One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us the "cashless society" is not on the horizon-it's already here.

　　While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.

　　Numerous other commercial enterprise, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.

57. The phrase "ring up sales" (Line 3, Para. 2) most probably means "__".
[A] make an order of goods
[B] record sales on a cash register
[C] call the sales manager
[D] keep track of the goods in stock

[答案] B

[解題思路]

　　題干中的詞組出現(xiàn)在文章第二段的第二句話"Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales"。文中沒有直接相關(guān)的指代或解釋信息，但從該句的"registers"和下一個(gè)句子中的"keep records"等信息中可以推測"ring up"就是"登記"的意思。實(shí)際上第二段的第二、三句話的意思是"電子收銀機(jī)能做的遠(yuǎn)不止記錄銷售額，它們可進(jìn)行各種各樣的記錄，包括誰賣了什么，什么時(shí)候賣的，賣給誰了等"，因此B為正確選項(xiàng)。同時(shí)也可以將其他三個(gè)選項(xiàng)分別代入原句看上下文是否連貫一致，從而可以分別排除三個(gè)選項(xiàng)。

[題目譯文]

第二段第三行中的詞組"ring up sales"的意思很可能是         。
[A] 制定貨物訂單
[B] 在現(xiàn)金簿上紀(jì)錄銷售狀況
[C] 打電話給銷售經(jīng)理
[D] 查明儲存的貨物狀況