（1）、TV Game Shows

One of the most fascinating things about television is the size of the audience. A novel can be on the "best seller" lists with a sale of fewer than 100,000 copies, but a popular TV show might have 70 million TV viewers. TV can make anything or anyone well-known overnight.

This is the principle behind "quiz" or "game" shows, which put ordinary people on TV to play a game for prizes and money. A quiz show can make anyone a star, and it can give away thousands of dollars in the U.S. and almost everyone watched them. Charles Van Doren, an English instructor, became rich and famous after winning money on several shows. He even had a career as a television personality. But one of the losers proved that Charles Van Doren was cheating. It turned out that the show's producers who were pulling the strings, gave the answers to the most popular contestants beforehand. Why? Because if the audience didn't like the person who won the game, they turned the show off. The result of this cheating was a huge scandal. Based on his story, a movie under the title "Quiz Show" is on 40 years later.

Charles Van Doren is no longer involved with TV. But game shows are still here, though they aren't taken as seriously. In fact, some of them try to be as ridiculous as possible. There are shows that send strangers on vacation trips together, or that try to cause newly-married couples to fight on TV, or that punish losers by humiliation them. The entertainment now is to see what people will do just to be on TV. People still win money, but the real prize is to be in front of an audience of millions.

1. TV can make a beggar world-famous overnight.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

2. The principle behind "quiz" and "game" shows is to put ordinary people on TV to play a game for prizes and money.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

3. Prizes and money are usually provided by TV stars and large companies for winners.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

4. One of the TV personalities, Charles Van Doren was proved to be cheating by persuading the Show's producers to give him the answers beforehand.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

標準答案： A,B,C,B

19、

5. The huge scandal of cheating in TV game shows was not exposed until 40 years later in the movie "Quiz Show".

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

6. Nowadays game shows are not treated as seriously as they used to be.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

7. Winners of present-day TV game shows no longer get money from the shows.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

標準答案： B,A,B

（2）、"Lemons" in Used Car Market

Suppose that you, a college student of somewhat limited means, are in the market for a used pickup truck. The following ad in a local used car publication catches your eyes.

1993 Ford Ranger, bilk, 4WD, a/c

AM/FM/cass., showroom condition.

Call 555-1234 after 5 p.m

This is exactly the kind of vehicle you want, so you call to inquire about the price. The price you are quoted over the phone is $2,000 lower than the price for this model with this equipment listed in a used car guidebook. Instead of being ecstatic, however, you are suspicious.

For many products, when you must pay less than the going rate, you believe you are getting a great deal. This is not necessarily the case for used cars or other durable goods(washing machines and television sets, for example) because with expensive products-or, what is essentially the same thing, products with high replacement costs-you must be particularly careful about getting a "lemon." Or a product of substandard quality.

In addition to asking the price, the age of a car-or any other consumer durable-is a factor when you are trying to determine whether a seller is attempting to unload a lemon. While people have all sorts of reasons for wanting to sell their cars-even relatively new cars-most people hold off until they have put many thousands of miles on a car or until the used car is several years old. You would probably be as suspicious of a car that is "too new" as you would a car that is "too good " a deal. In fact, you are probably willing to pay a high price for a high-quality used car. While this price would certainly be acceptable to the seller, the competitive market might not facilitate such trades.

1. The beginning of this passage assumes that college students

A) are very clever but not very rich.

B) Are very capable but not very diligent.

C) Have limited material resources

D) Are not rich.

2. The passage indicated that, sometimes when you find a product of an unexpectedly low price.

A) You are very happy/

B) You are rather suspicious.

C) You are filled with happiness as well as surprise.

D) You feel uneasy.