7．A bargain is something offered at a low and advantageous price．A more recent definition（定义）is：a bargain is a dirty trick to force money out of the pockets of silly and innocent（涉世不深的）people．
The cost of producing a new-for example-toothpaste would make 80p the proper price for it，so we will market it at£1.20．It is not a bad toothpaste，and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with； but the attraction of novelty soon fades，so sales will fall．When that happens we will reduce the price to£1.15．And we will turn it into a bargain by printing 5p OFF all over it．
Sometimes it is not 5p OFF but 1p OFF．What breathtaking rudeness to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or whatever!Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult （侮辱），but he doesn't．A bargain must not be missed．People say one has to have washing powder （or whatever） and one might as well buy it a penny cheaper．
The real danger starts when unnecessary things become‘bargains'．Many people just cannot resist bargains．Provided they think they are getting a bargain they will buy clothes they will never wear or furniture they have no space for．Once I heard of a man who bought an electric saw as a bargain and cut off two of his fingers the next day．But he had no regrets：the saw had been truly cheap．
Quite a few people actually believe that they make money on such bargains．A lady once told me："I've had a lucky day today．I bought a dress for£120，reduced from£400； and I bought a beautiful Persian carpet for£600，reduced from£900．"It will never occur to her that she has actually wasted£720．She feels as though she had made£580．She also feels，I am sure，that if she had more time for shopping，she could make a living out of it．
Some people buy in large quantities because it is cheaper．Once a couple bought enough sugar for their lifetime and the lifetime of their children and grandchildren．They thought it a bargain not to be missed．When the sugar arrived they didn't know where to store it-until they realized that their toilet was a very spacious one．So that was where they piled up their sugar．Not only did their guests feel rather strange whenever they were offered sugar to put into their coffee，but the toilet became extremely sticky．
To offer bargains is a commercial（商业的）trick to make the poor poorer．When greedy（贪婪的）fools fall for this trick，it serves them right．
28．Which word best describes the language style of the passage？C
A．Polite．
B．Foolish．
C．Humorous．
D．Serious．
29．What does the underlined word"novelty"in Paragraph 2probably mean？D
A．Good quality．
B．Low price．
C．Curiosity．
D．Newness
30．How does the author feel about 1p OFF a product？B
A．It's a gift for poor people．
B．It's an offense to shoppers．
C．It's a bargain worth trying．
D．It's a real reduction in price．
31．What would be the best title for the passage？D
A．Why do we bargain？
B．Be careful when bargaining．
C．Bargains help people make a living．
D．Bargains play tricks on people．
分析 文章大意：本文讲述了人们购物时盲目追求折扣却有可能造成不理性消费的现象．
解答 28．C 推理判断题．结合全文可知，作者举例说明人们是如何对待便宜的商品的，这些例子幽默、风趣，引人发笑，故选C．29．D 词义猜测题．根据语境It is not a bad toothpaste，and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with； but the attraction of novelty soon fades，so sales will fall可知，由于人们喜欢尝试新事物，刚开始时，它很好卖，但是很快这种新鲜感减退，因此销售将会下降．选D．
30．B 推理判断题．根据第三段中的"What breathtaking rudeness to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or whatever!Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult（侮辱）．"可推断出，作者认为减价一便士的商品对购物者来说是一种冒犯．选B．
31．D 主旨大意题．根据最后一段中的"To offer bargains is a commercial trick to make the poor poorer．"可知提供便宜货是一个商业骗局，它使穷人更穷，因此答案选D．
点评 点评：本题考查日常生活类阅读理解．这类题材的阅读理解是高考常考的内容，难度适中，考生可以通读全文，了解大意，在此基础上再根据问题结合选项及语境做出正确的选择．
