Passage 4
体裁：记叙文 话题：热点关注 时间：7分钟
Does style really sell? How can the appearance of a product be more important than what it does? The battle between form and function rose again when James Dyson，British inventor of the Dyson vacuum(真空) cleaner that has sold in millions around the world，resigned as chairman of London's Design Museum.It is widely believed that Mr.Dyson felt that the museum put too much stress on style at the expense of serious industrial design.
Mr.Dyson accused the museum of not keeping true to itself.He may be right，but these days，museums everywhere can no longer afford to be unique centers of scholarship and learning.Among competition for sponsorship，they must use exhibitions of populist culture，nice cafes and shops or，best of all，a new building by Frank Gehry to increase visitor numbers.
On the one hand，some producers can be too oldfashioned and too concerned with the importance of product engineering and the functionality of their goods.On the other hand，there are those who believe that how a product looks is more important.Design is indeed a broad term，involving both function and form.Typically，in any given product area，it changes from the former to the latter.Clothing is a good example.But surely you would have to be a very shallow person to think something's appearance is more important than what it does.
Today nearly all goods at any given price point do much the same job.So almost the only way producers can differentiate their products from those of their competitors is to create some sort of emotional connection with the consumer，which could be through the visual appeal of the product or its packaging，or the imagery(意象) created by advertising.And what of the Dyson vacuum cleaner? Mr.Dyson may believe that people buy these machines because of the graphs showing their superior suction，but most vacuum cleaners do a good job;the main reason people pay extra for a Dyson is that it is a vacuum cleaner with a trendy brand.With its inside workings exposed，it is a bit like a Richard Rogers building with all its pipes shown in bright colors on the outside instead of being hidden inside.Functional it may be，but it is a bit of a trick，too.
【语篇导读】 英国吸尘器发明家Dyson因强烈反对设计博物馆太过注重外在的风格样式而辞职，他认为这里应该是研究学问的地方。
1.Mr.Dyson left the Design Museum because he thought the museum ______.
A.didn't increase the number of visitors
B.couldn't provide scholarships for learners
C.wasn't loyal to its original purpose of learning
D.didn't have great appeal for serious industrial design
解析 推理判断题。由第一段的最后一句话和第二段的第一句可知，他辞职是因为设计博物馆太注重风格样式。他认为这里应该是研究学问的地方，他们的做法违背了这个初衷。
答案 C
2.Speaking of clothing，the underlined word“latter” refers to “______ ”.
A.affording protection
B.indicating one's identity
C.providing warmth
D.making someone beautiful
解析 词义猜测题。根据文章内容可知，这里的latter指的是前面一句话中的form，即外形。因此D项正确。
答案 D
3.What can we learn from Paragraph 4?
A.A product with convenient packaging sells well.
B.The majority of consumers prefer to buy branded goods.
C.Most similarly priced products are of a comparable standard.
D.Emotion contributes much to the development of advertising industry.
解析 细节理解题。由第四段的第一句可知，大多数指定价格的产品都做着同样的工作，即大多数相似价格的产品都有可比的标准。所以C项正确。
答案 C
4.What is the author's attitude towards the form of a product?
A.Optimistic. B.Sceptical.
C.Disapproving. D.Objective.
解析 态度推断题。由最后两段的内容可知，作者认为产品的外形还是很重要的，但也是个小花招，因此作者对产品外形持客观的态度。选D。
答案 D
