EBay will launch an online group gift-buying service today designed to make it easier for several people to chip in, buy and pay for gifts using their social-network and e-mail contacts．
EBay North America Vice President Christopher Payne says it is going to be a major step forward in social commerce, which is the still-small practice of selling products through social networks．Online retail experts aren't as certain, but eBay says the new tool makes it easier for friends and relatives to chip in （凑钱） for gifts because it eliminates the headache of collecting contributions．It can also be used for family members to pitch in to buy, say, an expensive child seat for a mother．
Anything on eBay that's available immediately, rather than up for bid, can be purchased this way starting today at groupgifts．eBay．com．If members of an extended family wanted to buy a gift for one member, one person would choose a gift — or have one recommended by eBay — and invite family members to chip in using Facebook or e-mail．Those who wanted to join in would choose an amount to contribute （or agree to pay a requested amount） and pay using either PayPal or a credit card．They could also add a personal note．
If enough people don't chip in, the organizer can ask people to contribute more or choose a less expensive gift．
"I see myself using this most in cases when I typically might not buy someone what they want because of price," says Nitzan Shaer of Boston, who was part of an online test of the site．
EBay, with its 200 million products, millions of sellers and mobile commerce proficiency, is a logical place to pull together the products, groups of buyers and payment tools, Payne says．
At least 12 sites, such as FrumUs．com and eDivvy．com, facilitate （便于,利于） group purchases but don't sell products．Although a handful of retailers, including Victoria's Secret and 1-800-Flowers, sell products through Facebook, Payne says he expects social commerce will take off as rapidly as shopping using mobile devices．EBay did more than $600 million in sales on mobile devices last year and expects mobile sales to increase to $1．5 billion this year．
Although one in five consumers surveyed said they'd used Facebook for shopping in the past year, 88% said they would not be buying holiday gifts through a social network, mobile phone or smartphone．Of these, 26% were reluctant because of security or privacy concerns, and 20% were unclear about the benefits of using phones or Facebook to shop．What procedure should be followed if your extended family intends to buy your grandpa an 80th birthday gift?
①Asking family members to contribute more money if enough members don’t chip in
②Choosing a gift at groupgifts．eBay．com
③Paying using PayPal or a credit card
④Contributing or agreeing to pay a requested amount of money via Facebook or e-mail
| A．②-①-③-④ | B．①-③-②-④ |
| C．②-④-①-③ | D．②-③-④-① |
Where can we most probably read this text?
| A．In a research paper | B．In a travel magazine |
| C．In a microblog | D．On a website |
What does “it” mean in the 2nd paragraph?
| A．The online group gift-buying service |
| B．People’s social-network and e-mail contacts |
| C．A major step forward in social commerce |
| D．The still-small practice of selling products through social networks |
It can be inferred from the text that ______．
| A．through eBay’s new tool, 200 million products on eBay are available to online shoppers |
| B．social commerce can eliminate the headache of collecting contributions |
| C．eBay’s new tool will gain mass adoption by online shoppers |
| D．with the help of eBay’s new tool, FrumUs．com and eDivvy．com will also sell products |
When you’re an employee of a company, no matter the size, it’s common to see co-workers promoted, or transferred to a different department. But there is another way to move around—by creating a new position for yourself. I did this several years ago, though I wasn’t actively looking for a different job.
In 2007, I was hired at the Transamerica Life Insurance Company, as a customer service representative in the distributions services department. I processed requests for distributions from our annuity(养老金)policy holders around the country. Someone might have forgotten to sign a form, for example, or might have omitted security information. To solve the problem, I’d mail the person a letter.
The company had been through several combinations, so in our department alone we had a collection of about 140 templates(模板) for letters related to distributions. The longer I worked with the letters, the more I saw how they could be improved. Some had overlapping information and could be combined. Some had incorrect grammar or needed updating. I also noticed that industry terminology(专业术语) wasn’t standard across all the versions.
When I told my department supervisor about this in 2008, she agreed that the letters needed revamping. She said I should stop what I’d been doing and start the new work. In a relatively short time, I was able to make numerous improvements and reduce the number of letters to 70. It was an informal job change until a managers’ meeting several months later.
