Why Black Friday Shoppers Still Crowd StoresT...

Why Black Friday Shoppers Still Crowd Stores

To many of us, the ideas of rushing out to a superstore the day after Thanksgiving is appealing. Why would anyone race to crowded stores when they could stay in with family, or watch college football? We can’t say we know the answer for sure. But we do feel amazed at those who pour into stores looking for Black Friday bargains. Seemingly, nothing can stop them. Not the weather. Not the crowds. And not the fact that hurrying to a store in the age of instant e-commerce seems so…last century.

To be sure, holiday shopping habits do appear to be shifting. The National Retail (零售) Federation has stopped breaking up its holiday sales numbers by whether they come from e-tail purchases or from physical stores. It’s a pretty good sign that retailers don’t want to bring further attention to the declining fortunes of brick-and-mortar stores.

But there is no denying that people still love going to stores. Actual shopping in actual places remains an important part of the holiday ceremony for millions of Americans. To many, it’s the difference between playing a sport and playing a video game. As commercial as stores may be, they are still places where actual human beings interact. In a store, the “courageous” shopper performs the approving act of finding a present. That item might be heavily promoted by the store, but it doesn’t drop into one’s cart. It is picked up and examined before a decision is made. Maybe it gets put back on the shelf when the shopper changes his or her mind. Maybe there is a conversation with a sales clerk. The process is not that different than it would have been decades ago.

Online, the shopper has barely logged in before being faced with disturbing algorithmic (大数据的) suggestions based on earlier purchases. This hardly qualifies as shopping. This hardly qualifies as thinking.

Perhaps we are reading too much into the Black Friday phenomenon. But we suspect one reason Black Friday remains is that it involves an act of resistance against the Internet age. That would hardly be unreasonable. There aren’t many studies showing that time spent in stores is bad for one’s health, while there are quite a few drawing a link between time spent online and depression. Perhaps the people crowding into stores aren’t the crazy ones after all.

1.What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?

A. Physical stores are not so popular as before.

B. People spend more on Black Friday bargains.

C. Americans have an unhealthy shopping habit.

D. Goods in stores are cheaper than those online.

2.The author thinks people love to go holiday shopping mainly because ________.

A. they feel tired of shopping online

B. they think it is good for their health

C. they hope to pass down the holiday tradition

D. they can have real communication with others

3.What does the author think of the Black Friday phenomenon?

A. Puzzling.

B. Unusual.

C. Out-of-date.

D. Understandable.

4.What is mainly discussed in the passage?

A. The psychology of shopping.

B. The development of retailing.

C. The influences of e-commerce.

D. The features of holiday economy.

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Black Friday refers to the day after Thanksgiving. On this particular day, crowds of shoppers flood into stores to________ the season’s biggest holiday bargains. But the real story behind Black Friday is a bit________.

The most commonly repeated story behind the post-Thankgiving shopping-related Black Friday tradition________ it to retailers (零售商). As the story goes，after an entire year of_________ at a loss, stores would earn a profit，________ in black ink， on the day after Thanksgiving，________ holiday shoppers blew so much money on________ products. Though it’s true that retail companies used to record ________ in red and profits in black when doing their________，this version of Black Friday’s origin is not an accurate story behind the________.

The true story behind Black Friday is not as________ as retailers might have you believe. Back in the 1950s， the________in the city of Philadelphia used the term to________the chaos that happened on the day after Thanksgiving，when tens of thousands of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city ________ the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year. The police would have to take extra-long________ and not be able to take the day off so as to deal with the________ crowds.

The term didn’t ________ to the rest of the country until much later. Sometime in the late 1980s， retailers found a way to turn it into something that reflected ________ on them. The result was the “red to black” concept mentioned earlier. The Black Friday story________ in shopper’s mind， and pretty soon the term’s darker ________ in Philadelphia were largely forgotten.

