The Effect of Mail-Order Catalog托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

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The Effect of Mail-Order Catalog托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、The Effect of Mail-Order Catalog托福听力原文：

In the early years of the twentieth century,60 percent of the American population was rural,and half of the nation’s towns and cities had fewer than ten thousand people.Up until that time,life on the farm was lonely,and farm families felt that they weren’t keeping up with the urban population,which had electric lights,telephones,and access to the latest goods in department stores.Farm families were isolated,often with limited funds,and few could afford the time or the expense of shopping in the city.But all of this changed with the introduction of the mail-order catalog.

In 1872,a Chicago merchant named Montgomery Ward began sending copies of a catalog to thousands of farmers in the Midwest.The catalog was 280 pages long and offered farm families the opportunity to order any of the goods listed in it by mail.This is how Montgomery Ward and Company became the nation’s first mail-order company.Ward had discovered something entirely new and profitable,a new method of conducting business.After that,the terms“mail-order house”and“mail-order catalog”were added to our vocabulary.

The most successful mail-order house was Sears and Roebuck,which entered the mail-order business in 1895.Just as Montgomery Ward had done with his catalog,Richard Sears advertised his products in catalogs that were sent to farm families.The Sears catalog sold food,clothing,machinery,tools,stoves—anything and everything a farm family might need.

The mail-order business spread rapidly,largely because of improvements in postal services.The post office established Rural Free Delivery in 1902 and Parcel Post in 1913.These new services meant that catalogs and goods would be delivered directly to the farm,so farmers didn’t have to drive several miles into town to pick up packages.These new services greatly contributed to the success of mail-order houses.

Rural Free Delivery also had great benefit for farm families.Families that had previously been isolated could now receive newspapers,magazines,and mail-order catalogs in their mailboxes.This contact with the outside world broke their isolation and changed the outlook of rural America.Thanks to the mail-order houses of Montgomery Ward and Sears and Roebuck,no farm was too isolated to be aware of the latest clothing,furniture,farm equipment,music,and literature.

The wide distribution of the Sears catalog had another interesting effect.The Sears catalog had a lot to do with the similarity of goods available nationwide.Of course,this was also due to the mass-production of goods.Mass-production techniques made it possible to create reasonable copies of,for example,high-priced clothing.The two factors working together—mass production and nationwide distribution—tended to minimize regional differences in clothing styles.This is why there was a general lack of class and regional distinction in American clothing.People believed that if clothing of the same design and brand was widely worn by many people,then this was a sign of its value.

By 1910,both men and women could buy every article of clothing,ready-made,from mail-order catalogs like Sears.Sears didn’t pretend to be a leader in fashion,but it did try to provide what average Americans wanted.Women wanted to dress more fashionably and they welcomed new styles.For farm women,the pictures of the smiling women on the pages of the Sears catalog were as close as they came to outside contacts during the long winter months.And for immigrants who wanted to become Americans,the Sears catalog was a textbook.Here they learned how to dress,how to furnish their homes,and—some catalogs even had recipes and menus for holiday dinners—how to cook American food.

二、The Effect of Mail-Order Catalog托福听力中文翻译：

在20世纪初，美国60%的人口是农村人口，全国一半的城镇人口不到一万。在那之前，农场的生活是孤独的，农场家庭觉得他们跟不上城市人口，因为城市人口有电灯、电话，可以在百货公司买到最新的商品。农场家庭被孤立，通常资金有限，很少有人能负担得起在城市购物的时间或费用。但随着邮购目录的推出，这一切都发生了变化。

1872年，一位名叫蒙哥马利·沃德的芝加哥商人开始向中西部数千名农民发送目录副本。目录长达280页，为农场家庭提供了通过邮件订购目录中列出的任何商品的机会。这就是蒙哥马利·沃德公司成为美国第一家邮购公司的原因。沃德发现了一些全新的、有利可图的东西，一种新的经营方式。之后，“邮购公司”和“邮购目录”这两个术语被添加到我们的词汇表中。

