Alibaba started taking the lead in China， simply enough， by connecting big Chinese manufacturers（制造商） with big buyers across the world． Its business-to-business site， Alibaba． com allowed business to buy almost everything． Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to identify: size． Alibaba is just big， even by Chinese standards． Its marketplaces attract 231 million active buyers，8 million sellers，11．3 billion orders a year—and Alibaba is just the middleman． It encourages people to use its markets—not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale．

If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life，take my experience．I moved to Beijing almost a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded，polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics，bathroom furnishings，and anything else my wife wanted． “You’re looking for what exactly？ Why not try it？ ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day．With that，my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began．

Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is secondary to consumer buying．Chinese retail（零售）buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit，and leading that group is Taobao，with 800 million items for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find． TMall．com is Alibaba’s other big site，where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices．

What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U．S．is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping—big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites．In smaller towns than Beijing，where big retailers have not yet traveled，shopping online is shopping，and shopping is Taobao．

I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how extensive the marketplace is．Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping．I’m not even a big buyer，because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site．When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad，which helps me buy goods，I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine．

1.Alibaba’s advantage mainly lies in ___________．

A． its big size

B． its business-to-business service

C． its not charging small sellers

D． its low price

2.What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage？

A． Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites

B． Alibaba will continue to develop．

C． Alibaba stands out as the best online site．

D． Alibaba acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers．

3.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A． a new store

B． Alibaba

C． a business

D． a foreign website

4.What can be inferred from the passage？

A． The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover．

B． Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites．

C． Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail now．

D． TMall．com provides more profit than Taobao．

5.What is the passage mainly about？

A． Shopping online is TaoBao．

B． The influence of shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping．

C． Alibaba greatly influences people’s daily purchase in China．

D． How the author purchases online in China．

練習冊系列答案
相關(guān)習題

科目：高中英語 來源：2016年北京市朝陽區(qū)高三上學期期末考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項填空

You can get to your destination earlier ______ you don’t mind taking the night train．

A． when B． if C． though D． until

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2014-2015學年山東滕州第二中學新校高三上學期期末考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

The question of whether our government should promote science and technology or the liberal arts（文科） in higher education isn't an either/or proposition（命題），although the current emphasis on preparing young Americans for STEM（science，technology，engineering，maths）-related fields can make it seem that way．

The latest congressional report acknowledges the critical importance of technical training，but also states firmly that the study of the humanities and social sciences must remain central components of America's educational system at all levels．Both are critical to producing citizens who can participate effectively in our democratic society，become creative leaders，and benefit from the spiritual enrichment that the reflection on the great ideas of mankind over time provides．

Parents and students who have invested heavily in higher education worry about graduates' job prospects as technological advances and changes in domestic and global markets transform professions in ways that reduce wages and cut jobs．Under these circumstances，it's natural to look for what may appear to be the most “practical” way out of the problem “Major in a subject designed to get you a job” seems the obvious answer to some，though this ignores the fact that many disciplines in the humanities characterized as “soft” often，in fact，lead to employment and success in the long run．Indeed，according to surveys，employers have expressed a preference for students who have received a broadly-based education that has taught them to write well，think critically，research creatively，and communicate easily．

Moreover，students should be prepared not just for their first job，but for their 4th and 5th jobs，as there's little reason to doubt that people entering the workforce today will be called upon to play many different roles over the course of their careers．The ones who will do the best in this new environment will be those whose educations have prepared them to be flexible．The ability to draw upon every available tool and insight—picked up from science，arts，and technology—to solve the problems of the future，and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves，will be helpful to them and the United States．

1.What does the latest congressional report suggest？

A． STEM-related subjects help students find jobs in the information society.

B． Higher education should be adjusted to the practical needs of society.

C． The liberal arts in higher education help enrich students' spiritual life.

D． The humanities and STEM subjects should be given equal importance．

2.What kind of job applicants do employers look for？

A． Those who have a strong sense of responsibility.

B． Those who are good at solving practical problems.

C． Those who are likely to become innovative leaders.

