ple — their clothes, ideas, or languages—has changed as much as what they eat. The original chocolate drink was made from the seeds of the cocoa tree(可可樹)by South American. Indians. The Spanish introduced it to the rest of the world during the 1500’s. And although it was very expensive, it quickly became fashionable. In London, shops where chocolate drinks were served became important meeting places. Some still exist today. The potato is also from the New World. Around 1600, the Spanish brought it from Peru to Eu??rope, where it soon was widely grown. Ireland became so dependent on it that thousands of Irish peo??ple starved when the crop failed during the "Potato Famine (饑荒)" of 1845—1846, and thousands more were forced to leave their homeland and move to America. There are many other foods that have traveled from South America to the Old World. But some others went in the opposite direction. Brazil is now the world’s largest grower of coffee, and coffee is an important crop in Colombia and other South American countries. But it is native to Ethiopia, a country in Africa. It was first made into a drink by Arabs during the 1400’s. according to an. Arabic legend, coffee was discovered when a person named Kaldi noticed that his goats were attracted to the red berries on a coffee, bush. He tried one and experienced the " wide-awake" feeling that one third of the world’s population now starts the day with.
1.
according to the passage, which of the following has changed the most in the last 500 years?
A.
Food.
B.
Clothing.
C.
Ideology.
D.
Language.
2.
The word "some" in the last sentence of the first paragraph refers to________.
A.
some cocoa trees
B.
some chocolate drinks.
C.
some shops
D.
some South American Indians
3.
Thousands of Irish people starved during the " Potato Famine" because________
A.
they were so dependent on potatoes that they refused to eat anything else
B.
they were forced to leave their homeland and move to America
C.
the weather conditions in Ireland were not suitable for growing potatoes
D.
the potato harvest was bad
4.
according to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.
One third of the world’s population drinks coffee.
Department stores sell ready- to-wear clothing, which is also called ready-made clothing. Such clothing is made in fixed sizes. Those people who find that ready-made clothing fits them well can save money by buying it. Most often, people do not fit exactly into a producer’s size. Their clothing must be altered to make it fit better. However, most alterations are not very expensive. The small cost of most alterations means that ready-made clothing can meet the needs of most customers. Those who can afford it often get someone to design and make their clothing. Such clothing is called custom-made. The person who makes it measures the customer, and then sews it so that it fits perfectly. Alterations are not needed. Custom-made clothing is largely sewn by hand, has better quality, better material, and is of the style you have chosen. Of course, it costs much more than ready-to-wear clothing. You need to pay the difference for the special fitting and better skill that you are receiving. This often means that you spend double or more than you would for a ready-made garment. Custom-made clothing is not always that much better than ready-made clothing. It costs more partly because only one garment has been made, just for you. Companies that produce ready-made products make thousands of garments at a time. This means they can buy large quantities of material. Workers cut each size by the hundreds. Companies work out ways to make the garments quickly by machine and pay workers according to their skill. Thus they can sell the finished products at a low price while still making money. Most of the clothing sold in the United States is made in this way. Customers gain from the lower prices which are made possible by mass production. It may or may not give them high quality.
1.
According to the passage, people who buy ready-made clothing ______.
A.
wish to make alternations
B.
will spend less money
C.
want to make it better
D.
can fit into the sizes
2.
We can learn from the passage that custom-made clothing is_______.
A.
specially made
B.
fashionably designed
C.
chosen by few people
D.
made with difficulties
3.
Which of the following is true about ready-made clothing?
A.
It is of poor quality.
B.
It suits all people.
C.
It is labor-saving to make it.
D.
It takes more time to make it
4.
The purpose of the writer is _______.
A.
to explain why custom-made clothing costs more
B.
to show the advantages of mass production
C.
to tell readers how to make money from ready-made clothing
D.
to provide information about different kinds of clothing
