GRE阅读题目解析:奢侈品服务需求上升

　　P4

　　Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand for luxury goods and services that took place in eighteenth-century England. To answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians have pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively uncensored press. This, however, hardly seems a sufficient answer. McKendrick favors a Veblen model of conspicuous consumption stimulated by competition for status. The "middling sort" bought goods and services because they wanted to follow fashions set by the rich. Again, we may wonder whether this explanation is sufficient. Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of self-gratification? If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of new concepts of individualism and materialism, but not necessarily of the frenzy for conspicuous competition. (135 words)

　　8.In the paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with

　　(A) contrasting two theses and offering a compromise

　　(B) questioning two explanations and proposing a possible alternative to them.

　　(C) paraphrasing the work of two historians and questioning their assumptions

　　(D) examining two theories and endorsing one over the other

　　(E) raising several questions but implying that they cannot be answered.

　　9.According to the passage, a Veblen model of conspicuous consumption has been used to

　　(A) investigate the extent of the demand for luxury goods among social classes in eighteenth-century England

　　(B) classify the kinds of luxury goods desired by eighteenth-century consumers

　　(C) explain the motivation of eighteenth-century consumers to buy luxury goods

　　(D) establish the extent to which the tastes of rich consumers were shaped by the middle classes in eighteenth-century England

　　(E)compare luxury consumerism in eighteenth-century England with such consumerism in the twentieth century

　　P4

　　1

　　Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand for luxury goods and services that took place in eighteenth-century England.

　　历史学者最近才开始注意到，十八世纪的英国，出现了对奢侈品与奢侈服务需求的上升。

　　2

　　To answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians have pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively uncensored press.

　　为什么消费者变得如此渴望购买，要回答这个问题，一些历史学者的答案指向生产商的广告能力，加之媒体相对疏于审查。

　　3

　　This, however, hardly seems a sufficient answer.

　　然而，很难说这是个充分的答案。

　　4

　　McKendrick favors a Veblen model of conspicuous consumption stimulated by competition for status.

　　M 更喜欢用 V 的炫耀性消费模型来解释，社会阶序竞争刺激了这种消费。

　　凡勃伦 [Veblen, Thorstein (Bunde)]

　　(1857.7.30,美国 威斯康星州 马尼托沃克县～1929.8.3,加利福尼亚州 门洛帕克附近)

　　美国经济学家。获耶鲁大学哲学博士学位。在芝加哥大学和其他大学教经济学。其独创性的思想观念和私生活不检，使他的每项工作都无法持久。1899年发表他的第一部著作《有闲阶级论》。他力图用达尔文进化论来研究现代经济生活，强调商业界的竞争与掠夺本性。他认为工业体制要求人们勤劳、讲究效率和合作，然而，那些统治企业界的人们所关心的却是赚钱和炫耀财富。他在描写富人生活时所创造的“炫耀性消费”一词现仍被广泛应用。20世纪30年代经济大萧条使许多人信服凡勃伦批评企业体制的观念，此时他的声誉达到高峰。

　　(大英袖珍百科)

　　5

　　The "middling sort" bought goods and services because they wanted to follow fashions set by the rich.

　　“ 中等阶层 ” 购买产品与服务，因为他们想追逐富人设置的时尚。

　　6

　　Again, we may wonder whether this explanation is sufficient.

　　我们可以再问一句，这种解释是否充分。

　　7

　　Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of self-gratification?

　　难道享受购买商品行为的人们，不把它视为一种自我犒赏吗?

　　8

　　If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of new concepts of individualism and materialism, but not necessarily of the frenzy for conspicuous competition. (135 words)

　　如果确实如此，消费主义也许可被视为，新兴的个人主义和物质主义理念 的产物，未必非要解释成炫耀性竞争的狂热。

　　8.In the paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with

　　(A) contrasting two theses and offering a compromise

　　(B) questioning two explanations and proposing a possible alternative to them.

　　(C) paraphrasing the work of two historians and questioning their assumptions

　　(D) examining two theories and endorsing one over the other

　　(E) raising several questions but implying that they cannot be answered.

　　选 B

　　作者先抛出了两种既有解释(句 2 及句 4、5)，紧接着分两次暗示我们，他们的解释不充分(句 3 、6)，最后提出了自己认可的另一种解释(句 7、8)。

　　9.According to the passage, a Veblen model of conspicuous consumption has been used to

　　(A) investigate the extent of the demand for luxury goods among social classes in eighteenth-century England

　　(B) classify the kinds of luxury goods desired by eighteenth-century consumers

　　(C) explain the motivation of eighteenth-century consumers to buy luxury goods

　　(D) establish the extent to which the tastes of rich consumers were shaped by the middle classes in eighteenth-century England

　　(E)compare luxury consumerism in eighteenth-century England with such consumerism in the twentieth century

　　选 C

　　在文中 V 模型是 M 提出的(句4)，而 M 提出 V 模型是为了回答句 2 提出的问题，为什么消费者变得如此渴望购买，亦即消费者购买的动机，所以选 C。

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