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  3. It’s sometimes thought that the longing for material goods, the need to buy things, is a relatively modern invention, but in fac

It’s sometimes thought that the longing for material goods, the need to buy things, is a relatively modern invention, but in fac

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问题     It’s sometimes thought that the longing for material goods, the need to buy things, is a relatively modern invention, but in fact its roots go back to the dawn of humanity. Trade or "shopping" is certainly an ancient obsession, and existed before our ancestors invented writing, laws, cities or farming, even before they used metal to make tools.

    Humans are born to trade: and we don’t need shops or money to do it. Evidence from modern hunter-gatherer suggests that the exchange of food and other essentials comes naturally, as well as the ability to keep a record of the credits and debits involved. And once trade begins, the economic benefits are hard to resist.
    Until less than sixty years ago, a group of coastal aboriginals in northern Australia traded fish hooks along a chain of trading partners, with people living 400 miles inland, who cut and polished local stone to make axes. Every individual along the chain made a profit in the form of hooks or axes, even if he produced neither himself. And both groups of "manufacturers" , by concentrating on things they could produce efficiently and exchanging them for other things they needed, benefited as a result.
    Trade in the necessities of life, such as food and simple tools, isn’t really surprising, considering the link between these basic items and survival. What’s surprising, though, is that our taste for luxury items—objects with no obvious survival value—also goes back a long way. Archaeologists used to think that "consumer culture" first began about 40,000 years ago. However, recent findings in Africa, of art, jewellery, cosmetics and decorative objects, are pushing the origins of consumerism much further back into human "prehistory".
    In South Africa, 100,000-year-old decorative dyes have been found in a region where none were produced: it’s thought that these goods had been bought at least 30 kilometres away. Beads 76,000 years old were also found at the same site. These earliest beads known to us were not just random findings—they were grouped together in size and had holes like those used for threading onto a necklace.
    Archaeologists argue that trade prepared the way for the complex societies in which we live today. Modern-day shoppers may not be impressed by simple beads, axes and fishing hooks, but their modern equivalents—fast cars and designer labels—hold the same fascination for us as " trade goods" did for people 100,000 years ago.
    As for the issue of "how consumers decide" , we’ll discuss the comparing competition. Consumers will want to be able to compare the product with its competitors, so that they can determine which option is better for them. A crucial role of packaging in this situation is to communicate the characteristics of the product, highlighting its advantages over possible competitors.
    So when are people likely to use a particular type of thinking? First, we know that people are cognitive misers: in other words they’re economical with their thinking because it requires some effort from them. Essentially, people only engage in effort-demanding systematic processing when the situation justifies it, for example when they aren’t tired or distracted and when the purchase is important to them.
    Second, people have an upper limit to the amount of information they can absorb. If we present too much, therefore, they’ll become confused. This, in turn, is likely to lead them to disengage and choose something else.
    Third, people often lack the knowledge or experience needed, so won’t be able to deal with things they don’t really understand, such as the ingredients of food products, for example.
    And fourth, people vary in the extent to which they enjoy thinking. Our research has differentiated between people with high need for thinking—who routinely engage in analytical thinking—and those low in need for cognition, who prefer to use very simple forms of thinking. Questions 71 to 75
Complete the summary below with information from the passage, using no more than three words for each blank.
    The idea of buying or trading items began with the birth of mankind. People traded or exchanged 【A1】______and simple tools to ensure survival before cities were built, farming began or laws were established. Money was not used—items such as 【A2】______ and axes were simply exchanged. The desire to trade and the ability to keep records of transactions were as natural in ancient times as now. Even luxury items such as jewellery were traded at least 【A3】______, as archaeological evidence shows. This early trading eventually gave rise to our modern way of shopping. For consumers who want to compare products it’s important that your packaging stresses the characteristics/advantages of your product. We know that people only use systematic processing if the situation makes it necessary or desirable. We also know that too much 【A4】______ could make consumers choose another product. Furthermore, consumers may fully understand details such as the ingredients of a product. While some people like using systematic processing, others like to think in a 【A5】______way.
【A4】
选项
答案information
解析 (文章第九段介绍到，人们接受的信息有限，当内容过多时，人们就会感到困惑，从而可能去选择别的产品。故此处填information。)
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本试题收录于： A类竞赛（研究生）题库大学生英语竞赛（NECCS）分类
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