Auctionsarepublicsalesofgoods,conductedbyanofficiallyapprovedauctioneer.Heaskedthecrowedassembledintheauction-roomtomakeoffers,or“bids”,forthevariousitemsonsale.Heencouragesbuyerstobidhigherfiguresandfinallynamesthehighestbidderasthebuyerofthegoods.Thisiscalled“knockingdown”thegoods,forthebiddingendswhentheauctioneerbangsasmallhammeronatableatwhichhestands.Thisisoftensetonaraisedplatformcalledarostrum. TheancientRomansprobablyinventedsalesbyauction,andtheEnglishwordcomesfromtheLatinAutcio,meaning“increase.”TheRomansusuallysoldinthiswaythespoilstakeninwar;thesesaleswerecalledsubhasta,meaning“underthespear,”aspearbeingstuckinthegroundasasignalforacrowdtogather,InEnglishintheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies,goodswereoftensold“bythecandle”;ashortcandlewaslitbytheauctioneer,andbidscouldbemadewhileitstayedalight. Practicallyallgoodswhosequalitiesvaryaresoldbyauction.Amongthesearecoffee,hides,skins,wool,tea,cocoa,furs,spices,fruitandvegetablesandwines.Auctionsalesarealsousualforlandandproperty,antiquefurniture,pictures,rarebooks,oldchinaandsimilarworksofart.Theauction-roomsasChristie’sandSotheby’sinLondonandNewYorkareworld-famous. Anauctionisusuallyadvertisedbeforehandwithfullparticularsofthearticlestobesoldandwhereandwhentheycanbeviewedbyprospectivebuyers.Iftheadvertisementcannotgivefulldetails,cataloguesareprinted,andeachgroupofgoodstobesoldtogether,calleda“lot,”isusuallygivenanumber.TheauctioneerneednotbeginwithLotIandcontinueinnumericalorder;hemaywaituntilheregistersthefactthatcertaindealersareintheroomandthenproducethelotstheyarelikelytobeinterestedin.Theauctioneer’sservicesarepaidforintheformofapercentageofthepricethegoodsaresoldfor.Theauctioneerthereforehasadirectinterestinpushingupthebiddingashighaspossible. Theauctioneermaydecidetosellthe“lots”outoftheorderbecause_____.
A.he sometimes wants to confuse the buyers
B.he knows from experience that certain people will want to buy certain items
C.he wants to keep certain people waiting
D.he wants to reduce the number of buyers
正确答案是B