2. 外语
  3. In 1998 consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books, compact discs, and even stocks were available from

In 1998 consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books, compact discs, and even stocks were available from

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问题     In 1998 consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books, compact discs, and even stocks were available from World Wide Web sites that seemed to spring up almost daily. A few years earlier, some people had predicted that consumers accustomed to shopping in stores would be reluctant to buy things that they could not see or touch in person. For a growing number of time-starved consumers, however, shopping from their home computer was proving to be a convenient alternative to driving to the store.
    A research estimated that in 1998 US consumers would purchase $ 7. 3 billion of goods over the Internet, double the 1997 total. Finding a bargain was getting easier, owing to the rise of online auctions and Web sites that did comparison shopping on the Internet for the best deal.
    For all the consumer interest, retailing in cyberspace was still a largely unprofitable business, however. Internet pioneer Amazon, com, which began selling books in 1995 and later branched into recorded music and videos, posted revenue of $ 153. 7 million in the third quarter, up from $ 37. 9 million in the same period of 1997. Overall, however, the company’s loss widened to $ 45. 2 million from $ 9. 6 million, and analysts did not expect the company to turn a profit until 2001. Despite the great loss, Amazon, com had a stock market value of many billions, reflecting investors’ optimism about the future of the industry.
    Internet retailing appealed to investors because it provided an efficient means for reaching millions of consumers without having the cost of operating conventional stores with their armies of salespeople. Selling online carried its own risks, however. With so many companies competing for consumers’ attention, price competition was intense and profit margins thin or nonexistent. One video retailer sold the hit movie Titanic for $ 9. 99, undercutting (削价) the $ 19. 99 suggested retail price and losing about $ 6 on each copy sold. With Internet retailing still in its initial stage, companies seemed willing to absorb such losses in an attempt to establish a dominant market position.
Which of the following is true according to the writer?
选项 A、Consumers are reluctant to buy things on the Internet.
B、Consumers are too busy to buy things on the Internet.
C、Internet retailing is a profitable business.
D、More and more consumers prefer Internet shopping.
答案D
解析 本题是一道判断是非题。问按照作者的观点，哪个说法是正确的。文章第一段提到，到1998年，消费者几乎可以在因特网上购买任何东西，书籍、光盘、甚至股票都可以通过进入相应的网址买到，这些网址似乎每天都在增加。几年前，有些人还预言说，习惯了去商店购物的消费者不会愿意购买不能亲眼看到或触摸到的东西，即不愿在网上购物，但是，对越来越多的时间不充裕的(time—starved)消费者来说，通过家用电脑购物比开车去商店购物多了一个更方便的途径。文章第二段又提到一项调查内容。该调查显示，1998年，美国人的网上交易额达到了73亿美元，是1997年的两倍。网上拍卖活动和网址的增加，使消费者可以通过比较买到自己最称心的东西，因此更容易成交。因此，本题的正确答案应是D“越来越多的消费者喜欢在网上购物了”。A“消费者不愿意在因特网上购物”；B“消费者太忙，没时间在因特网上购物”；C“网上零售业务是有利可图的买卖”。根据第三段第一句，尽管消费者对网上购物感兴趣，网上零售业目前基本上还是个不赚钱的买卖。因此，这三个选项都是错误的。
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