Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand for luxury goods and services that took place in eighteenth-century England. McKendrick has explored the Wedgwood firm’s remarkable success in marketing luxury pottery; Plumb has written about the proliferation of provincial theater, musical festivals, and children’s toys and books. While the fact of this consumer revolution is hardly in doubt, three key questions remain: Who were the consumers? What were their motives? And what were the effects of the new demand for luxuries?

An answer to the first of these has been difficult to obtain. Although it has been possible to infer from the goods and services actually produced what manufacturers and servicing trades thought their customers wanted, only a study of relevant personal documents written by actual consumers will provide a precise picture of who wanted what. We still need to know how large this consumer market was and how far down the social scale the consumer demand for luxury goods penetrated. With regard to this last question, we might note in passing that Thompson, while rightly restoring laboring people to the stage of eighteenth-century English history, has probably exaggerated the opposition of these people to the inroads of capitalist consumerism in general; for example, laboring people in eighteenth-century England readily shifted from home-brewed beer to standardized beer produced by huge, heavily capitalized urban breweries.

To answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians have pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively uncensored press. This, however, hardly seems a sufficient answer. Mckendrick favors a Veblem model of conspicuous consumption stimulated by competition for status. The “middling sort” bought goods and services because they wanted to follow fashions set by the rich. Again, we may wonder whether this explanation is sufficient. Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of self-gratification? If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of new concepts of individualism and materialism, but not necessarily of the frenzy for conspicuous competition.

Finally, what were the consequences of this consumer demand for luxuries? McKendrick claims that it goes a long way toward explaining the coming of the Industrial Revolution. But does it? What, for example, does the production of high-quality pottery and toys have to do with the development of iron manufacture or textile mills? It is perfectly possible to have the psychology and reality of a consumer society without a heavy industrial sector.

That future exploration of these key questions is undoubtedly necessary should not, however, diminish the force of the conclusion of recent studies: the insatiable demand in eighteenth-century England for frivolous as well as useful goods and services foreshadows our own world.

1. In the first paragraph, the author mentions McKendrick and Plumb most probably in order to

[A] contrast their views on the subject of luxury consumerism in eighteenth-century England.

[B] indicate the inadequacy of historiographical approaches to eighteenth-century English history.

[C] give examples of historians who have helped to establish the fact of growing consumerism in eighteenth-century England.

[D] support the contention that key questions about eighteenth-century consumerism remain to be answered.

2. Which of the following items, if preserved from eighteenth-century England, would provide an example of the kind of documents mentioned in lines 3-4, paragraph 2?

[A] A written agreement between a supplier of raw materials and a supplier of luxury goods.

[B] A diary that mentions luxury goods and services purchased by its author.

[C] A theater ticket stamped with the date and name of a particular play.

[D] A payroll record from a company that produced luxury goods such as pottery.

3. According to the text, Thompson attributes to laboring people in eighteenth-century England which of the following attitudes toward capitalist consumerism?

[A] Enthusiasm.

[B] Curiosity.

[C] Ambivalence.

[D] Hostility.

4. In the third paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with

[A] contrasting two theses and offering a compromise.

[B] questioning two explanations and proposing a possible alternative to them.

[C] paraphrasing the work of two historians and questioning their assumptions.

[D] examining two theories and endorsing one over the other.

5. According to the text, eighteenth-century England and the contemporary world of the text readers are

[A] dissimilar in the extent to which luxury consumerism could be said to be widespread among the social classes.

[B] dissimilar in their definitions of luxury goods and services.

[C] dissimilar in the extent to which luxury goods could be said to be stimulant of industrial development.

[D] similar in their strong demand for a variety of goods and services.

