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  3. In 1998 consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books

In 1998 consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books

游客2025-04-22  18
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 dally. 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 proved 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 liter 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 analysis 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.  [br] It can be inferred from the passage that Amazon. com ______ .
选项 A、will probably make a profit in 2001
B、is making a profit now
C、is a company that sells books only
D、suffers a great loss on the stock market
答案 A
解析 文章第二段：一开始讲到1995年开始卖书，后来销售录音制品，由此可见：它现在已经不卖书了。所以C不对。后面讲到：通过分析得知直到2001年公司没有期望能够扭亏为赢。也就是说赚钱的状况在2001年的时候可能会完全扭转过来，开始盈利了。所以A项正确。B项“正在赚取利润”显然也是不对的，因为亏损的局面目前仍然没有扭转。作者在本段接下来的部分又讲到尽管目前处于一种亏损状态，但“Amazon．com”在股票市场上价值达数十亿，可见D项不对。
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