1.A.take care of B.take part in C.take pride in D.take advantage of

2.A.complicated B.considerable C.complete D.controversial

3.A.contributes B.links C.tells D.leaves

4.A.thinking B.operating C.applying D.falling

5.A.signed B.decorated C.painted D.marked

6.A.because B.unless C.though D.until

7.A.expensive B.fashionable C.discounted D.necessary

8.A.interests B.advantages C.costs D.losses

9.A.accounting B.designing C.selling D.marketing

10.A.habit B.vacation C.tradition D.company

11.A.sunny B.wild C.strange D.well-known

12.A.people B.shoppers C.retailers D.police

13.A.handle B.describe C.produce D.defeat

14.A.in advance of B.at the end of C.in favor of D.by means of

15.A.age B.shifts C.position D.exercise

16.A.possible B.native C.additional D.unexpected

17.A.appeal B.return C.lead D.spread

18.A.positively B.objectively C.creatively D.conservatively

19.A.shined B.whispered C.stuck D.disappeared

20.A.roots B.mistakes C.secrets D.forces

高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

I hate Black Friday sales. It’s often a gathering of people who are here for many different reasons. Some are looking for a deal on that one item for their loved one, or perhaps themselves. Their intentions are completely unrelated to the festive time of the year.

It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child’s bike that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle. After a while the whistle blew, it was like throwing a bucket of small fish into a tank of sharks. I suddenly felt my wife’s hope was slim. I told her that if we obtained a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.

As the pile of bikes began to gradually decrease in size, I saw my polite opportunity to wrap my hands around the comer of one of the boxes. I lifted it up and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I looked up see one of the largest gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. Frightening was not the word to describe his presence. He wore lots of belts of metal studded leather around both arms and even his neck. Tattoos (纹身) were an obvious passion of his.

I started to give up the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Merry Christmas.” My wife and I went to the checkout, paid for the bike and went home. All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best gift I had ever received for Christmas. The kindness of a stranger broke all preconceived notions (预想) I may have had of stereotypes and prejudices.

1.How did the author feel when going into the store?

A. The crowd was like small fish.　　 B. They might not get the bike.

C. He was excited to do the shopping.　　 D. The whistle was blown too late.

2.What happened when the author was buying the bike?

A. He was scared by a man’s look at first.　　 B. A gentleman bought the bike for him.

C. A stranger helped him lift the box.　　 D. He gave up the bike he first touched.

3.What can we learn from the author’s experience?

A. Look before you leap.　　 B. Custom is a second nature.

C. Doing is better than saying.　　 D. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

4.What may be the best title for the passage?

A. Black Friday Sales　　 B. My son’s best bike

C. The best Christmas gift　　 D. A strange gentleman

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

阅读理解

Many of us still tend to think that emotions can affect reasonable thought，and sometimes land us in trouble. But in recent years psychologists have taken quite a different view. Keith Oatley，Professor of Psychology at Glasgow University，is involved in the research which shows the fundamental importance of emotions.

He believes we are very ambivalent about them：we think of our emotions as being unreasonable，but we also consider them as essential to being human. For example，Mr. Spock，a character in the television series Star Trek，is super­intelligent and he has no emotions at all. However，he is never made captain of the spaceship. Maybe，this is because Mr Spock is not the kind of person you can share your feelings with—a person who shows his emotions.

As Professor Oatley points out，our emotions have very important functions，for example，fear. If we cross the road and a car approaches，we usually stop moving or step back. We stop what we are doing，check what we have done and pay very careful attention to the environment. The emotion of fear makes us take this small series of actions which,on average, help protect our safety.

On the other hand，if things are going well and small problems come up，we find we can solve them with the resources we have to hand. As a consequence, we tend to feel happy and usually continue doing the job.

Anger is an emotion that tends to occur when someone is preventing us from doing something. Then this small “kit” of reactions enables us to prepare ourselves to be quite aggressive to that person，or to try harder，and so on.

Professor Oatley believes emotions generally occur at these important moments in actions. With fear and anger our emotions make us decide to start doing something else, while with happiness they “suggest” we continue what we are already doing.

1.What’s Keith Oatley’s opinion about emotions?

A．They affect reasonable thought.

B．They get us into trouble.

C．They are helpful to us.

D．They are reasonable.

2.What does the underlined part “we are very ambivalent about them” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．We have contradictory feelings towards emotions.

B．We have similar ideas of emotions.

C．We are quite clear about emotions.

D．We can do nothing about emotions.

3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Fear helps us to be careful about our surroundings.

B．Happiness inspires us to continue what we are doing.

C．Anger may urge us to make greater efforts.

D．Anger tends to do us more harm than good.

