout the
Text 4 Shortly after The Economist went to press,about 25,000 people were expected to rurn up at the London Art Fair.Your correspondent visited just before,as 128 white booths were being filled with modern paintings and sculptures.Dealers clutched mobile phones to their ears or gathered in small groups.They seemed nervous-as well they might be."I can eam a year's living in one fair,"said one harried dealer while stringing up a set oflights.Before 1999 London had just one regular contemporary art fair,remembers Will Ramsay,boss of the expanding Affordable Art Fair.This year around 20 will be held in Britain,mostly in the capitaL Roughly 90 will take place worldwide:The success of larger events such as Frieze,which started in London,has stimulated the growth of smaller fairs specialising in craft work,ceramics and other things.Art14,which started last year,specialises in less well-known intemational galleries,showing art from Sub-Saharan Africa,South Korea and Hong Kong.One explanation for the boom is the overall growth of the modern-art market.Four fifihs of all art sold at auction worldwide last year was from the 20th or 21st century,according to Artprice,a database.In November an auction in New York of modern and contemporary art made$691m（￡422m）,easily breaking the previous record.As older art becomes harder to buy-much ofit is locked up in museums-demand for recent works is rising.London's art market in particular has been boosted by an influx of rich immigrants from Russia,China and the Middle East."When I started 23 years ago I had not a single non-Western foreign buyer,"says Kenny Schachter,an art dealer."It's a different world now."And London's new rich buy arl differently.They ofien spend little time in the capital and do not know it well.Traipsing around individual galleries is inconvenient,particularly as galleries have moved out of central London.The mall-like set-up of a fair is much more suitable.Commercial galleries used to rely on regular visits from rich Britons seeking to fumish their stately homes.Many were family friends.The new art buyers have no such loyalty.People now visit galleries mainly to go to events and to be seen,says Alan Cristea,a gallery owner on Cork street in Mayfair.Fairs,and the parties that spring up around them,are much better places to be spotted.Some galleries are feeling squeezed.Bemard Jacobson runs a gallery opposite Mr Cristea.The changing art market reminds him ofwhen his father,a chemist,was eclipsed by Boots,a pharmaceutical chain,in the 1960s.Seven galleries in Cork Street relocated this month to make way for a redevelopment;five more may follow later this year.Yet the rise ofthe fairs means galleries no longer require prime real estate,thinks Sarah Monk of the London Art Fair.With an intemational clientele,many can work online or from home.Although some art fairs still require their exhibitors to have a gallery space,increasingly these are small places outside central London or beyond the city altogether.One gallery owner says few rich customers ever visit his shop in south London.He makes all his contacts at the booths he sets up at fairs,which might be twice the sizc of his store."It's a little like fishing:'he explains."You move to where the pike is."The best title of this text would be______A.The Changing Place of GalleriesB.The Proper Opening ofArt FairsC.The Thorny Questions ofArt FairsD.The Hopeless Stories ofArt Market
Shortly after The Economist went to press,about 25,000 people were expected to tum up at the London An Fair.Your correspondent visited just before,as 128 white booths were being filled with modern paintings and sculptures.Dealers clutched mobile phones to their ears or gathered in small groups.They seemed nervous-as well ihey mighl be."I can eam a year's living in one fair,"said one harried dealer while slringing up a set of lights.Before 1999 London had just one regular contemporary art fair,remembers Will Ramsay,boss of the expanding Affordable Art Fair.This year around 20 will be held in Britain,mostly in the cap-ital.Roughly 90 will iake place worldwide.The success of larger events such as Fneze,which star ted in London,has stimulated the growth of smaller fairs specialising in craft work,ceramics and other things.Artl4,which started last year,specialises in less weU-known intemational galleries,showing art from Sub-Sahuan Africa,South Korea and Hong Kong.One explanation for the boom is the overall gromth of the modem-art market.Four-rifths of all art sold at auction worldwide last year was from the 20th or 21st century,according to Artprice,a database.In November an auction in New York of modern and contemporary art made$691m,easily breaking the previous record.As older art becomes harder to buy-much of it is locked up in museums-demand for recent works js rising.London's art market in particular has been boosted by an influx of rich immigrants from Russia,China and the Middle East."When I sttuled 23 years ago I had not a single non-Westem foreign buyer,"says Kenny Schachter,an art dealer."It's a different world now."And London's new rich buy art differenLly.They often spend little time in the capital and do not know it well.Traipsing around individual galleries is inconvenient,particularly as galleries have moved out of central London.The mall-like set-up of a fair is much more suiLable.Commercial galleries used to rely on regular visits from rich Briions seeking to fumish their stately homes.Many were family friends.The new art buyers have no such loyalty.People now visit