听力原文：W: What are you doing？M: （20) I'm ordering some filing cabinet out of a catalog.W

听力原文：W: What are you doing？

M: (20) I'm ordering some filing cabinet out of a catalog.

W: What do you need them for？

M: There's so much stuff piling up in my dormitory room. If I don't do something soon, I won't be able to move in there.

W: Do you usually order from a catalog？

M: Sometimes. Why？

W: (19) Oh, it's just in the history class today we were talking about how the catalog sales business first got started in the U. S. A Chicago retailer, Montgomery Ward started it in the late 1800s. (21) It was really popular among farmers. It was difficult for them to make it to the big city stores so they ordered from catalogs.

M: Was Ward the only one in the business？

W: At first, but another person named Richard Sears started his own catalog after he heard how much money Ward was making.

M: What made them so popular？

W: Farmers trusted Ward and Sears for one thing. They delivered the products the farmers paid for and even refunded the price of things the farmers weren't satisfied with. (22) The catalog became so popular in some countries that school teachers even used them as textbooks.

M: Textbooks？

W: (22) Yes. Students practice spelling the names and adding up the prices of things in the catalogs.

M: Was everybody that thrilled about it？

W: That's doubtful. Say they drove some small store owners out of business. Sears and Ward sold stuff in such large quantities. They were able to undercut the prices at some small family owned stores.

19. What are the two speakers mainly talking about？

20.What does the man need the catalog for？

21.What can we learn about the catalogue business from the conversation？

22.Why did some schools use catalogs？

(23)

A．How to place orders.

B．The woman's history class.

C．The history of American catalog business.

D．The relationship between farmers and Ward.