Text  3

    Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand for luxury goods and services that took place in eighteenth-century England. McKendrick has explored the Wedgwood firm’s remarkable success in marketing luxury pottery; Plumb has written about the rapid increase of provincial theaters, musical festivals, and children’s toys and books. While the fact of this consumer revolution is hardly in doubt, three key questions remain: Who were the consumers? What were their motives? And what were the effects of the new demand for luxuries?

    An answer to the first of these has been difficult to obtain. Although it has been possible to infer from the goods and services actually produced what manufacturers and servicing trades thought their customers wanted, only a study of relevant personal documents written by actual consumers will provide a precise picture of who wanted what. We still need to know how large this consumer market was and how far down the social scale the consumer demand for luxury goods penetrated. With regard to this last question, we might note in passing that Thompson, while rightly restoring laboring people to the stage of eighteenth-century English history, has probably exaggerated the opposition of these people to the sudden attacks of capitalist consumerism in general. For example, laboring people in eighteenth-century England readily shifted from home-brewed beer to standardized beer produced by huge, heavily capitalized urban breweries.

    To answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians have pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively uncensored press. This, however, hardly seems a sufficient answer. Mckendrick favors a Veblen model of conspicuous consumption stimulated by competition for status. The “middling sort” bought goods and services because they wanted to follow fashions set by the rich. Again, we may wonder whether this explanation is sufficient. Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of self-gratification? If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of new concepts of individualism and materialism, but not necessarily of the frenzy for conspicuous competition.

    Finally, what were the consequences of this consumer demand for luxuries? McKendrick claims that it goes a long way toward explaining the coming of the Industrial Revolution. But does it? What, for example, does the production of high-quality pottery and toys have to do with the development of iron manufacture or textile mills? It is perfectly possible to have the psychology and reality of a consumer society without a heavy industrial sector. (414 words)

    Notes：in passing 顺便。frenzy狂热。brewery 啤酒厂。uncensored 未经新闻检查的。self-gratification 自我喜悦和满足。go a long way towards 对…大有帮助。frivolous琐碎的。foreshadow vt. 预示…的来临。

1. In the first paragraph, the author mentions Mckendrick and Plumb most probably in order to _______.

  A. contrast their views on luxury consumerism in 18th-century England
  B. confirm key questions about 18th-century England consumerism
  C. exemplify historians who have proved the growing consumerism in 18th-century England
  D. compare one historian’s interest in luxury goods to another historian’s interest in luxury services

2. Which of the following items, if preserved from eighteenth-century England, would provide an example of the kind of documents mentioned in paragraph 2?

  A. A bargain stricken between a manufacturer and a consumer
  B. A diary that mentions luxury goods and services purchased by its author.
  C. A theater ticket stamped with the date and name of a particular play.
  D. A newspaper advertisement describing luxury goods and services available.

3. In the third paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with _______.

  A. contrasting two theses and offering a compromise
  B. questioning two explanations and proposing a possible alternative to them
  C. examining two theories and supporting one over the other
  D. raising several questions but implying that they cannot be answered

4. The author would most probably agree that the Industrial Revolution _______.

  A. resulted from the growing demand for luxury goods and services 
  B. exploited the already existing demand for luxury goods and services
  C. was closely bound up with the demands for luxury goods and services
  D. was not directly driven by a growing demand for luxury goods and services

5. The title which best expresses the main idea of the text is ________.

  A. A Comment on Historians’ Study on Rising Demand for Luxuries in 18th-century England
  B. The Impacts of Consumer Demand for Luxury Goods and Services in the 18th Century                         
  C. Consumers’ Demand for Luxuries in the 18th Century and Their Motives
  D. The Ever-increasing Demand for Luxuries in Eighteenth-century England

Text  4  (课外阅读)

    The term "leadership" is one of the most difficult in educational administration. To some, a leader is simply one who is followed. Presumably by that definition, a good leader is one who is followed consistently and reliably by large numbers of people. But that leads to the difficulty of Hitler being a "good leader". So, some will argue either that leadership itself involves both followers and a good sense of direction or that, at least, good leadership involves an approved direction. The latter distinction leaves one with the ambiguity of the "bad leader" being either one who is not followed or, very different, one who is followed but in a disapproved direction.

    In addition to those definitional problems, some people believe they know what "good leadership style" is. It may be decisive but whatever it is its supporters know it is "good". Such people are likely to substitute the criterion of style for the criteria of having followers and having an appropriate direction. Some people go even further. They assume that good leadership style is an important end in itself. They give their favored style an attractive name like "democratic leadership". In that way, principals who have a "democratic" style are automatically deemed good, even though they may be ineffective and unpopular. The ineffectiveness and unpopularity are explained away; the principal is not "really a democratic leader, because, if she were, she would be effective and popular!"

    As the concept of leadership is so obscure, leadership is a term that should be used with great care and only in circumstances where it is carefully defined. Our typology of types of style may be seen as a typology of leadership only if one limits the term leadership to the exercise of power, authority and influence.

    We distinguish an effective leader, who gets results, from a good leader, who achieves good things. But does a good leader always get plentiful, good results? Some principals appear to be effective in some circumstances but not in others. Do they then suddenly change from being effective and, perhaps, good leaders one year to being ineffective leaders the next? The answer is probably yes. Thus leadership can be seen to be as much an outcome of the internal and external working environment as it is a quality of the leader. Thus Winston Churchill was a good and effective war time leader but not a very effective leader in peace time. The reverse might be said of Franklin Roosevelt.  (412 words)

1. According to the first paragraph, whether a person is a good leader or not should be judged by __________.

  A. his/her effectiveness                          B. his democratic style in work
  C. his/her popularity                          D. the number of his/her followers and the correctness of direction

2. According to the author, if the term leadership is defined as the exercise of power, authority and influence, what is typical of a qualified leader?

  A. A good style in work                B. A talent for direction
  C. A large number of followers                    D. Getting brilliant results 

3. From the text we may learn that __________.

  A. a democratic style is the sole criterion to judge the quality of a school leader
  B. a qualified leader has not so much followers as an approved direction
  C. one’s personal and external conditions can finally decide the quality of leadership
  D. the personal character is the exclusive factor to become an efficient leader

4. The text seems to mainly discuss the leadership of __________.

  A. an educational board                        B. a headmaster or president
  C. government heads                          D. a teachers’ association

5. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. The Main Qualities of a School Leader 
B. The Great Importance of School Leadership 
C. Educational Administration in the United States
D. The Dispute over the Concept of Leadership Mainly in Schools