[答案与考点解析]

1. 【答案】C

【考点解析】本题是一道例(举)证题型。根据题干中的“McKendrick and Plumb”可将本题的答案信息来源迅速确定在首段的第二、三句。由于这两句话和首段第一句之间存在例(举)证的关系，故针对首段第一句进行认真理解。通过综合分析和归纳这三句话，可得出含有“examples”的选项C是正确答案。考生在解题时一定要善于识别题型，这一点的基础是要学会识别句子之间的关系。

2. 【答案】B

【考点解析】这是一道细节推导题。题干中的信息以将本题的答案信息来源确定在第二段的三、四行。即第二段第二句的主句，该句中的“only a study of relevant personal documents written by actual consumers”暗示本题的答案是选项B。考生在解题时一定要学会识别原文和选项中同义词的替换。

3. 【答案】D

【考点解析】本题是一道细节推导题。通过题干中的“Thompson”一词可迅速将本题的正确选项确定在第二段的尾句。从第二段尾句的前半部分即分号前面的部分我们不难推导出本题正确选项是D。原文中的“opposition”一词十分重要。考生在解题时要善于从原文的表面归纳出深刻的思想。

4. 【答案】B

【考点解析】这是一道写作手法题型。旨在考察考生的语言基本功。本题考察考生对于段落写作结构的认识。本文第三段的第一、二句是对某一个问题的一种解释。本文第三段的第三、四、五句是对同一个问题的另一种解释，本文作者对这两种解释提出了质疑。本文第三段的第六、七句是作者本人针对前面两个解释所提出的另外一种解释。可见本题的正确选项是B。考生在解题时一定要重视文章或段落的写作结构。

5. 【答案】D

【考点解析】本题是一道审题定位与关键词理解题。通过题干中的“the contemporary world of the text readers”可将本题的答案信息迅速确定在尾段，因为尾段中的“our own world”等于“the contemporary world of the text readers”。尾段最后一行中的“foreshadows”(预示;是……的预兆)一词暗示本题的正确选项是D。考生在解题时一定要有审题定位能力，并且对于原文中的关键词要有入目三分的理解。

[参考译文]

直到最近，史学家们才发现在十八世纪的英国，对豪华奢侈商品和服务的需求出现增长的现象。麦克德瑞克研究了韦奇伍德公司在营销豪华陶制品方面的极大成功;而普拉姆也著文论述了地方剧院、音乐节目以及儿童玩具和书籍激增的情形。尽管这场消费者革命的事实几乎毋庸置疑，但仍有三个关键的问题尚待解决：消费者是些什么人?他们的动机是什么?以及这种对奢侈品的新需求的社会影响是什么?

关于第一问题的答案是很难获得的。尽管它可能从制造商和服务行业认为消费者想要什么而实际制造的商品和提供的服务中推知，但只有对实际消费者的相关私人资料的研究才能提供一种“谁想要什么”的精确状况。我们仍然需要知道这种消费市场到底有多大，以及消费者对奢侈商品的需求向下渗透到社会的什么层次。对最后一个问题而言，我们应当注意到，在过去，汤姆逊虽然正确恢复了劳动人民在十八世纪英国历史舞台上的地位，但整体而言可能夸大了他们对资本主义消费方式侵蚀的抵抗情绪。例如，十八世纪英国的劳动人民迅速从家酿的啤酒转而饮用由那些大规模、高度资本化的城市酿酒厂生产的标准化啤酒。

为了回答消费者为什么变得那么急于购物这一问题，一些史学家指出，这是因为制造商们可以在无需审查的报刊上刊登广告。然而，这似乎并不是个理由充分的答案。麦克德瑞克赞成维布伦模型，即由社会地位的竞争而引起的一种引人注目的消费。“中产阶级”购买优质商品和服务，是因为他们想追随由富人建立的消费时尚。我们可能再次怀疑这种解释是否充足。难道人们喜爱购物不是一种自我满足的形式吗?如果是这样，那么上述消费主义可以被看做是一种个人主义和物质主义新兴概念的产物，而不一定是疯狂进行引人注目的竞争的结果。

最后，这种消费者对奢侈品的需求所导致的后果又是什么呢?麦克德瑞克声称，这将极为有助于解释工业革命的到来。但事实果真如此吗?例如，高质量的陶制品和玩具与钢铁制造和纺织工厂的发展有什么关系呢?即使没有重工业的存在，消费社会在心理上和现实上都是完全可能存在的。

然而，对这些关键问题的进一步探究毫无疑问是需要的，而且不应当减弱近期研究所得结论的说服力：十八世纪英国对那些有用和琐碎商品及服务的不知足的需求预示了我们目前的这个世界的特征。