阅读理解。

     Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want

them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. "Buy Super Clean

Toothpaste." Drink Good Wet Root Beer." Fill up with Pacific Gas." Only if you sleep, which is equal to

turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"

     The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you've traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it's fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless (鲁莽的) or daring, the ride can be as thrilling (惊心动魄的) as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you've got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.

     The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there's a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By

now you've sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the armrests even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.

1. According to the passage, what do the passengers usually see when they are on a long bus trip?

A. Buses on the road.                

B. Films on television.

C. Advertisements on the billboards.    

D. Gas stations.

2. What is the purpose of this passage?

A. To give the writer's opinion about long bus trips.

B. To persuade you to take a long bus trip.

C. To explain how bus trips and television shows differ.

D. To describe the billboards along the road.

3. The writer of this passage would probably favor         .

A. bus drivers who aren't reckless      

B. driving alone

C. a television set on the bus          

D. no billboards along the road

4. The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because           .

A. the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun

B. they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between

C. the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses

D. both traveling and watching TV are not exciting

5. The writer thinks that the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are        .

A.exciting    

B.comfortable    

C.tiring    

D.boring

More than any other industry, the luxury-goods business needs people to feel good about spending money. So at a recent conference in Moscow, Bernard Arnault, the head of Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), the world’s biggest luxury-goods group, went to great lengths to dismiss investors’ fears about the impact on the industry of America’s credit crisis, a possible recession and the weak dollar. Indeed, Mr. Arnault said he expects the industry’s sales almost to double in the next five years, thanks to p demand from emerging markets and the creation of new wealth across the globe.

After a depressing period at the beginning of the decade when the terrorist attacks in America, the outbreak of SARS and the war in Iraq reduced international travel and people’s appetite for frivolous things, the industry has had three excellent years. According to Bain, a consultancy, sales of luxury goods grew by 9% in 2006 to 159 billion ($ 200 billion) and will reach about 170 billion this year, which would double the 1996 figure. Europe remains the biggest market, with about 40% of sales, though the pest growth is in China, Russia, the Middle East and some Latin American countries.

Can the industry really double again in half the time Analysts at Citigroup say that Christmas will be good this year for luxury-goods firms, but they are more cautious about next year because of worries about falling demand in America. It is tempting to think that luxury goods are isolated from the broader economy, because customers are rich enough to ignore it, says Luca Solca, a luxury-goods analyst. But the industry’s expansion into a broader "aspirational" market, by selling to the merely affluent, makes it susceptible.

And as luxury firms expand in Asia and the Americas, they will continue to suffer currency woes. Most of the industry’s production is in the euro-zone, mainly in France and Italy. Even the optimistic Mr. Arnault complained at his firm’s recent annual meeting that the euro had reached "incomprehensible" levels against the dollar and the yen. Luxury companies could shift more of their production to countries with weaker currencies and cheap labor (ie, China), but some customers-especially Asian customers-want the elitism and craftsmanship associated with products manufactured in Europe.

At least sales in emerging markets are growing fast. But Melanie Flouquet, a luxury analyst at JPMorgan, an investment bank, says that this growth is not enough to offset a slowdown in America. Chinese and Russian consumers account for around 7% and 4% of global luxury sales respectively, compared with 16-18% for Americans. Even so, European firms are sticking to their plans in New York, America’s fashion capital. Gucci will open its biggest shop in February in Trump Tower, a shiny skyscraper on New York’s Fifth Avenue. Ermenegildo Zegna will also open a shop on Fifth Avenue next year. And this week Dolce & Gabbana re-opened its spruced-up shop on Madison Avenue.

Claudia D’ Arpizio of Bain thinks luxury makers need to follow Giorgio Armani and segment their customers more carefully with different product lines at different price ranges. She predicts that the industry will see solid growth rates of up to 10% a year in the near term. This means that the industry could double in ten years-by which time China is likely to account for more than a quarter and maybe as much as a third of the world’s consumption of luxury goods. Yet Mr. Arnault’s rosy prediction seems unlikely to come true. As Americans tighten their purse-strings, over-optimism is a luxury even this industry cannot afford.

Why did the luxury companies not shift their production to countries like China and Vietnam （）

A.The elitism and craftsmanship associated with products manufactured in Europe are the most attractive aspects for many customers

B. European governments do not allow such shift due to the consideration of unemployment

C. Companies fear that such shift would decrease the quality of the goods, although cost can be cut

D. China and Vietnam are not ready to be production places of luxury goods, in terms of craftsmanship, expertise and investment