4.It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．we must control our emotions in daily life

B．emotions play a more important part than we realize

C．positive emotions such as love and joy are good for us

D．negative emotions make us continue what we are doing

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

There are still many problems ahead of us, but by this time next year we can see light at the end of the ________.

A. battle        　　 B. day        C. road        D. tunnel

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

There are still many problem ahead of us, but by this time next year we can see light at the end of the ________.

A. battle                 B. day                   C. road               D. tunnel

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

阅读理解。

Many of us still tend to think that emotions can affect reasonable thought，and sometimes land us in trouble. But in recent years psychologists have taken quite a different view. Keith Oatley，Professor of Psychology at Glasgow University，is involved in the research which shows the fundamental importance of emotions.

He believes we are very ambivalent about them：we think of our emotions as being unreasonable，but we also consider them as essential to being human.For example，Mr Spock，a character in the television series Star Trek，is super­intelligent and he has no emotions at all.However，he is never made captain of the spaceship.Maybe，this is because Mr Spock is not the kind of person you can share your feelings with—a person who shows his emotions.

As Professor Oatley points out，our emotions have very important functions，for example，fear.If we cross the road and a car approaches，we usually stop moving or step back.We stop what we are doing，check what we have done and pay very careful attention to the environment.The emotion of fear makes us take this small series of actions which，on average，help preserve our safety.

On the other hand，if things are going well and small problems come up，we find we can solve them with the resources we have to hand.As a consequence，we tend to feel happy and usually continue doing the job.

Anger is an emotion that tends to occur when someone is preventing us from doing something.Then this small “kit” of reactions enables us to prepare ourselves to be quite aggressive to that person，or to try harder，and so on.

Professor Oatley believes emotions generally occur at these important moments in actions.With fear and anger our emotions make us decide to start doing something else，while with happiness they “suggest” we continue what we are already doing.

1.What’s Keith Oatley’s opinion about emotions?

A．They affect reasonable thought.

B．They get us into trouble.

C．They are helpful to us.

D．They are reasonable.

2.What does the underlined part “we are very ambivalent about them” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．We have contradictory feelings towards emotions.

B．We have similar ideas of emotions.

C．We are quite clear about emotions.

D．We can do nothing about emotions.

3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Fear helps us to be careful about our surroundings.

B．Happiness inspires us to continue what we are doing.

C．Anger may urge us to make greater efforts.

D．Anger tends to do us more harm than good.

4.It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．we must control our emotions in daily life

B．emotions play a more important part than we realize

C．positive emotions such as love and joy are good for us

D．negative emotions make us continue what we are doing

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Shoppers throughout the West, wary(谨防的) of a double-dip recession(经济衰退), are still pinching their pennies. However, Chinese consumers are opening their wallets big time. According to Mckinsey, shop sales in China have grown by 25 per cent annually from 2007 to 2009. Consumer confidence is now at its highest point since 2007 and female shoppers are leading the way.

Chinese women saved just 24 per cent of their income, compared with 55 per cent in 2006, according to a recent study in the magazine Women of China. What’s more, three quarters of Chinese women say that they’re the ones who control the family purse strings, which means they are an “emerging powerhouse within the powerhouse” of China.

In the 1950s women contributed just 20 per cent of household income, which rose to about 40 per cent in the 1990s and then reached 50 per cent last year.

In a recent study of Chinese consumer behavior, Mckinsey found that women tend to shop more frequently than men, and spend more on personal-care products and food. Men, by contrast, tend to spend more of their income on gadgets(小玩意), drinks and alcohol, dining out, and socializing. They also tend to save for the bigger-ticket items, like cars and houses.

Chinese women make up an ever-growing small part of the market—up from 20 per cent a decade ago to 50 per cent last year. It’s estimated that in the next five years women will account for 55 per cent of the$9 billion market. “The future is female,” concludes a January HSBC report on special and expensive goods in China.

1.According to the passage, Chinese women ________.

2.The underlined phrase in the first paragraph probably refers to _______.

3.Which of the following is true?

4. Which of the following can probably serve as the title of the passage?

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Shoppers throughout the West, wary(警惕的) of a double-dip recession（经济衰退）, are still pinching their pennies. However, Chinese consumers are opening their wallets—big time. According to McKinsey, shop sales in China have grown by 25 percent annually from 2007 to 2009. Consumer confidence is now at its highest point since 2007 and female shoppers are leading the way.

