Question

Soap is more popular in liquid form than in bars in the UK – but there are good reasons to stick with the old traditional way of keeping clean,  says Gareth Rubin．

According to market research company Mintel,  87% of

Britons usually buy liquid soap,  compared to only 13% who buy bars of it． And solid soap is losing the popularity． But why do some people still prefer traditional solid soap?

1．It’s what they’ve always known．

Some people are just traditionalists． According to Mark Constantine,  he thinks it’s always lovely when we’re using something that’s been about for 3, 000 years． Solid soap has got a huge history and they’re very beautiful．

2．Solid soap is more pleasant．

Smelling a plastic bottle doesn’t feel very comfortable,  while you can get bars of different textures and smells – some bars have sea salt,  nuts,  fruits or flowers in them for a bit of a surprise． Others come in beautiful or even funny shapes and sizes． You can tie attractive bars of soap up in silk ribbons (丝带) and present them as a gift to a loved one – the effect isn’t quite the same when you do this with a liquid soap．

3．Less packaging (包装) is better for the planet．

All those bottles has to come from somewhere and go somewhere． Recycling can only do so much,  whereas typically a bar of soap comes in a little paper wrapper and that’s it． If you care about the environment,  you can even buy bars of soap without paper around them． “And about 60% of the cost of a bottle of soap goes on the packaging and the pump (泵头)．” says Constantine．

4．The bottles are a little bit difficult．

You can hold a bar of soap in one hand and it works． With the bottles you first have to use both hands to unlock the pump,  and shut your eyes to the liquid slowly dropping the sticky thing onto your bathroom floor． When the bar of soap runs down,  you can still use it until it is no more,  but with the liquid soap it is a difficult task to get the last drop out of the bottom．

1.According to market research company Mintel, ______．

A．solid soap is as popular as liquid soap

B．more people refuse to buy liquid soap

C．solid soap is becoming less popular

D．solid soap is better for the planet

2.Compared to solid soap, liquid soap ______．

A．has less packaging

B．has a much longer history

C．is more pleasant in smells

D．has less funny shapes and sizes

3.What can you infer from the passage?

A．Liquid soap is not worth the price according to Constantine．

B．A bottle of liquid soap cannot be a present for a friend．

C．More people will buy solid soap without silk ribbons．

D．It’s impossible to use up the liquid soap in a bottle．

4.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．People’s preference to soap is changing．

B．Liquid soap is still liked by many Britons．

C．The advantages and disadvantages of solid soap．

D．The reasons why some people still prefer solid soap．

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.D

【解析】

试题解析：短文大意：本文介绍了为什么有些人还是喜欢传统的固体肥皂的原因：固体肥皂是他们一直都知道。固体肥皂更愉快。较少的包装对地球更好。瓶装的有点困难。

1.C细节理解题。根据文中According to market research company Mintel, 87% of Britons usually buy liquid soap, compared to only 13% who buy bars of it． And solid soap is losing the popularity．可知固体肥皂失去人气, 所以该选C。

2.D细节理解题。根据文中Others come in beautiful or even funny shapes and sizes． You can tie attractive bars of soap up in silk ribbons (丝带) and present them as a gift to a loved one – the effect isn’t quite the same when you do this with a liquid soap．可知液体肥皂没有固体肥皂那么有趣的形状和大小, 所以该选D。

3.A推理判断题。根据文中“And about 60% of the cost of a bottle of soap goes on the packaging and the pump (泵头)．” says Constantine．可推知液体肥皂不值那么多钱, 所以该选A。

4.D主旨大意题。根据本文描述可知主要介绍了为什么一些人仍然喜欢固体肥皂的原因, 所以该选D。