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四级词汇练习:Consumers are being confused

http://www.sina.com.cn 2005/11/02 16:45  双博士丛书

  Consumers are being confused and misled by the hodgepodge of environmental claims made by household products, according to a “green labeling” study published by Consumers International Friday.

  Among the report’s more outrageous findings — a German fertilizer described itself as “earthworm friendly” a brand of flour said it was “nonpolluti
ng” and a British toilet paper claimed to be “environmentally friendlier”.

  The study was written and researched by Britain’s National Consumer Council (NCC) for lobby group Consumer International. It was funded by the German and Dutch governments and the European Commission.

  “While many good and useful claims are being made, it is clear there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impact of products they buy,” said Consumers International director Anna Fielder.

  The 10country study surveyed product packaging in Britain. Western Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. It found that products sold in Germany and the United Kingdom made the most environmental claims on average.

  The report focused on claims made by specific products, such as detergent insect sprays and by some garden products. It did not test the claims, but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in September,1999.

  “Many products had speciallydesigned labels to make them seem environmentally friendly, but in fact many of these symbols mean nothing.” said report researcher Philip Page.

  “Laundry detergents made the most number of claims with 158. Household cleaners were second with 145 separate claims. while paints were third on our list with 73.The high numbers show how very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading.” he said.

  The ISO labeling standards ban vague or misleading claims on product packaging, because terms such as “environmentally friendly” and “nonpolluting” cannot be verified. “What we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO.” said Page.

  【2005年6月】

  刊登在周五的《国际消费者》上的一项研究“绿色标签”的报告指称,消费者已被那些无处不在且声称环保的家用产品弄得无所适从。

  该研究报告所列的那些令人难以容忍的例子有:一家德国肥料制造商竟然宣称其产品不会伤及泥土里的蠕虫;一种面粉居然声称“无污染”;一种产自英国的厕纸则宣称其产品是“环境爱好者”。

  该研究报告由英国的全国消费者理事会应《国际消费者》之邀而研究撰写的;并由德国政府,荷兰政府及欧盟委员会资助。

  《国际消费者》的主管安娜·费尔德说:“还是有一些有益的东西,但距离让消费者准确、合理地了解他们所购物品对环境的影响还有一段长路要走。”

  产自10个国家的产品在英国接受此次调查,包括西欧、斯堪的那维亚各国和美国。调查发现,在英国和德国出售的产品所做此类声明最多。

  研究报告侧重于调查一些特定类别的产品,诸如洗涤剂、杀虫剂和一些园艺用品。但并不对这些声明进行测试,只是拿它们与ISO于1999年9月发布的标签指导手册对比。Researchers documented claims of environmental friendliness made by about 2,000 products and found many too vague or too misleading to meet ISO standards.

  研究人员对2000多种声称对环境“友好”的产品进行检验,结果却发现很多此类声明要么过于模糊不清,要么误导性太强;均无法达到ISO的标准。

  菲利浦·佩吉是研究报告的撰写人之一,他说:“很多产品有意设计出表明对环境无害的说明性短语,但实际上很多此类说明什么也不是。”

  他还说道:“衣服清洗剂所做此类环保声明最多,共有158宗。家用清洁剂排在第二,共有145宗。油漆名列第三,共有73宗。如此一来,消费者就得从这么多的有误导性的信息中去伪存真。”

  ISO标签标准禁止在产品包装上发布模糊或误导性的信息,因为诸如“对环境友好”,“无污染”此类声明均无法考证。佩吉说道:“现在所要做的就是让跨国公司严格遵守ISO的标准。”

  1. According to the passage, the NCC found it outrageous that.

  A)all the products surveyed claim to meet ISO standards

  B)the claims made by products are often unclear or deceiving

  C)consumers would believe many of the manufactures’ claim

  D)few products actually prove to be environment friendly

  2. As indicated in this passage, with so many good claims, the consumers.

  A)are becoming more cautious about the products they are going to buy

  B)are still not willing to pay more for products with green labeling

  C)are becoming more aware of the effects different products have on the environment

  D)still do not know the exact impact of different products on the environment

  3. A study was carried out by Britain’s NCC to.

  A)find out how many claims made by products fail to meet environmental standards

  B)inform the consumers of the environmental impact of the products they buy

  C)examine claims made by products against ISO standards

  D)revise the guidelines set by the International Standards Organization

  4. What is one of the consequences caused by the many claims of household products?

  A)They are likely to lead to serious environmental problems.

