Black Friday - Unit 7
B2 First · Gapped Text · Ready for B2 First 4th Edition, Macmillan Education Limited
You are going to read an article about Black Friday. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A–G the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
Black Friday
Retail’s biggest day of the year is known for in-store chaos but has proven itself an unstoppable commercial force.
Whichever of these reasons is correct, ‘Black Friday’ has only really caught on as a label within the last twenty years.
These might include stores artificially inflating prices on goods in advance, only to then ‘slash’ the cost back down to its original value, or temporarily selling inferior products just to meet demand.
In the last few years, there has been a trend towards offering bargains up to a week before Black Friday.
So Black Friday as we understand it today can be traced back at least that far.
The impact of this was only reduced if families used their additional leisure time to go to the stores.
These led to in-store security finding themselves unable to cope and the police having to intervene.
The phrase ‘Black Friday’ has been used around the world since at least the mid-19th century to refer to days of national disaster.
Black Friday, the annual scramble for discount presents for the upcoming holidays, takes place each year in shopping centres around the world towards the end of November. A media favourite because of the outbreaks of chaos that commonly erupt in the shopping aisles as bargain-hunters squabble over flat-screen TVs and step over people to grab a cut price, the day unofficially marks the beginning of the festive retail season. Whatever you think of it, Black Friday has become an annual fixture and looks here to stay.
Perhaps most famous example of this is the Black Friday of 29th October 1929, following Black Thursday, when the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, bringing about the Great Depression. One explanation for why the modern discount bonanza has been given the same sinister name is that it always takes place the day after the Thursday of Thanksgiving, when workers would frequently call in sick in order to enjoy a four-day weekend, a disaster for the US economy.
The first recorded use of the term to identify this annual phenomenon appeared in the November 1951 issue of the industrial trade journal Factory Management and Maintenance.
By November 1975, the phrase was being used by The New York Times to refer to the atrocious traffic congestion seen in Philadelphia as shoppers raced out for bargains in the hope of spreading the cost of Christmas over a longer period. An alternative explanation offered by accountants is that the day is the moment at which stores make so much money they cease operating at a loss and move from the red into the black.
During this period, retailers have become more strategic about their approach to the day, offering major sales promotions and extending their opening hours, often to midnight. Amazon has been credited with bringing this very American event to the UK since it first began offering Black Friday deals in 2010. Asda, owned by US giant Walmart, followed suit in 2013 and the craze has snowballed from there. Some UK chains have moved to distance themselves from Black Friday as a result of the particularly unruly scenes that unfolded in 2014.
The day has been criticised in the US for the strain it places on staff at the big stores, the safety risks associated with large-scale crowd management and the occasional dishonest business practices involved.
The madness has nevertheless spread around the world: France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa have all embraced the mania in recent years.
Black Friday, the annual scramble for discount presents for the upcoming holidays, takes place each year in shopping centres around the world towards the end of November. A media favourite because of the outbreaks of chaos that commonly erupt in the shopping aisles as bargain-hunters squabble over flat-screen TVs and step over people to grab a cut price, the day unofficially marks the beginning of the festive retail season. Whatever you think of it, Black Friday has become an annual fixture and looks here to stay. ___ Perhaps most famous example of this is the Black Friday of 29th October 1929, following Black Thursday, when the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, bringing about the Great Depression. One explanation for why the modern discount bonanza has been given the same sinister name is that it always takes place the day after the Thursday of Thanksgiving, when workers would frequently call in sick in order to enjoy a four-day weekend, a disaster for the US economy. ___ The first recorded use of the term to identify this annual phenomenon appeared in the November 1951 issue of the industrial trade journal Factory Management and Maintenance. ___ By November 1975, the phrase was being used by The New York Times to refer to the atrocious traffic congestion seen in Philadelphia as shoppers raced out for bargains in the hope of spreading the cost of Christmas over a longer period. An alternative explanation offered by accountants is that the day is the moment at which stores make so much money they cease operating at a loss and move from the red into the black. ___ During this period, retailers have become more strategic about their approach to the day, offering major sales promotions and extending their opening hours, often to midnight. Amazon has been credited with bringing this very American event to the UK since it first began offering Black Friday deals in 2010. Asda, owned by US giant Walmart, followed suit in 2013 and the craze has snowballed from there. Some UK chains have moved to distance themselves from Black Friday as a result of the particularly unruly scenes that unfolded in 2014. ___ The day has been criticised in the US for the strain it places on staff at the big stores, the safety risks associated with large-scale crowd management and the occasional dishonest business practices involved. ___ The madness has nevertheless spread around the world: France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa have all embraced the mania in recent years.
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