Just after finishing his work, Mr. Philips was going to the grocery shop to buy some bananas, but he saw a poor old lady     1     (sell)fresh bananas on the street, so it seemed     2     (convenient)to buy some from her.

The old lady charged $7     3     one kilo of bananas. “But the shop     4     I usually buy from gives them for $5 per kilo!”, Mr. Philips said. “I’m sorry sir, I cannot afford to match that price”, the old lady responded. Mr. Philips said nothing and went to the grocery shop.

    5     , when he wanted to pay for bananas he picked, the cashier told him that the price per kilo was $10. He tried to bargain again, but the manager said coldly, “We do not bargain.” Mr. Philips felt very     6     (annoy)with his attitude, and decided to put the bananas back and go back to the old lady.

She recognized him     7     (instant)and told him, “Sir, I can’t match that price.” “Don’t worry, I will pay you $10 per kilo!” said Mr. Philips. “Now, give me two     8     (kilo)please!” The old lady happily packed the bananas and said, “I can’t accept $10 per kilo but I will accept $7 per kilo. I appreciate your     9     (kind).”

Mr. Philips left the old lady speechless with gratitude, and also recommended many friends to buy bananas from the old lady, which they did. From that day on, she made     10     much better living than ever before.

Every day most of us can order and buy all sorts of items online, thanks to e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, JD and Pinduoduo. The number of people     1     are taking advantage of this quite convenient form of shopping is great. Everything we order     2     (come) to our door, including tasty food     3     is packaged as fresh as it would be in the market.

WeChat, one of the world’s most popular mobile apps and social networks, brought home iF Gold Award for its smart retail innovation, Scan & Go. It is     1     first ever Chinese product to win gold in the iF Service Design category.

Scan & Go enables shoppers at retail stores to turn    2     (they) mobile phones into a virtual checkout counter. When shopping, customers use their mobile phones     3     (scan) product barcodes, view product information, get discounts, complete self-checkout, and pay     4     (direct) within the app via WeChat Pay. There is no queuing up at the cash register. “This concept     5     (show) a customer-centric scan-and-go-solution for an optimized (充分利用的) shopping and retail context. All standards of the good user experience     6     (meet) in this service design, including touchless access, efficiency or ease-of-use in scanning of market products and the final payment and checkout. This is user-friendly design at its     7     (good),” says iF Gold Award in its Gold Statement to Scan & Go.

According to statistics, sales during peak hours in     8     (tradition) supermarkets account for 60% of total turnover, and     9     average customers spend three to five minutes on queuing and payment during peak hours. With Scan & Go, customers no longer have to queue, and the payment time     10     (shorten) to one minute.

More and more people are     1     (use) online shopping apps during the epidemic (疫情) and it has become an important way to buy vegetables. However, online shopping     2     (have) both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of these online shopping apps are     3     (clear). First of all, it is convenient to     4     (buy) vegetables online because we can surf the Internet at any     5     (time) anywhere. Besides, there is no doubt     6     discounts on the platform are also attractive. However, its disadvantages can’t be ignored. Staring at the screen is harmful to     7     (we) eyes. Worse still, we don’t have many opportunities to go out, which can also     8     (cause) us to exercise less.

As for me, there are more advantages than disadvantages when shopping online. Just click on the screen and I can     9     (quick) get the fresh vegetables, which brings great convenience to my life. I have been using this online shopping app for over two     10     (year). It is of great help to me.

Online shopping has been getting popular in    1     past few years. Online shopping and in-store shopping differ in    2     (vary) ways. The cost and customer service are the major     3     (different). First, the cost of shopping online is cheaper    4     shopping in stores as the online business owner does not need to pay for the wages of the store associates (店员). Moreover, online business isn’t involved in the expenses of running a store such as paying for renting a store and maintaining a store. Those are reasons for    5     the consumer may get a     6     (good) price from an online store. Second, online shopping is more convenient for individuals    7     (have) no time to go to the store. With one click on the mouse, consumers don’t have to travel to different stores far from home. In addition, people do not have to be waiting in a long line    8     (check) out. Third, the customer service is different. With on-line shopping, customer service    9     (offer) at any time because online store is never closed.

To summarize, online shopping continues to grow    10     (actual). In-store shopping is still the popularity of shopping. Being convenient and good customer service are always people’s preference. Which way people choose to shop depends on their life styles.

My first shopping experience in China was a trip to Wanda Plaza. For the first time, I     1     (introduce) to Chinese brands like Lining, Anta Sports, etc. I shopped for a T-shirt, jeans, and dresses. Afterwards, I’ve had many other in-store shopping experiences. I once went to a local market,     2     the goods gave me a similar feeling to the stores in my home country. I could bargain on how much I wanted to pay for an outfit. Shopping in stores like this was a lot     3     (cheap).

The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London    1    (stage) an exhibition on the history of African fashion, from independence to the present day at the moment. It is an    2    (ambition) task: no exhibition could ever deal with fashions of an entire continent.     3    over 250 pieces on show, organizers hope there is far more than what people normally know. The V&A show puts a spotlight on African designers, such as Chris Seydou, who are    4    (increasing) being recognised in the world’s fashion capitals.

Many African cities have their own innovative fashion scene. Fashion weeks    5    (hold) in Dakar, Johannesburg and Lagos every autumn are hotly expected. More and more designers are backed by African entrepreneurs (企业家). The internet also makes    6    convenient to visit a global shopfront. Never has keeping up with global trends been    7    (easy) for designers.

But barriers still remain.    8    embarrasses and discourages most designers is the financial bottleneck that prevents African trade. Despite attempts    9    (broaden) fashion education to a wider audience, the latest styles will remain largely the field of an educated and well-travelled    10    (minor). But all in all, African fashion is taking off, and some of the world’s leading fashion houses are under its influence.