46. What is the passage mainly about?
(A) An estimate, its measurement, and returns.
(B) A problem, its causes, and possible solutions.
(C) A method, its origins, and practical approaches.
(D) An online shopping system, its technology, and algorithm.

More than half a trillion dollars—that’s the estimated value of all the stuff that U.S. shoppers bought last year only to return it, more than the economy of Israel or Austria. There's a direct link from returns to the eye-popping scale of U.S. shopping overall. In 2021, U.S. shoppers likely spent a record $4.4 trillion. People tried new brands with unfamiliar sizes after seeing them on TikTok or Instagram. They overbought for the holidays and shopped exceedingly online, where returns are between two and five times more likely than with purchases from stores.
    Where does it all go? According to experts, most returned goods have a very high probability of being in a landfill. That is what consumers don't realize — the life of a return is a very sad path. A lot depends on the product and the store's policies. For example, pricier clothes are very likely to get dry-cleaned and sold again as new. Sealed, never-opened packages might get sanitized and put back on the shelf. Electronics often get resold. Value is the big threshold: Is the product worth the cost of shipping back plus paying someone to inspect, assess damage, clean, repair or test?That's why stores abandon billions of dollars' worth of goods, refunding or replacing them without asking shoppers to send their unwanted items back. Experts estimate that retailers throw away about a quarter of their returns. Every year,U.S. returns create almost 6 billion pounds of landfill waste.
    Luckily, many others get resold to a growing web of middleman companies. Some go to discount, outlet and thrift stores. Some go to sellers on eBay or other websites. Some get donated to charity or recycled. These options have ballooned over the past decade, paving the way for more and more returns to find a new home. As companies compete on flexible return policies, technology is also slowly getting better at avoiding returns in the first place: helping shoppers buy the right-size sweater or picture a new rug inside their room.
超過半萬億美元——這是美國購物者去年購買後退貨的所有商品的估計價值，超過了以色列或奧地利的經濟。退貨與美國整體購物令人瞠目結舌的規模有直接聯繫。 2021 年，美國購物者可能花費了創紀錄的 4.4 萬億美元。人們在 TikTok 或 Instagram 上看到尺寸不熟悉的新品牌後，就會嘗試這些新品牌。他們在假期超買並在網上購物，退貨的可能性是從商店購買的兩到五倍。這一切都去哪裡了？據專家介紹，大多數退回的商品很有可能被扔進垃圾填埋場。這是消費者沒有意識到的——退貨的生活是一條非常悲慘的道路。很大程度上取決於產品和商店的政策。例如，價格較高的衣服很可能會被乾洗並作為新衣服再次出售。密封的、從未打開過的包裝可能會被消毒並放回貨架上。電子產品經常被轉售。價值是最大的門檻：產品是否值得寄回的成本，外加請人檢查、評估損壞、清潔、維修或測試？這就是為什麼商店放棄價值數十億美元的商品，在不要求購物者的情況下退款或更換它們將他們不需要的物品寄回。專家估計，零售商扔掉了大約四分之一的退貨。每年，美國退貨會產生近 60 億磅的垃圾填埋場垃圾。幸運的是，許多其他人被轉售給不斷增長的中間商公司網絡。有些人去折扣店、奧特萊斯和舊貨店。有些去易趣或其他網站上的賣家。有些被捐贈給慈善機構或被回收。這些選擇在過去十年中激增，為越來越多的人尋找新家鋪平了道路。隨著公司在靈活的退貨政策上展開競爭，技術也逐漸在避免退貨方面變得越來越好：幫助購物者購買合適尺寸的毛衣或在他們的房間裡想像一張新地毯。

More than half a trillion dollars—that’s the estimated value of all the stuff that U.S. shoppers bought last year only to return it, more than the economy of Israel or Austria. There's a direct link from returns to the eye-popping scale of U.S. shopping overall. In 2021, U.S. shoppers likely spent a record $4.4 trillion. People tried new brands with unfamiliar sizes after seeing them on TikTok or Instagram. They overbought for the holidays and shopped exceedingly online, where returns are between two and five times more likely than with purchases from stores.
    Where does it all go? According to experts, most returned goods have a very high probability of being in a landfill. That is what consumers don't realize — the life of a return is a very sad path. A lot depends on the product and the store's policies. For example, pricier clothes are very likely to get dry-cleaned and sold again as new. Sealed, never-opened packages might get sanitized and put back on the shelf. Electronics often get resold. Value is the big threshold: Is the product worth the cost of shipping back plus paying someone to inspect, assess damage, clean, repair or test?That's why stores abandon billions of dollars' worth of goods, refunding or replacing them without asking shoppers to send their unwanted items back. Experts estimate that retailers throw away about a quarter of their returns. Every year,U.S. returns create almost 6 billion pounds of landfill waste.
    Luckily, many others get resold to a growing web of middleman companies. Some go to discount, outlet and thrift stores. Some go to sellers on eBay or other websites. Some get donated to charity or recycled. These options have ballooned over the past decade, paving the way for more and more returns to find a new home. As companies compete on flexible return policies, technology is also slowly getting better at avoiding returns in the first place: helping shoppers buy the right-size sweater or picture a new rug inside their room.
超過半萬億美元——這是美國購物者去年購買後退貨的所有商品的估計價值，超過了以色列或奧地利的經濟。退貨與美國整體購物令人瞠目結舌的規模有直接聯繫。 2021 年，美國購物者可能花費了創紀錄的 4.4 萬億美元。人們在 TikTok 或 Instagram 上看到尺寸不熟悉的新品牌後，就會嘗試這些新品牌。他們在假期超買並在網上購物，退貨的可能性是從商店購買的兩到五倍。這一切都去哪裡了？據專家介紹，大多數退回的商品很有可能被扔進垃圾填埋場。這是消費者沒有意識到的——退貨的生活是一條非常悲慘的道路。很大程度上取決於產品和商店的政策。例如，價格較高的衣服很可能會被乾洗並作為新衣服再次出售。密封的、從未打開過的包裝可能會被消毒並放回貨架上。電子產品經常被轉售。價值是最大的門檻：產品是否值得寄回的成本，外加請人檢查、評估損壞、清潔、維修或測試？這就是為什麼商店放棄價值數十億美元的商品，在不要求購物者的情況下退款或更換它們將他們不需要的物品寄回。專家估計，零售商扔掉了大約四分之一的退貨。每年，美國退貨會產生近 60 億磅的垃圾填埋場垃圾。幸運的是，許多其他人被轉售給不斷增長的中間商公司網絡。有些人去折扣店、奧特萊斯和舊貨店。有些去易趣或其他網站上的賣家。有些被捐贈給慈善機構或被回收。這些選擇在過去十年中激增，為越來越多的人尋找新家鋪平了道路。隨著公司在靈活的退貨政策上展開競爭，技術也逐漸在避免退貨方面變得越來越好：幫助購物者購買合適尺寸的毛衣或在他們的房間裡想像一張新地毯。