题目内容
The day after Thanksgiving is considered the first day of the holiday shopping season in the
In the past, before calculators and computers, workers recorded the profits and losses of American businesses in special books. They used red ink to record losses. They used black ink to record profits. They used the term “in the red” to mean losing money. “In the black” meant making a profit. So “Black Friday” was the day when the store owners moved from being “in the red” to “in the black.”
Many people consider “Black Friday” to be the busiest shopping day of the year. But that is probably false. Researchers say it may be the day when the largest number of people go to stores. But it is not necessarily the day when shoppers spend the largest amount of money. Some experts say Americans just want to get out of the house the day after Thanksgiving. And many stores reduce some of their prices on “Black Friday.”
However, experts say that many people wait until much closer to Christmas, December 25, hoping to find even lower prices. They say the busiest day of the year in terms of the amount of shoppers and sales is usually the Saturday before Christmas.
A marketing services company carried out a public opinion study about shopping last month. It asked almost one thousand Americans about their gift buying plans. One-third said they plan to go to stores to shop on the day after Thanksgiving.
The study found that these shoppers are mainly young people, probably because older people do not want to deal with huge crowds. In fact, business leaders say many older Americans are doing their shopping at home -- on the computer. They say the day most people shop online is the Monday after “Black Friday.” They even have a name for it -- “Cyber Monday.”
60. Which is the busiest shopping day of the year according to the text?
A. Black Friday
B. the day before Christmas
C. the Saturday before Christmas
D. Cyber Monday
61. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Businessmen prefer the term “in the red” to “in the black”.
B. “Black Friday” means store owners begin to earn money.
C. The largest amount of sales is made on “Black Friday”.
D. The largest number of people go to stores on “Black Friday”.
62. Why don’t people spend money on “Black Friday”?
A. They are not satisfied with the quality of the goods sold.
B. Some shops secretly increase their prices on that day.
C. Too many people in the store discourage their shopping desire.
D. They are waiting for a more competitive price.
63. From the passage we can conclude that ________.
A. Stores failed to earn much money from older people on “Black Friday”.
B. “Cyber Monday” has a larger amount of sales than “Black Friday”.
C. All young people prefer going to stores on “Black Friday”.
D. Older people like shopping on-line because of cheaper prices.
Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-agency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.
Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the afternoon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.
He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the afternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was astonished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.
“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.
For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire engine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.”
I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.
1.Bill Javis became a news-agent when _______.
A. he needed the money
B. he was quite an old man
C. he decided to take up fishing
D. he gave up clock-repairing
2.Bill opened the shop so early in the day because _______.
A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work
B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came
C. he was never sure of time
D. it was then that he did a lot of business
3.From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?
A. The bell was-it must have gone off at the wrong time.
B. Bill was-he had dropped off to sleep.
C. The writer’s watch was-it was fast.
D. Bill’s clock was-it was old.