There are many different kinds of peaches (桃). One clear difference is the one between clingstone一fruit in which the flesh is stuck to the seed inside—and freestone一that in which the seed floats freely. Customers prefer freestone peaches because they don’t want to struggle to get the flesh away from the seed.

　　And that’s how it goes in stone fruit land. Plant breeders (培育者) are trying all the time to improve the old favorites. Frequently, the changes are designed to meet the demands of the growers or packers. One very delicious family of peach varieties has nearly disappeared because it forms a small “beak”at the bottom of the fruit. That little point is likely to break during packing and shipping, o-pening the door to spoilage (腐烂).

　　This is certainly not to say that the wants of customers are not important. In fact, they drive some of the most important changes. One thing customers like is red—lots of red. Peaches used to be prized for golden skin; now people are buying red, regarding it as a sign of ripeness.

　　But red has a hold on people. There’s a story told by those in the stone fruit industry about a marketing experiment. A group of people were given two peaches:one a fairly tasteless red variety, the other a great-tasting gold. Sitting around, tasting and talking about the fruit, the group all agreed that the gold was a much better peach and that was the one they would buy. Then, on the way out the door, they were offered boxes of peaches as a thank-you gift. One held the preferred golden fruit, the other the red. To a person, they picked the red fruit to take home. Red sells.

　　64.What does the word“stone” mean in the text?

　　[A] The hard seed inside a fruit.

　　[B] Containers that packers use.

　　[C] Small rocks found in the fields.

　　[D] Soft beaks at the bottom of the fruit.

　　65.Why do plant breeders try hard to improve peaches?

　　[A] To get better shaped fruit.

　　[B] To meet the needs of growers.

　　[C] To make peaches taste better.

　　[D] To have a better chance for prizes.

　　66.Why do people like to buy red fruit?

　　[A] They believe it is ripe.

　　[B] It sells cheaper than gold.

　　[C] It is usually more delicious.

　　[D] They know it is an improved variety.

　　67.What can we learn about the peach-tasting group in the last paragraph?

　　[A] They were experts on marketing.

　　[B] They took home golden peaches.

　　[C] They agreed about the taste of peaches.

　　[D] They said they would buy the red peaches.

　　答案与解析：

　　64. 选A。该题属于推断题。stone的本意是“石头”，但结合本文关于桃子的描述，可以推断出它指的是桃子中间的部分，Brthe hard seed in-side a fruit”。

　　65. 选B。该题属于细节题。从文章第二段第二句“the changes are designed to meet the demands of the growers or packers”可得出答案。

　　66. 选A。该题属于细节题。从文章第三段最后一句“now people are buying red, regarding it as a sign of ripeness”可以得出答案。

　　67. 选C。该题属于细节题。此题可以用排除法解答，A选项中，他们并不是专家，而是被实验者，B、D选项不符合文中的表达，可排除。

　　参考译文：

　　桃子的种类繁多，它们之间一个明显的区别是粘核桃和离核桃，前者指桃子果肉和内部的核紧密相连的品种，后者指果肉和核彼此脱离的种类。人们总是喜欢离核的桃子，因为他们懒得费力将果肉和桃核剥开。

　　在核果地带总是这样，作物培育者总是试图改善桃子以迎合老顾客的需求，为迎合种植者和包装商的需求而经常做出变动。一个美味的桃子家族因其底部长着小小的鸟嘴般的东西而几近灭绝。那个小东西在包装和运输过程中可能会破裂，以至于腐烂。

　　这当然并不意味着顾客的需求是不重要的，其实，他们促使一些重大的变化发生。顾客喜欢满是红色的桃子。以前人们总是夸赞桃子拥有金黄色的外表;例如，人们都买红色的桃子，认为意味着成熟。

　　红 色对人们有一定影响。核果工业人士曾讲了个关于营销实验的故事。把两种桃子发给一组人：一种是索然无味的红色桃子，另一种是味道甜美的金色桃子。那组人围 圈而坐，品尝桃子，相互讨论，都认为金色桃子比较美味，是他们买桃的选择。然后，在出门时，有人送给他们几箱桃子作为感谢礼物。一种是受人青睐的金色桃 子，另一种是红色桃子。为了送人，他们选择了红色桃子，于是红色桃子大卖。