galleries mainly to go to evenLs and to be seen,says Alan Cristea,a gallery owner on Cork street in Mayfair.Fairs,and the parties thaL spring up around them,are much better places to be spotted.Some galleries are feeling squeezed.Bernard Jacobson runs a gallery opposite Mr Cristea.The changing art market reminds him of his father,a chemist,who was eclipsed by a pharmaceutical chain,in the 1960s.Seven galleries in Cork Street relocated this month to make way for a redevel-opment;five more may follow later this year.Yet the rise of the fairs means galleries no longer require prime real estate,thinks Sarah Monk of the London Art Fair.With an inlernational clientele,many can work online or from home.Although some art fairs still require their exhibitors to have a gallery space,increasingly these are small places outside central London or beyond Lhe city altogether.One gallery owner says few rich customers ever visit his shop in south London.He makes all his contacts at the booths he sets up at fairs,which might be twice the size of his store."It's a little like fishing,"he explains."You move to where the pike is."Kenny Schachter says thatA.gallery owners can make deals on the Internet.B.many art buyers are trom non-westerm countries now.C.the change of art markel has exerted pressure on him.D.dealers can make a great deal of money at the art fair.E.many people visiting galleries are not potential customers.F.rich Britons regularly pay a visit to the commercial galleries.G.very few art exhibitions were held al the end of the 20th century.
Text 3 Disruption may bc the buzzword in boardrooms,but the most striking feature of business today is not the overturning of the established order.It is the stabilisation of a group of superstar companies at the heart of the global economy.Some are emerging-market champions,like Samsung,which have seized the opportunities provided by globalisation.The elite of the elite are high-tech wizards-Google,Apple,Facebook and the rest-that have conjured up corporate empires from bits and bytes.The superstars are admirable in many ways.They churn out products that improve consumers'lives,from smarter smartphones to sharper televisions.They provide Americans and Europeans with an estimated$280 billion-worth of"free"services-such as search or directions-a year.But they have two big faults.They are squashing competition,and they are using the darker arts of management to stay ahead.Neither is easy to solve.But failing to do so risks a backlash which will be bad for everyone.Bulking up is a global trend.The annual number of mergers and acquisitions is more than twice what it was in the 1990s.But concentration is at its most worrying in America.The share of GDP generated by America's 100 biggest companies rose from about 33%in 1994 t0 46%in 2013.In the home of the entrepreneur,the number of startups js lower than it has been at any time since the 1970s.More firms are dying than being bom.Founders dream of selling their firms to one of the giants rather than of building their own titans.The weight of the superstars also reflects their excellence at less productive activities.About 30%of global foreign direct investment（FDl）flows through tax havens,big companies routinely use"transfer pricing"to pretend that profits generated in one part of the world are in fact made in another.None of this helps the image of big business.Paying tax seems to be unavoidable for individuals but optional for firms.Rules are unbending for citizens,and up for negotiation when it comes to companies.Nor do profits translate into jobs as once they did.In 1990 the top three carmakers in Detroit had a market capitalisation of$36 billion and l.2 million employees.In 2014 the top three firms in Silicon Valley,with a market capitalisation ofover$l trillion,had only 137,000 employees.So,by all means celebrate the astonishing achievements of today's superstar companies.But also watch them.The world needs a healthy dose of competition to keep today's giants on their toes and to give those in their shadow a chance to grow.The decrease of new companies indicates_____A.they have rare chance to grow upB.giant companies will give founders moneyC.most GDP is generated by superstar companiesD.people prefer big companies than small ones
Text 4 Shortly after The Economist went to press,about 25,000 people were expected to rurn up at the London Art Fair.Your correspondent visited just before,as 128 white booths were being filled with modern paintings and sculptures.Dealers clutched mobile phones to their ears or gathered in small groups.They seemed nervous-as well they might be."I can eam a year's living in one fair,"said one harried dealer while stringing up a set oflights.Before 1999 London had just one regular contemporary art fair,remembers Will Ramsay,boss of the expanding Affordable Art Fair.This year around 20 will be held in Britain,mostly in the capitaL Roughly 90 will take place worldwide:The success of larger events such as Frieze,which started in London,has stimulated the growth of smaller fairs specialising in craft work,ceramics and other things.Art14,which started last year,specialises in less well-known intemational galleries,showing art from Sub-Saharan Africa,South Korea and Hong Kong.One explanation for the boom is the overall growth of the modern-art market.Four fifihs of all art sold at auction worldwide last year was from the 20th or 21st century,according to Artprice,a database.In November an auction in New York of modern and contemporary art made$691m（￡422m）,easily breaking