最成功的邮购公司是西尔斯和罗巴克，他们于1895年进入邮购业务。正如蒙哥马利·沃德对他的目录所做的那样，理查德·西尔斯在发给农场家庭的目录中为他的产品做广告。西尔斯的产品目录出售食品、服装、机械、工具、炉灶——农场家庭可能需要的任何东西。

邮购业务迅速发展，主要是因为邮政服务的改善。邮政局于1902年建立了农村免费快递，并于1913年建立了包裹邮政。这些新服务意味着目录和货物将直接送到农场，因此农民不必开车几英里进城取包裹。这些新服务为邮购公司的成功做出了巨大贡献。

农村免费送货对农场家庭也有很大的好处。以前被隔离的家庭现在可以在邮箱里收到报纸、杂志和邮购目录。这种与外界的接触打破了他们的隔离，改变了美国农村的面貌。多亏了Montgomery Ward、Sears和Roebuck的邮购公司，没有一个农场过于孤立而不了解最新的服装、家具、农场设备、音乐和文学。

西尔斯目录的广泛分布产生了另一个有趣的影响。西尔斯目录与全国范围内商品的相似性有很大关系。当然，这也是由于商品的大规模生产。大规模生产技术使得可以创建例如，高价服装。大规模生产和全国分销这两个因素共同作用，往往会最大限度地减少服装风格的地区差异。这就是为什么美国服装普遍缺乏阶级和地区差异的原因。人们认为，如果同一设计和品牌的服装被许多人广泛穿着，那么这就是其价值的标志。

到1910年，男人和女人都可以从西尔斯这样的邮购目录上买到每一件现成的衣服。西尔斯并没有假装自己是时尚界的领导者，但它确实试图提供普通美国人想要的东西。女性希望穿得更时尚，她们欢迎新的风格。对于农场女性来说，西尔斯目录上那些面带微笑的女性的照片，就像她们在漫长的冬季与外界接触一样亲密。对于想成为美国人的移民来说，西尔斯目录是一本教科书。在这里，她们学会了如何着装，如何布置家庭，一些目录甚至有节日晚餐的食谱和菜单——如何烹饪美国食物。

三、The Effect of Mail-Order Catalog托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What is the talk mainly about?

A.American farm life in the early twentieth century

B.The history of a successful business innovation

C.Differences between the rural and urban way of life

D.The effects of mail-order catalogs on rural America

Q2:2.How did the mail-order business begin?

A.A businessman sent a catalog to a large number of farmers.

B.The railroads started delivering goods to isolated rural areas.

C.The post office added new services to promote ordering by mail.

D.A group of farmers organized a method of cooperative buying.

Q3:3.Why does the professor mention Rural Free Delivery and Parcel Post?

A.To give examples of early mail-order houses

B.To compare the benefits of two different types of services

C.To explain how these services helped the mail-order business

D.To describe the origins of the concept of customer service

Q4:4.According to the professor,what two factors led to the similarity of goods available nationwide?

Click on two answers.

A.The mass production of goods

B.The wide distribution of catalogs

C.The growing interest in regional styles

D.The desire to copy designer fashions

Q5:5.What does the professor mean when she says this:

A.Immigrants were required to buy a textbook to learn English.

B.Most of the people who used mail-order catalogs were immigrants.

C.The Sears catalog taught immigrants about American culture.

D.People immigrated to America for its economic opportunities.

Q6:6.Based on the information in the talk,would the professor most likely agree or disagree with each statement below?

For each sentence,click in the correct box.

Nineteenth-century farm families had the same cultural opportunities as city residents.

Mail-order companies changed the lives of farm families across the country.

Clothing ordered from mail-order catalogs was more fashionable than clothing bought in department stores.

The Sears catalog provided an important illustration of American life.

四、The Effect of Mail-Order Catalog托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：D

A2:正确答案：A

A3:正确答案：C

A4:正确答案：AB

A5:正确答案：C

A6:正确答案：BABA

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