3 . Do you have a spare room in your house? What about a driveway for your car? Both of these can help you make money.Many people who are feeling the pinch are taking advantage of what’s been called the “sharing economy”.
Perhaps the best-known example of a company in this field is Airbnb---an American web business which allows you to rent out your spare room to holidaymakers.It says it operates in 34,000 cities and it has over 1,500,000 listings.It seems to have concerned the market!
A British company is doing something with parking spaces.JustPark’s founder, Anthony Eskinazi, says ,“When I had the original idea,Ispotted a driveway close to a sports stadium.It would have been so convenient if I could have just parked in that driveway rather than in commercial car park.” And he has a big clientele（客户）:around 20,000 people have advertised their spaces on the site,and he says around half a million drivers use it.There are other sites doing very similar things,like Uber and Lyft---these let drivers share their cars with other passengers.Any driver knows how valuable a place to park is .A church near Kings Cross in central London has apparently made over £200,000 by renting out space in its yard to travelers!
Because this is a new business world,those rules aren’t there yet and many people are happy to share...as long as it pays!
But the sharing economy has its critics:the competitors of these new companies.People who run things like traditional B&B, commercial car parks and taxi services are afraid of ending up out of pocket.And there is another issue:regulations on these new business are unclear.How will renting out your driveway affect your neighbor?
1.
What does the underlined phrase “feeling the pinch” probably mean?| A．Lacking in money | B．Full of curiosity |
| C．Willing to help others | D．Unsatisfied with their life |
2.
Who may be against the sharing economy?| A．A taxi driver who can’t find a a parking place | B．A priest in the church near Kings Cross |
| C．A traveller who needs accomodiation | D．A well-known high-end holiday hotel |
3.
Why are many people pleased to share according to paragraph 4?| A．They can gain huge profits | B．They needn’t pay any fee |
| C．There are few rules to limit them | D．The new business has no risks |
4.
Which of the following words can best describe the booming business?| A．Creative and developed | B．Competitive but unpractical |
| C．Effective and worrying | D．Traditional and acceptable |
