-----AheavysnowhitmostofthepartsofChinainJanuary,2008.

-----____________terriblenews!

Intheearlieststagesofman'sdevelopmenthehadnomoreneedofmoneythananimalshave.Hewascontentwithverysimpleformsofshelter,madehisownroughtoolsandweaponsandcouldprovidefoodandclothingforhimselfandhisfamilyfromnaturalmaterialsaroundhim.Ashebecamemorecivilized,however,hebegantowantbettershelter,moreefficienttoolsandweapons,andmorecomfortableandmorelastingclothingthancouldbeprovidedbyhisownneighborhoodorbytheworkofhisownunskilledhands.Forthesethingshehadtoturntotheskilledpeoplesuchassmiths,leatherworkersorcarpenters.Itwasthenthatthequestionofpaymentarose.

Atfirsthegotwhathewantedbyasimpleprocessofexchange.Thesmithwhohadnotthetimetolookafterlandorcattlewasgladtotakemeatorgrainfromthefarmerinexchangeforanaxeoraplough.Butasmoreandmoregoodswhichhadnofixedexchangevaluecameonthemarket,exchangebecametoocomplicatedtobesatisfactory.Anotherproblemarosewhenthosewhomadethingswantedtogetstocksofwoodorleather,oriron,buthadnothingtoofferinexchangeuntiltheirfinishedgoodswereready.Thusthedifficultiesofexchangeledbydegreestotheinventionofmoney.Insomecountrieseasilyhandledthingslikeseedsorshellsweregivenacertainvalueandthefarmer,insteadofpayingthesmithforanewaxebygivinghimsomemeatorgrain,gavehimsomanyshells.Ifthesmithhadanyshellsleftwhenhehadboughthisfood,hecouldgetstocksoftherawmaterialsofhistrade.Insomecountriesquitelargethingssuchascowsorcamelsorevenbigflatstoneswereusedfortrade.Later,piecesofmetal,bearingvaluesaccordingtotherarityofthemetalandthesizeofthepieces,orcoinswereused.Moneyasweknowithadarrived.

1.Exchangeofgoodsbecamedifficultbecause_________.

Amanbecamemorecivilized

Bsmithsbegantolookafterlandorcattleintheirsparetime

Cmoreandmoregoodswhichhadnofixedexchangealuescametothemarker

Dfarmershadn'tenoughgrainormeattoprovidefor

skilledworkers

2.Moneywasnotuseduntil_______.

Apaperwasinvented

Bpeoplepracticedasimpleprocessofexchange

CnothingcouldbeofferedinexchangeDtheexchangeofonethingforanotherbecametoocomplicated

3.Thebesttitleforthispassageis_____.

AWhatismoney

BWhataremoney'sfunctions.

CTheimportanceofmoney

DThebeginningofmoney

Howshopscanexploitpeople'sherdmentalitytoincreasesales

1.ATRIPtothesupermarketmaynotseemlikeanexerciseinpsychologicalwarfare—butitis.Shopkeepersknowthatfillingastorewiththearomaoffreshlybakedbreadmakespeoplefeelhungryandpersuadesthemtobuymorefoodthantheyhadintended.Stockingthemostexpensiveproductsateyelevelmakesthemsellfasterthancheaperbutlessvisiblecompetitors.Nowresearchersareinvestigatinghow“swarmintelligence”(thatis，howants，beesoranysocialanimal，includinghumans，behaveinacrowd)canbeusedtoinfluencewhatpeoplebuy.

2.AtarecentconferenceonthesimulationofadaptivebehaviourinRome，Zeeshan-ul-hassanUsmani，acomputerscientistfromtheFloridaInstituteofTechnology，describedanewwaytoincreaseimpulsebuyingusingthisphenomenon.Supermarketsalreadyencourageshopperstobuythingstheydidnotrealisetheywanted:forinstance，byplacingeverydayitemssuchasmilkandeggsatthebackofthestore，forcingshopperstowalkpastothertemptinggoodstoreachthem.MrUsmaniandRonaldoMenezes，alsooftheFloridaInstituteofTechnology，setouttoenhancethistendencytobuymorebyplayingontheherdinstinct.Theideaisthat，ifacertainproductisseentobepopular，shoppersarelikelytochooseittoo.Thechallengeistokeepcustomersinformedaboutwhatothersarebuying.

