1 . It’s not so long ago that contactless card payments were exciting and new, but the technology is already old-hat. The new, better way to pay for things in shops? By using your phone to make a contactless payment.
Because traditionally, when you have paid with a card tap (轻敲) or using a chip and pin machine, ultimately the shop you are buying from will be noting down all of your card details.
However, when you tap to pay with your device, it generates a unique ID number for that deal and sends that instead. So you can pay for your goods and the shop can get your money.
Want to give it a try? To actually set things up, go to your Wallet app and follow the instructions.
| A．It helps to build the client list. |
| B．The setup process varies with banks. |
| C．No one needs to share any sensitive data. |
| D．It’s also more effective against the threat of thefts. |
| E．And phone payments are increasingly convenient too. |
| F．Typically this starts by scanning your card with your phone. |
| G．Therefore, it knows which bank account to take the money from. |
2 . What is PayQwiq?
PayQwiq is a fast and secure payment service that helps you go quickly through the Tesco checkout. It lets you add your credit or debit card details to the app so you can use your smartphone to pay for your shopping with just one scan. Not only that but it collects your Clubcard points automatically. This means you can now go wallet-free in all UK Tesco stores. So why not give it a go? It only takes a moment to download and you will receive these benefits:
Collect your Clubcard points automatically
Pay for your weekly shop up to £250
Use payQwiq offline, even with no signal
Track your spending in Tesco
Sign up to PayQwiq and collect 100 extra Clubcard points for each week you pay with the app, for up to 5 weeks—that’s up to 500 extra points.
Available to new customers who sign up by 3 September 2018 and make all payments by 31 October 2018. One offer per customer. Only one qualifying deal per week will collect the extra points. Additional payments in the same week will not receive extra points. Clubcard points will be added to a future Clubcard statement.
How does it work?
Head to the App Store or Google Play to download the PayQwiq app. As soon as you’ve added your card details, you’ll be ready to shop using just your phone. And there’s no need to worry about your bank details being stored on your phone—they’re all securely protected in our data centers. So not only it is quicker and easier, it’s safer too.
1. What can customers do if they use PayQwiq in UK Tesco stores?| A．Win 500 extra points at a time. | B．Budget their everyday spending. |
| C．Get Clubcard points automatically | D．Pay for their weekly shop without limit. |
| A．Users must sign up by 3 September 2018. |
| B．Users needn’t add their payment card information. |
| C．PayQwiq can guarantee both convenience and safety. |
| D．PayQwig can be downloaded only from the App Store. |
| A．To ensure the safety of PayQwiq. | B．To popularize the use of PayQwiq. |
| C．To stress the importance of PayQwiq. | D．To describe the feasibility of PayQwiq. |
3 . What is PayQuick?
PayQuick is a fast payment service for shopping in the biggest supermarket in UK — Tesco. It allows you to add your credit or debit card details to the app so you can use your smartphone to pay for your shopping with just one scan, which means you can go wallet-free in all UK Tesco stores.
What are the benefits?
●Collect your Tesco points automatically
●Pay for your weekly shopping up to £250
●Use PayQuick offline, even with no signal
●Track your spending in Tesco
However, only one qualifying deal per week will collect the extra Tesco points. Additional payments in the same week won’t receive extra points. Tesco points will be added to your future Tesco points statement.
How to get your PayQuick?
Available to new customers who sign up by 3rd March 2024, the PayQuick app can be downloaded from the App Store or our official website. Once you have the app on your phone, register your personal details on the app to get an account. Note that for each customer, only one account is allowed and a family shared account will not be acknowledged. Finally, with all the preparation work done, you’ll be ready to shop using just your phone.
Plus, there’s no need to worry about your bank details being stored on your phone — they’re all securely protected in our data centers. So not only is it quicker and easier, it’s safer than going shopping with your wallet as well.
