阅读理解
Choosing a hotel, restaurant or new product can be a hard task. There’s so much on offer, and making a mistake can be expensive. This is why many people turn to online user reviews—opinions and information that’s supposedly written by people who have used a service or bought a product. But can we trust them?
About 70% of Americans say they believe online user reviews. According to experts, this is because when we read a review by another person, we feel like we’re getting a personal recommendation(推荐) from a friend. But a recent study shows that about one third of online reviews are not true.
Of course, companies are in need of good reviews so some of them have started to “play” the system. But how do they do it? Simple! One way is to give good reviews of your own product or service. Best－selling writer RJ Ellory was recently caught writing 5－star reviews of his own books on Amazon.com. He called one of his books a “modern masterpiece” and said another would “touch people’s souls(心灵)”. RJ also wrote unkind reviews of his competitors’ books.
Another way is to “buy” good reviews. Just recently, the Cove Hotel in Cornwall was caught giving guests discounts(折扣) if they wrote “honest but positive” reviews on TripAdvisor. The idea worked—one guest called the Cove “a dream came true” and another simply wrote, “I didn’t want to leave！”
Some people are even making a living by writing untrue reviews. In 2010, American Todd Rutherford created GettingBookReviews.com (it has since closed down). For $99, Todd would write a positive review of your book on Amazon.com；and for $999, he’d write 50. At one point, Todd was making more than $28，000 per month; and one of his clients(客户) (John Locke) became a best－selling author because of Todd’s reviews. So, just be careful when you are looking for reviews of the things you need on the Internet.
【解题导语】 本文是一篇说明文。作者主要对网上购物后产品或服务质量的评语提出了质疑。
1．Which of the following words can best describe RJ Ellory?
A．Proud. B．Friendly.
C．Impolite. D．Dishonest.
D 解析：推理判断题。由第三段中的writing 5－star reviews of his own books和RJ also wrote unkind reviews of his competitors’ books.可知，RJ Ellory这个人很不诚实，故选D项。
2．What do we know about the Cove Hotel?
A．It is the most popular hotel on TripAdvisor.
B．It is close to the city center but has poor service.
C．It is not as good as what people say on the Internet.
D．It allows guests to pay less if they write reviews.
C 解析：细节理解题。由第四段中的the Cove Hotel in Cornwall was caught giving guests discounts(折扣) if they wrote “honest but positive” reviews以及两位顾客的评语可知，这家宾馆实际上并没有评语说的那么好，故选C项。
3．GettingBookReviews.com ________．
A．made John Locke a popular writer
B．offers 50 reviews at most for one book
C．was created by Todd Rutherford in 2000
D．is a good website to learn about new books
A 解析：细节理解题。由最后一段中的American Todd Rutherford created GettingBookReviews.com和one of his clients(客户) (John Locke) became a best－selling author because of Todd’s reviews可知，在该网站的宣传下John Locke成了一名畅销书作家，故选A项。
