With access to the Internet come some truly life-changing advantages. One of the greatest benefits is that the Internet has brought with
Dr. Miller and her colleagues
2 . Sending a package back is not easy. Repacking, printing labels and shipping it back up to the seller is an increasingly familiar experience for online shoppers. In America 21%of online orders, worth some $218bn, were returned in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation, up from 18%in 2020. For clothing and shoes it can reach around 40%.
The problem has its roots in the birth of e-commerce. To compete with bricks-and-mortar (实体的) sellers and make consumers comfortable with ordering online, e-commerce firms offered free returns. Consumers came to expect it.
Each step of the process is costly. Retailers have to pay for goods to be picked up or posted. Processing returns is labor-intensive (劳动密集型), explains Zac Rogers who worked as a returns manager at Amazon. A return must be opened and someone has to decide what to do with it. “A worker in an Amazon warehouse can pick 30 items in a minute, but a return can take ten minutes to process, ” says Mr. Rogers.
Once processed, only 5% of the returned goods can be resold immediately by retailers. Most go to liquidators at the lowest prices or are thrown away.
One solution involves adding friction (阻力). Last year, a Japanese fashion brand became one of the first retailers to charge a small fee for posted returns. Other firms are selling more refurbished (翻新的) goods as a way to cut losses.
Startups are getting in on the action. Using artificial intelligence to help retailers decide what to do with the returned goods is the brainchild of them. Happy Returns, another startup, helps with logistics (物流). It has 5, 000 drop-off points for returns across America, mostly in chain stores. The returns are collected and sent back to retailers all at once, saving up to 40% of postage costs.
Some are experimenting with virtual reality (VR). Over half of the items are returned because they are the wrong size. In June Walmart said it would buy Memomi, an augmented-reality (AR) startup that lets shoppers virtually try on glasses in real-time for a seamless, easy and fun omnichannel experience. Walmart also offers ways to try on clothes and arrange furniture in rooms using AR.
1. Why did e-commerce firms offer free returns at first?A.To cut costs. | B.To develop logistics service. |
C.To compete with physical stores. | D.To show the advantage of shopping online. |
A.Efficient. | B.Automatic |
C.Expensive. | D.Time-consuming. |
A.By charging a fee. | B.By raising the price of goods. |
C.By selling more returned goods. | D.By using advanced technologies. |
A.Walmart has pioneered the use of AR. |
B.Technology plays a role in reducing returns. |
C.VR and AR will be used in more industries. |
D.Cooperation among companies is important. |
1. Who is the woman speaking to?
A.Her son. | B.Her husband. | C.A salesman. |
A.On the 5th floor. | B.On the 4th floor. | C.On the 3rd floor. |
4 . Our Favourite Tech Gifts of 2019
When it comes time for the holiday shopping season, we’re extra choosy about the countless technology products that we will buy and give to friends and family. Here’s what impressed editors, reporters and producers the most in 2019.
Lumos Matrix helmet
I recently bought a Lumos Matrix helmet(头盔)(﹩229)with built-in lights to make riding my bike at night a lot safer and less stressful. It’s a regular pain point for bikers like me to make sure careless drivers see you, especially when it’s dark. This does help.
-Matt Mcfarland, Writer
Goodreads app
Although this isn’t a gift, the free Goodreads app is a game changer. At the beginning of 2019, I promised myself I’d read at least one new book every month. I set a goal of 12 books on Goodreads and use it to track my progress, keep a list of books I’m interested in and check out what friends and others on the app were recommending. I read 35 books this year! (That’s up from five books last year.) Goodreads feels like one of the rare feel-good social networks.
-Kaya Yurieff, Tech Reporter
Ember coffee cup
I drink my coffee slowly, so it has routinely cooled by the time I get halfway through it. For my birthday, my mum bought me a cup (﹩99), which keeps my coffee warm until I finish it without reheating. I can also set the temperature I want. It makes my mornings so much easier.
-Millie Dent, Intern
1. What is the main advantage of Lumos Matrix helmet?A.Helping drivers concentrate. | B.Managing the bad weather. |
C.Making night riding safer. | D.Making bikers less painful. |
A.It changes some readers’ reading rules. |
B.It inspires readers to read more through communication. |
C.It limits the number of books a reader can read. |
D.It provides readers with free Internet games. |
A.Simple. | B.Expensive. | C.Eco-friendly. | D.Convenient |
China is quickly becoming the fashion capital. Thanks to young consumers and social media, China is no longer looking to the West for fashion ideas,
China-Chic is the result of young people's renewed interest in Chinese culture and things that are guochao— brands and products
Nostalgia(怀旧) is part of this trend, with products such as White Rabbit candy and Bee Flower haircare products
Market researcher Elijah Whaley says, "Foreign brands used to have an advantage in the Chinese market by representing a Western lifestyle that
内容要点:
优点: 1.方便,快捷
2.促成线上购物,足不出户,送货上门
3......
缺点: 1.可能被骗,账户被盗
2.需要技术支持,连接网络
3.……
总结:………
Online Payments
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7 . Paisley is a distinctive pattern used to decorate fabrics and make countless clothes lively. This pattern also has a uniquely rich history dating back hundreds of years, spreading across multiple continents.
Paisley's most obvious feature is the large swooshing (涡旋) shapes called boteh. Many experts believe the shape is actually an artistically designed tree, which was a powerful religious symbol in India for thousands of years. Besides, the pattern could also represent flowers, the sun, a phoenix, or even an eagle. The exact meaning is lost to history, even though the pattern lives on.
