1 . As part of Africa’s COVID-19 recovery strategy, it should invest (投资) in its young people and in digital technology resources, which experts’ said would offer a solution for unlocking a new era of intra-African (非洲内部的) trade and growth.
According to the United Nations, Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa being younger than 30.
The UN recognizes the continent’s young people as critical to the success of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which took effect at the beginning of last year, and has called for their involvement in policy making and implementation.
The African Export-Import Bank, also known as Afreximbank, likewise called on Tuesday for an increase in intra-African trade and financing, with the continent’s young people and technology resources playing important roles.
Benedict Oramah, president and chairman of Afreximbank, said industrial revolutions seen in other countries were largely owed to a young and capable workforce.
“It is our view that the youth will be the catalytic force of the development of Africa. This asset (资本) in our hands is perhaps the greatest resource, an asset much more valuable than all the oil and mineral resources,” Oramah said in speech at the ongoing 29th Annual Meetings of Afreximbank in Cairo, Egypt.
“The African youth are beginning to make significant contributions to economic transformation across the continent,” he added.
Oramah said Africa should turn to its own resources, driving investment and development by leveraging Africa’s human capital and technological potential, in order to accelerate intra-African trade and commerce.
Young people are ready to make giant progress in a single continental market and could become the drivers of the continent’s integration and intra-African trade, Oramah said.
1. What does the United Nations think of young people in Africa?| A．They need to invest more money in technology. |
| B．They are too young to shoulder the responsilities. |
| C．They should get involved in policy making in Africa. |
| D．Their success should be recognized by the government. |
| A．Oil and mineral resources. | B．Youth and technology resources. |
| C．Investment from other countries | D．Better policies of the UN. |
| A．Last. | B．Traditional. | C．Expensive. | D．Promoting. |
| A．Young People Seen as Key to Africa’s Growth | B．Great Progress Made in African Economy |
| C．UN’s New Policies on Developing Africa | D．Afreximbank’s Contributions to Africa |
2 . On October 24, 1929 — “Black Thursday” — a wave of panic selling of stocks (股票) swept the New York Stock Exchange. The Great Depression began. By 1932, thousands of banks and businesses had failed. Industrial production was cut in half, farm income had fallen by more than half, wages had decreased 60 percent, new investment was down 90 percent and one out of every four workers was unemployed.
The Republican president, Herbert Hoover was unable to take measures to deal with the economic collapse. So in the 1932 election, he was defeated by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, who promised “a New Deal for the American people”.
Within the “Hundred Days”, Roosevelt rushed through Congress a number of laws to aid the recovery of the economy. The Civilian Conservation Corps put young men to work in reforestation (重新造林) and flood.
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration aided state and local relief funds. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration paid farmers to reduce production, thus raising crop prices. The Tennessee Valley Authority built a network of dams in the Tennessee River area to generate electricity and control floods. The National Recovery Administration regulated fair competition among businesses and minimum wages for workers.
The Work Progress Administration (WPA) was one of the most effective of the New Deal measures. Financed by taxes collected by the federal government, the WPA created millions of jobs by undertaking the construction of roads, bridges, airports and other public buildings. It kept workers in the job, thus preserving their skills and their self-respect. The New Deal programs did not end the Depression. But the economy improved as a result of this program of government intervention (介入).
1. According to the passage, “Black Thursday” refers to the day when _______.| A．the New York Stock Exchange was shut | B．industrial production decreased |
| C．the New Deal was issued | D．the Great Depression began |
| A．to deal with economic problems |
| B．to help state and local relief funds |
| C．to aid the workers to finish their stock selling |
| D．to make young people plant trees and build dams |
| A．it provided workers jobs of building roads and airports |
| B．it preserved workers’ skill and self-respect |
| C．it provided financial aids to workers |
| D．it ensured workers’ minimum wages |
| A．The Agricultural Adjustment Administration paid farmers to reduce crop prices. |
| B．The Work Progress Administration is the most effective Administration in the US. |
| C．The Depression was not ended just by the New Deal programs. |
| D．President Herbert Hoover failed in carrying out the New Deal for the American people. |
3 . Liao Wentao, a pet undertaker, put the body of 2-year-old Garfield on a small bed surrounded by flowers. Then he let the cat’s owner say a last goodbye before cremation (火化). “We send off 400 to 500 pets each year, and there’s a great demand for pet funerals,” he told China News.
Keeping pets has become a trend for young people in China and people are more than willing to pay for whatever their pets need. From 2019 to 2021, China’s pet market grew by almost 18% and hit 348.8billion yuan in value in 2021, according to a report by Research Consulting Group.
As the pet economy develops, animal lovers’ various needs have boosted the emergence and development of related businesses such as bathing, pet food, pet beauty and healthcare.
In addition to basic services, pet owners are increasingly paying for many new services, such as training, pet funerals, insurance, photography and entertainment. The growing pet market has also given birth to a large number of new pet-related jobs, noted CCTV News.
