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Easy to make and cheap to buy, instant noodles have long been China’s most popular convenience food.

More than 46.2 billion packets were sold in China and Hong Kong in 2013. But by 2016 those sales had tumbled to 38.5 billion packets. That’s a drop of almost 17%. Given most other instant noodle markets have remained steady over the past few years, it is an unusual problem. So what’s going on?

Aspiration: Customers want better food. Just add boiling water to the bowl, and you can have it. As appealing as that sounds, one factor in the decline could well be that some Chinese are upping their expectations at dining. Consumers are more interested in life quality than just filling their stomach these days.

Population shift: Farmer workers are going home. One of the big consumers of instant noodles are farmer workers. They are away from home, often living in poor conditions and want to save money to send back to their families. But the number of farmer workers is going down.

Travel: Infrastructure(基础设施) improving, habits changing. Travelling in China 20 years ago, people filled their stomach by eating instant noodles. But Chinese trains and stations have improved. They offer more choices, then noodle sales on the railways fall. And more Chinese people spend billions flying instead of using trains.

Smartphones and the Internet: There’s another form of “quick food”. About 730 million people in China now surf the Internet, 95% of those using smartphones to connect. And apps that offer food delivery to your home, office or wherever you happen to be are a real promising industry.

1.What does the underlined word “tumbled” mean?

A Gone up.

B Gone down.

C Gone out.

D Gone in.

解析：选B。词义猜测题。根据前面的More than 46.2 billion... in 2013, by 2016...38.5 billion和后面的drop可知，tumble的意思是下降，与go down意思相近，故选B。

2.How many reasons has the writer mentioned for the instant noodles sales drop?

A 1.

B 2.

C 3.

D 4.

解析：选D。细节理解题。根据文中提到的Aspiration, Population shift, Travel, Smartphones and the internet可知文中总共提到了导致方便面销量下滑的四个原因，故选D。

3.Why do farmer workers buy a lot of instant noodles?

A Because they don’t want to cook.

B Because they want to save money.

C Because they want to fill their stomach.

D Because they have no time to go to the restaurant.

解析：选B。细节理解题。根据第四段They are away from home, often living in poor conditions and want to save money to send back to their families可知农民工是因为居住条件差没办法煮饭和想节约钱才大量买方便面的，故选B。

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A Easy to cook makes instant noodles popular.

B Instant noodles are better than other food.

C There is no instant noodles on the train now.

D Smartphones can make quick food for you.

解析：选A。细节理解题。根据第一段Easy to make and cheap to buy, instant noodles have long been China’s most popular convenience food.可知易作使得方便面流行畅销，故选A。

5.What can we infer from the passage?

A Farmer workers’ living conditions have improved.

B Instant noodles should be off the market.

C China is becoming stronger and richer.

D All Chinese people like to order food online.

解析：选C。推理判断题。根据后面四段内容可知中国强大富有了，因此人们才有了更高的需求，故选C。