the previous record.As older art becomes harder to buy-much ofit is locked up in museums-demand for recent works is rising.London's art market in particular has been boosted by an influx of rich immigrants from Russia,China and the Middle East."When I started 23 years ago I had not a single non-Western foreign buyer,"says Kenny Schachter,an art dealer."It's a different world now."And London's new rich buy arl differently.They ofien spend little time in the capital and do not know it well.Traipsing around individual galleries is inconvenient,particularly as galleries have moved out of central London.The mall-like set-up of a fair is much more suitable.Commercial galleries used to rely on regular visits from rich Britons seeking to fumish their stately homes.Many were family friends.The new art buyers have no such loyalty.People now visit galleries mainly to go to events and to be seen,says Alan Cristea,a gallery owner on Cork street in Mayfair.Fairs,and the parties that spring up around them,are much better places to be spotted.Some galleries are feeling squeezed.Bemard Jacobson runs a gallery opposite Mr Cristea.The changing art market reminds him ofwhen his father,a chemist,was eclipsed by Boots,a pharmaceutical chain,in the 1960s.Seven galleries in Cork Street relocated this month to make way for a redevelopment;five more may follow later this year.Yet the rise ofthe fairs means galleries no longer require prime real estate,thinks Sarah Monk of the London Art Fair.With an intemational clientele,many can work online or from home.Although some art fairs still require their exhibitors to have a gallery space,increasingly these are small places outside central London or beyond the city altogether.One gallery owner says few rich customers ever visit his shop in south London.He makes all his contacts at the booths he sets up at fairs,which might be twice the sizc of his store."It's a little like fishing:'he explains."You move to where the pike is."Which of the following is not true about art market according to Paragraphs 4 and 5?A.London's art market boosted favorite mainly from overseas.B.London's new rich often spend multiple times in the capital and do not know it.C.commercial galleries used to depend on regular from wealthy people.D.people in recent years visit galleries for events and parties.
Text 1 The longest bull run in a century of artmarket history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst,Beautiful Inside My Head Forever,at Sotheby's in London on September 15th,2008.All but two pieces sold,fetching more than￡70m,a record for a sale by a single artist.It was a last victory.As the auctioneer called out bids,in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street,Lehman Brothers,filed for bankruptcy.The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising bewilderingly since 2003.At its peak in 2007 it was worth some$65 billion,reckons Clare McAndrew,founder of Arts Economics,a research firm—double the figure five years earlier.Since then it may have come down to$50 billion.But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth,enormous egos,greed,passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.In the weeks and months that followed Mr Hirst's sale,spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable.In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms.Sales of contemporary art fell by twothirds,and in the most overheated sector,they were down by nearly 90%in the year to November 2008.Within weeks the world's two biggest auction houses,Sotheby's and Christie's,had to pay out nearly$200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989.This time experts reckon that prices are about 40%down on their peak on average,though some have been far more fluctuant.But Edward Dolman,Christie's chief executive,says:“I'm pretty confident we're at the bottom.”What makes this slump different from the last,he says,is that there are still buyers in the market.Almost everyone who was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell.The three Ds—death,debt and divorce—still deliver works of art to the market.But anyone who does not have to sell is keeping away,waiting for confidence to return.In the first paragraph,Damien Hirst's sale was referred to as“a last victory”because_____A.the art market had witnessed a succession of victoriesB.the auctioneer finally got the two pieces at the highest bidsC.Beautiful Inside My Head Forever won over all masterpiecesD.it was successfully made just before the world financial crisis
Text 4 Shortly after The Economist went to press,about 25,000 people were expected to rurn up at the London Art Fair.Your correspondent visited just before,as 128 white booths were being filled with modern paintings and sculptures.Dealers clutched mobile phones to their ears or gathered in small groups.They seemed nervous-as well they might be."I can eam a year's living in one fair,"said one harried dealer while stringing up a set oflights.Before 1999 London had just one regular contemporary art fair,remembers Will Ramsay,boss of the expanding Affordable Art Fair.This year around 20 will be held in Britain,mostly in the capitaL Roughly 90 will take place worldwide:The success of larger events such as Frieze,which started in London,has stimulated the growth of smaller fairs specialising in craft work,ceramics and other things.Art14,which started last year,specialises in less well-known intemational galleries,showing art from Sub-Saharan Africa,South Korea and Hong Kong.One explanation for the boom