"Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth." So Archimedes explained the power of levers in the physical world. The

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问题     "Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth." So Archimedes explained the power of levers in the physical world. The digital realm has levers of its own: "platforms," the technological point of support upon which many businesses can be built. Control of an important platform is a source of economic power. Microsoft used the power of its Windows operating-system platform to shape the destiny of an entire industry—and to capture an outsized share of its profits. Some worry that Google’s dominance of the web-search business lets it perform a similar trick today.
    Europe is not leaving it to chance. On April 15th the European Commission sent a "statement of objections" to Google, accusing it of abusing its dominant position in the internet-search market and reviving an antitrust case that has dragged on for five years. In Europe Google handles more than 90% of web searches, making it the place to be for many advertisers. Whether it has harmed consumers by using its dominant platform to steer them away from rival services and towards its own, such as Google Shopping, is at the heart of the case.
    Europe is discovering its failure to develop many of the platforms underlying the online economy. Much of the world’s digital territory has in effect been occupied by America without a fight. The big danger is that as the world relies ever more on technological platforms operated by Google and other American firms, they may be able to repeat this trick in areas that have hitherto been Europe’s strong point: fashion, energy and luxury vehicles, for instance. "We might invest in producing wonderful cars, but those selling the new services for the car would be making the money."
    Rather than trying to rein in American firms, European politicians should focus on fixing what is holding back the old world’s most promising platforms: the lack of a common digital market. Today only 15% of consumers shop online across borders within the EU. To set up Europe-wide operations, an e-commerce firm has to jump through numerous bureaucratic rings, from tax rules to labor laws, in each country. Also, the digital strategies available are so far short on substance. If Europe wants to be America’s equal in the creation of new technological platforms, it needs to recognize the importance of scale. America, with its large and open domestic market, has it. Europe does not.
Which of the following best serves as the title of this passage?

选项 A、Perfect Services from Google.
B、Nothing to Stand on.
C、Evolution of Digital Platforms.
D、America—a World Leader.

答案B

解析 阅读全文后,你可能发现文章没有表扬谷歌的完美服务,也没有介绍数字市场的演化。在数字化领域,美国确实是世界老大,但文章并没有重点介绍其伟大之处,而是关注欧洲面临的挑战和问题的根源——缺乏数字平台。阿基米德的梦想是撬动地球,但他没有a place to stand on。同样,欧洲也想摆脱美国的霸主地位,但实力不济,也就是have nothing to stand on。这是个很妙的标题。
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