1. If customers use PayQuick in UK Tesco stores, they can ______.| A．purchase things only offline |
| B．get their Tesco points automatically |
| C．keep track of their daily spending |
| D．pay for their shopping without limit |
| A．To register by 3rd March 2024. |
| B．To download the PayQuick app. |
| C．To bring their phones with them. |
| D．To share the account with their family. |
| A．To ensure the safety of PayQuick. |
| B．To stress the importance of PayQuick. |
| C．To popularize the use of PayQuick. |
| D．To illustrate the application of PayQuick. |
4 . Three months ago, I landed in Beijing International Airport after a very long flight from Vancouver, Canada. I thought that it would just be a normal summer, but little did I know that my understanding of how to pay for things was about to be completely changed.
As an international student who had not been back to China for three years, I knew that it would take me some time to readjust to the life in China. However, I did not expect that I wouldn’t even be able to do things as simple as taking the subway.
I still remember asking my cousin if I could borrow his metro card. He looked at me with such astonishment and then started laughing: “No one uses a metro card now. You have your phone!” He then explained to me which application I needed to download and how to connect it with WeChat pay.
I was so dumbfounded by how convenient payment had become in China. When I had just come back, I still had the habit of carrying some cash with me when I went out. But soon, I realized that there was no place for me to use it. Even the smallest convenience stores support Alipay or WeChat pay. Online transactions (交易) and mobile payments have become the new norm.
Mobile payment is so common for people in China that they are used to it by now. But for me, it has been new and exciting.
Back in Vancouver, there was no way of going to the mall or supermarket without carrying cash, a debit card (借记卡) or a credit card. Mobile payment in Canada is not as prevalent (流行的) as it is in China. Personally, I have never paid using my phone during my stay in Canada. I had to carry cash around everywhere. Contrary to that, I have not used cash to pay at all since I arrived back in China.
Now I am getting used to the concept of mobile payment. Gradually, I stopped asking the vendors (小贩) if I could use WeChat pay and just showed them my payment code. Thinking back on my experience with this “new” method of paying over the past few months, I have to admit that our lives have indeed become much more convenient with the presence of mobile payment.
1. Why did the author mention her experience of taking the subway in China?| A．To compare the subways in China and Canada. |
| B．To explain how to use WeChat pay to take the subway. |
| C．To show she was unprepared for the change in lifestyle. |
| D．To describe how her cousin helped her when she returned. |
| A．Confused. | B．Astonished. | C．Excited. | D．Bothered. |
| A．The benefits of mobile payment. |
| B．The concept of mobile payment. |
| C．Why the author preferred to pay by cash in Vancouver. |
| D．How people pay differently in Vancouver and China. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Annoyed. |
5 . As COVID-19 continues to influence consumer behavior, the use of non-plastic payment methods is rising. But does this spell the end of the plastic credit card era?
Since the first Diners Club credit card was unveiled in 1950, much has changed. Recent technological developments and in-store consumer preferences could suggest times are changing. For some years now, various founders of financial institutions, as well as industry experts, have foreseen plastic credit cards or any other means of physical payment methods including cash will not be around much longer. They based their predictions on the light-speed growth of digital payment.
At the beginning of the global pandemic (大流行病), governments took measures to protect their citizens, leading to lockdowns of varying degrees. The fear of contracting the virus through high-traffic ATMs and the refusal of merchants to accept cash can only be seen as a great addition to an already declared war on cash. Meanwhile, the urgency to spend a minimum time period in stores in order to avoid interactions led consumers towards digital solutions.
Furthermore, options like QR codes (二维码), NFC, and PINs have been around for a while but a true market breakthrough seems to only have happened since the beginning of the pandemic. According to Worldpay, without these telecommunication innovations, the shift in people’s payment behavior is out of the question. 86% of contactless adapters built into smart devices have seen themselves proceed with contactless payment. This trend will help to wipe out cash and plastic credit cards.
