1 . Market traders and street vendors （摊贩）are making a comeback across China, and this time they find themselves equipped with a new set of digital skills essential to navigating the vast consumer market. To revitalize （复兴）retail stands, in a move aimed at stimulating domestic spending and stabilizing employment, the country's leading e-commerce platforms are lending a helping hand, offering services like accessible financing backed by technologies.
Domestic wholesale site 1688. com is among the first group of tech players with such offerings. At the heart of the action plan is an effort to link street vendors directly with factories, effectively avoiding middlemen and saving time and costs.
According to general manager Wang Hai, numerous small-scale merchants on the site have managed to gain the upper hand in price negotiations, while manufacturers are more willing to mass-produce as the economy of scale serves to reduce costs, thus creating a win-win situation.
“Data analytics also kicks in, giving traders some insight into current consumer trends so that they no longer need to operate their business purely based on intuition （直觉），and they can avoid stockpiling,“ Wang said. For instance, the most sought-after categories in markets are daily necessities ? underwear , digital gadgets and beauty products, according to the company, whereas the most passionate buyers come from Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.
Meanwhile, to stabilize employment , e-commerce major JD. com vowed to add a number of job positions that either require flexible working hours, allow working from home or are designed to promote startup businesses. For posts related to delivery, warehouse management and packaging, priority is given to people from poverty-stricken areas.
“The COVID-19 outbreak will accelerate the digital transformation of the real economy, and individual traders and smaller stores are no exception,” said Xu Lei, CEO of JD's retail unit. "We have the capability and, more importantly, the responsibility to inject vitality （活力）into these entities, thus contributing to the economic rebound （回弹）and stabilizing employment.
1. What can we learn about e-commerce platforms like 1688. com?| A．They have an advantage in price negotiation. |
| B．Their efforts help street vendors cut the cost. |
| C．They increase production through technology. |
| D．Their services are financed by the government. |
| A．By improving traders' business intuition. |
| B．By helping traders find out market trends. |
| C．By telling traders when to stockpile goods. |
| D．By aiding traders in controlling the market. |
| A．A person experienced in driving a truck. | B．A person willing to start a new business. |
| C．A person from an underdeveloped village. | D．A person preferring flexible working hours. |
| A．Culture. | B．World. |
| C．Lifestyle. | D．Business. |
2 . Cars could be able to "talk" to each other to warn about dangers on the roads using 5G technology in future, according to researchers.
Researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) believe 5G may enable driverless cars to send each other messages about dangers such as ice or deep holes.
And they believe the high-speed, low -delay (低延迟的) nature of 5G will improve driverless cars to the point where they will be safer than the cars being driven today. They predict the number of road traffic accidents which cause more than 1. 3 million deaths and up to 50 million people injured worldwide every year will drop greatly as a result.
Dr Dimitrios, a member of the research group, said, “To have a better idea of what the future will look like, think of having cars that not only use sensors (感应器) to find what's around them, but also can talk to each other about safety information nearby.”
“I'm sure anyone who has had a bad experience on frozen roads would have benefited from knowing about the dangerous conditions ahead of time so they could have changed their speed or, if possible, even avoided that route (路线) altogether.”
With the help of 5G, an early warning system in vehicles will come into use within the next few years. Cars that are close enough to the danger area will pass warning messages to other cars around them using communication technologies, but also to cars further away using 5G, fast and reliably. Then those cars will send the same information to cars near them and 80 on, forming a joined-up.
5G is an exciting mobile technology, which will give a great boost to smart cities and autonomous (全自动的) vehicles among many other things.
1. Which of the following will Dr Dimitrios agree?| A．Cars can talk with drivers using 5G. |
| B．5G will improve the safety of car driving. |
| C．Massages sent by 5G will never be delayed. |
| D．Over 1.3 million deaths are caused by driverless cars. |
| A．changing their speed | B．turning to another route |
| C．getting closer to the danger area | D．sending warnings to nearby cars |
| A．Recovery. | B．Push. | C．Danger. | D．Fame. |
| A．Science and Technology. | B．Entertainment. | C．Life. | D．Transport. |
| FISH FOR FUN! DO NOT FISH FOR FOOD! FISHERMEN! FOR THE PROTECTION OF YOUR HEALTH! FISH FROM THESE WATERS SHOULD NOT BE EATEN BECAUSE OF MERCURY CONTAMINATION. Department of Land and Forests |
1. What’s this? It’s a ________.
| A．letter | B．diary |
| C．newspaper | D．notice |
| A．to give an order for fish |
| B．for a concert |
| C．to warn fishermen of the danger |
| D．for making fun of fishermen |
| A．to stop fishing |
| B．that the fish from the waters is unfit to eat. |
| C．that they would never go fishing. |
| D．that fishing was not allowed here. |
| A．can feed up fish for people to eat |
| B．is helpful for health |
| C．can make people lose weight |
| D．is poisonous (有毒的) and dangerous to health |
