Playing basketball isn't ladylike. That's what Jewell Chapman's high school headmaster told her in 1961 when he was against the girls' basketball program. "We were very discouraged, " said Chapman, a forward for her high school team of Des Moines. Nearly 50 years later, Chapman is back on the playground. She's 62 and plays for "Hot Pink Grannies", joining about 10 other women on a team whose uniforms are black trousers and hot pink socks. They play in the Iowa Granny Basketball League. It's one of dozens of basketball leagues for women over 50 that have arisen across the country. For some, it's a chance to exercise and meet people; for others, _ "You see more and more elderly women's teams taking part in state and national competitions," said Michael Rogers, a professor in sports studies at Wichita State University. "In the future it will be something common to have leagues like this." Yearly surveys by the National Sporting Goods Association show the number of women aged 55 and older who play basketball at least 50 times a year has grown from 16,000 in 1995 to nearly 131,000 ten years later. The women on the Hot Pink Grannies are good - natured but competitive when game time comes. "I think I'm tough" says Colleen Pulliam, 69, showing off her strong arms at her challengers in a game against "Strutters", known for their bright yellow socks. Granny Basketball Leagues and similar groups spread quickly through much of the country, including California, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Which is right about Chapman? A) She thinks playing basketball isn't ladylike. B) She is now 62 years old and feels discouraged. C) She plays basketball again about 50 years later. D) She is a forward in the Hot Pink Grannies.
C
Online shoppers would rather receive an offer for a product or service than make their own offer3according to a study led by a Michigan State University scholar that has implications for the fast-growing e-commerce industry. The findings may come as a surprise given that shopping online is an anonymous process that seemingly can give consumers more confidence to drive a hard bargain,said Don Conlon ,Professor of Management in MSU's Broad College of Business. But the study found that participants who made their own offers were less successful in sealing the deal and ,when they were successful?worried they overpaid Many shoppers found the process of researching an offer to be a hassle. " Americans are very busy,and it's less time-consuming to be the one receiving the offer rather than the one proposing the offer " Conlon said.uPeople tend to be happier when they're in the receiver role. " Online spending in the United States is expected to jump 45 percent in the next four years, from $ 226 billion this year to $ 327 billion in 2017,according to Forrester Research Inc. Nevertheless, researches into this prosperous market remain largely focused on the strategies of companies, rather than those oPS shoppers. Conlon's study is ,obviously, a rare exception. Conlon got the idea for the study after considering the difference between two popular sites for hotels and airline flights, priceline.com, which takes bids, and hotwire.com ,which provides offers. Using these two models ,Conlon and his fellow researchers conducted a series of experiments with more than 850 people who were charged with booking a fictional hotel room and acquiring a fictional antique car. Not only did participants prefer to receive bids, Conlon said ,but they also secured more deals in that receiver role. Further ,when they had to make the bids ,they were left more mentally _ and regretful. From an industry perspective,putting customers in the receiver role may help fill more hotel rooms and airplane seats. "If you're a business with a lot of... It can be concluded from Conlon's experiments that _ . A) online shopping is time-consuming B) given prices help promote online sales C) online businesses provide a lot of products D) receiving offers makes online shoppers regretful
B
Q: Michael was a farmer in Texas.His parents moved to the USA from Ireland in the 1940's, and they became very rich.Michael decided to go back to Ireland to meet his old grandfather, who was still living on the same farm. Michael booked his ticket,flew to Shannon airport,hired a car and drove to the small village where his parents had been born.He asked for directions to the Ohagan farm,and in the end he drove up a bumpy path.He was shocked by what he saw:a small field,and in the middle of it was an old house,which looked as if it was falling down.Animals were wandering in and out of the front door,and on the porch an old man was smoking a pipe. "Are you Mr. Ohagan?"asked Michael. "Yes,"replied the old mall. "I'm your grandson,Michael,"said Michael. "A--ha,"replied the old man. "Is this your farm?"asked Michael. "Yes,all the way to the wall over there,"said the old man. Michael was astonished."Grandfather,"he said,"I have a farm in Texas.I can get into my car and drive all day and I still haven't reached the end of the farm." "Yes,"said his grandfather."I used to have a car like that." Which of the following shocked Michael? A) The farm was small B) The old house looked like his own. C) Living conditions were poor in the fields. D) Animals were free in the fields.
A: C
Q: From bankers to factory staff, employees in the West face a cold _ of losing their jobs as a global recession starts to bite. For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut. Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian companies try harder to preserve jobs in difficult times, which will prevent unemployment and may help Asian economies survive at a time of slowing exports. The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for companies to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, but build up a more loyal and devoted group. "In the Confucian mindset , the right thing to do is to share the burden , which is the sense of collective responsibility. While in the West, it's more about individual survival," said Michael Benoliel, associate professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University (SMU). In contrast, local Western companies from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousands, but at the Asian units of Western multinationals or western units of Asian groups, job cuts will probably be less severe. Japan's jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong's was flat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January. Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals from abroad. The passage mainly tells us _ . A) the difficulties all the companies around the world will meet with today B) the different labor solutions of Asian and Western in global recession C) the ways to cut down the cost of the companies in economic downturn D) the cultural differences between Eastern and Western world at present
A: B