is the overall growth of the modern-art market.Four fifihs of all art sold at auction worldwide last year was from the 20th or 21st century,according to Artprice,a database.In November an auction in New York of modern and contemporary art made$691m（￡422m）,easily breaking the previous record.As older art becomes harder to buy-much ofit is locked up in museums-demand for recent works is rising.London's art market in particular has been boosted by an influx of rich immigrants from Russia,China and the Middle East."When I started 23 years ago I had not a single non-Western foreign buyer,"says Kenny Schachter,an art dealer."It's a different world now."And London's new rich buy arl differently.They ofien spend little time in the capital and do not know it well.Traipsing around individual galleries is inconvenient,particularly as galleries have moved out of central London.The mall-like set-up of a fair is much more suitable.Commercial galleries used to rely on regular visits from rich Britons seeking to fumish their stately homes.Many were family friends.The new art buyers have no such loyalty.People now visit galleries mainly to go to events and to be seen,says Alan Cristea,a gallery owner on Cork street in Mayfair.Fairs,and the parties that spring up around them,are much better places to be spotted.Some galleries are feeling squeezed.Bemard Jacobson runs a gallery opposite Mr Cristea.The changing art market reminds him ofwhen his father,a chemist,was eclipsed by Boots,a pharmaceutical chain,in the 1960s.Seven galleries in Cork Street relocated this month to make way for a redevelopment;five more may follow later this year.Yet the rise ofthe fairs means galleries no longer require prime real estate,thinks Sarah Monk of the London Art Fair.With an intemational clientele,many can work online or from home.Although some art fairs still require their exhibitors to have a gallery space,increasingly these are small places outside central London or beyond the city altogether.One gallery owner says few rich customers ever visit his shop in south London.He makes all his contacts at the booths he sets up at fairs,which might be twice the sizc of his store."It's a little like fishing:'he explains."You move to where the pike is."According to the art dealers,after______,it will make their incomes increase.A.art movement in some groupsB.setting modem paintings and sculpturesC.holding an expoD.reporting an art fair through The Economist
Text 1 The longest bull run in a century of artmarket history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst,Beautiful Inside My Head Forever,at Sotheby's in London on September 15th,2008.All but two pieces sold,fetching more than￡70m,a record for a sale by a single artist.It was a last victory.As the auctioneer called out bids,in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street,Lehman Brothers,filed for bankruptcy.The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising bewilderingly since 2003.At its peak in 2007 it was worth some$65 billion,reckons Clare McAndrew,founder of Arts Economics,a research firm—double the figure five years earlier.Since then it may have come down to$50 billion.But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth,enormous egos,greed,passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.In the weeks and months that followed Mr Hirst's sale,spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable.In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms.Sales of contemporary art fell by twothirds,and in the most overheated sector,they were down by nearly 90%in the year to November 2008.Within weeks the world's two biggest auction houses,Sotheby's and Christie's,had to pay out nearly$200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989.This time experts reckon that prices are about 40%down on their peak on average,though some have been far more fluctuant.But Edward Dolman,Christie's chief executive,says:“I'm pretty confident we're at the bottom.”What makes this slump different from the last,he says,is that there are still buyers in the market.Almost everyone who was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell.The three Ds—death,debt and divorce—still deliver works of art to the market.But anyone who does not have to sell is keeping away,waiting for confidence to return.Which of the following statements is NOT true?A.Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008B.The art market surpassed many other industries in momentumC.The market generally went downward in various waysD.Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come
Text 3 Disruption may bc the buzzword in boardrooms,but the most striking feature of business today is not the overturning of the established order.It is the stabilisation of a group of superstar companies at the heart of the global economy.Some are emerging-market champions,like Samsung,which have seized the opportunities provided by globalisation.The elite of the elite are high-tech wizards-Google,Apple,Facebook and the rest-that have conjured up corporate empires from bits and bytes.The superstars are admirable in many ways.They churn out products that improve consumers'lives,from smarter smartphones to sharper televisions.They provide Americans and Europeans with an estimated$280 billion-worth of"free"services-such as search or directions-a year.But they have two big faults.They are squashing competition,and they are using the darker arts of management to stay ahead.Neither is easy to solve.But failing to do so risks a backlash which