If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life, take my experience. I moved to Beijing a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded, polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics, bathroom furnishings, and anything else my wife wanted. “You’re looking for what exactly? Why not try it? ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day. With that, my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began.
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is second to consumer buying. Chinese retail(零售) buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit, and leading that group is Taobao, with 800 million items(物品) for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find. TMall.com is Alibaba’s other big site, where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices.
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U.S. is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping — big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites. In smaller towns than Beijing, where big retailers have not yet traveled, shopping online is shopping, and shopping is Taobao.
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how wide the marketplace is. Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping. I’m not even a big buyer, because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site. When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad, which helps me buy goods, I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine.
1. Alibaba’s advantage mainly lies in .
A.its business-to-business service |
B.its big size |
C.its not charging small sellers |
D.its low price |
A.Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites. |
B.Alibaba will continue to develop. |
C.Alibaba acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers. |
D.Alibaba stands out as the best online site. |
A.Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail. |
B.Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites. |
C.TMall.com provides more profit than Taobao. |
D.The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover. |
A.Shopping online in China is TaoBao. |
B.Alibaba influences people’s daily purchase in China. |
C.Shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping. |
D.How the author purchases online in China. |
相似题推荐
1. Where can you find the above passage?
A.Ina leaflet. | B.On a website. |
C.On a shopping list. | D.In a printed copy. |
A.$10.99 | B.$19.97 | C.$38.65 | D.$11.99 |
A.She is ready to attend a Christmas party. |
B.She is in charge of the New Year’s decorations. |
C.She has a kid at home who probably likes Lego products. |
D.She is creating the atmosphere for a happy new year in winter. |
【推荐2】Singles Day: Alibaba Says a Lot of People in China Bought Online
The planet’s biggest shopping day has come and gone, and Alibaba again showed the world how many mountains of stuff (物品) it could persuade people to buy in the 24 hours.
Monday was Nov. 11, known in China as Singles Day. This year, nearly $38.3 billion worth of stuff was sold on Alibaba’s platforms (平台) that day, beating last year’s $30.8 billion and making Black Friday look, yet again, like a yard sale.
China has grown richer and more digitally connected. Alibaba has become a technology powerhouse. Along the way, the company has made a few famous friends. This year the singer Taylor Swift performed in its live-streamed evening gala (庆典) in Shanghai on Sunday. In previous years the model Miranda Kerr and the actors Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig also showed on the Singles Day stage.
Alibaba started taking the lead in China, simply enough, by connecting big Chinese manufacturers with big buyers across the world. Its business-to-business site, Alibaba.com allowed people to buy almost everything. Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to see: size. Alibaba is just big, even by Chinese standards.
Alibaba now calls itself a data and technology company, one that provides digital tools to help the businesses on its platforms. That, in turn, leads consumers to look to those platforms for their every need, from shopping and services to entertainment and travel. Today, Alibaba is itself a gigantic company, and it wants to grow bigger still.
1. Where is this passage probably from?A.A textbook. | B.A newspaper. |
C.A science news report. | D.An advertisement. |
A.2. | B.3. |
C.4. | D.5. |
A.Its platform. | B.Its service. |
C.Its price. | D.Its size. |
A.Large. | B.Small. |
C.Good. | D.Successful. |
【推荐3】A hearing aid is a small electronic device you wear in or behind your ear to make sounds louder. A hearing aid has three basic parts: a microphone, an amplifier and a speaker. The hearing aid receives sound through a microphone, which changes the sound waves to electrical signals and sends them to an amplifier. The amplifier increases the power of the signals and sends them to the ear through a speaker. There are three styles of hearing aids.
·Behind-the-ear (BTE) aids are used by people of all ages. “Mini” BTE is a new kind. These small and open-fit aids fit behind the ear completely, with a narrow tube into the ear canal, enabling the canal to remain open. Thus, some people prefer it because their own voice does not sound “plugged up”.
·In-the-ear (ITE) aids fit completely inside the outer ear. Some ITE aids may have added features, such as a telecoil that allows users to receive sound through the circuitry of the hearing aid, rather than through its microphone.
•Canal aids fit into the ear canal and are available in two styles. In-the-canal (ITC) aids are made to fit the size and shape of the ear canal. Completely-in-canal ( CIC) aids are hidden in the ear canal.
