Question

    Standing in line is a pain. At the post office. At the box office. At a restaurant. But on Black Friday, it’s an experience.

The first spot outside some Best Buy stores is usually claimed weeks before Black Friday, often by a person in a tent. Shoppers at Walmart will print out maps of the store, with circles around their primary targets. Someone, somewhere, will try to cut in line at a Target, arousing the anger of the people who played it fair.

At risk are both bargains and bragging rights, turning what would otherwise be a miserable experience into an adventure.

“These queues are quite different than the usual annoying ones we encounter day to day at the A.T.M. or in the subway,”said Richard Larson, a professor at M.I.T. who has spent years studying line behavior.

Professor Larson, whose nickname in academic circles is Dr. Queue, said he would never wait in a line on Black Friday himself. The lines, he said, are“once a year, they’re exciting. They’re the kind you might tell your grandchildren about.”

Lines test patience, personal space and principles of fairness and rationality, especially on Black Friday, when the crowds can be overwhelming. Still, the promise of a once-a-year score draws shoppers to queues that start before sunrise—or in some cases, the night before.

J. Jeffrey Inman, a veteran of Black Friday lines and president of the Society for Consumer Psychology, said that many families treat the hours long experience as a bonding ritual and a cherished tradition.

“It’s not something unimportant,”said Mr. Inman, who is also a professor of marketing at the University of Pittsburgh.“And there’s this layer of competition to it, with people edging forward, because there are only so many of those big screen TVs inside the door.”

People may actually gravitate toward longer lines, so they can feel a greater sense of accomplishment once they finally make a purchase. Professor Larson said,“Even if they don’t know what the line is for, they reason that whatever’s at the end of it must be fantastically valuable.”

1.From the second paragraph, we can learn that _______.

A.people in Target are most likely to cut in line

B.shops will hand out store maps to shoppers

C.shoppers dislike queuing well in advance

D.queuing for Black Friday is common

2.Which of the following statements is J. Jeffrey Inman most likely to agree with?

A.Shoppers stand in line to enjoy the pleasure of bargaining with salespeople.

B.People feel like winning if they get something after queuing for some time.

C.Standing in line on Black Friday is not an exciting experience for some people.

D.Grandchildren like hearing grandparents talking about their experience of queuing.

3.The phrase“gravitate toward”is closest in meaning to ______.

A.turn a blind eye to B.be attracted by

C.pick up bargains in D.be cheated by

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

A.Why Stand in Line on Black Friday?

B.Fairness: Key to Consumer Psychology

C.Standing in Line Is a Pain, Says Professors

D.Black Friday is Getting Increasingly Valuable

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.B

4.A

【解析】

本文是一篇议论文。文章主要内容是关于人们为什么喜欢在黑色星期五排队，作者引用了他人的观点来阐述其原因，并得出结论。

1.推理判断题。根据第二段的Someone, somewhere, will try to cut in line at a Target, arousing the anger of the people who played it fair.（为了某个目标有人会试图插队，这激起了公平竞争的人们的愤怒。）由此可推知，人们对插队的行为甚是不满，说明人们对排队已经习以为常，故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据最后一段的Even if they don’t know what the line is for, the reason that whatever’s at the end of it must be fantastically valuable.（即使他们不知道所排的队伍是用来干什么的，他们的理由是，不管所排的队伍终点是什么，它都一定是极有价值的。）可推知，J. Jeffrey Inman认为如果人们在排队一段时间后得到某样东西，他们就会有获胜的感觉，故选B。

3.词义猜测题。根据最后一段的People may actually gravitate toward longer lines, so they can feel a greater sense of accomplishment once they finally make a purchase.（事实上，人们可能会被更长的队伍吸引，所以一旦他们最终做出购买决定，他们会感到更大的成就感。）以及本段大意可知，排队最终买到的东西能给人们极大的成就感，所以他们容易被更长的队伍吸引，故可知gravitate toward在意义上与be attracted by（被……吸引）相近，故选B。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文以及文章各段的大意可知，文章主要内容是关于人们为什么喜欢在黑色星期五排队，作者引用了他人的观点来阐述其原因，并得出结论，故A选项（为什么要在黑色星期五排队?）能更好地概括本文，可以作为本文的标题，故选A。