Chinese women saved just 24 percent of their income, compared with 55 percent in 2006, according to a recent study in Women of China Magazine. What’s more, three quarters of Chinese women say that they’re the ones who control the family purse strings .That means the nation’s 650 million women are an “emerging powerhouse within the powerhouse” of China.

In the 1950s women contributed just 20 percent of household income. That rose to about 40 percent in the 1990s and then reached 50 percent last year.

In a recent study of Chinese consumer behavior, McKinsey found that women tend to shop more frequently than men, and spend more on personal-care products and food. Men, by contrast, tend to spend more of their income on gadgets(小玩意) , drinks and alcohol, dining out, and socializing. They also tend to save for the bigger-ticket items, like cars and houses.

Chinese women make up an ever-growing small part of the market—up from 20 percent a decade ago to 50 percent last year. It’s estimated that in the next five years women will account for 55 percent of the $9 billion market. “The future is female,” concludes a January HSBC(汇丰银行) report on luxury goods(奢侈品) in China.

The Chinese Market Research Group recently found that women younger than 35 are the most optimistic segment(群体) in China. A very large 80 percent of the 3,500 women surveyed saying they’ll spend more in the second half of 2010 than they did in the first half. With trends like these, Chinese women may bring new meaning to the term “the power of the purse.”

1.According to the passage, Chinese women _________.

A. save more of their income than before

B. save less of their income than before

C. make as much money as men in the 1990s

D. spend half of their income on luxury goods

2.The fourth paragraph mainly tells us that _________.

A. women go shopping more frequently than men

B. women spent more on personal care products than men

C. men tend to save for the bigger-ticket items than women

D. Chinese women and men have different consuming behavior

3.The underlined phrase in the first paragraph probably means_________.

A. making more money in a careful way

B. wasting their money without hesitation

C. spending their money in a careful way

D. recovering the economy at a fast speed

4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A. Chinese Men Go Socializing      B. Chinese Women Go shopping

C. The Future Is Female            D. The Purse Is Powerful

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

During the holiday season, many of us feel pressure to find our loved ones the “perfect” gift. Why? Because gift-giving has long been considered a prime way to express love. However, recent research suggests that small acts of kindness, like a kind word, hugging a child or receiving sympathy, make people feel most loved and supported.

In the study, 495 men and women between the ages of 18 and 93 completed a questionnaire evaluating 60 possible ways that people can feel love. The storyboards included situations like spending time with friends, receiving gifts, and spending time in nature. The survey also included negative interactions, like being controlled and criticized (批评) by others.

The findings highlight the psychological benefits that close relationships can offer. In fact, study participants ranked human interaction as a more significant expression of love than receiving material items, like presents. Connecting with others was also rated more highly than getting positive feedback on the Internet, indicating that people get the most support from personal human contact.

“During the holidays，anxiety rises, making it harder to remain present with ourselves and others. However, the power of spending time with another person is a gift we can give at any moment,” says Dr. Carla Naumburg, a mindfulness coach and social worker in Newton, Mass. He suggests balancing party planning and online shopping with moments of human connection. Activities like reading to a child, meeting a friend for a walk, or taking a moment to call a family member, are ways to express love and care and can keep us emotionally grounded.

While the idea of offering loved ones the gift of our time may pale in comparison to giving them a generous present, recent research shows shared human experiences can tighten social bonds. Despite personality differences，most people agree on what makes us feel loved—the presence of our loved ones.

1.What does the text mainly focus on?

A. Gift and holiday economy.　　 B. Social and personal relationships.

C. Stress and human progress.　　 D. Selfish and generous love.

2.What can we know about the questionaire?

A. About 500 men participated in it.

B. Participants disliked negative interactions.

C. A wide range of age groups got involved.

D. Participants had limited ways to feel love.

3.What does Dr. Carla Naumburg intend to tell us?

A. People often find it difficult to stay with others.

B. Face to face connection is a gift to show love.

C. Reading to a child is the best way to convey love and care.

D. Balancing holiday activities with relaxation is recommended.

4.What might be the best title of the text?

A. Gift-giving is already out of date.

B. Social interaction lights up your holidays.

C. It is not presents but presence that counts.

D. Stress causes people to withdraw from others.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析