Liu Wei, 33, is a famous pet detective in Shanghai. He and his team work on finding families’ lost pets. “We have successfully helped find more than 1,000 pets. Besides cats and dogs, there are other pets like birds, lizards and hamsters,” Liu said. “In many big cities, cats and dogs have become an important part of many families and are taken good care of. So what we look for are not just pets, but family members.”
Apart from pet undertakers and detectives, some people work as pet food testers, pet sitters and pet trainers. According to Tu Di, secretary—general of the Hunan Pet Industry Association, the booming pet market shows people’s improved living standards.
However, there are also problems with the industry, for example, the high fees of taking pets to the vet (兽医). Many pet owners have called for stricter pricing regulations for pet medical services, reported Global Times.
1. Why is Liao’s story mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To teach readers a lesson. |
| C．To sum up the main idea. | D．To involve readers in a story. |
| A．By introducing an argument. | B．By telling some true stories. |
| C．By giving numbers and examples. | D．By focusing on basic pet—related services. |
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．The low quality of services. | B．The rapid growth of the industry. |
| C．The lack of related regulations. | D．The various needs of animal lovers. |
2021 was a significant year for China as the Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee
2021 marked a great year for humanity, as the
2021 also proved extraordinary when
Peace, cooperation, development, and mutual assistance will be China’s key words in the 12
5 . For years, Apple's business has centered around the iPhone, but sales of that once-revolutionary but now commonplace device have slowed. And the entire world of computers has been flipped (翻动) on its head. Apple has been diversifying beyond hardware, selling iCloud storage to its customers, a $10 a month music streaming service and movies and television shows through iTunes.
But Monday's concerned announcement takes that diversification to a whole new level. Apple said it was launching a lot of new services, from news to video games and a credit card. Its biggest project is entertainment streaming service Apple TV+.
Apple is expected to invest many billions a year, according to analysts, on making video content to compete in a crowded market that includes Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and Disney.
The real magic in consumer technology is happening less and less inside the devices people carry around and more and more in server farms scattered around the world, where massive amounts of data get processed and then transmitted to electronics like the Amazon Echo or Google Home.
In fact, the electronics people are excited about buying are becoming vessels for sending and receiving data. And in that area, Apple has fallen behind companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft, which now pull in significant revenue from selling cloud services, which is a fancy term for data center usage and storage.
The invite Apple sent to invitees said simply, “It's show time.” The question now is whether Apple can break a leg.
1. Where does the magic of consumer technology come from?| A．Streaming service. | B．iCloud storage. | C．Server farms. | D．Video games. |
| A．Income. | B．Advertisements. | C．Equipment. | D．Games. |
| A．The sales of iPhone have been taking the lead in the world. |
| B．Apple expects to develop many new functions in its phone. |
| C．People are crazy about getting some new electronics in life. |
| D．Apple provides a lot of new services for its consumers now. |
| A．Apple's new efforts to compete against competitors. |
| B．Electronics will play important roles in technology. |
| C．Some companies do better than Apple in technology. |
| D．Apple is able to benefit a lot from its diverse service. |
6 . Early in the year, the hope was that the bottlenecks that messed up the global supply chain in 2020 would be mostly cleared by now. They've actually only gotten much worse and evidence is mounting that the holiday season is at risk.
Across Europe, retailers (零售商) can't meet demand because of delivery delays. In the U.S., Nike cut is sales forecast after COVID-19 set off factory closures in Vietnam that wiped out months of production.
Covid outbreaks have affected ports. There still aren't enough containers, causing prices to increase 10 times from a year ago. Labor shortages have delayed trucking and pushed U.S. job openings to all-time highs.
On the supplier side, Jay Foreman's been making toys with manufacturing partners in China for more than three decades, and he's never seen anything like this. His mid-sized toy company, Basic Fun, is on pace for its best year ever. There is no shortage of demand, but a shortage of containers has left thousands of the company's Lite Brites and TinkerToys waiting to be shipped. At just one factory in Shenzhen, there's roughly $8 million worth of finished goods that could fill 140 containers.
The bigger, more systemic risk—one that could hurt every retailer—is that Americans spend less than expected because there isn't enough inventory (库存). The available goods may also not be all that attractive. The sharp increase in shipping prices has forced manufacturers to make hard decisions about what to transport. Hicks, the Academy Sports CEO, predicted that shoppers “will have to settle more because they just won't have as good of a selection.”
Shipping big items and goods with lower value don’t make as much economic sense right now. iPhones are small and pricey, making them an ideal good to ship, but the same case can’t be made for low-end furniture or toys.
“Consumers might see news about port backups (阻塞), but that won’t hit home until they try to buy the toy of the year and can’t get it,” Bartashus, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, said, “That’s when they’ll hit crisis mode.”
