雅思阅读真题（Part 3）
购物科学：超市如何让你多花钱
本篇也叫：购物科学、超市购物心理学、超市布局套路、购物科学雅思、超市怎么让你多买、消费心理学
Part 3 · 考频：中频 · 最近考试：2026.7.3江西财经大学
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 3）《The science of shopping》，共 14 题，2026.7.3江西财经大学雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章讲超市如何用“购物科学”引导消费：入口设 chill zone 让顾客进入购物状态，果蔬放最前让人心情好、少负罪感；牛奶等日用品放店后逼你穿过更多货架，收银台前摆冲动商品，现烤面包用香味刺激食欲，货架高度和视线位置也经过设计。
A
You may have wondered why so many supermarkets are virtually indistinguishable from each other. It is not, as some might suspect, that the companies operating them lack imagination. It is more that they are all well-versed in the science of persuading people to buy things – a science that, thanks to technological advances, is beginning to understand what motivates consumers when they make decisions on what to purchase.
B
It takes a while for the mind to get into a shopping mode. People need to make a gentle start and take stock of the surroundings. This is why some supermarkets have a so-called ‘chill zone’ for browsing magazines, books, and DVDs, an area which is also designed to catch the customer’s eye and tempt them to make impulsive purchases. But many will ignore it, in which case the first thing they encounter is the fresh fruit and vegetables section. For shoppers, this makes no sense. Fruit in particular can be easily bruised, so ideally should be bought at the end, not the beginning, of a shopping trip. But psychology is at work here: selecting wholesome fresh food is an uplifting way to start shopping, and it makes people feel less guilty about reaching for the less nutritious stuff later on.
C
Shoppers have worked out that everyday items, like milk, will invariably be placed in an aisle towards the back of a store to provide more opportunity to tempt customers on their way there. This is also why pharmacies are generally at the rear, even in ‘convenience’ stores. But supermarkets know shoppers know this, so they use other tricks, like placing popular items halfway along a section, thereby forcing people to walk along the aisle looking for them. The idea is to boost the length of time shoppers spend in a store.
D
Having walked to the end of the fruit and vegetable aisle, shoppers arrive at counters of prepared food, the fishmonger, and the butcher. Then there is the in-store bakery, which can be smelt before being seen. Even small supermarkets now use in-store bakeries. Mostly, these bake pre-prepared items, and they have boomed, although central bakeries that deliver to many stores are more efficient. The smell of freshly baked bread can make people hungry, encouraging them to buy not just bread but other food.
E
There are also numerous ways stores get shoppers to choose particular products. For example, stores encourage customers to buy expensive branded products by arranging them at eye-level, with cheaper ones lower down. Often, head offices specify where everything has to be placed, and spot-checks are carried out to make sure instructions are followed to the letter. But shelf- positioning is extremely controversial. Despite all the academic papers written on how best to stack shelves, retailers have their own views. While many stores consider eye-level to be the top spot, others think a little higher is better.
F
Technology is making the process of monitoring shopper behaviour easier, which is why the security cameras in stores may be doing considerably more than watching out for theft. Pictures showing shoppers while they are making their selections can now be analysed. It is possible to see how many shoppers went straight to one brand, the number that hesitated, and those that compared several brands. However, despite the availability of sophisticated technology, researchers have found that simply talking to consumers as they exit the store can yield valuable insights. This low-tech approach has become widespread following comments from stores that data collected electronically tells them little about why so many customers leave without making a purchase. Face-to-face interviews reveal that customers leave shops empty-handed more often because they are ‘unable to decide’ than because prices are too high.
G
People tell market researchers that they make decisions about what to buy based on logic and common sense, considering issues such as price, quality, or convenience. But there are clearly other factors which play a role, such as certain feelings and memories which individuals are not fully aware of. Researchers hired by big stores are now conducting studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which detects changes in the brain corresponding to increases or decreases in mental activity. Research participants are shown different products and asked questions about them, while scanners reveal their brain activity as they respond. Often, major contradictions are apparent between what they say and what they are thinking. This is immensely valuable information. Eight out of ten new consumer products launched on the market do not succeed, despite having been tested on people who insist they would buy them but who, deep down, may have reservations about the desirability of these products.
