In China, Double Eleven Shopping Day comes every year. And there is a similar day in the United States-Black Friday. It has been considered as the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Although it's not an official holiday, millions of workers have the day off, and many people buy things on that day. A similar day in Canada and Great Britain is called "Boxing Day".
Black Friday has become somewhat of a marketing sensation (感觉) in recent years. Since 2005, it has been the busiest shopping day of the year. To lure shoppers, retailers (零售商) usually open their doors as early as 4 a.m. and offer special sales and promotions to the shoppers that arrive early.
But why is it called Black Friday? Historians (历史学家) believe the name started in Philadelphia in the mid-1960s. Bus drivers and police used "Black Friday" to describe the heavy traffic that would block city streets because of too many shoppers there the day after Thanksgiving.
Businesses, however, didn't like the bad influence about the "Black Friday" name. In the early 1980s, a more positive explanation (建设性的解释) of the name began to spread. According to this explanation, Black Friday is the day when retailers finally begin to turn a profit (获利) for the year. In accounting terms (会计行业), operating at a loss (亏本经营) is called being "in the red" because accountants traditionally used red ink to show negative amounts (亏本账目). Positive amounts (盈利账目)were usually shown in black ink. Thus, being "in the black" is a good thing because it means stores are operating at a profit (盈利经营).
Recently, for those who are too busy to shop on Black Friday or who just don't want to fight the crowds (人群；拥挤), the Monday following Black Friday has become known as Cyber Monday (网络星期一) for the many online deals (交易).
1.On Black Friday, the Americans _________.
A.are usually busy doing shopping B.look exactly like the Canadians
C.don't have to go to work as usual D.stay at home and relax themselves
2.How do the retailers understand Black Friday now? _________.
A.It is totally different from Boxing Day B.They usually lose some money on the day
C.It never keeps them very busy D.It probably brings them more money
3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? _________.
A.In accounting terms, operating at a profit is called being "in the red"
B.People used "Black Friday" to describe the heavy traffic in the mid-1960s
C.On Cyber Monday, there are many deals on the Internet
D.On Black Friday, shoppers that arrive early can get special sales and promotions
4.The writer writes this passage in order to_________.
A.introduce the development of Cyber Monday B.tell the difference between red and black
C.introduce Black Friday to the readers D.explain the meaning of Boxing Day
Captain Nemo seemed very sure that that savages could not harm us. I slept well. When I went outside the next morning, I saw that there were many more natives on the beach. It was low tide, and many of them had come quite close to the Nautilus. I asked Conseil to get a net, and we used it to get some shells from the water. They were very pretty shells. Suddenly, I saw a very rare and beautiful shell. We looked at it together. One of the savages threw a stone at us and broke the shell. Conseil was very angry. He fired his gun at the savage. Then, we noticed that the savages had come very close to the Nautilus in their canoes. A few moments later, they began to shoot their arrows at us. We went inside and told Captain Nemo about it. He ordered his men to close the doors.
"But what will happen tomorrow?" I asked. "You will have to open the doors to get more air, and the savages will come in."
"Do you think they will dare?"
"I am sure they will."
"We have nothing to fear," he said again.
Captain Nemo asked me about our trip to the island. I told him what we had seen and done. We talked about another French sailor called D'Urville, whose ship was wrecked in the Torres Strait. He told me again that the high tide the next day would lift the Nautilus off the reef. (选自《海底两万里》)
1.The word "savages" may have the similar meaning to ________ in this passage.
A.natives B.shells C.Nautilus D.canoes
2.Conseil and I tried to get some shells with a(n) ________.
A.gun B.arrow C.net D.ship
3.Conseil shot at the savage because the savage ________.
A.looked very ugly B.threw a stone at him
C.shot an arrow at him D.broke the shell with a stone
4.The story happened when the Nautilus ________.
A.was flying over the Torres Strait B.was running in the ocean
C.was kept on the reef D.was with D'Urville
Terry was a middle-aged businessman．He was unsuccessful in career and often complained that he had been fooled by others. One day he told his wife he was_______disappointed（失望的）with the city that he had to leave.
So his family moved to another city．It was Saturday_______When Terry and his wife were busy putting their things in their new home，the lights suddenly_______and they were forced to stop work．Terry was sorry to have_______to bring along some candles．Just then he heard light_______on his door．
“Who is it?” he wondered．Terry knew_______else in the new city, and this was the moment he especially hated to be_______．He opened the door impatiently. At the door was a little_______, shyly asking，“Sir, do you have_______? I’m your neighbor．”“No．”answered Terry angrily．He shut the door__________．
After a while the door was knocked again．He opened it and found the same little girl outside．But this time she was__________two candles radiating（放光）red light．she said，“My grandma told me the__________neighbor downstairs might need candles．She sent me here to give you these”
At that moment Terry suddenly realized what__________his failure in life. It was his indifference（冷漠）and unkindness to other people．The person who had fooled him in life was actually nobody else__________himself, for his eyes had been covered by his__________mind．
1.A.very B.so C.such D.rather
2.A.morning B.afternoon C.noon D.evening
3.A.went down B.went out C.went by D.went on
4.A.wanted B.decided C.forgotten D.remembered
5.A.knocks B.calls C.strikes D.sounds
6.A.everybody B.anybody C.somebody D.nobody
7.A.troubled B.followed C.liked D.1earned
8.A.boy B.girl C.postman D.shopper
9.A.candies B.toys C.lights D.candles
10.A.easily B.worriedly C.happily D.heavily
11.A.bringing B.seeing C.holding D.drawing
12.A.poor B.kind C.new D.young
13.A.made B.caused C.developed D.stopped
14.A.besides B.except C.but D.than
15.A.open B.right C.warm D.cold
---I woke up late today. What’s worse, I left my homework at home!
---Poor boy! That is “__________”．
A.Every dog has its day B.It never rains but it pours
C.Never offer to teach fish to swim D.Don't put all your eggs in one basket
---Have you heard that a disease ________ in Wu Han?
---Yes, I have. Hope it will be under control soon.
A.breaks out B.breaks up C.breaks into D.breaks down
— Mark's car ________ a cloud of dust as he drove off.
— Thar's why we don't like him at all.
A.raised B.rose C.was raised D.was rising