  B)Consumers find it difficult to tell the true from the false.

  C)They could arouse widespread anger among consumer.

  D)Consumers will be tempted to buy products they don’t need.

  5. It can be inferred from the passage that the lobby group Consumer International wants to.

  A)make product labeling satisfy ISO requirements

  B)see all household products meet environmental standards

  C)warn consumers of the danger of socalled green products

  D)verify the efforts of nonpolluting products

  confuse vt. ①使混乱,混淆 ②把……混淆

  【考点】confuse sth. with sth. 把……与……混淆

  【关联】近义词:complicate,jumble,mistake,muddle

  【词根】~=con(together)+fuse(to pour)

  brandn.

商标,品牌vt. ①打烙印于,铭刻 ②加污名于,谴责

  【考点】be branded on one’s memory 被铭记在某人心中

  【辨析】brand,mark:

  brand和mark都表示“商标,(商品的)牌子”,brand通常仅用于指肥皂、牙膏、黄油等小的或不贵重的事物;

  汽车、冰箱、计算机等的“商标,牌子”一般用mark。

  a wellknown brand of car

  a wellknown mark of car 名牌汽车

  fund n. ①资金,基金 ②存款,现款vt. 为……提供基金

  【考点】short of fund缺钱

  a fund of sth.丰富的……,相当数量的……

  【关联】形近词:fond adj.喜爱

  commission n. ①委员会 ②委托,委任 ③委托书,委托的事 ④佣金,手续费

  【考点】in/out of commission 可/不可使用

  on commission 按销售提成

  【派生】commissioner n.委员,专员

  package n. ①包,包裹,箱 ②一揽子交易,计划等vt.①把……打包 ②包装,把……装袋

  【关联】相关词:pack v. 包装 n. 一群

  packet n. 小包,小捆

  packing n.包装,填塞

  packed adj. 充满的,挤满的

  parcel 常指邮包,物品较大、较重

  averagen. 平均数,平均水平adj. ①平均的 ②通常的vt. 平分,均分

  【考点】on average 平均 average out (at sth.)平均数为average sth.out(at sth.)算出……的平均数

  the law of averages平均律

  focus vt. 使聚焦,集中于n. 焦点

  【考点】in(out of)focus焦点对准(没对准);

  bring into focus使特别注意(某物)

  specificadj.明确的,详尽的

  【关联】近义词:particular,peculiar

  setvt. ① 放,安置 ②树立 ③调整vi.下沉,凝结n.①一套,一副 ②机组,装置adj. 固定的,规定的,不变的

  【考点】set about 开始,着手;

  set against ①使敌视 ②使抵消;

  set apart ①使与众不同 ②留出,拨出(专用);

  set aside ①留出,拨出(时间、金钱等) ②把……置于一旁,不理会;

  set back ①推迟,延缓,阻碍 ②使花费;

  set down 写下,记下;

  set forth 阐明,陈述;

  set in 开始(并将延续下去);

  set off ①出发,起程 ②激起,引起;

  set on ①袭击 ②唆使;

  set out ①动身,起程 ②开始 ③摆放 ④阐明,陈述;

  set up ①创立,建立,为……做好准备 ②竖立,架起,建造 ③开业,开始经商

  vagueadj. 不清楚的,模糊的,含糊的,不明确的

  【考点】vague answer 含糊的答复;

  vague outline模糊的轮廓

  misleadvt. ①把……带错路 ②把……带坏,使误入歧途 ③使误解

  【考点】mislead sb. about/into doing sth.误导,引入歧途

  【派生】misleading 误导的,引入歧途的

  separateadj. ①分开的,分离的 ②个别的,单独的v.(使)分开,隔开

  【考点】separate from 从……分开,分离;

  separate…into… 分开为……,分割成……;

  live separately 分居

  【词根】~=se(apart)+par(prepare)+ate(词尾)