H
This ‘shopping science’ probably has its limits, however. Dr Eric Spangenberg of the University of Washington argues that while it’s unlikely that someone could be persuaded to buy something they don’t need, they might be convinced to choose one brand in preference to another without being aware that this is happening. This claim is also borne out by numerous research findings. But if consumers were to realise quite how much research is being done into the many psychological factors influencing their choices, they might be much more wary of making purchases in the future.
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答案：They share a similar understanding of consumer psychology.
原文定位：You may have wondered why so many supermarkets are virtually indistinguishable from each other. It is not, as some might suspect, that the companies operating them lack imagination. It is more that they are all well-versed in the science of persuading people to buy things – a science that, thanks to technological advances, is beginning to understand what motivates consumers when they make decisions on what to purchase
答案：to help customers slowly prepare themselves to go shopping.
原文定位：It takes a while for the mind to get into a shopping mode. People need to make a gentle start and take stock of the surroundings. This is why some supermarkets have a so-called ‘chill zone’ for browsing magazines, books, and DVDs, an area which is also designed to catch the customer’s eye and tempt them to make impulsive purchases
同义替换：「slowly prepare themselves to go shopping」↔「make a gentle start」，「gentle start」↔「slowly prepare」
答案：ensures the customers will feel good about the first products they buy.
原文定位：But psychology is at work here: selecting wholesome fresh food is an uplifting way to start shopping, and it makes people feel less guilty about reaching for the less nutritious stuff later on
同义替换：「feel good about the first products they buy」↔「an uplifting way to start shopping」，「wholesome fresh food」↔「fruit and vegetables」，「the first products」↔「start shopping」
答案：They are aware of some of the techniques used by stores.
原文定位：Shoppers have worked out that everyday items, like milk, will invariably be placed in an aisle towards the back of a store to provide more opportunity to tempt customers on their way there. This is also why pharmacies are generally at the rear, even in ‘convenience’ stores. But supermarkets know shoppers know this, so they use other tricks
答案：NO
原文定位：For example, stores encourage customers to buy expensive branded products by arranging them at eye-level, with cheaper ones lower down
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：Often, head offices specify where everything has to be placed, and spot-checks are carried out to make sure instructions are followed to the letter
同义替换：「how products are arranged」↔「where everything has to be placed」
答案：NO
原文定位：But shelf- positioning is extremely controversial. Despite all the academic papers written on how best to stack shelves, retailers have their own views. While many stores consider eye-level to be the top spot, others think a little higher is better
同义替换：「controversial」↔「widespread agreement」，「shelf-positioning」↔「arranged on shelves」
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：Technology is making the process of monitoring shopper behaviour easier, which is why the security cameras in stores may be doing considerably more than watching out for theft. Pictures showing shoppers while they are making their selections can now be analysed
答案：NO
原文定位：However, despite the availability of sophisticated technology, researchers have found that simply talking to consumers as they exit the store can yield valuable insights. This low-tech approach has become widespread following comments from stores that data collected electronically tells them little about why so many customers leave without making a purchase
同义替换：「determining why shoppers fail to make purchases」↔「find out why customers leave without making a purchase」
答案：rational decisions
原文定位：People tell market researchers that they make decisions about what to buy based on logic and common sense, considering issues such as price, quality, or convenience
同义替换：「shoppers」↔「People」，「choices」↔「decisions」，「the result of」↔「based on」，「rational decisions」↔「logic and common sense」
答案：unconscious factors
原文定位：People tell market researchers that they make decisions about what to buy based on logic and common sense;But there are clearly other factors which play a role, such as certain feelings and memories which individuals are not fully aware of
同义替换：「influence shoppers’ decisions」↔「play a role in purchase choices」
答案：brain scans
原文定位：Researchers hired by big stores are now conducting studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which detects changes in the brain corresponding to increases or decreases in mental activity. Research participants are shown different products and asked questions about them, while scanners reveal their brain activity as they respond. Often, major contradictions are apparent between what they say and what they are thinking
同义替换：「functional magnetic resonance imaging」↔「brain scans」
答案：emotional reaction
原文定位：Often, major contradictions are apparent between what they say and what they are thinking. This is immensely valuable information
同义替换：「radically different」↔「major contradictions」，「emotional reaction」↔「what they are thinking」
答案：failures
原文定位：Eight out of ten new consumer products launched on the market do not succeed, despite having been tested on people who insist they would buy them but who, deep down, may have reservations about the desirability of these products
同义替换：「failures」↔「do not succeed」