will be bad for everyone.Bulking up is a global trend.The annual number of mergers and acquisitions is more than twice what it was in the 1990s.But concentration is at its most worrying in America.The share of GDP generated by America's 100 biggest companies rose from about 33%in 1994 t0 46%in 2013.In the home of the entrepreneur,the number of startups js lower than it has been at any time since the 1970s.More firms are dying than being bom.Founders dream of selling their firms to one of the giants rather than of building their own titans.The weight of the superstars also reflects their excellence at less productive activities.About 30%of global foreign direct investment（FDl）flows through tax havens,big companies routinely use"transfer pricing"to pretend that profits generated in one part of the world are in fact made in another.None of this helps the image of big business.Paying tax seems to be unavoidable for individuals but optional for firms.Rules are unbending for citizens,and up for negotiation when it comes to companies.Nor do profits translate into jobs as once they did.In 1990 the top three carmakers in Detroit had a market capitalisation of$36 billion and l.2 million employees.In 2014 the top three firms in Silicon Valley,with a market capitalisation ofover$l trillion,had only 137,000 employees.So,by all means celebrate the astonishing achievements of today's superstar companies.But also watch them.The world needs a healthy dose of competition to keep today's giants on their toes and to give those in their shadow a chance to grow.The author's attitude towards superstar companies could be——A.supportiveB.criticalC.conservativeD.subjective
Text 4 Shortly after The Economist went to press,about 25,000 people were expected to rurn up at the London Art Fair.Your correspondent visited just before,as 128 white booths were being filled with modern paintings and sculptures.Dealers clutched mobile phones to their ears or gathered in small groups.They seemed nervous-as well they might be."I can eam a year's living in one fair,"said one harried dealer while stringing up a set oflights.Before 1999 London had just one regular contemporary art fair,remembers Will Ramsay,boss of the expanding Affordable Art Fair.This year around 20 will be held in Britain,mostly in the capitaL Roughly 90 will take place worldwide:The success of larger events such as Frieze,which started in London,has stimulated the growth of smaller fairs specialising in craft work,ceramics and other things.Art14,which started last year,specialises in less well-known intemational galleries,showing art from Sub-Saharan Africa,South Korea and Hong Kong.One explanation for the boom is the overall growth of the modern-art market.Four fifihs of all art sold at auction worldwide last year was from the 20th or 21st century,according to Artprice,a database.In November an auction in New York of modern and contemporary art made$691m（￡422m）,easily breaking the previous record.As older art becomes harder to buy-much ofit is locked up in museums-demand for recent works is rising.London's art market in particular has been boosted by an influx of rich immigrants from Russia,China and the Middle East."When I started 23 years ago I had not a single non-Western foreign buyer,"says Kenny Schachter,an art dealer."It's a different world now."And London's new rich buy arl differently.They ofien spend little time in the capital and do not know it well.Traipsing around individual galleries is inconvenient,particularly as galleries have moved out of central London.The mall-like set-up of a fair is much more suitable.Commercial galleries used to rely on regular visits from rich Britons seeking to fumish their stately homes.Many were family friends.The new art buyers have no such loyalty.People now visit galleries mainly to go to events and to be seen,says Alan Cristea,a gallery owner on Cork street in Mayfair.Fairs,and the parties that spring up around them,are much better places to be spotted.Some galleries are feeling squeezed.Bemard Jacobson runs a gallery opposite Mr Cristea.The changing art market reminds him ofwhen his father,a chemist,was eclipsed by Boots,a pharmaceutical chain,in the 1960s.Seven galleries in Cork Street relocated this month to make way for a redevelopment;five more may follow later this year.Yet the rise ofthe fairs means galleries no longer require prime real estate,thinks Sarah Monk of the London Art Fair.With an intemational clientele,many can work online or from home.Although some art fairs still require their exhibitors to have a gallery space,increasingly these are small places outside central London or beyond the city altogether.One gallery owner says few rich customers ever visit his shop in south London.He makes all his contacts at the booths he sets up at fairs,which might be twice the sizc of his store."It's a little like fishing:'he explains."You move to where the pike is."The sentence"You move to where the pike is"（Para.6）meansA.fairs would be the most flexible way to exhibit artworkB.there will be more rich collectors return to the galleriesC.the size of galleries would be twice than the fairs on the websiteD.more galleries will move to the golden place
