1 . Early in the year, the hope was that the bottlenecks that messed up the global supply chain in 2020 would be mostly cleared by now. They've actually only gotten much worse and evidence is mounting that the holiday season is at risk.

Across Europe, retailers (零售商) can't meet demand because of delivery delays. In the U.S., Nike cut is sales forecast after COVID-19 set off factory closures in Vietnam that wiped out months of production.

Covid outbreaks have affected ports. There still aren't enough containers, causing prices to increase 10 times from a year ago. Labor shortages have delayed trucking and pushed U.S. job openings to all-time highs.

On the supplier side, Jay Foreman's been making toys with manufacturing partners in China for more than three decades, and he's never seen anything like this. His mid-sized toy company, Basic Fun, is on pace for its best year ever. There is no shortage of demand, but a shortage of containers has left thousands of the company's Lite Brites and TinkerToys waiting to be shipped. At just one factory in Shenzhen, there's roughly $8 million worth of finished goods that could fill 140 containers.

The bigger, more systemic risk—one that could hurt every retailer—is that Americans spend less than expected because there isn't enough inventory (库存). The available goods may also not be all that attractive. The sharp increase in shipping prices has forced manufacturers to make hard decisions about what to transport. Hicks, the Academy Sports CEO, predicted that shoppers “will have to settle more because they just won't have as good of a selection.”

Shipping big items and goods with lower value don’t make as much economic sense right now. iPhones are small and pricey, making them an ideal good to ship, but the same case can’t be made for low-end furniture or toys.

“Consumers might see news about port backups (阻塞), but that won’t hit home until they try to buy the toy of the year and can’t get it,” Bartashus, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, said, “That’s when they’ll hit crisis mode.”

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．The goods are mounting.	B．Supply chain issues are getting worse.
C．The consumers become hopeless.	D．The holiday season hits the bottlenecks.

2. What problem is Jay Foreman faced with?

A．Basic Fun lacks orders.

B．There exists a shortage of shippers.

C．His toy company has its worst year.

D．The factory is filled with finished goods.

3. Which of the following will hurt every retailer?

A．Consumers will have limited options.

B．Consumers can't afford the attractive goods.

C．The shipping company will stop shipping expensive goods.

D．The manufactures will have poor selections of shipping companies.

4. What will probably happen according to?

A．The port problem will be settled.

B．Consumers will prefer to stay at home.

C．The government will pass the financial crisis.

D．The market will be in various forms of panic.