Pretty in pink: adult women do not remember being so obsessed with the color, yet it is pervasive in our young girls’ lives. It is not that pink intrinsically bad, but it is a tiny slice of the rainbow and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fused girls’ identity to appearance. Then it presents that connection, even among two-year-olds, between girls as not only innocent but as evidence of innocence. Looking around, despaired at the singular lack of imagination about girls’ lives and interests.
Girls’ attraction to pink may seem unavoidable, somehow encoded in their DNA, but according to Jo Paoletti, an associate professor of American Studies, it’s not. Children were not color-coded at all until the early 20th century: in the era before domestic washing machines all babies wore white as a practical matter, since the only way of getting clothes clean was to boil them. What’s more, both boys and girls wore what were thought of as gender-neutral dresses. When nursery colors were introduced, pink was actually considered the more masculine color, a pastel version of red, which was associated with strength. Blue, with its intimations of the Virgin Mary, constancy and faithfulness, symbolized femininity. It was not until the mid-1980s, when amplifying age and sex differences became a dominant children’s marketing strategy, that pink fully came into its own, when it began to seem innately attractive to girls, part of what defined them as female, at least for the first few critical years.
I had not realized how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kids, including our core beliefs about their psychological development. Take the toddler (学步的儿童). I assumed that phase was something experts developed after years of research into children’s behavior: wrong. Turns out, according to Daniel Cook a historian of childhood consumerism, it was popularized as a marketing gimmick by clothing manufacturers in the 1930s.
Trade publications counseled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they should create “third stepping stone” between infant wear and older kids’ clothes. It was only after “toddler” became common shoppers’ term that it evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage. Splitting kids, or adults, into ever-tinier categories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits. And one of the easiest ways to segment a market is to magnify gender differences — or invent them where they did not previously exist.
17. By saying “it is ...The rainbow”, the author means pink( ).
18. The author suggests that our perception of children’s psychological devotement was much influenced by( ).
19. We may learn from Paragraph 4 that department stores were advised to( ).
20. It can be concluded that girl’s attraction to pink seems to be( ).
问题1选项
A.should not be the sole representation of girlhood
B.should not be associated with girls’ innocence
C.cannot explain girls’ lack of imagination
D.cannot influence girls’ lives and interests
问题2选项
A.the marketing of products for children
B.the observation of children’s nature
C.researches into children’s behavior
D.studies of childhood consumption
问题3选项
A.focus on infant wear and older kids’ clothes
B.attach equal importance to different genders
C.classify consumers into smaller groups
D.create some common shoppers terms
问题4选项
A.clearly explained by their inborn tendency
B.fully understood by clothing manufacturers
C.well interpreted by psychological experts
D.mainly imposed by profit-driven businessmen
17. 推理判断题。定位在第一段It is not that pink intrinsically bad, but it is a tiny slice of the rainbow and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fused girls’ identity to appearance.(不是粉红本来不好,它只是彩虹的一小份而已。虽然从某个程度上来说有助于烘托女孩,但它也会不断融合女孩们对于外表的认知。)由此可推理,粉色只是在一方面烘托女孩特质,由此可知粉色只是其中的一个方面,还会有其他方面,因此A选项“不应该是少女时期的唯一代表”正确,符合题意。B选项“不应与女孩的纯真联系在一起”,根据原文Then it presents that connection, even among two-year-olds, between girls as not only innocent but as evidence of innocence.(然后,它表示了这种联系,甚至在两岁的孩子之间,不仅能够说明女孩是天真的,而且也能作为天真的证据。)由此可知,作者认为粉色和天真是有关联的。C选项“不能说明女孩缺乏想象力”,D选项“不能影响女孩的生活和兴趣”,均与题意不符。故选A。
18. 推理判断题。定位在第三段I had not realized how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kids, including our core beliefs about their psychological development.(我原来没有意识到市场营销趋势对我们观念的巨大影响,比如什么是孩子的天性,包括他们的心理发展这种核心信念。)由此可以推论出市场营销可以在很大程度上影响我们对孩子的心理发展的认识。因此A选项“儿童产品的营销”正确,符合题意。B选项“对儿童天性的观察”,C选项“儿童行为研究”,D选项“儿童消费研究”均不符题意,可排除。故选A。
19. 推理判断题。定位在第四段Trade publications counseled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they should create “third stepping stone” between infant wear and older kids’ clothes. It was only after “toddler” became common shoppers’ term that it evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage. Splitting kids, or adults, into ever-tinier categories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits.(贸易出版物给百货商场提议,要增加销售,应该在婴儿服装和儿童服装之间创造“第三过渡阶段”服装,这个词成为“蹒跚学步者”之后的常见销售术语,后来演变为人们广泛接受的孩子发展阶段。事实证明,将儿童或成人分成更小的类别是提高利润的可靠方法。)由此可知他们的建议就是细化年龄阶段来推广产品以扩大利润。因此C选项“将消费者分成更小的群体”正确,符合题意。A选项“关注婴儿服装和较大儿童服装”,B选项“对不同性别同重视”,D选项“创建一些常用术语”均不符题意,可排除。故选C。
20. 推理判断题。A选项“从她们天性中能够清楚地解释出来”,定位到第二段Girls’ attraction to pink may seem unavoidable, somehow encoded in their DNA, but according to Jo Paoletti, an associate professor of American Studies, it’s not.(女孩对粉色的喜爱似乎是不可避免的,这是基因决定的,但美国研究的副教授乔•保莱蒂认为,事实并非如此。)错误。B选项“服装制造商完全理解”,定位在第三段的最后一句it was popularized as a marketing gimmick by clothing manufacturers in the 1930s.(它在20世纪30年代被服装制造商作为营销手段推广)服装制造商只会制造噱头从中谋利。错误,可排除。C选项“被心理专家解读得很好”,与题意无关,可排除。D选项“受利润驱使的商人的影响”正确,符合题意。根据原文I had not realized how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kids, including our core beliefs about their psychological development.(我原来没有意识到市场营销趋势对我们观念的巨大影响,比如什么是孩子的天性,包括他们的心理发展这种核心信念。)以及Splitting kids, or adults, into ever-tinier categories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits.(事实证明,将儿童或成人分成越来越小的类别是提高利润的可靠方法。)And one of the easiest ways to segment a market is to magnify gender differences—or invent them where they did not previously exist.(而细分市场最简单的方法之一就是放大性别差异——或者在以前不存在性别差异的地方创造出性别差异。)由此可知女生对粉色的喜爱主要是市场营销下的一种体现。故选D。