Text 4 Shortly after The Economist went to press,about 25,000 people were expected to rurn up at the London Art Fair.Your correspondent visited just before,as 128 white booths were being filled with modern paintings and sculptures.Dealers clutched mobile phones to their ears or gathered in small groups.They seemed nervous-as well they might be."I can eam a year's living in one fair,"said one harried dealer while stringing up a set oflights.Before 1999 London had just one regular contemporary art fair,remembers Will Ramsay,boss of the expanding Affordable Art Fair.This year around 20 will be held in Britain,mostly in the capitaL Roughly 90 will take place worldwide:The success of larger events such as Frieze,which started in London,has stimulated the growth of smaller fairs specialising in craft work,ceramics and other things.Art14,which started last year,specialises in less well-known intemational galleries,showing art from Sub-Saharan Africa,South Korea and Hong Kong.One explanation for the boom is the overall growth of the modern-art market.Four fifihs of all art sold at auction worldwide last year was from the 20th or 21st century,according to Artprice,a database.In November an auction in New York of modern and contemporary art made$691m（￡422m）,easily breaking the previous record.As older art becomes harder to buy-much ofit is locked up in museums-demand for recent works is rising.London's art market in particular has been boosted by an influx of rich immigrants from Russia,China and the Middle East."When I started 23 years ago I had not a single non-Western foreign buyer,"says Kenny Schachter,an art dealer."It's a different world now."And London's new rich buy arl differently.They ofien spend little time in the capital and do not know it well.Traipsing around individual galleries is inconvenient,particularly as galleries have moved out of central London.The mall-like set-up of a fair is much more suitable.Commercial galleries used to rely on regular visits from rich Britons seeking to fumish their stately homes.Many were family friends.The new art buyers have no such loyalty.People now visit galleries mainly to go to events and to be seen,says Alan Cristea,a gallery owner on Cork street in Mayfair.Fairs,and the parties that spring up around them,are much better places to be spotted.Some galleries are feeling squeezed.Bemard Jacobson runs a gallery opposite Mr Cristea.The changing art market reminds him ofwhen his father,a chemist,was eclipsed by Boots,a pharmaceutical chain,in the 1960s.Seven galleries in Cork Street relocated this month to make way for a redevelopment;five more may follow later this year.Yet the rise ofthe fairs means galleries no longer require prime real estate,thinks Sarah Monk of the London Art Fair.With an intemational clientele,many can work online or from home.Although some art fairs still require their exhibitors to have a gallery space,increasingly these are small places outside central London or beyond the city altogether.One gallery owner says few rich customers ever visit his shop in south London.He makes all his contacts at the booths he sets up at fairs,which might be twice the sizc of his store."It's a little like fishing:'he explains."You move to where the pike is."Art fairs are expanding prosperously in that______.A.the cost ofholding an art fair becomes affordableB.cross-trade galleries take place worldwideC.contemporary art market is growing faster than beforeD.the rapid growth of the modern art market is mainly in developing countries
资料：Some companies are more creative in their use of history than others. HSBC’s History Wall, a striking art installation at the bank’s London headquarters, is made up of 3,743 images drawn from the bank’s archives and arranged in chronological order.Even this is dwarfed by Coca Cola, the American classics. In May, Coca Cola opened a new corporate museum in Atlanta, which is expected to pull in more than 1 million visitors annually, Attractions include the first Coke cans to go into space, a functioning botting line and a tasting lounge.The benefits of knowing your corporate history can be very practical. Companies often use their history as inspiration for new products. Disney constantly mines its archives of old films. Carmakers have overhauled old designs for the modern era: Volkswagen’s New Beetle is an obvious example.But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible — that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees. Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness, brewers and banks are fond of flaunting（炫耀） their deep roots. Jim Gilmore, co-author of “Authenticity”, argues that history is also vital in giving companies a genuine sense of personality. Ritz-Carlton’s use of cobalt-blue glasses in its hotel dining rooms can be traced back to Boston in the 1920s, for example, where window glass that had been imported from Europe and turned blue in the New England air was a symbol of wealth. Rather than commissioning dusty biographies to mark anniversaries, Mr. Gilmore believes that firms should search the archives for inspiring stories of this kind.Younger companies can use history, too. Before giving up their old jobs, the founders of Innocent, a British drinks firm formed in 1998,sold an initial batch of smoothies from a market stall in London. They asked customers to put their empty bottles into one of two labeled bins to indicate whether they should focus on their new venture or stick to their day jobs. The rest, as they say, is history. The firm now uses the story to illustrate its folksy image.Which of the following statements is true about Jim Gilmore?A.He is the sole author of “Authenticity”.B.He encourages firms to look for typical events from archives.C.He loves the cobalt-blue glassed of Ritz-Carlton hotel very much.D.He also believes that younger firms can use history as well.