The hearing aid that will work best for you depends on your hearing needs and lifestyle. Price is also a key consideration. However, just because one hearing aid is more expensive than another does not necessarily mean that it will better suit your needs. Other features to consider include parts or services covered by the guarantee, estimated costs for repair, and the hearing aid company’s reputation for quality and service.
For more information, contact: nidcdinfo@nidcd.nih.gov .
1. What helps strengthen the power of electrical signals in a hearing aid?A.The microphone. | B.The amplifier. |
C.The speaker. | D.The telecoil. |
A.“Mini” BTE | B.In-the-ear aids |
C.In-the-canal aids | D.Completely-in-canal aids |
A.increase your estimated costs | B.find the one with more features |
C.give in to the after-sale services | D.consider your needs and lifestyle |
Learn With Homer Price: Free Skill: Comprehension, Phonics(拼读法) Grade level : Pre-K, K Device: iPad It’s a learn-to-read app for kids aged 3 to 6 that includes drawing, voice recording , stories ,songs, and more , along with more traditional phonics exercises. This app can be helpful for kids who have speech production problems and language organization problems. |
Aesop’s Quest Price:$0.99 Skill: Comprehension, Grade level : 2nd, 3rd,4th Device: iPad,iPhone, iPod Touch Aesop’s Quest, based on Aesop’s Fables, is a learning game where the student must remember parts of a story to complete a level. At the end of each story level, the student is rewarded with tests. After solving the tests, the story is complete and the child can continue to the next story. Developed together with the Virginia Department of Education. |
LightSail Price: Free Skill: Comprehension Grade level: Pre-K, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd ,4th, and above Device: iPad LightSail is an e-reading platform that helps teachers support their students’ independent reading. Students can use LightSail to check out texts from their schools’ online libraries and read the books directly on their iPad. As students progress through a book, questions appear to check their comprehension. As students complete assessments (评定) , they earn prizes. |
1. The app Learn With Homer can help users who have difficulty in ____.
A.singing songs | B.reading stories |
C.making speeches | D.learning foreign language |
A.It is developed mainly for teachers. |
B.It is connected to school libraries. |
C.It helps users complete school assessments. |
D.It develops users’ comprehension through games. |
A.They try to improve kids’ comprehension ability. |
B.They are developed for high-school students. |
C.They can be downloaded onto iPhones. |
D.They are free of charge. |
【推荐2】The World Heritage application of the ancient Tea Horse Road, jointly carried out by China, Mongolia and Russia, will serve as an example for international cooperation, according to Sergey Kalashnikov, chairman of Russia International Cooperation Association.
The cooperation among China, Mongolia and Russia on this application process will not only promote the cultural and economic development of the countries, provinces, cities and counties along the ancient Tea Horse Road but also provide new perspectives for international cooperation on culture, technology and trade, Sergey said.
Sergey made the remarks at a forum on the application process which was held in the city of Wuyishan in East China's Fujian province on Sunday. Attendees of the forum include scholars from China, Mongolia and Russia, as well as representatives from cities along the road.
The ancient Tea Horse Road, which dates back to the 17th century, was a network of ancient trade routes that came into being after the Silk Road. Starting from the Wuyi Mountain, it passed through Chinese provinces including Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Hebei and Shanxi and Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and extended to Mongolia and Russia, stretching about 13,000 km and boosting the development of more than 200 cities along the way.
The heritage along the ancient Tea Horse Road includes ancient tea gardens, tea-making techniques, ports and intangible cultural heritage. The ancient Tea Horse Road was inscribed on the "World Heritage Tentative List in China" in March 2019.
1. The cooperation on the application will bring the following benefits EXCEPT:A.Presenting the cultural development. |
B.Promoting the economic development. |
C.Developing new perspectives for international cooperation. |
D.Providing new platform to strengthen friendship among the countries. |
A.The Silk Road can date back to the 17th century. |
B.Wuyishan is where the Tea Horse Road started |
C.The Tea Horse Road came into being before the Silk Road |
D.There are about 200cities along the Tea Horse Road |
A.The Tea Horse Road. |
B.The silk Road. |
C.A successful cooperation. |
D.The World Heritage application. |
【推荐3】There’s more information out about the results of Finland’s much-watched basic income experiment, and it should prove particularly interesting to policymakers around the world who are considering introducing such a system.
