单选题 Shopping has always been something of an impulse activity. Advertisers and sellers have taken advantage of this fact, carefully positioning inexpensive but attractive items on paths that we are most likely to cross, in the hopes that our human nature will lead to a greater profit for them. With the dawn of the Internet and its exploding usage across the world, the same tactics apply.
Advertisers now place 'banners', links to commercial web sites decorated with attractive pictures designed to catch our eyes while browsing the webs, on key web sites with heavy traffic. They pay top dollar for the right, thus creating profits for the hosting web site as well. These actions are performed in the hopes that during the course of our casual web surfing, we'll click on that banner that we are interested in and thus, in theory, buy the products advertised.
Initial results have been positive. Web sites report a huge inflow of cash, both from the advertisers and the hosting web sites. As trust and confidence in Internet buying increases and information security is heightened with new technology, the volume of buying is increasing, leading to even greater profits.
The current situation, however, is not quite as optimistic. Just as magazine readers tend to unconsciously ignore advertisements in their favorite periodicals (期刊), web browsers are beginning to allow banners to slip their notice as well. Internet users respond to the flood of banners by viewing them as annoyances (烦恼，令人讨厌的事), a negative image that is hurting sales, since users are now less reluctant to click on those banners, preferring not to support the system that put them in place. If Internet advertising is to continue to be a profitable business practice, new methods will need to be considered to reinvigorate (使复兴) the industry.
With the recent decline in the technology sector and economy recession, even new practices may not work. As consumers are saving more and frequenting (频繁光顾) traditional 'brick and mortar' businesses over their Internet counterparts, the fate of Internet business is called into question. The coming years will be the only reliable indication of whether shopping on the world wide web is the wave of the future or simply an impulse activity.

单选题 What does the author mean by saying 'the same tactics apply' (Line 4, Para. 1)?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据题干将本题出处定位于第1段最后一句。第1段开头提到，利用人的冲动性吸引人购物的传统广告方式，之后说随着互联网遍及世界，同样的方法也得到了利用，即网上也使用了类似的广告方式吸引人。文章只提到网络广告方式的出现，而没有提及其是否取代了传统广告方式，而且从后文也可看出，取代是不可能的，排除A；第1段没有提及“广告横幅”，故排除B；D的迷惑性较强，第1段主要说的是网络广告方式与传统广告方式在利用顾客的冲动性方面的类似性，而非“网络广告主要通过冲动性购物方式吸引顾客”，故D也不符合题意。

单选题 What does the author imply about the new methods of advertising on the Internet?

单选题 In the last paragraph, 'brick and mortar' businesses refers to ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据题干中的'brick and mortar' businesses将本题出处定位于最后一段第2句。最后一段第2句中的counterparts一词意为“与另一方作用相当的事物；两方面地位职位相当的人(物)”。结合原文可知'brick and mortar' businesses应该与Internet businesses相对应，因而可判断'brick and mortar' businesses指的是那些互联网之外的商业。其他三项均不能体现这种对应关系，故排除。

单选题 Which of the following is true according to the passage?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据命题按照文章顺序进行的规律将本题出处定位于最后一段。最后一段最后一句提到，全球性的网上购物是大势所趋，抑或仅仅是人们的一时冲动，这一切在未来的几年里将见分晓。由此可见，目前还无法预料网络商务的未来。文中没有提到网络经济的衰退，故排除A；B和C都与文中提到的“这一切将在未来的几年里见分晓”相悖，故均可排除。

单选题 The author's attitude towards Internet advertising appears to be one of ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】本题考查作者观点，需要结合全文进行综合分析。文章第3段第1句说，互联网广告在其初期获得了成效，第4段第1句又说，目前的形势是不容乐观的，文章最后在谈到其未来会怎样时指出，这一切将在未来的几年里见分晓。综合这几句可以推断，作者对互联网广告的看法是目前赞同，但对未来不确定。其他三个选项都不能准确反映作者的观点，予以排除。