二、答案解析

　　Section B

　　Passage One

　　The winter gift-giving season is responsible fortwenty percent of all retail spending at Americanbusinesses. But how and when people buy holidaygifts is changing. Record numbers of Americans areturning to the Internet. More than 100 million peopleare expected to buy something online this holidayseason.

　　[26]Traditionally, the biggest shopping day of the year was in late November on theday after Thanksgiving. People still call it "Black Friday." The idea was that it could pushbusinesses "into the black"-the traditional color for recording profits. Red is for debts. Butnow the busiest days are right before Christmas. Many people wait for last-minute pricereductions.

　　With the rise of the Internet, the National Retail Federation came up with a new term. "CyberMonday" is the Monday after Thanksgiving. The idea is that [27]many people look in storesover the weekend. Then, to save time, they order online using the Internet at theirjobs when they return back to work. Cyber Monday is a big day online. But marketresearchers at ComScore Networks reported that the biggest day of the holiday season so farwas December thirteenth. The company said people spent almost 670 million dollars atAmerican sites that day. That did not include travel sites.

　　ComScore estimates that Online spending during [28]this holiday season will reach almost25 billion dollars that is 25 percent over last year.

　　Online selling makes it easier for businesses to react to changing conditions. It costs less tochange 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"?

　　正确答案：C

　　解析：短文说，传统上来说，一年当中最大的购物日是在11月底，也就是Thanksgiving的后一天，称之为“黑色星期五”。故答案是C。从选项的提示词day，猜测题目与某个重要的日子有关。C、D两项还分别提到了两个冬季的节日，B提到了购物，可进一步推测短文的话题与节日购物有关。根据原文，black指的商家账本上记录利润的颜色，应该是lucky而不是unlucky，故排除A。传统上最忙的购物日是Black Friday，但现在变为Christmas的前几天，故排除B和D。

　　27. What do people do before "Cyber Monday"?

　　正确答案：B

　　解析：短文说，在Cyber Monday的前一个周末，许多人先去商店里查看商品，然后等周一上班时在网上购物。故答案是B。从选项的用词price，store，order，queue，可猜测题目与购物有关。分析各选项，抓住重点。A和C与“网络”有关，A是查价钱，C是购物。B和D与“实体店”有关，B是看商品，D是通宵排队。边听录音边做好笔记。D在录音中没有找到;网上购物是在Cyber Monday当天做的事，故排除C;查看商品的地点是在实体店，而非网络上，故排除A。

　　28. How much money was spent on holiday online shopping last year?

　　正确答案：C

　　解析：短文说，今年假期网上消费估计达250亿美元，比去年增长25%，则去年为200亿美元，故答案是C。选项是金额，可猜测题目与购物的金额数有关。边听录音边做好笔记。特别留意数字出现时相关联的信息。