From a different perspective, countries like France, Italy, and Germany had almost 150 million smartphone users in 2019 alone. And it’s been reported that 80% of the transactions (交易) will be done via Internet-backed devices by 2025. And this figure will keep rising as more and more cheap smartphones are pouring into the global market. It is expected that e-wallets are going to be the most preferred payment method by then.
So, will there be a comeback for our beloved plastic spending power? I would put away my cash and plastic cards, switch on my phone instead of inserting cards, and present QR codes at a self-checkout instead of queuing behind a mass of people. I believe that many people think the same way.
1. What are the predictions in the financial circle about?| A．The Diners Club credit card will make a comeback. |
| B．Consumers’ preferences will be varied around the world. |
| C．The era of traditional payment will come to an end soon. |
| D．New technologies will cause the decline of physical stores. |
| A．The worldwide efforts to fight against the pandemic. |
| B．The economic slowdown caused by the pandemic. |
| C．The impact of the health crisis on ways of payment. |
| D．The public’s tendency to shop online during lockdowns. |
| A．The fast update rate of smart devices. |
| B．The existing digital payment technologies. |
| C．Many physical stores’ excellent online service. |
| D．The acceptance of digital payment among customers. |
| A．E-wallets will achieve increasing global popularity. |
| B．Smartphones will become cheaper and cheaper in the future. |
| C．Developed countries have high rates of Internet popularization. |
| D．The number of global smartphone users will rise by 80% by 2025. |
| A．Negative. | B．Favorable. | C．Unclear. | D．Hopeful. |
6 . Generally speaking, convenience and safety affect how we choose to pay for things. Environmental concerns do, too.
Each time you pull out a credit, use a phone’s wallet app or hand over cash, you take part in a system. Some parts of that system make things, like coins, bills or cards. Other parts move money between buyers, sellers, banks and others. Used cash, cards and equipment will be eventually disposed of (处理), as well. Each part of this system uses materials and energy. And all parts produce waste.
Now researchers are looking more closely at how “green” these payment systems are. They’re finding buyers can help cut some of the environmental costs, no matter how they pay.
To understand the full “cost” to society of money or any other system, researchers can perform what’s called a life-cycle assessment. It looks at all the environmental impacts of a product or process. It starts with mining, growing or making the raw materials. It includes what happens while something is in use. And it considers the final disposal or reuse of things.
Even though raw materials are the first step, in fact there are raw materials added in at every single step along the journey. For money, raw materials go into each step of something that is “made”. Fuels are the raw materials for energy to make products and transport them. More energy goes into using products. Recycling or disposal also requires energy, plus water, soil or other materials.
People don’t realize most of those steps, so they can’t judge if one form of payment is dirtier or more costly. And that’s a problem, researchers say. It’s also what has got some of them to show more about the costs of how we pay for our lifestyles.
A life-cycle assessment doesn’t tell you what to do. However, it gives you an informed basis for making a decision.
1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The ways of paying. | B．The process of payment. |
| C．The waste produced by payment. | D．The introduction of payment systems. |
| A．The real value of money. | B．The history of the currency. |
| C．The effect on the environment. | D．The importance of raw material. |
| A．Steps. | B．Products. | C．Materials. | D．Fuels. |
| A．The Payment Patterns are Changing | B．How We Choose to Pay Affects the Environment |
| C．New Payment Patterns Have Come into Being | D．How We Make Payment Systems “Green” |
7 . When you make an order on Taobao, you know the money you pay doesn’t go directly to the seller. Instead, it goes through Alipay (支付宝), which keeps your money for a while. Then Alipay gives the money to the seller.
Most online sellers and shoppers like the third party online payment, but banks are not happy.