The pattern eventually made its way to the Western world in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it became the height of fashion for the time. Silk scarves bearing the pattern could be as expensive as a small house. Owing to its popularity, especially in Great Britain, it was quickly duplicated and mass-produced. One of the major manufacturing centers of the pattern was Paisley. Scotland, which is how the pattern got its English name.
In the early 20th century, the popularity of the pattern faded for a time. Eventually, it exploded back onto the fashion scene with the help of a surprising force: rock 'n' roll. It started in the 1960s with the Beatles, who not only wore paisley but used patterns in colorful artwork. Other rock legends like the Rolling Stones, Janice Joplin, and David Bowie kept the trend going well into the 1970s. Paisley was suddenly cool and glamorous again, at least temporarily.
Since then, however, the popularity of the pattern has slowly declined. It still pops up on fashion runways and as a colorful accessory (配饰) for some clothes, but paisley is just one of many elegant patterns. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean it won't make a comeback again.
1. According the text, what is boteh?A.A universal symbol of art. | B.A sacred tree planted in India. |
C.The typical shape found in paisley. | D.The manufacturing process of paisley. |
A.Transformed. | B.Protected. | C.Abolished. | D.Copied. |
A.They preserved the value of paisley. |
B.They studied the history of fashion. |
C.They helped paisley regain its popularity. |
D.They looked extremely cool and glamorous. |
A.It won't withdraw entirely from the fashion world. |
B.It was discovered in Britain and thus got its English name. |
C.It has been regarded as a typical representative of pop culture. |
D.It demonstrates the close connection between religion and fashion. |
1. How many bottles are there in the large pack?
A.20. | B.24. | C.48. |
A.At 11:00 a.m. | B.Before 12:00 a.m. | C.Around 1:00 p.m. |
9 . From: lisa.huang@internationalcoffee.com
To: Benjamin.kao@internationalcoffee.com
Subject: A danger to our business
Dear Benjamin,
I just read an article about the effects of climate change on coffee production. The article raises a number of concerns that will affect our own company in the future. I'm attaching a portion of the article. Please click on it below and read it.
The article mentions Ethiopia in particular and explains an important climate-related disadvantage that it has. This disadvantage may prevent that country from being a reliable source of coffee in the future. Currently, most of the coffee that our company distributes in Asia is imported from Ethiopia. Thus, I believe that our company should reduce its dependence on Ethiopian coffee and begin distributing coffee imported from other countries instead. One country that we should consider is Columbia. It does not suffer to the same degree from the disadvantage that Ethiopia faces.
I think that we should also ask our old friend Katherine Chen for advice about this. She has been a leader in our industry for more than 30 years and knows more about it than anyone else.
Please read the attached portion of the article and let me know what you think.
Best regards,
Lisa
(Coffeearticle. txt) Climate change is creating environmental stress, which spreads parasites, pests and plant disease. All of these have increased the fragility of the coffee crop and created the possibility of a species-destroying. rot. Almost all the coffee cultivated in the world today is one of two species, Arabica or robusta, either of which might be wiped out in this way. There are other species of coffee, and scientists are hoping that, if worse comes to worst, a different species can be bred into coffee. Unfortunately, almost all of these species exist only in Ethiopia, a country that climate change is already hammering. As the environmental nonprofit USAID points out: “Ethiopia is one of the world's most drought-prone countries. The country faces numerous development challenges that exacerbate its vulnerability to climate change...” In other words, even as climate threatens coffee as it exists today, cumate change is also eating away at the root source to which we might turn to for replacement species. |
1. According to the article. what is true, about the coffee crop?
A.It isn't as durable as it used to be. |
B.It doesn't grow in tropical regions. |
C.It's harvested using large machines. |
D.It suffers no damage from insects. |
A.Its employment rate is much higher these days. |
B.It has received financial assistance from the United States. |
C.Its relations with its neighbors have been calm. |
D.It is less likely to have long periods without rain. |
A.She has little interest in Asia. |
B.She's an expert in her field. |
C.She was encouraged to retire. |
D.She's abroad at the moment. |
10 . In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her, Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant’s sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to departments stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.
This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn’t be more out of date or at odds with the feverish world described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline’s three-year indictment of “fast fashion”. In the last decade or so, advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent release, and more profit. These labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposable-meant to last only a wash or two, although they don’t advertise that-and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.
The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.
Overdressed is the fashion world’s answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “Mass-produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable and wasteful,” Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a year—about 64 items per person—and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.
Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes-and beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example can’t be knocked off.
Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment—including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line—Cline believes lasting change can only be affected by the customer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they can’t afford not to.
1. Priestly criticizes her assistant for her _____________.A.poor bargaining skill. | B.insensitivity to fashion. |
C.obsession with high fashion. | D.lack of imagination. |
A.accusation. | B.enthusiasm. | C.indifference. | D.tolerance. |
A.Vanity has more often been found in idealists. |
B.The fast-fashion industry ignores sustainability. |
C.People are more interested in unaffordable garments. |
D.Pricing is vital to environment-friendly purchasing. |
A.Satire on an extravagant lifestyle. | B.Challenge to a high-fashion myth. |
C.Criticism of the fast-fashion industry. | D.Exposure of a mass-market secret. |