资料：Some companies are more creative in their use of history than others. HSBC’s History Wall, a striking art installation at the bank’s London headquarters, is made up of 3,743 images drawn from the bank’s archives and arranged in chronological order.Even this is dwarfed by Coca Cola, the American classics. In May, Coca Cola opened a new corporate museum in Atlanta, which is expected to pull in more than 1 million visitors annually, Attractions include the first Coke cans to go into space, a functioning botting line and a tasting lounge.The benefits of knowing your corporate history can be very practical. Companies often use their history as inspiration for new products. Disney constantly mines its archives of old films. Carmakers have overhauled old designs for the modern era: Volkswagen’s New Beetle is an obvious example.But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible — that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees. Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness, brewers and banks are fond of flaunting（炫耀） their deep roots. Jim Gilmore, co-author of “Authenticity”, argues that history is also vital in giving companies a genuine sense of personality. Ritz-Carlton’s use of cobalt-blue glasses in its hotel dining rooms can be traced back to Boston in the 1920s, for example, where window glass that had been imported from Europe and turned blue in the New England air was a symbol of wealth. Rather than commissioning dusty biographies to mark anniversaries, Mr. Gilmore believes that firms should search the archives for inspiring stories of this kind.Younger companies can use history, too. Before giving up their old jobs, the founders of Innocent, a British drinks firm formed in 1998,sold an initial batch of smoothies from a market stall in London. They asked customers to put their empty bottles into one of two labeled bins to indicate whether they should focus on their new venture or stick to their day jobs. The rest, as they say, is history. The firm now uses the story to illustrate its folksy image.What does the underlined word “dwarfed” in Paragraph 2 mean?A.Less creative by comparisonB.Be smaller in sizeC.Become more majesticD.Nothing different
资料：Some companies are more creative in their use of history than others. HSBC’s History Wall, a striking art installation at the bank’s London headquarters, is made up of 3,743 images drawn from the bank’s archives and arranged in chronological order.Even this is dwarfed by Coca Cola, the American classics. In May, Coca Cola opened a new corporate museum in Atlanta, which is expected to pull in more than 1 million visitors annually, Attractions include the first Coke cans to go into space, a functioning botting line and a tasting lounge.The benefits of knowing your corporate history can be very practical. Companies often use their history as inspiration for new products. Disney constantly mines its archives of old films. Carmakers have overhauled old designs for the modern era: Volkswagen’s New Beetle is an obvious example.But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible — that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees. Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness, brewers and banks are fond of flaunting（炫耀） their deep roots. Jim Gilmore, co-author of “Authenticity”, argues that history is also vital in giving companies a genuine sense of personality. Ritz-Carlton’s use of cobalt-blue glasses in its hotel dining rooms can be traced back to Boston in the 1920s, for example, where window glass that had been imported from Europe and turned blue in the New England air was a symbol of wealth. Rather than commissioning dusty biographies to mark anniversaries, Mr. Gilmore believes that firms should search the archives for inspiring stories of this kind.Younger companies can use history, too. Before giving up their old jobs, the founders of Innocent, a British drinks firm formed in 1998,sold an initial batch of smoothies from a market stall in London. They asked customers to put their empty bottles into one of two labeled bins to indicate whether they should focus on their new venture or stick to their day jobs. The rest, as they say, is history. The firm now uses the story to illustrate its folksy image.Which of the following is NOT the benefit of using history creatively?A.It strengthens the company’s relations with customers and employees.B.For carmakers, they can overhaul old designs for the modern era.C.It can help companies to become the most profitable in the market.D.It can give companies ideas for new products
资料：Some companies are more creative in their use of history than others. HSBC’s History Wall, a striking art installation at the bank’s London headquarters, is made up of 3,743 images drawn from the bank’s archives and arranged in chronological order.Even this is dwarfed by Coca Cola, the American classics. In May, Coca Cola opened a new corporate museum in Atlanta, which is expected to pull in more than 1 million visitors annually, Attractions include the first Coke cans to go into space, a functioning botting line and a tasting lounge.The benefits of knowing your corporate history can be very practical. Companies often use their history as inspiration for new products. Disney constantly mines its archives of old films. Carmakers have overhauled old designs for the modern era: Volkswagen’s New Beetle is an obvious example.But the bigger payoff tends to be less tangible — that of forging stronger bonds with customers and employees. Age can by itself confer a sense of trustworthiness, brewers and banks are fond of flaunting（炫耀） their deep roots. Jim Gilmore, co-author of “Authenticity”, argues that history is also vital in giving companies a genuine sense of personality. Ritz-Carlton’s use of cobalt-blue glasses in its hotel dining rooms can be traced back to Boston in the 1920s, for example, where window glass that had been imported from Europe and turned blue in the New England air was a symbol of wealth. Rather than commissioning dusty biographies to mark anniversaries, Mr. Gilmore believes that firms should search the archives for inspiring stories of this kind.Younger companies can use history, too. Before giving up their old jobs, the founders of Innocent, a British drinks firm formed in 1998,sold an initial batch of smoothies from a market stall in London. They asked customers to put their empty bottles into one of two labeled bins to indicate whether they should focus on their new venture or stick to their day jobs. The rest, as they say, is history. The firm now uses the story to illustrate its folksy image.According to the first paragraph, what does the example of HSBC show?A.The bank has greater power than other banks.B.The bank contributes a lot to the development of London.C.The bank uses its history more creatively.D.The bank has a different business model than other firms.