  term n. ①期限 ②学期 ③(pl.)(提出或同意的)条件,条款 ④(pl.)关系,友谊 ⑤术语,专门用语,行话 ⑥措辞,说法

  【考点】in the long/short/medium term长/短/中期内

  verifyvt. ①查证,核实,核对 ②证明,证实

  【派生】verifiable adj.可核实的

  verification n. 证实

  【关联】近义词:confirm

  accordvt. ①使一致 ②给予(欢迎,称颂等) ③一致,符合vi.①符合 ②一致n. 符合,一致

  【考点】in accord with 与……一致

  out of accord with 与……不一致

  of one’s own accord 出于自愿,主动地

  with one accord 一致地,一致同意的

  【词根】构词法:~=ac(to)+cord(heart)

  clear adj.①清楚的,清晰的 ②晴朗的 ③畅通无阻的v. ①清扫,清除 ②使清楚,明白 ③证明……无辜adv.清楚地,清晰地

  【考点】as clear as day 显而易见,容易理解

  as clear as mud 一点也不清楚,难懂

  in the clear 不再有危险,不再被认为有罪

  clear the air 改变困境,改善气氛

  clear the way (for sth./for sth.to happen)(为……)清除障碍,扫清道路

  clear away把……清除掉

  clear off 离开,逃跑

  clear up 放晴,转晴

  clear sth.up 解决,解答,解释

  【辨析】clear, distinct, apparent, evident, obvious:

  clear“清晰的”是相对于模糊而言;

  distinct“清楚的”指物体的各个部分都很清晰;

  apparent “明显的”侧重于表面上看;

  evident“明白的”用于被证明的各种事情;

  obvious “一目了然的”无需证明的“明白”。

  1.【B】这是一道推理题。题目问“根据文章内容,NCC觉得最不能容忍的是?”第二段提到了outrageous一词,但是本段只有具体的例子:标榜为“蚯蚓之友”的德国化肥,“无污染”的英国面粉和宣称对环境无害的英国手纸。紧接着的几段是关于本次调查的更多阐述,直到第七段才得出调查结论:“大约有2000种关于不污染环境的宣称都太含糊,太误导,根本不能达到ISO标准。”选项B“产品所宣称的内容通常不清楚或者具有欺骗性”,正是表达了这一含义。其实本题也可以采用排除法。A“所有的调查的产品都符合ISO标准”,跟原文相悖。C“消费者会相信很多厂家的说法”,原文未提及。D“很少有产品最终证明是对环境有利的”,文章最后一段说很多措辞太含糊,根本无法检验,因此错误。

  2.【D】这是一道细节辨认题。题干内容为“如文章所指出,有这么多美好的说法,消费者。”关于消费者的态度和反应,第四段借Anna Fielder之口指出 “ …there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impact of products they buy,”即选项D“消费者仍然无法知晓不同的产品对于环境的影响有多大。”A“对于他们要购买的产品越来越小心”,原文未提及。B“仍然不愿意为标有绿色字样的产品多付钱”,未提及。C“对于不同产品对环境的影响更加有意识”,与原文意思相反。

  3.【C】这是一道细节辨认题。要求考生补充题干所缺内容“英国NCC所做调查的目的是。”文章第六段明确提出 “The report focused on claims made by specific products … It did not test the claims, but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in September, 1999.” 即选项C“用ISO标准来检查产品的说明”。A“找出有多少产品说明没有达到环境标准”,不符合原文。B“告知消费者他们所购买的产品所造成的环境影响”,未提及。D“修改国际标准组织的标准”,与原文相悖。

  4.【B】这是一道细节辨认题,题目问“很多家用产品的虚假说明所造成的后果是什么?”选项A“他们可能导致严重的环境问题”,原文未提及。B“消费者很难分清真伪”,正确。参见倒数第二段最后一句“The high numbers show how very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading.” C“他们可能在消费者中引起广泛的愤怒”,未提及。D“消费者会被诱惑购买他们并不需要的产品”,与本文无关。

  5.【A】这是一道推论题。题目问“议会厅的国际消费者团体想要。” the lobby group Consumer International 正是这次调查的发起者。文章最后一段提到“ what we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO .”即选项A“是产品的商标符合ISO要求”。B“保证所有的家用产品都符合环境标准”,未提及。C“警告消费者所谓绿色产品的危险性”,未提及。D“核实无污染产品的真实性”,与原文相悖。

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