Section B
Passage One
The winter gift-giving season is responsible for twenty percent of all retail spending at American businesses. But how and when people buy holiday gifts is changing. Record numbers of Americans are turning to the Internet. More than 100 million people are expected to buy something online this holiday season.
[26]Traditionally, the biggest shopping day of the year was in late November on the day after Thanksgiving. People still call it "Black Friday." The idea was that it could push businesses "into the black"-the traditional color for recording profits. Red is for debts. But now the busiest days are right before Christmas. Many people wait for last-minute price reductions.
With the rise of the Internet, the National Retail Federation came up with a new term. "Cyber Monday" is the Monday after Thanksgiving. The idea is that [27]many people look in stores over the weekend. Then, to save time, they order online using the Internet at their jobs when they return back to work. Cyber Monday is a big day online. But market researchers at ComScore Networks reported that the biggest day of the holiday season so far was December thirteenth. The company said people spent almost 670 million dollars at American sites that day. That did not include travel sites.
ComScore estimates that Online spending during [28]this holiday season will reach almost 25 billion dollars that is 25 percent over last year.
Online selling makes it easier for businesses to react to changing conditions. It costs less to change the advertising on a Web site than in stores.

Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. What does the speaker say about "Black Friday"?
正確答案：C
解析：短文說，傳統(tǒng)上來說，一年當(dāng)中最大的購物日是在11月底，也就是Thanksgiving的后一天，稱之為“黑色星期五”。故答案是C。從選項(xiàng)的提示詞day，猜測題目與某個(gè)重要的日子有關(guān)。C、D兩項(xiàng)還分別提到了兩個(gè)冬季的節(jié)日，B提到了購物，可進(jìn)一步推測短文的話題與節(jié)日購物有關(guān)。根據(jù)原文，black指的商家賬本上記錄利潤的顏色，應(yīng)該是lucky而不是unlucky，故排除A。傳統(tǒng)上最忙的購物日是Black Friday，但現(xiàn)在變?yōu)镃hristmas的前幾天，故排除B和D。
27. What do people do before "Cyber Monday"?
正確答案：B
解析：短文說，在Cyber Monday的前一個(gè)周末，許多人先去商店里查看商品，然后等周一上班時(shí)在網(wǎng)上購物。故答案是B。從選項(xiàng)的用詞price，store，order，queue，可猜測題目與購物有關(guān)。分析各選項(xiàng)，抓住重點(diǎn)。A和C與“網(wǎng)絡(luò)”有關(guān)，A是查價(jià)錢，C是購物。B和D與“實(shí)體店”有關(guān)，B是看商品，D是通宵排隊(duì)。邊聽錄音邊做好筆記。D在錄音中沒有找到；網(wǎng)上購物是在Cyber Monday當(dāng)天做的事，故排除C；查看商品的地點(diǎn)是在實(shí)體店，而非網(wǎng)絡(luò)上，故排除A。
28. How much money was spent on holiday online shopping last year?
正確答案：C
解析：短文說，今年假期網(wǎng)上消費(fèi)估計(jì)達(dá)250億美元，比去年增長25%，則去年為200億美元，故答案是C。選項(xiàng)是金額，可猜測題目與購物的金額數(shù)有關(guān)。邊聽錄音邊做好筆記。特別留意數(shù)字出現(xiàn)時(shí)相關(guān)聯(lián)的信息。