The idea of a basic income involves giving citizens a fixed amount of money for nothing. Finland ran an experiment with two thousand unemployed people through 2017 and 2018, and its Labour Institute for Economic Research (Kela) started reporting on the results in February.
In its first report, Kela said the basic income didn't much affect the amount of work that the subjects picked up during the experiment, but it did make them feel more confident about their ability to find work.
On Thursday, Kela released further results, noting that survey respondents felt less stressed about their finances and more in control of their lives but also that the basic income appeared to change the way they felt about society.
Here’s where it gets interesting for policymakers. According to Kela, “Respondents who received a basic income had more trust in other people and in public institutions politicians, political parties, police and the courts than members of the control group.”
The idea of basic income has gained attention in recent years, largely due to fears over automation’s effect on employment. In the US, a universal basic income is one of the core proposals of 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who insisted that it would not make people lazier. The Finnish results seem to back him up on that. In India, the Congress party is promising basic income for 250 million of India’s poorest people. The UK’s Labour Party is also warming to the idea, and plans to add a basic income to its next campaign.
1. Which country has already tried the basic income experiment?A.The US. | B.The UK. | C.Finland. | D.India. |
A.It reduced people’s willingness to work. |
B.It made people more confident to find jobs. |
C.It increased people’s trust in public institutions. |
D.It helped people have more control in their lives. |
A.The political trends in rich countries. |
B.The harmful effects of automation. |
C.The acceptance of the idea of basic income. |
D.The benefits of a universal basic income. |
A.A newspaper. | B.A science fiction. |
C.A textbook. | D.A lab report. |
【推荐1】Starting in September, shoppers at British supermarket chain Waitrose &Partners may notice a small yet significant difference. Nearly 500 fresh products will no longer have “best before” dates printed on them. This move is designed to reduce food waste by encouraging shoppers to use their own judgement as to whether a product is still good to eat, rather than relying on a printed date.
Marija Rompani, director of Waitrose&Partners, points out 70% of all food wasted in the U. K. happens at home. U. K. households throw away 4. 5 million tons of eatable food every year, meaning that all the energy and resources used in food production are wasted. He says this move will save money at a time of rising food costs and increasing financial pressures. By using up existing fresh food in our homes, we can also save on our weekly household food shopping, which is becoming an increasingly pressing concern for many.
Waitrose-Partners is not the only supermarket to make such changes in recent years. Another British chain, Morrison’s, made headlines in January for removing “use by” dates on milk, urging customers to do a test with their noses to determine whether or not the milk is still good to drink. Tesco removed “best before” dates on more than 100 fresh food products in 2018, and MarksSpencer did the same this summer for over 300 products after a successful smaller trial.
“Best before” typically refers to the date before which an item will have best taste and texture. Passing the date does not mean it goes bad — just that it’s less good. “Use by” refers to safety and will still be applied to Waitrose & Partners products where there’s a risk of food poisoning if consumed after the date printed on the packaging. There are exceptions if the item has been frozen ahead o£ its “use by” date.
1. What does Waitrose&-Partners encourage shoppers to do?A.Save money through buying no more than necessary. |
B.Do household shopping weekly to guarantee fresh food. |
C.Rely on printed dates for the quality guarantee period o£ products. |
D.Use their own judgement to decide whether a product is good to eat. |
A.Increasing food production. | B.Saving money spent on food. |
C.Reducing the pressure of supermarkets. | D.Listening to the pressing concern of consumers. |
A.It asked shoppers to buy frozen food. |
B.It asked shoppers to test milk by nose. |
C.It removed “best before” dates on some products. |
D.It did a successful experiment on customer preference. |
A.Business and Policy. | B.Home and Design. |
C.Science and Technology. | D.Events and Celebrations. |
【推荐2】Recently, there is a view on the Internet that “the rise of pig price will lead to the rise of other food prices, thus leading to a substantial rise in overall prices”. It should be said that this judgment is not scientific. We should objectively understand the position of pork price in the overall price and its possible linkage effect.
