1 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

A cashless society is defined as one that doesn’t use cash in monetary transactions (交易). These societies favor alternative means of payment, such     1     credit cards, or contactless payment.

Of all the companies     2     (move) closer to becoming cashless, most people agree that Sweden is the closest. 85% of the country has access to online banking and only 2% of the country’s transactions consist of cash.

There     3     (be) a number of reasons for this cashless trend. Sweden has access to a popular payment app     4     (call) Swish, which more than 50% of the country uses. But the     5     (big ) catalyst (引发变化的因素) so far is that most Swedish merchants don’t access cash payment.

China also has a vast cashless market,    6     is mostly dominated by Tencent’s WeChat Pay or Alipay, which is owned by Alibaba. But unlike many other countries, China hasn’t embraced (欣然接受) credit card payment. Instead, most Chinese consumers make payment by scanning QR codes (二维码) on     7     (they) phones.

Most merchants request payment via QR codes and it’s not uncommon     8     (see) QR codes located all throughout China. And this trend is starting to spread to other countries that have a lot of Chinese     9     (travel).

The growing cashless trend has led many people to wonder     10     the U.S. will eventually go cashless. It is possible since U.S. consumers are increasingly moving away from cash and embracing other forms of payment.

3 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Buy Now, Pay Later Spending

Buy now, pay later(BNPL) spending is expected to rise to record levels this holiday season. With so many young “buy now, pay later” shoppers already in debt from this short-term financing tool not requiring interest, questions emerge: Why do these shoppers use such a tool? And what risks does it pose to their budgets in the months     1     (come)?

The many Generation Z and millennials (typically around 40 years and younger) tend to use this short-term financing,     2     allows them to buy items and pay for them over time. Offered mostly by financial technologies, BNPL allows these customers to pay back their purchases     3     interest and with the first payment usually made at checkout. The most common “buy now, pay later” plan is     4     customers make four equal payments and pay off the debt in six weeks. It’s been a lifeline for some people, such as a university student     5     weekly income is not big enough. “BNPL provides consumers with flexible payment options so they     6     manage spending,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. That is of great importance for many consumers, especially     7     with a tendency to purchase higher-cost items.

However, since BNPL     8     (appear), warnings from experts have come into our view. They have been indicating that it’s financially unhealthy to form such a spending habit. According to New York Federal Reserve economists, BNPL may encourage debt to increase over time,     9     (influence) a consumer’s ability to meet non-BNPL commitments, or users to over extend themselves. Users should also note that     10     interest is not charged on the loan, they’ll be hit with late fees for missed payments, which can add up quickly, says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

By December of this year, students in Jiangsu will likely have a new way     1    (pay) tuition fees: paying by the digital yuan, or e-CNY. This is     2     Jiangsu province will encourage the use of e-CNY in its education system, according to a plan recently     3    (release) by the Jiangsu Education Department. Students will     4    (probable) pay examination registration fees and receive scholarships in digital yuan. They are also encouraged to pay in digital yuan for ordinary consumption (消费) on campus. China     5    (start) creating the digital version of the renminbi in 2014. Liu Ting is a resident of Suzhou, one of the first pilot     6    (city) for e-CNY announced by the People’s Bank of China in April 2020. “If you want to use e-CNY to buy something, you just need to download the e-CNY app and open     7     account,” Liu told Teens. “Then you can use it to scan the payment code in off line shops.”

One benefit of e-CNY is that it is safer compared to Alipay and WeChat payment. E-commerce (电子商务) platforms     8     accept payments by e-CNY will not have access to users’ personal information. In addition, “the use of e-CNY can reduce trade costs for smaller businesses,” said Zhou Maohua, an analyst at China Everbright Bank. At present, third—party payment platforms such as Alipay and WeChat require certain fees when money is transferred (转账) through them. E-CNY payment,     9    , can transfer money directly from buyers to sellers, which will greatly reduce trade costs.

The     10    (develop) of e-CNY has progressed steadily. Data from the central bank shows that the value of digital yuan in circulation (流通) reached 13.61 billion yuan by the end of 2022. China is still working to expand its usage in more areas.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Zhang Ying, head of WeChat Pay, introduced that WeChat Pay is beginning to attempt the launch of “WeChat Palm(手掌) Payment”, during the 2023 Open Class PRO     1     (host) by WeChat last night.

According to the     2     (introduce), in the future, users can bind (绑定) their membership cards, transportation cards, etc. to their palms     3     (achieve) “one palm to rule them all”. They can consume, pass through and verify their identity without carrying a phone,     4     is extremely convenient. 

Now this feature     5     (attract) businesses to jointly develop the technology continuously. Although the official arrange time has not been announced, given WeChat’s speed, it is highly likely     6     we will be able to use palm payment this year. According to previous tests, users only need to register palm information on palm-scanning devices and link it to their     7    (privacy) WeChat account. They can complete payments directly by     8     (scan) their palms when consuming offline, solving the embarrassing situation of difficult-to-use face-scanning offline. 

Moreover, in terms of principle, palm pattern recognition should be     9     (easy) than facial recognition, and     10     degree of individual difference is relatively large, making it more secure.

7 . 语法填空

An e-payment system(系统)is a way of     1    (pay)for goods and services through an electronic medium(媒介), without the use of cash(现金). It’s also     2    (call)an online payment system or electronic payment system.

The electronic payment system has grown     3    (rapid)over the last 10 years because of the     4    (grow)spread of Internet-based banking and shopping. As the world progresses more with the help of technology, we can see the rise of electronic payment systems     5     leads to fewer check and cash transactions(交易). One of the most popular payment     6    (method)online is Alipay. Besides it, there are also other forms of payment, such     7     electronic wallets, smart cards and WeChat Pay.

E-payment systems allow people     8    (make)electronic payments for online transactions. With the great popularity of online shopping, e-payment systems have become     9     must for online customers, making shopping and banking much     10    (easy).

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

China has transformed into a cashless society thanks to the e-payment apps and more than 1 billion smartphone owners. Although there are no     1    (office)data,about 80 percent of the Chinese people no longer carry“enough”cash with     2     (they). The last time I saw someone paying in cash was a month ago when a senior citizen     3     (pay) for his purchase in a supermarket. Both the checkout staff     4     customers waiting behind the elderly person looked impatient.

To ensure that those who want to pay     5    cash are not laughed at—most of     6    are aged people not familiar with mobile apps — the central authorities have issued a regulation saying shops should not refuse cash payment, and those who do so will be punished.

So popular has e-payment become that even beggars outside some scenic     7     (spot), according to a media report, refuse     8     (accept) cash.Instead, they carry a board with QR code and ask the kind-hearted souls to scan. I thought it was not true until I came across a     9     (visual)impaired(受损的)beggar outside a Beijing hospital     10     (carry)a board with a QR code along with a cardboard box for cash bills and coins.