D． Those who have received anall-round education.

3.What advice does the author give to college students？

A． Seize opportunities to explore their potential．

B． Try to take a variety of practical courses．

C． Adopt a flexible approach to solving problems．

D． catch asmany chances as possible to change their jobs.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2014-2015學年黑龍江省高三上學期期中考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：書面表達

假定你是李明。你的英國朋友Peter準備住校，他發(fā)電子郵件向你詢問與室友友好相處的建議。請你根據(jù)所給的提示給他寫封電子郵件。內(nèi)容主要包括：
1．體諒室友并樂于助人；
2．保持寢室衛(wèi)生；
3．不碰室友的物品。
要求：
1．100詞左右；
2．內(nèi)容充實，結(jié)構(gòu)完整，語意連貫。
Dear Peter,
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Ming

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2014-2015學年黑龍江省高三上學期期中考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項填空

Too high house prices can be brought under control, ________ the authorities introduce a series of regulatory policies.
A． even if B． as if

C． so that D． provided that

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2014-2015學年北京市高三上學期第一次質(zhì)量檢測英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項填空

Volunteering gives you a chance _______ lives， including your own．

A． change B． changing

C． changed D． to change

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆浙江杭州五校聯(lián)盟高三年級上學期第一次診斷考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：書面表達

書面表達

近年來，很多父母選擇陪伴孩子讀書學習，陪讀已成為一種普遍現(xiàn)象。請你根據(jù)以下要點寫一篇短文，內(nèi)容應(yīng)包括：

1．簡要描述陪讀現(xiàn)象；

2．分析父母陪讀的原因（2至3個）；

3．發(fā)表你對此的看法。

注意：詞數(shù)120詞左右。

Should Our Parents Accompany Us in Studying at School?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆四川資陽高三上學期第二次診斷考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Are you trying to learn a new language in a foreign land? You might be better off if you stopped looking at that picture of your family and friends.

New research from Columbia University found that prompting (提示) someone who is learning a new language with images and reminders of their own culture could temporarily ruin everything that the brain was trying to build.

When native Chinese students were asked to talk with a Caucasian avatar (白種人的虛擬頭像) and a Chinese avatar, their English skills were so different. Simply exposing students to a Chinese person affected their ability to speak English. Subjects who talked with the Chinese version felt more comfortable in their speech, but they produced 11% fewer words per minute. They actually became less fluent speakers.

To make sure it wasn’t just the avatar, researchers also showed people random images of China while the participants told a story. When pictures of their homeland appeared, fluency dropped 16% and volunteers were 85% more likely to use a literal (照字面的) translation, for example, calling pistachios “happy nuts”, because that’s literally what the Chinese word for pistachio means.

When the students were shown pictures of fish with one swimming ahead of the others, their culture would change how they look at the photo. With Chinese prompt, like photos of the Great Wall or Chinese Dragon, etc. they saw more students thinking that the fish was being chased, while an American prompt, like pictures of Marilyn Monroe or Superman, saw those students believing that it was a leader fish.

The bottom line is: when attempting to learn a new culture it is far better to surround yourself with that culture than create an island of the old one.

1.Why does the author use a question in the first paragraph?

A. To raise a question.

B. To arouse readers’ awareness.

C. To introduce the topic.

D. To tell a story.

2.The underlined word “pistachios” in the fourth paragraph refers to ______.

A. pictures B. volunteers

C. an image D. a kind of food

3.From the passage we can infer that ______.

A. different images would change with different people

B. different cultures would affect how students look at the photo

C. with Chinese prompts, more students thought that it was a leader fish

D. with an American prompt, more students thought that the fish was being chased

4.According to the research, which is a better way for a student in a foreign land to learn a new culture?

A. To surround himself with that culture.

B. To create an island of the old one.

C. To see random images of China.

D. To talk with a Caucasian avatar.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學年浙江瑞安龍翔高級中學高二上學期月考3英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項填空

Progress so far has been very good._________ , we are sure that the project will be

completed on time.

A. however B. Otherwise C. Therefore D. Besides

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習冊答案