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①　Picture this: You’re at a movie theater food stand loading up on snacks. You have a choice of a small, medium or large soda. The small is $3.50 and the large is $5.50. It’s a tough decision: The small size may not last you through the whole movie,but $5.50 for some sugary drink seems ridiculous. But there’s a third option,a medium soda for $5.25. Medium may be the perfect amount of soda for you, but the large is only a quarter more.If you’re like most people, you end up buying the large(and taking a bathroom break midshow).

②　If you’re wondering who would buy the medium soda, the answer is almost.no one.In fact, there’s a good chance the marketing department purposely priced the medium soda as a decoy（诱饵），making you more likely to buy the large soda rather than the small.

③　I have written about this peculiarity in human nature before with my friend Dan Ariely, who studied this phenomenon extensively after noticing pricing for subscriptions（订阅）to The Economist. The digital subscription was $59, the print subscription was $125, and the print plus digital subscription was also $125. No one in their right mind would buy the print subscription when you could get digital as well for the same price,so why was it even an option? Ariely ran an experiment and found that when only the two"real"choices were offered,more people chose the less-expensive digital subscription. But the addition of the bad option made people much more likely to choose the more expensive print plus digital option.

④　Brain scientists call this effect “asymmetric dominance” and it means that people gravitate toward the choice nearest a clearly inferior option. Marketing professors call it the decoy effect,which is certainly easier to remember. Lucky for consumers,almost no one in the business community understands it.

⑤　The decoy effect works because of the way our brains.assign value when making choices. Value is almost never absolute; rather,we decide an object's value relative to our other choices. If more options are introduced, the value equation changes.

1.1. Why does the author ask us to imagine buying food in the movie theater?

A To illustrate people's peculiar shopping behavior.

B To illustrate the increasing variety of snacks there.

C To show how hard it can be to choose a drink there.

D To show how popular snacks are among movie fans.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。文章首段描绘了一个人们在电影院购买汽水的场景,一般都会选择比中杯稍贵的大杯;第二段则分析了中杯的汽水很可能是营销人员引诱你买大杯汽水的诱饵;第三段提到作者和朋友对人性的这种独特性行为进行过研究。可知,作者让我们想象在电影院买食物是为了引出人们一种独特的购物行为,故答案选A项。

2.2. Why is the medium soda priced the way it is?

A To attract more customers to buy it.

B To show the price matches the amount.

C To ensure customers drink the right amount of soda.

D To make customers believe they are getting a bargain.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据题干关键词 the medium soda和 priced定位至第二段末句。该句提到,市场营销部很有可能故意以中杯汽水作为诱饵,让你更有可能购买大杯汽水而不是小杯。而首段中提到,大杯汽水只比中杯的贵0.25美元。可知,中杯汽水这样定价是为了让消费者认为买大杯更划算,故答案选D项。

3.3. What do we learn from Dan Ariely’s experiment?

A Lower-priced goods attract more customers.

B The Economist’s promotional strategy works.

C The Economist’s print edition turns out to sell the best.

D More readers choose the digital over the print edition.

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据题干关键词 Dan Ariely'sexperiment定位至第三段最后两句。此处提到,艾瑞里做了一个实验,发现当只提供两个“真实的”选项时,更多的人选择了价格较低的数字版订阅。但不良选项的增加使人们更有可能选择更昂贵的印刷版加数字版这一选项。可知,在面对《经济学人》提供的三个选项时,人们更倾向于选择订阅印刷版加数字版,故答案选B项。

4.4. For what purpose is “the bad option” (Line 7, Para.3)added?

A To cater to the peculiar needs of some customers.

B To help customers to make more rational choices.

C To trap customers into buying the more pricey item.

D To provide customers with a greater variety of goods.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据题干定位至第三段末句。该句提到,不良选项的增加使人们更倾向于选择更昂贵的印刷版加数字版这一选项。可知,添加“不良选项”是为了诱使顾客购买价格较高的商品,故答案选C项。

5.5. How do we assess the value of a commodity, acording to the passage?

A By considering its usefulness.

B By comparing it with other choices.

C By taking its quality into account.

D By examining its value equation.

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据题干关键词the value ofacommodity定位至文章最后两句。此处提到,价值几乎从来不是绝对的;相反,我们是相对于其他选择来确定某一物品的价值。如果引入更多选项,则价值等式将发生变化。可知,我们是通过比较不同的选择来评估某一商品的价值,故答案选B项。