距离下一次四六级考试还有182天，

距离下一次四六级考试还有182天，其实你没有裸考，你今天刚做了一套真题练习。哈哈哈哈开个玩笑，我们来看看今天六级真题阅读里的文章吧。

For Startups Marketing To Seniors, A Novel Idea: Move In With Them

NPR NEWS

The market for products designed specifically for older adults could reach $30 billion by next year, and startups want in on the action. What they sometimes lack is feedback from the people who they hope will use their product. So Brookdale, the country's largest owner of retirement communities, has been inviting a few select entrepreneurs just to move in for a few days, show off their products and hear what the residents have to say.

That's what brought Dayle Rodriguez, 28, all the way from England to the dining room of Brookdale South Bay in Torrance, Calif. Rodriguez is the community and marketing manager for a company called Sentab. The startup's product, SentabTV, enables older adults who may not be comfortable with computers to access email, video chat and social media using just their televisions and a remote control.

"It's nothing new, it's nothing too complicated and it's intuitive because lots of people have TV remotes," says Rodriguez.

But none of that is the topic of conversation in the Brookdale dining room. Instead, Rodriguez solicits residents' advice on what he should get on his cheeseburger and how he should spend the afternoon. Billiards was on the agenda, as well as learning to play mahjong.

表示“索求，请求…给予（援助、钱或信息）；征求；筹集”，英文解释为“to ask sb for sth, such as support, money, or information; to try to get sth or persuade sb to do sth”举个🌰：

They were planning to solicit funds from a number of organizations.

他们正计划向一些机构募集资金。

Billiards /ˈbɪljədz/ 表示“台球，桌球，撞球戏”，英文解释为“a game played on a cloth-covered table in which balls are hit with a cue (= a long stick ) against each other and into pockets at the edge of the table”。

Rodriguez says it's important that residents here don't feel like he's selling them something. "I've had more feedback in a passive approach" he says. "Playing pool, playing cards, having dinner, having lunch," all work better "than going through a survey of questions. When they get to know me and to trust me, knowing for sure I'm not selling them something — there's more honest feedback that way."

熟词僻义，表示“普尔；落袋台球；弹子球”，英文解释为“a game for two people played with 16 coloured balls on a table, often in pubs and bars. Players use cues (= long sticks) to try to hit the balls into pockets at the edge of the table.”如：to shoot (= play) pool 打普尔。

Rodriguez is just the seventh entrepreneur to move into one of Brookdale's 1,100 senior living communities. Other new products in the program have included a kind of full-body blow dryer and specially designed clothing that allows people with disabilities to dress and undress themselves.

表示“吹风机”，或者说hair dryer，a machine that you use to dry your hair.

Brookdale has no financial relationship with these startups. But that's not what motivates the program, says Andrew Smith, Brookdale's director of strategy and innovation.

"First and foremost, the residents love it," says Smith. "It also provides Brookdale the opportunity to learn about and experience new technologies quickly and inexpensively and to make sure that we understand what residents want and need."

Mary Lou Busch, 93, agreed to try the Sentab system. She tells Rodriguez that it might be good for someone, but not for her.

"I have the computer and FaceTime, which I talk with my family on," she explains. She also has an iPad and a smart phone. "So I do pretty much everything I need to do."

Rodriguez takes it pretty well.

"I'm not going to lie to you, I would've liked a more positive response," he says. But "if people don't need it or want it, it's up to us to change, adapt it or make it more useful."

To be fair, if Rodriguez wanted feedback from some more technophobic seniors, he may have ended up in the wrong Brookdale community. This one's located in the heart of Southern California's aerospace corridor. Many residents have backgrounds in engineering, business and academia.

形容词，having or showing a fear or dislike of new technology，名词technophobe，表示“科技/技术恐惧者，惧怕（或厌恶、逃避）新科技的人，不喜欢并害怕使用新科技，如电脑或手机”，英文解释为“If you refer to someone as a technophobe, you mean that they do not like new technology, such as computers or mobile phones, and are afraid to use it”。

But Rodriguez says he's still learning something important by moving into to this Brookdale community: "People are more tech-savvy than we thought."

And besides, where else would he learn to play mahjong?

表示“技术牛人，精通技术的”，英文解释为“knowing a lot about modern technology, especially computers；Well informed about or proficient in the use of modern technology, especially computers”。

题目及选项：

51. What does the passage say about the startups?

A) They never lost time in upgrading products for seniors

B) They want to have a share of the senior’s goods market

C) They invite seniors to their companies to try their products

D) They try to profit from promoting digital products to seniors

52. Some entrepreneurs have been invited to Brookdale to______.

A) have an interview with potential customers.

B) conduct a survey of retirement communities.

C) collect residents’ feedback on their products.

D) show senior residents how to use IT products.

53. What do we know about SentabTV ?

A) It is a TV program catering to the interest of the elderly.

B) It is a digital TV which enjoys popularity among seniors.

C) It is a TV specially designed for seniors to view programs.

D) It is a communication system via TV instead of a computer.

54. What does Rodriguez say is important in promoting products?

A) Winning trust from prospective customers.

B) Knowing the likes and dislikes of customers.

C) Demonstrating their superiority on the spot.

D) Responding promptly to customer feedback.

55. What do we learn about the seniors in the Brookdale community?

A) Most of them are interested in using the Sentab.

B) They are quite at ease with high-tech products.

C) They have much in common with seniors elsewhere.

D) Most of them enjoy a longer life than average people.

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