At present, the main problem faced by the pork price is the lack of pork production capacity, which has nothing to do with inflation and will not lead to inflation. The rise of pork price only affects the upstream and downstream of pig industry and other related products such as meat, but has limited impact on the overall price. At present, China's agricultural product supply is sufficient; the production capacity of consumer goods is constantly improving; the service supply is more diversified, and the monetary policy remains stable, which provides a solid foundation for the stable operation of prices.
Keeping prices, especially the prices of important people's livelihood commodities, basically stable is related to the basic life of the people. In the face of rising pork prices, the state's policy of ensuring supply and stabilizing prices continues to increase. From choosing the right opportunity to put frozen meat reserve to starting the price subsidy mechanism, from rectifying the improper restriction and prohibition measures to protecting the land for pig farms, from special financial support to financial insurance escort, all departments are taking measures. With the gradual effectiveness of the measures, the price of pork will be stable in the future. It is worth noting that the data of the Ministry of Commerce on September 10th shows that the increase of pork wholesale price has fallen back from the previous week (from September 2nd to 8th).
1. From the first paragraph of the article, what’s the correct point of view we can get?A.The rise of pig price will lead to the rise of other food prices, which will lead to the sharp rise of overall prices. |
B.The rise of pig price will lead to the decrease of other food prices, which will lead to the sharp decline of overall price. |
C.People should objectively understand the position of pork price in the overall price and its possible linkage effect. |
D.It is not important to understand the position of pork price in the overall price and the linkage effect it can produce. |
A.The reason for the rise of pork price is related to inflation. |
B.The reason for the rise of pork price is related to the death of pigs. |
C.The reason for the rise of pork price is related to market demand. |
D.The reason for the rise of pork price is related to the lack of pork production capacity. |
A.The price of pork will keep rising. | B.The price of pork will probably be stable. |
C.The price of pork will not be stable. | D.The price of pork will never be stable. |
A.The Price of Pork Is Rising. |
B.What will People Do in the Face of Rising Pork Prices? |
C.The Impact of Rising Pork Prices. |
D.The Impact of Rising Pork Prices on People. |
【推荐3】Electric vehicles are close to the “turning point” of rapid mass adoption thanks to the decreasing cost of batteries, experts say.
Global sales of electric vehicles rose 43% in 2020, but even faster growth is expected when continuing falls in battery prices result in the price of electric cars under the same petrol and diesel (柴油) models, which may happen between 2023 and 2025. According to a study by Prof Tim Lonton, at the University of Exeter, the tuning point has already been passed in Norway, where tax breaks (税收减免) mean electric cars are cheaper and the market share of battery-powered cars increased to 54% in 2020 in Norway, compared with less than 5% in most European nations.
The falls in battery prices in the last decade have been dramatic and faster than predicted thanks to a massive production and cuts in costs, such as reducing the amount of expensive cobalt (钻) required. BloombergNEF’s analysis predicts lithium-ion (锂离子) battery cots will fall so sharply that electric cars can match the price of petrol and diesel cars by 2023. McKin-sey’s Global Energy Perspective 2021, published on 15 January, forecasts that “electric vehicles are likely to become the most economic choice in the next five years worldwide”.
Electric cars, vital in efforts to fight climate crisis, are quieter and start to go faster, so people do not want to return to a petrol or diesel vehicle once they have one. A survey of 2,000 electric car owners found 91% said they did not want to go back.
“The survey shows the strong and lasting impact of switching to a clean car. The evidence in favor of electric vehicles grows more convincing even in a year as destructive as 2020,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, at Zap-Map, which maps charging points.
1. What leads to the growing sales of electric vehicles?A.The rise in petrol prices. | B.The desire for a lower tax. |
C.The drop in battery costs. | D.The need for a cleaner life. |
A.Policies in Norway support electric vehicles. |
B.Economy in Norway outgrows other nations. |
C.The market share of electric vehicles will decline. |
D.The tax breaks in Europe will continue to increase. |
A.By increasing the demand for cobalt. |
B.By boosting the sales of electric cars. |
C.By reducing the production of batteries. |
D.By cutting the costs of lithium-ion batteries. |
A.People do not tend to use a petrol vehicle. |
B.Electric vehicles have a strong impact on our daily life. |
C.The prices of battery are decreasing because of electric vehicles. |
D.The prospect of electric vehicles will be improving because of the falls in the battery prices. |