3.Entersmart-carttechnology.InMrUsmani'ssupermarketeveryproducthasaradiofrequencyidentificationtag，asortofbarcodethatusesradiowavestotransmitinformation，andeverytrolleyhasascannerthatreadsthisinformationandrelaysittoacentralcomputer.Asacustomerwalkspastashelfofgoods，ascreenontheshelftellshimhowmanypeoplecurrentlyintheshophavechosenthatparticularproduct.Ifthenumberishigh，heismorelikelytoselectittoo.

4.MrUsmani's“swarm-moves”modelappealstosupermarketsbecauseitincreasessaleswithouttheneedtogivepeoplediscounts.Anditgivesshoppersthesatisfactionofknowingthattheyboughtthe“right”product—thatis，theoneeveryoneelsebought.Themodelhasnotyetbeentestedwidelyintherealworld，mainlybecauseradiofrequencyidentificationtechnologyisnewandhasonlybeeninstalledexperimentallyinsomesupermarkets.ButMrUsmanisaysthatbothWal-MartinAmericaandTescoinBritainareinterestedinhiswork，andtestingwillgetunderwayinthespring.

5.Anotherrecentstudyonthepowerofsocialinfluenceindicatesthatsalescould，indeed，beboostedinthisway.MatthewSalganikofColumbiaUniversityinNewYorkandhiscolleagueshavedescribedcreatinganartificialmusicmarketinwhichsome14,000peopledownloadedpreviouslyunknownsongs.Theresearchersfoundthatwhenpeoplecouldseethesongsrankedbyhowmanytimestheyhadbeendownloaded，theyfollowedthecrowd.Whenthesongswerenotorderedbyrank，butthenumberoftimestheyhadbeendownloadedwasdisplayed，theeffectofsocialinfluencewasstilltherebutwaslesspronounced.Peoplethusfollowtheherdwhenitiseasyforthemtodoso.

6.InJapanachainofconvenienceshopscalledRanKingRanQueenhasbeenorderingitsproductsaccordingtosalesdatafromdepartmentstoresandresearchcompanies.Theshopssellonlythemostpopularitemsineachproductcategory，andtherankingsareupdatedweekly.Icosystem，acompanyinCambridge，Massachusetts，alsoaimstoexploitknowledgeofsocialnetworkingtoimprovesales.

7.Andthepsychologythatworksinphysicalstoresisjustaspotentontheinternet.OnlineretailerssuchasAmazonareadeptattellingshopperswhichproductsarepopularwithlike-mindedconsumers.Evenintheprivacyofyourhome，youcanstillbepartoftheswarm.

Questions1-6

Completethesentencesbelowwithwordstakenfromthereadingpassage.UseNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.

1.Shopownersrealizethatthesmellof_______________canincreasesalesoffoodproducts.

2.Inshops，productsshelvedatamorevisiblelevelsellbettereveniftheyaremore_______________.

3.AccordingtoMr.Usmani，withtheuseof“swarmintelligence”phenomenon，anewmethodcanbeappliedtoencourage_______________.

4.Onthewaytoeverydayitemsatthebackofthestore，shoppersmightbetemptedtobuy_______________.

5.Ifthenumberofbuyersshownonthe_______________ishigh，othercustomerstendtofollowthem.

6.Usingthe“swarm-moves”model，shopownersdonothavetogivecustomers_______________toincreasesales.

Yourdonationscan_____poorchildren____foodandachancetostudy.

FelicityLawrence

ThursdayDecember28,2006

TheGuardian

1.ConsumersaretobepresentedwithtworivalnewyearadvertisingcampaignsastheFoodStandardsAgencygoespublicinitsbattlewiththeindustryoverthelabellingofunhealthyfoods.

2.TheGuardianhaslearnedthattheFSAwilllaunchaseriesof10-secondtelevisionadvertsinJanuarytellingshoppershowtofollowared,amberandgreentrafficlightlabellingsystemonthefrontoffoodpacks,whichisdesignedtotackleBritain’sobesityepidemic.

3.Thecampaignisadirectresponsetoaconcertedattemptbyleadingfoodmanufacturersandretailers,includingKellogg’sandTesco,toderailthesystem.Theindustryfearsthattrafficlightswoulddemoniseentirecategoriesoffoodsandcouldseriouslydamagethemarketforthosethatarefatty,saltyorhighinsugar.

4.TheUKmarketforbreakfastcerealsisworth￡1.27bnayearandthemanufacturersfearitwillbeseverelydentedifredlightlabelsareputonpackagingdrawingattentiontothefactthatthemajorityarehighinsaltand/orsugar.

