【答案】B

47.What is the main reason why the author hates tipping?

A)It sets a bad example for other industries.

B)It adds to the burden of ordinary customers.

C)It forces the customer to compensate the waiter.

D)It poses a great challenge for customers to do math.

【答案】C

48.Why do many people love tipping according to the author?

A)They help improve the quality of the restaurants they dine in.

B)They believe waiters deserve such rewards for good service.

C)They want to preserve a wonderful tradition of the industry.

D)They can have some say in how much their servers earn.

【答案】D

49.What have some waiters come to realize according to a survey?

A)Service quality has little effect on tip size.

B)It is in human nature to try to save on tips.

C)Tips make it more difficult to please customers.

D)Tips benefit the boss rather than the employees.

【答案】A

50.What does the author argue for in the passage?

A)Restaurants should calculate the tips for customers.

B)Customers should pay more tips to help improve service.

C)Waiters deserve better than just relying on tips for a living.

D)Waiters should be paid by employers instead of customers.

【答案】D

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

In the past,falling oil prices have given a boost to the world economy,but recent forecasts for global growth have been toned down,even as oil prices sink lower and lower.Does that mean the link between lower oil prices and growth has weakened?

Some experts say there are still good reasons to believe cheap oil should heat up the world economy.Consumers have more money in their pockets when they’re paying less at the pump.They spend that money on other things,which stimulates the economy.

The biggest gains go to countries that import most of their oil like China,Japan,and India.But doesn’t the extra money in the pockets of those countries,consumers mean an equal loss in oil-producing countries,cancelling out the gains?Not necessarily,says economic researcher Sara Johnson.“Many oil producers built up huge reserve funds when prices were high,so when prices fall they will draw on their reserves to support government spending and subsidies(补贴)for their consumers.”

But not all oil producers have big reserves.In Venezuela,collapsing oil prices have sent its economy into free-fall.

Economist Carl Weinberg believes the negative effects of plunging oil prices are overwhelming the positive effects of cheaper oil.The implication is a sharp decline in global trade,which has plunged partly because oil-producing nations can’t afford to import as much as they used to.

Sara Johnson acknowledges that the global economic benefit from a fall in oil prices today is likely lower than it was in the past.One reason is that more countries are big oil producers now,so the nations suffering from the prices drop account for a larger share of the global economy.

Consumers,in the U.S.at least,are acting cautiously with the savings they’re getting at the gas pump,as the memory of the recent great recession is still fresh in their mind.And a number of oil-producing countries are trimming their gasoline subsidies and raising taxes,so the net savings for global consumers is not as big as the oil price plunge might suggest.

51.What does the author mainly discuss in the passage?

A)The reasons behind the plunge of oil prices.

B)Possible ways to stimulate the global economy.

C)The impact of cheap oil on global economic growth.

D)The effect of falling oil prices on consumer spending.

【答案】C