PART III    READING COMPREHENSION    [40 min.]

SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION    [30 min.]

Directions: In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of fifteen multiple choice questions. Reading the passages and the mark your answers on your answer sheet.

TEXT A
Harrington Wilson's selling technique was simplicity itself. It was nothing more than a subtle manipulation of human vanity. He was aware that there were a number of people who professed to know a great deal about antiques, and even more who would rather not confess that they did not and who accordingly practiced little tricks and subterfuges to conceal their ignorance their neighbors.

The women -- they were mainly women -- jostling round his stall, picking over his shoddy wares, would sometimes run a finger round the rim of a cup or hold it knowingly up to the light as if to the test its luster, and plates were invariably turned upside down in search of china marks. To such a customer, Harrington would lean forward, benevolent and confidential, and in a conspiratorial whisper would murmur: "No, madam. I'm afraid it's not genuine (Wedgwood, Sevres -- whatever it might be) but it is a superb copy -- no one would ever suspect that it was not real, unless, of course, you told them. I can let you have it for -- I could sell it for much more, but it would be unethical of me to try to pass it off as genuine …"

The customer, overwhelmed by such honesty and privately determined not to be quite so honest about the article to heir friends, would then willingly pay '2 for something that had cost Harrington a few pence. The profit margin on these transactions was obviously so great that he was soon able to set up another stall and then a shop and yet another and so on. He enlarged his specialties, dealing in spurious Victoriana, Georgian silver, trinkets and bric-a-brac, eventually branching out into reproduction furniture and paintings. Without any deliberate intention of doing so, he acquired an extensive knowledge of the antique business and as time went on, was accounted one of the greatest experts of his time.

36. It seems that Harrington Wilson's initial success owed a great deal to _______.
A. his apparent ingenuousness
B. the good bargains he offered
C. his air of gullibility
D. the honesty of his methods
正确答案是

37. Among the people who patronized Harrington Wilson's stall, there were some who ______.
A. had more knowledge than they appeared to have
B. were less knowledgeable than they appeared
C. did not trouble to conceal their ignorance
D. dislike being thought intellectual snobs
正确答案是

38. When a woman customer held an article "knowingly up to the light" (line 7),she was trying to _______.
A. demonstrate her expertise
B. make sure she was not being cheated
C. compare it with another article she had bought
D. show her appreciation of its charm
正确答案是