Step 1: You will listen to an article about Black Friday, or one of the busiest shopping days. The article is about four minutes long. Listen only, and don't worry about understanding everything.
Step 2: Read and understand the questions, then listen again. As you are listening, try to answer the questions in your head. Don't write the answers yet. Next, listen again and write the answers this time. Check your answers with a partner.
Step 3: Read the article. Check in your dictionary any unknown words. Now listen again. Can you understand more? Each time you listen, you will slowly improve!
Black Friday listening:
Black Friday
Black Friday refers to the day just after Thanksgiving in the US. Because so many
companies have a four day weekend, many people begin their Christmas shopping on this
day. (Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday in the US, and then people have Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday off from work.) Black Friday is often reported as one of the busiest
shopping days of the year. Shopping malls are packed with people, parking lots are
crowded, and lines at stores are very, very long. Some stores even open at five or six in the
morning because there are so many people. Other stores have discounts and sales to draw
even more customers.
The word "black" to describe the Friday likely began in Philadelphia in the mid-1960s.
Traffic jams filled the roads into the downtown area every year. The stores and sidewalks
were overflowing with shoppers. The experience for so many of the people who ventured
downtown was stressful and chaotic. It was a terrible, or black, day. Because other cities
around the country similarly experienced traffic jams, busy stores, and too many shoppers
on the day after Thanksgiving, the term spread. Black Friday became a common idiom in
American English.
Although many people may see the day after Thanksgiving negatively, retailers have a very
different opinion. It's their best opportunity to improve earnings for the year, and take the
business out of the red (loss) and into the black (profit). For example, if sales were slow in
the spring, summer, and fall, then the store must attract many customers and make many
sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The first and most important day of this last
chance shopping season is Black Friday.
Of course, there are some people who dislike Black Friday. There are some people who
hate the day and its crowds very much. But there are also some people who strongly
oppose the shopping day because they believe it harms society. They think that people
should consume less and reuse resources more, and so have created a day called "Buy
Nothing Day." It falls on the same day as Black Friday, and it encourages people to buy
nothing, of course.
However, for most people, Black Friday just presents one more opportunity to go shopping.
For those who don't like shopping, then it's one more reason to avoid the stores and
Shopping malls.
Black Friday comprehension
Answer the questions to check your comprehension. If you don't know an answer, don't worry. Skip it, then try to answer it after listening again.
1: What is the day just after Thanksgiving called in the US?
2: What happens on that day?
3: Where did the term begin?
4: Why do retailers like Black Friday?
5: The article calls Black Friday a last chance shopping season? What does this mean?
6: The article comments about people who oppose Black Friday. What did they do?
Het arrangement Black Friday is gemaakt met
Wikiwijs van
Kennisnet. Wikiwijs is hét onderwijsplatform waar je leermiddelen zoekt,
maakt en deelt.
Auteur
Gerda Grasmeijer
Laatst gewijzigd
2018-12-11 21:00:58
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