共用题干第一篇The Development of PRThe rise of multinational corporations,global marketing,new communications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR.Surprisingly,since modern PR was largely an American invention,the US leadership in public relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries.Ten years ago,for example,the world's top five public relations agencies were American-owned.In 1991,only one was.The British in particular are becoming more sophisticated and creative.A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate planning activities,compared to about one-third of US companies.It may not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR.Why is America lagging behind in the global PR race?Firstly,Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provinciel and take more of an interest in local affairs.Knowledge of world geography,for example,has never been strong in this country.Secondly,American lag behind their European and Asian counterparts in knowing a second language.Less than 5 percent of Burson-Marshall's US employees know two languages.Ogilvy and Mather has about the same percentage.Conversely, some European firms have half or more of their employees fluent in a second language.Finally,people involved in PR abroad tend to keep a closer eye on international affairs.In the financial PR area,for instance,most Americans read the Wall Street Journal. Overseas,their counterparts read the Journal as well as the Financial Times of London and The Economist,publications not often read in this country.Perhaps the PR industry might take a lesson from Ted Turner of CNN(Cable News Network). Turner recently announced that the word"foreign"would no longer be used on CNN news broadcasts.According to Turner,global communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such thing as foreign.London could soon replace New York as the centre of PR because_______.A:British companies place more importance on PR than US companiesB:British companies are heavily involved in planning activitiesC:British companies are more ambitious than USD:four of the world's top public relations agencies are British-owned
问答题Practice 5 Never has there been a language quite like English. A bold statement, yet nevertheless true. Consider a few statistics. Today, one out of every seven people in the world use English in some way. More than half the world’s books are written in English; the majority of international telephone calls are made in English; 60% of the world’s radio programs are broadcast in English. English is even the working language of international air travel. For the first time in history, a single language has become dominant across a wide range of human activity, ranging from music, film and fine arts to the fields of business, diplomacy, science and technology.
单选题The main purpose of this passage is to ______.ATrace the historical progression of tea from its origins to the present day.BGive brief highlights from the history of the cultivation of tea.CProvide an anecdotal account how tea became a drink.DHighlight some important elements of the history of preparing and drinking tea.EArgue against the notion of tea drinking as a valid social art.
单选题During the Clinton presidency, the U.S. enjoyed more than any time in its history peace and economic well being.Athe U.S. enjoyed more than any time in its history peace and economic well beingBthe U.S. enjoying more than any other time in its history peace and economic well beingCmore peace and economic well being was enjoyed by the U.S. than any other timeDeconomic peace and well being was enjoyed by the U.S. more so than any other ~ time in the country’s historyEthe U.S. enjoyed more peace and economic well being than at any other time in its history
单选题Have you ever known the mobile phone has a ______ history? It is said that the world’s first mobile phone was made in the 1970s.AlongBfreshCcolorfulDshort
单选题The passage is mainly discussing _____.Athe difference between general history and art historyBthe making of art historyCwhat we can learn from artDthe influence of artists on art history
单选题It may be concluded from this passage that _____.AIslamic artists have had to create architectural decoration with images of flowers or geometric formsBhistory teachers are more objective than artistsCit is more difficult to study art history than general historyDpeople and stories from the Bible were painted on churches and other Buildings in order to popularize the Bible
单选题Micre can be learned about a culture from a study of art history than general history because art history _____.Ashows us the religions and emotions of a people in addition to political valuesBprovides us with information about the daily activities of people in the pastCgives us an insight into the essential qualities of a time and a placeDall of the above