At that meeting, a vice president who was unaware of my new work mentioned that the division’s entire stock of 1,700 letters should be reviewed. My manager told her that she knew the perfect person for the job—me. The position was still considered temporary when I took on the extra tasks, but I was able to show that the work had value, and I was officially promoted and given a raise in November 2009.According to Paragraph 1, which of the following statements is true?
| A．The author admired those who got a promotion in his company. |
| B．It is no surprise to see people around us change their positions. |
| C．The author tried his best to get a promotion in his company |
| D．The author was eager to seek another job. |
Which of the following problems with the letters is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Some information was overlooked. |
| B．Some information needed to be united. |
| C．Some had grammatical mistakes. |
| D．Industry terminology didn’t meet the standard. |
The underlined word “revamping” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to.
| A．repeating | B．rebuilding | C．improving | D．strengthening |
The author started to review the letters when.
| A．he was hired by the company |
| B．he was promoted |
| C．he was recommended at a managers’ meeting |
| D．his department supervisor agreed his idea |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．Where there is will, there is a way. |
| B．Creating a position, and earning a promotion. |
| C．Don’t let the chance go, when it comes. |
| D．Ways to get a promotion. |
Millions of Americans return from long-distance trips by air, but their luggage doesn’t always come home with them. Airline identification tags（标签） can come loose, and the bags go who-knows-where. And passengers leave all kinds of things on planes.
The airlines collect the items and, for 90 days, attempt to find their owners. They don’t keep them, since they’re not in the warehouse business. And by law, they cannot sell the bags, because the airlines might be tempted to deliberately misplace luggage.
So once insurance companies have paid for lost bags and their contents, and they no longer belong to passengers, a unique store in the little town of Scottsboro, Alabama, buys them. The “Unclaimed Baggage Center,” is so popular that the building, which is set up like a department store, is the number-one tourist attraction in all of Alabama. More than one million visitors stop in each year and take one of the store’s shopping carts on a hunt for treasures.
Each day, clerks bring out 7,000 new items, and veteran（老练的）shoppers rush to paw over them. You can find everything from precious jewels to hockey sticks, best-selling novels, leather jackets, tape recorders, surfboards, even half -used tubes of toothpaste.
The store’s own laundry washes or cleans all the clothes found in luggage, then sells them. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has found guns, illegal drugs and even a live rattlesnake.
The store has a little museum where some of its most unusual acquisitions（获得物） have been preserved. They include highland bagpipes, a burial mask from an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb, and a medieval suit of armor.
Statistics indicate that less than one-half of one percent of luggage checked on U.S. carriers is permanently lost and available to the store.Paragraph1 shows that many passengers lose their luggage because______.
| A．they are forgetful |
| B．the owners of some luggage can’t be identified |
| C．they are in a hurry |
| D．there is no lost and found office in many airports |
The reason why the airlines cannot sell the bags is that ______.
| A．they have to find the owners |
| B．they have to keep the bags as long as possible |
| C．some bags are expensive |
| D．they are likely to make a profit on the bags on purpose |
The Unclaimed Baggage Center is very popular because______.
| A．visitors may purchase something undervalued. |
| B．all thethings there are very cheap. |
| C．there's a large variety of goods. |
| D．visitors will enjoy some amusing activities there. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．A little museum will keep all the precious unclaimed baggage. |
| B．The things in the Unclaimed Baggage Center are articles for daily use. |
| C．The percentage of passengers who lose their baggage for ever is small. |
| D．People are not allowed to buy the illegal things in the store. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To introduce an attractive place to tourists. |
| B．To remind passengers of taking care of their baggage. |
| C．To advise the airlines to find the owners of the unclaimed baggage. |
| D．To introduce how the unclaimed baggage in the airports is handled in America. |
阅读下面短文，并根据要求完成文章后的题目。(请将答案写在答题卡对应题号的横线上。)
Too often young people get themselves employed quite by accident, not knowing whether there will be opportunities for promotion (晋升), happiness and security. As a result, they are employed in doing jobs that afford them little or no satisfaction.
Our school leavers face so much competition that they seldom care what they do as long as they can earn a living. Some stay long at a job and learn to like it; others leave one for another looking for something to suit them. The young graduates leave the university with the dream of looking for jobs that offer a salary up to their expectation.
Very few go out into the world knowing exactly what they want and the limits of their own abilities. The cause behind all this confusion is that there has never been a proper vocational（职业的） guidance in our educational institutions. Nearly all the graduates feel their way in the dark. Their chief concern is the salary. They never bother to think whether they are suited for the job or, even more important, whether the job suits them. Having a job is more than merely providing one and one’ s dependants with daily bread and some money for leisure and entertainment. It sets a pattern of life and, in many ways, determines a person ’s social status in life and selection of friends, leisure and interest.
In choosing a profession, one should first consider which type of work will suit his or her interest. Nothing is sadder than taking on a job in which one has no interest, for it will not only ruin one’ s talents but also discourage one’ s desire to succeed in life. According to Paragraph l, why do many young people find their jobs unsatisfactory? (within 10 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________ According to Paragraph 2, what do university graduates expect of their future jobs? ‘(within l0 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________What does the underlined word “dependants” in Paragraph 3 probably mean? (within 10 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________According to Paragraph 3, why are the .university graduates confused when they find jobs? (within 10 words)
_______________________________________________________________________________According to the author, what is the most important in choosing a job? (within 10 words)
__________________________________________________________________________
Up to 90% of school leavers in major Asian cities are suffering from myopia ---short-sightedness, a study suggests. Researchers say the "extraordinary rise" in the problem is being caused by students working very hard in school and missing out on outdoor light.