Whether Alipay or WeChat payment, they are both trying to attract more users and make online shopping easier. Both payments have made the best of QR code (二维码) technology.
| A．But WeChat payment is not the same |
| B．This is called “third party online payment” |
| C．Among them, Alipay is the biggest in China |
| D．The reason is that these companies fight over money with them |
| E．More women shop on line than men |
| F．Also, they promote sales through face recognition payment |
| G．we can keep in touch with our family and friends |
8 . American Express Gold: Best “non-travel” travel card
Why it’s great in one sentence: The American Express Gold card earns tons of valuable Amex travel points on practically all the food-related purchases you’re making even when you are not traveling, and the credits available on the card nearly offset (抵消) its annual fee.
This card is right for: People who can use all of the card’s various credits and who spend significant money at restaurants, on food delivery services or at U.S. supermarkets while they are not on the road.
Highlights:
First, with the Amex Gold, you’ll earn 4 points for every dollar you spend on restaurants worldwide, and on up to $25,000 in annual purchases at U.S. supermarkets (1 point per dollar afterwards). Most food delivery services count as “restaurants” on this card, so that means the vast majority of your food purchases will earn 4 points, regardless of how you’re eating.
You’ll also earn 3 points per dollar when you book airfare directly with an airline, so if you’re looking to jump on any sales for flights later in the year, you can pay for them with the Amex Gold and earn extra points on those as well.
The points earned on this card are American Express Membership Rewards points, which are extremely useful. You can redeem (兑取现金) them directly for flights via Amex Travel at 1 cent each, but if you put in some extra effort and research, you can potentially get much more value from them by transferring them to any of Amex’s 21 airline and hotel partners, which include Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, Marriott and many more.
1. What can we know about the American Express Gold card?| A．It requires no annual fee. | B．It has a link with food purchases. |
| C．It is targeted at delivery services. | D．It.is right for restaurant managers. |
| A．100,000. | B．100,800. | C．103,200. | D．400,000. |
| A．Change them into money to buy food. |
| B．Transfer guests from airlines to hotels. |
| C．Purchase services in suggested airlines. |
| D．Make some extra effort and do research. |
9 . Is a cashless society possible for everyone?
There is no escaping our evolution into a cashless society. It would give rise to a new era for financial businesses, which are all carried out digitally. The key benefits would include lower crime rates, easier foreign businesses, and reduced risks and costs. The idea of a cashless society appears so wide-spread in our society.
Economic inequality and exclusivity (排他性)are fundamental issues still present worldwide.
In China, four out of every five payments are now cashless.
| A．This problem can not be ignored. |
| B．However, this is far from reality. |
| C．We shouldn’t leave behind the poor. |
| D．Nearly everything can be bought digitally. |
| E．It isn’t just the unbanked who are at risk of being left behind. |
| F．A cashless society might actually make these problems worse. |
| G．We must ensure that people are still given freedom of choice regarding how they pay. |
10 . Credit cards
However you view credit card, it’s hard to live in the modern world without one. And if you have one, you owe it to yourself to use it properly.
Although credit cards are becoming a more acceptable part of the financial scene, they are still regarded with suspicion by many as being a major part of the “live now pay later” syndrome(综合症).
Advertising campaigns have, however, promoted a growing realization of the advantages of these small pieces f plastics. They avoid the need to carry large amounts of cash and are always useful in emergencies. All the credit card organizations charge interest on a monthly basis.
Using a credit card wisely takes discipline and a little self-control. Once you realize your debt is someone else’s profit margin, your approach to your plastic will change. With a bit of discipline and some practical knowledge, you can make your cards work for you, rather than the other way round.
| A．The cardholder must pay a defined minimum position of the amount owed by a due date, or may choose to pay a higher amount. |
| B．It is worthwhile shopping around before deciding on a particular credit card. |
| C．They provide encouragement to spend more money. |
| D．In other words, they combine payment services with extensions of credit. |
| E．As a matter of fact, a credit card can cost noting or at least help you through a period of financial difficulty. |
| F．Yet wise purchasing using a card can mean you obtain up to seven weeks’ interest-free credit. |
