5 . On Friday, Chin's e-commerce king Alibaba (BABA) held its annual Singles' Day shopping event, posting record sales of $17.8 billion worth of gross merchandise volume (GMV) and soaring past last year's results of $14.3 billion. This figure was easily beaten in Chinese Yuan at 3:30 pm.

Back in the 1990s, Singles' Day was first celebrated by young, single Chinese people as a pushback against Valentine's Day. Now, it has become one of the country’s biggest shopping events. Alibaba began the "holiday'' in 2009, promoting discounts at certain retailers on its various digital platforms; the company uses Singles’ Day as a way to boost its revenues in the typically slow sales period before the Lunar New Year season.

This year, Alibaba said that deals are offered by athletic giants Nike Inc. NKE and Adidas ADDYY, iPhone maker Apple Inc. AAPL industrial automation company Siemens AG ADR SIEGY and fast fashion retailer Uniqlo. Many international brands have jumped on the holiday over recent years. According to survey, 14.000 brands took part in 2016 Singles' Day, making up roughly 30% of total GMV just half-way into the shopping event. Big Chinese brands like appliance manufacturers Haier and Midea and smartphone maker Meizu also reported strong profits in the event.

Popular celebrities made appearances at the four-hour "countdown event" in Shenzhen this year, including actress Scarlett Johansson, David Beckham and his wife, fashion designer Victoria Beckham, Kobe Bryant, and live music from OneRepublic. Even Alibaba CEO Jack Ma showed up and performed a magic trick on stage.

For some perspective on how big of a sale Singles' Day is, 2015's Black Friday, the annual day-afer-Thanksgiving sale here in the US, only reached $4.5 billion in GMV; Cyber Monday, the annual Monday-after-Thanksgiving e-commerce sale event, only saw a record $3 billion last year, or pocket change compared to what Singles' Day brings in.

1. What is GMV of Alibaba at 3:30 pm on November 11?

A．$17.8 billion.

B．$16.8 billion.

C．$14.3 billion.

D．$13.4 billion.

2. What is the purpose of Alibaba beginning the “holiday"?

A．To make it as a pushback against Valentine's Day.

B．To celebrate the coming Lunar New Year season.

C．To build up more retailers on its digital platforms.

D．To increase its sales during the very difficult times.

3. What is the characteristic of the Singles' Day shopping event?

A．Only single Chinese people like shopping here.

B．All the big Chinese brands showed interest in it.

C．Many famous international brands took part in it.

D．The company only chose the brands from the USA.

4. Who tried to be a magician during the four-hour “countdown event"?

A．Jack Ma.

B．Scarlett Johansson.

C．Victoria Beckham.

D．Kobe Bryant.

5. What's the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．The success of Alibaba.	B．The scale of Black Friday.
C．The advantage of e-commerce.	D．The danger of Cyber Monday.

9 . Black Friday is celebrated on the fourth Friday of November. It has long been a popular day for consumers to start shopping for Christmas. Over the last 20 years big retailers have started to offer discounts and bargains on this day.     1    

Many of us love to get a bargain, but some feel that events like Black Friday encourage people to buy things that they don’t really need and can’t afford. Many people seem to completely lose control of both their spending and their tempers. It is easy to find video online of customers physically fighting each other over bargains.     2     That is because those small shopkeepers cannot afford to offer the kinds of price cuts while the big companies can.

Instead of taking the opportunity to buy as much as possible on Black Friday, you could do the opposite and buy absolutely nothing. Since 1992, Buy Nothing Day has been held on the same day as Black Friday. The rules are simple.     3     The aim is to make people think more about their spending and to make better decisions about what they buy and where they buy it from.

    4     For example, you can avoid buying ‘fast fashion’, that is, very cheap clothes that are worn a few times before being thrown away. Or you could decide not to automatically upgrade your mobile at the end of a contract.     5    

A．They have made good profit by doing so.

B．Just don’t buy anything at all for 24 hours.

C．Avoid shopping and go for a walk in nature.

D．It is also argued that Black Friday is bad for small shopkeepers.

E．People have formed the habit to look for bargains on Black Friday.

F．Buy Nothing Day aims to raise awareness of how to be a wiser consumer.

G．These decisions can help protect the environment as well as saving money.

10 . Just wanting a hamburger, Hembert Figueroa was surprised to learn the dollar bills in his pocket were no good at Dos Toros Taqueria in Manhanttan.

Figueroa, an ironworker, had to stand to the side, holding his hamburger, until a cashier helped him find another customer willing to pay for his meal with a card in exchange for cash. “I had money but I couldn’t pay,” he said.

Cash-free stores are causing a backlash among some activists who say the practice looks down upon people like Figueroa, who either lack bank accounts or rely on cash for many transactions(交易).

Supporters for banning cashless stores worry technology is moving too fast for the 6.5% of American households—8.4 million—that do not have a bank account.

Business owners who go cashless say they are following the lead of majority of customers who are abandoning cash payments. Retailers(零售商)are under pressure to satisfy customers with higher expectations for fast and convenient service, driven by companies like Amazon and Uber.

Leo Kremer, co-worker of Dos Toros, said the amount of cash transactions at his stores fell from about 50% a decade ago to 15% last year. Cash transactions made handling cash especially troublesome. Before going cashless, Dos Toros locations were robbed twice.

Financial experts who work with low-income people caution against making assumptions about the shopping preferences or buying power of those who rely on cash. Justine Zinkin, CEO of Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, said the greater urgency in the digital time is finding ways to better include low-income people in the banking system, such as urging banks to offer no-fee starter accounts and encouraging banks to open branches in underserved areas.

1. What trouble was Hembert Figueroa faced with at Dos Toros Taqueria?

A．He couldn’t make a deal with cash.

B．He failed to find a cashier for help.

C．He took no money or a card with him.

D．He was caught carrying false bank notes.

2. What does the underlined word “backlash” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Heated debate.	B．Warm welcome.
C．Strong disagreement.	D．High expectation.

3. What did Justine Zinkin suggest according to the text?

A．Making regulations to ban cashless stores.

B．Raising the buying power of low-income people.

C．Finding ways for banks to adapt with the digital time.

D．Making banks more accessible to low-income people.

4. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Cashless stores—a production of new technology

B．Should cashless stores be banned?

C．Cashless stores, a new form of transaction

D．Are cashless stores preferred by low-income people?