Eye experts say that you are short-sighted if your vision is blurred(模糊的) beyond 2m. It is often caused by an elongation（拉伸） of the eyeball that happens when people are young. According to the research, the problem is being caused by a combination of factors - a commitment to education and lack of outdoor light.
Professor Morgan who led this study argues that many children in South East Asia spend long hours studying at school and doing their homework. This in itself puts pressure on the eyes, but exposure to between two and three hours of daylight helps maintain healthy eyes.
Cultural factors also seem to play a part. Across many parts of South East Asia, children often have a lunchtime nap. According to Professor Morgan they are missing out on natural light to prevent short-sightedness.
A big concern is the numbers of the students suffering from “high” myopia. One in five of these students could experience severe visual impairment(障碍) and even blindness. These people are at considerable risk—sometimes people are not told about it and are just given more powerful glasses—they need to be warned about the risk and given some self-testing measures so they can get to an ophthalmologist and get some help.
For decades, researchers believed there was a strong genetic component to the condition. But this study strongly suggests an alternative view. “Any type of simple genetic explanation just doesn’t fit with that speed of change; gene pools just don’t change in two generations. Whether it’s a purely environmental effect or an environmental effect playing a sensitive genome, it really doesn’t matter, the thing that’s changed is not the gene pool---it’s the environment.”As is mentioned above, which factor mainly results in students’ myopia in South East Asia?
| A．Genetic faults of the people. | B．Elongation of the eyeball. |
| C．The shortage of outdoor light. | D．Lack of research into the problem. |
Which of the following statements do you think agrees with Professor Morgan?
| A．A lunchtime nap is helpful in reducing myopia. |
| B．Glasses keep myopia from getting even worse. |
| C．It’s necessary to treat myopia with an operation. |
| D．It’s of vital importance to reduce educational pressure. |
What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Gene remains the main cause of the long-standing problem. |
| B．The environment is to blame for the extraordinary rise in myopia. |
| C．Short-sightedness has nothing to do with changes in gene pools. |
| D．An environmental effect playing a sensitive genome counts. |
What’s the best way to take care of your eyes according to the passage?
| A．Equip the classroom with better lights. |
| B．Look at the sun from time to time. |
| C．Do eyes exercise regularly. |
| D．Spend more time in the open air. |
EAT YOUR VEGETABLES.Wash your hands. Always say “please” and “thank you”. We are full of advice for our children, but when it comes to money, we often have little to say. As a result, our children may grow up with clean hands and good manners, but without any idea how tomanage their money.
Here are some basics that will help guide them their entire lives:
Show them the future. If your 13-year-old girl were to save $1.000,invest(投资)it at 8% and add $100 every month, by the time she’s 65,she would have $980,983!
Be careful of credit(信用).Credit cards can help you buy necessary things and build a credit history, but they must be used responsibly, which means paying off your debt in time. Explain to your children that when you buy something using a credit card, you can easily end up paying two or three times what you would have paid if you used cash.
Teach patience. Suppose your child wants a new bicycle that costs $150.Rather than paying the cash, give him some regular pocket money and explain that by putting aside,say,$15 each week, he will be able to buy it for himself in only ten weeks.
Provide incentive. Tell your children the importance of saving. “For every dollar he or she agrees to save and invest rather than spend, you agree to add another dollar to the pot,” says Cathy Pareto, expert in money planning.
Explain your values. Values and money are deeply intertwined, says Eilleen Gallo,co-author of The Financially Intelligent Parent. When your child demands that you buy something, explain why you really don’t want to buy it.“You might say, ‘I’d rather save that money for your education,’” advises Gallo. Every time you spend or don’t spend money, you have a chance to share your values.The writer gives some basics to help________ in a proper way.
| A．parents teach their children how to deal with money |
| B．children follow their parents’ instructions |
| C．children manage their money |
| D．parents save their money |
The writer thinks that, if a child wants to buy something, his parents should________. .
| A．give him some regular pocket money |
| B．encourage him to put money away for it |
| C．explain to him the importance of investment |
| D．tell him to save some money by using a credit card |
The underlined word “incentive” in paragraph 6 means_________. .
| A．honor | B．praise | C．excitement | D．encouragement |
What leads the writer to write this article?_________
| A．Parents want to know how to educate their children. |
| B．He wants to share his good ideas about money matters. |
| C．He thinks money management the most important for children. |
| D．Parents care Little about their children’s management of money. |