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The goods are mounting. | B．Supply chain issues are getting worse. |
| C．The consumers become hopeless. | D．The holiday season hits the bottlenecks. |
| A．Basic Fun lacks orders. |
| B．There exists a shortage of shippers. |
| C．His toy company has its worst year. |
| D．The factory is filled with finished goods. |
| A．Consumers will have limited options. |
| B．Consumers can't afford the attractive goods. |
| C．The shipping company will stop shipping expensive goods. |
| D．The manufactures will have poor selections of shipping companies. |
| A．The port problem will be settled. |
| B．Consumers will prefer to stay at home. |
| C．The government will pass the financial crisis. |
| D．The market will be in various forms of panic. |
7 . China's livestreaming e-commerce industry has witnessed explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus creating new growth opportunities for a wide range of businesses.
Cao lei, director of the E-Commerce Research Center at the Internet Economy Institute, said that while most e-commerce platforms have now hit bottlenecks in finding new customers, livestreaming provides an important channel for them to tap into customers living in fourth and fifth-tier cities as well as rural areas.“What's more, livestreaming allows hosts to answer call-in questions from digital audiences in real time, which will enhance shopping experiences and attract more netizens to shop online," Cao added.
The number of people likely to watch livestreaming e-commerce events is 388 million in 2020. The typical livestreaming e-commerce session involves celebrities promoting and selling goods while answering questions from an online audience， with everything taking place in real time via devices such as smartphones.
Livestreaming is increasingly gaining popularity as a new online shopping platform among Chinese netizens, creating a huge market worth more than 970 bilion yuan ( $ 149.9 bilion) in 2020. E-commerce giant Alibaba's Taobao Live has taken the lion's share of livestreaming, as 68.5 percent of consumers use the service, according to a survey conducted by the China Consumers Association. Douyin and Kuaishou have taken second and third spots, respectively. Other large Chinese Internet and e-commerce players like JD. com have also thrown their hats into the ring.
Livestreaming has become a key means for brands to gain awareness and boost sales, and for smaller operators such as farmers to have better access to consumers, especially during the pandemic period.
1. What contributes to better shopping experiences in livestreaming?| A．Discount price of products. |
| B．Participation of some popular guests. |
| C．Convenience to buy goods at any place. |
| D．Interaction between hosts and customers. |
| A．The e-commerce giants in livestreaming. |
| B．The present situation and ways of livestreaming. |
| C．The influence and effect of livestreaming. |
| D．The reasons why livestreaming is so popular. |
| A．Throw away their hats. | B．Participate in the game. |
| C．Exchange hats for a ring. | D．Ring other e-commerce players. |
| A．Douyin. . | B．Taobao Live. |
| C．Kuaishou. | D．JD. com. |
8 . These days it's hard not to have an opinion about Amazon. While some choose to focus on the negative, including workplace environment concerns in some of its warehouses or the impact that online retail（零售）has had on traditional physical retail stores, many others are extraordinarily grateful for the ability the company has provided during the pandemic（大流行病）to easily order almost anything and receive it in a timely, reliable manner without having to step outside their homes.
The debate is the positive impact that the company is having on small businesses, including minority-owned businesses. Amazon's Prime Day Event（scheduled for Oct. 13-14）offers an interesting example.
Given the convenience of huge traffic（物流）on Prime Day , that's powerful motivation for consumers to purchase from small businesses—something that a lot of people may not have tried just yet. The move also encourages the company which helps small businesses across the US, which represent over 99. 5% of all US businesses and employ half the country's workforce. While many might assume that Amazon and other online retailers have only negatively impacted small businesses（and, no doubt, many small businesses have been hurt by the rapid shift to online shopping brought on by the pandemic）, there's a whole range of small businesses that have benefited from being on Amazon.
Some of these are existing small businesses that have successfully transitioned to functioning in the digital world of online shopping, while others are new small businesses that have been created specifically for the online world, including app developers, content creators, and more. Toyin Kolawole, an entrepreneur（企业家）who immigrated to the U. S. from Nigeria about 20 years ago, provides some fascinating experiences. "I started my company with two products and would go to food shows trying to get noticed," she said. "It was very expensive to participate and hard to make an impact." But she eventually succeeded in getting some of her products into Walmart and Mariano's. "With Amazon, I could take my flour and just put it in the flour section, so it gave me the opportunity to compete fairly," she says.
1. What is implied about Amazon in the first paragraph?| A．Most people pay little attention to small business on Amazon recently. |
| B．Many are satisfied with the convenience it brings to their shopping during the pandemic. |
| C．Many people think it has negative impact on traditional physical retail stores. |
| D．People are rarely concerned about the workplace environment in some of is warehouses. |
| A．The event represents 99.5% of US business and employs half the country's workforce. |
| B．The interesting event of Amazon is scheduled from now to October 13-14. |
| C．Consumers are motivated to do online shopping for convenient delivery on that day. |
| D．This event has done more harm to small businesses by the rapid shift to online shopping. |
| A．Adapted. | B．Related. |
| C．Contributed. | D．Changed. |
| A．It was helpful for her to be given the opportunity to compete fairly. |
| B．It was very expensive to start the small business on Amazon. |
| C．It was hard to make her products to have an impact on Amazon. |
| D．It was useless to go to food shows trying to get noticed on Amazon. |