5.Theindustryisplanningamajormarketingcampaignforacompetinglabellingsystemwhichavoidscolour-codinginfavourofinformationaboutthepercentageof"guidelinedailyamounts"(GDAs)offat,saltandsugarcontainedintheirproducts.

6.Thebattleforthenation’sdietcomesasnewrulesontelevisionadvertisingcomeintoforceinJanuarywhichwillbaradvertsforunhealthyfoodsfromcommercialbreaksduringprogrammesaimedatchildren.SourcesattheTVregulatorsarebracedforalegalchallengefromtheindustryandhavedescribedthelobbyingeffortstoblockanynewadbanorcolour-codedlabellingas"themostferociouswe’veeverexperienced".

7.Ofcom’schiefexecutive,EdRichards,said:"Wearepreparedtofaceuptoanylegalactionfromtheindustry,butweverymuchhopeitwillnotbenecessary."TheFSAsaiditwasexpectinganonslaughtfromtheindustryinJanuary.SeniorFSAofficialssaidthemanufacturers’effortstoundermineitsproposalsonlabellingcouldthreatentheagency’scredibility.

8.TerrenceCollis,FSAdirectorofcommunications,dismissedclaimsthattheproposalswerenotbasedonscience."WehavesomeofthemostrespectedscientistsinEurope,bothwithintheFSAandinourindependentadvisorycommittees.ItisunjustifiedandnonsensicaltoattacktheFSA’sscientificreputationandtotrytoundermineitscredibility."

9.TheFSAisunderstoodtohavebriefeditsadagency,United,beforeChristmas,andwillaimtoairadsthatare"non-confrontational,humorousandfactual"asacounterweighttoindustry’seffortsaboutthesametime.Theagency,however,willhaveatinyfractionofthebudgetavailabletotheindustry.

10.GavinNeath,chairmanofUnileverUKandpresidentoftheFoodandDrinkFederation,hassaidthattheindustryhasmadeenormousprogressbutcouldnotacceptred"stop"signsonitsfood.

11.AlastairSykes,chiefexecutiveofNestléUK,saidthatundertheFSAproposalsallhiscompany’sconfectioneryandmostofitscerealswouldscoreared."Arewesayingpeopleshouldn’teatconfectionery?We’redrivenbyconsumersandwhattheywant,andmuchofwhatwedohasbeentomakeourproductshealthier,"hesaid.

12.ChrisWermann,directorofcommunicationsatKellogg’s,said:"Inprinciplewecouldneveraccepttrafficlightlabelling."

13.TherivallabellingschemeintroducedbyKellogg’s,Danone,Unilever,Nestlé,KraftandTescoandnowfavouredby21manufacturers,usesanindustry-devisedsystembasedonidentifyingGDAsofkeynutrients.TescosaysithastestedbothtrafficlightsandGDAlabelsinitsstoresandthatthelatterincreasedsalesofhealthierfoods.

14.ButtheFSAsaiditcouldnotlivewiththisGDAsystemalonebecauseitwas"notscientific"oreasyforshopperstounderstandataglance.

Questions1-6

AnswerthequestionsbelowusingNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSfromthepassageforeachanswer.

1.Whenwillinstructionsbegivenonreadingthecolor-codedlabels?

2.Wherecancustomersfindtheredlightlabels?

3.WhatproblemistheFSAtryingtohandlewiththelabelingsystem?

4.Whichproductsellswellbutmaynotbehealthy?

5.Whatinformation,accordingtothemanufacturers,canbelabeledonproducts?

6.Whatcannotbeadvertisedduringchildren’sprogrammes?

Questions7-13

Usetheinformationinthetexttomatchthepeople(listedA-E)withtheopinions(listed7-13)below.Writetheappropriateletter(A-E)forquestions1-7.

NBYoumayuseanylettermorethanonce.

AEdRichard

BTerrenceCollis

CGavinNeath

DAlastairSykes

EChrisWermann

7.Generallywewillnotagreetousetheredlightlabels.

8.ItisunreasonabletodoubtifFSAistrustworthy.

9.Wearetryingtomeetourconsumers’needs.

10.Thefoodindustryhasbeenimprovinggreatly.

11.Thecolor-codedlabelingsystemisscientific.

12.OurproductswillbelabeledunhealthybytheFSA.

13.Wearereadytoconfrontthemanufacturers.