In the mid 1990s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies which sold things in stores. Then, there were Internet companies which didn’t have stores, they sold things only over the Net.
Traditional companies didn’t want to lose any business. Quickly, they created their own websites and began selling things over the Net. These are the so-called “brick and click” companies. Many stores are made of brick, and you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That’s where the name “brick and click” comes from.
By the late 1990s, e-businesses like Amazon.com, Buy.com, and eToys.com were in trouble. Their profits(利潤(rùn)) were not very high, and there was a lot of competition. Many of these businesses lost a lot of money, and in 2000, many e-businesses were out of business.
In the world of e-commerce(電子商務(wù)), companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will brick and click companies win the war? Only time will tell.
小題1:Many traditional companies created their own websites in
.
| A．the early l990s | B．the mid l990s |
| C．the late l990s | D．1990s |
小題2:Why were Internet companies in a lot of trouble in the late 1990s?
| A．Competition was heavy. |
| B．Their websites were bad. |
| C．They didn’t know what to sell. |
| D．Their profits were high. |
小題3:Which would be a brick and click company?
| A．A clothing company with no website. |
| B．A bookseller with five stores and an Internet site. |
| C．A video seller with a big website but no stores. |
| D．A restaurant. |
