考研人數逐年增加，競爭之激烈使得我們不得不加急復習的日程。眾所周知，閱讀理解占據了考研英語二100分試卷的一半分值，而考研英語閱讀文章大多來自英美國家的主流報刊雜志，所以如果能在日常就多多閱讀這些文章，對以后讀懂文章做對題目來說會大有裨益。

學習步驟如下：

1.不看漢語譯文自己看一遍短文做理解

2.看漢語譯文比對自己理解的意思與之出入

3.強化記憶重點單詞（以記憶其漢語意思為主）

I had not realized how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kids, including our core beliefs about their psychological development. Take the toddler. I assumed that phase was something experts developed after years of research into children’s behavior: wrong. Turns out, according to Daniel Cook, a historian of childhood consumerism, it was popularized as a marketing trick by clothing manufacturers in the 1930s.

Trade publications counseled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they should create a “third stepping stone” between infant wear and older kids’ clothes. It was only after “toddler” became a common shoppers’ term that it evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage. Splitting kids, or adults, into ever-tinier categories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits. And one of the easiest ways to segment a market is to magnify gender differences—or invent them where they did not previously exist.

短文翻譯

我之前未意識到,市場趨勢是如何深刻地影響了我們對孩子天性的看法,包括我們對他們心理發展的核心理念。以學步兒童為例,我曾認為這個階段是專家們經過多年對兒童行為的研究得出的結論,但是我錯了。研究兒童消費主義的歷史學家丹尼爾·庫克表示,事實證明,20世紀30年代,服裝制造商將其作為一種營銷手段推廣開來。

商業出版物向百貨公司提議,為了增加銷量,它們應在嬰兒服裝和大齡兒童服裝之間開辟“第三階段”。直到“學步兒童”成為一個常見的購物術語后,它才發展成為一個被廣泛接受的兒童成長階段。事實證明,細分兒童或成人群體是提高利潤的可靠方法。細分市場最簡單的方法之一就是放大性別差異,或者創造出原本不存在的差異。

真題練習

*一定要做題哦

28. The author suggests that our perception of children’s psychological development was much influenced by_____.

[A] the marketing of products for children

[B] the observation of children’s nature

[C] researches into children’s behaviour

[D] studies of childhood consumption

29. We may learn from paragraph 4 that department stores were advised to____.

[A] focus on infant wear and older kids’ clothes

[B] attach equal importance to different genders

[C] classify consumers into smaller groups

[D] create some common shoppers’ terms

30. It can be concluded that girls’ attraction to pink seems to be____.

[A] clearly explained by their inborn tendency

[B] fully understood by clothing manufacturers

[C] mainly imposed by profit-driven businessmen

[D] well interpreted by psychological experts

題目解析

28.【解析】根據題干，首先定位到第三段。該段第一句話“I had not realized how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kids, including our core beliefs about their psychological development.”指出：我沒有意識到，我們對孩子們天性的看法深受營銷趨勢的支配，包括我們對他們心理發展的核心信念。接下來作者通過一個例子證明這一事實，暗示了市場營銷影響我們的看法，由此確定選項A為正確答案，同時排除選項B。原文有提到“研究”，但作者最后發現還是生產商的營銷技巧。C，D項均為干擾項。

29.【解析】根據題干，首先定位到第四段。該段首句提到，貿易刊物建議百貨商店：要增加銷路就應該在嬰兒服裝和稍大的一些孩子的服裝之間開創“第三個跳板”。接下來在第三句作者又指出，將小孩或者成人分成更小的類別已被證明是提高利潤的絕佳方法，所以選項C為正確答案，同時排除選項A。本段并未談及對于不同性別的人群給予同樣的重視，因此排除選項B。第二句中“常見的購物者術語”指的是通過這些術語帶領消費者繼續給小孩分類分層，D選項屬于未貼合文段主旨的錯誤。

30.【解析】第二段最后一句話談到，當年齡增大和性別差異成為兒童市場的主要營銷策略時，粉色才完全被人所認識。緊接著第三段又談到市場營銷以及服裝制造商對我們看法的影響，由此推出選項C為正確答案。同時排除選項B。第二段第一句提到女孩對于粉色的關注似乎就蘊藏在她們的基因里，但是根據《美國研究》的一位副教授喬·帕雷提所說，情況并不是這樣，所以排除選項A。第三段第二句提到作者本以為“蹣跚學步的兒童”這個階段是專家經過多年研究兒童的行為才發現的，但后來發現他這一認識錯了，沒有說專家解釋得很好，因此排除選項D。