In the mid 1990’s, people started doing business on the internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies. They sold things in stores. Then, there were internet companies. They didn’t have a store, and they only sold things on the net.

Traditional companies didn’t want to lose any business. Quickly, they made their own websites and began selling things on the net. These are the so-called “brick and click” companies. Many stores are made of brick, and you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That’s where the name “brick and click” comes from.

By the late 1990’s, e-businesses like Amazon.com, Buy.com, and eToys.com were in trouble. Their profits were not very high. Competition was fierce(激烈的) and many of these businesses were losing a lot of money. In 2000, many e-businesses went out of business.

Why are brick and click companies, like Barnes and Noble, Toys R Us, and Walmart so successful? Frist, many customers know and trust their names. Their websites, like walmart.com, are easy to remember. These companies also have a lot of experience. They know how to run a successful business.

In the world of e-commerce(电子商业), companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will brick and click companies win the war? Only time will tell.

1. What did many traditional companies do in the mid 1990’s?

A. They went out of business.                 B. They made websites.

C. They bought internet companies.            D. They sold their computers.

2. Which would be a brick and click company?

A. A clothing company with no website.

B. A bookseller with five stores and an internet site.

C. A video seller with a big website but no stores.

D. A restaurant.

3. What gave internet companies a lot of trouble in the late 1990’s?

A. There was a lot of competition.             B. Their websites were bad.

C. They didn’t know what to sell.              D. Their profits were high.

4. People like buying from brick and click companies because____________.

A. their names are hard to remember           B. they have nice websites

C. they are cheap                          D. people trust them

5. What does “win the war” mean?

A. Quit doing business and become a soldier.   B. Lose the most customers.

C. Be the most successful.                  D. Win a game.

It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year to keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount of money, but you can still afford the gifts because your loved ones will enjoy them. This concern (忧虑) is becoming greater and greater theses days. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

Hit the sales. No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get a good deal (交易) on Black Friday ( the first Friday at Christmas time). It’s surely very difficult to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal. But sometimes it can be well worth. Many retailers (零售商) offer specials all through the day. Some even offer online Black Friday specials, so we may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.
Read advertisements regularly. Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers will be hungry for business. They will try their best to get us into the store. Please read the weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers from time to time. We may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.
Shop online. Some of us don’t like running from store to store to get the best price on the perfect gift. Some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all, and then, we can do online shopping.
The world of online shopping makes it possible for us to visit all the major retailers and some
specialty stores on the Internet. We can find exactly what we are looking for at the best possible price without even having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping, it will always take us a long time to wait if we want to get the perfect gift.
【小题1】 The underlined word “specials” in Paragraph 2 means______.

It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year to keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount of money, but you can still afford the gifts because your loved ones will enjoy them. This concern (忧虑) is becoming greater and greater theses days. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

Hit the sales. No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get a good deal (交易) on Black Friday ( the first Friday at Christmas time). It’s surely very difficult to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal. But sometimes it can be well worth. Many retailers (零售商) offer specials all through the day. Some even offer online Black Friday specials, so we may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.

Read advertisements regularly. Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers will be hungry for business. They will try their best to get us into the store. Please read the weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers from time to time. We may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.

Shop online. Some of us don’t like running from store to store to get the best price on the perfect gift. Some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all, and then, we can do online shopping.

The world of online shopping makes it possible for us to visit all the major retailers and some

specialty stores on the Internet. We can find exactly what we are looking for at the best possible price without even having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping, it will always take us a long time to wait if we want to get the perfect gift.

1. The underlined word “specials” in Paragraph 2 means______.

A. 赠品            B. 奢侈品            C. 特价商品          D. 圣诞礼品

2.We can have more choices to get a good deal ______.

A. on the Internet    B. in specialty stores   C. from salesmen        D. from retailers

3.In this passage the writer wants to ______.

A. tell us to shop online                      

B. tell us the best way to do shopping

C. show us how hard it is to do Christmas shopping

D. give us advice on how to get a good deal at Christmas time

4. From the passage we can infer (推断) that ______.

A. people are surely able to get a good deal on Friday

B. it is possible for people to buy the perfect Christmas gifts with less money

C. retailers will be hungry because they are busy selling Christmas gifts

D. with traditional Christmas shopping, people can’t buy the perfect gifts