首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Rise of the Sharing Economy A)Last night 40,000 people rented accommodation from a service that offers 250,000 rooms in 30,0
The Rise of the Sharing Economy A)Last night 40,000 people rented accommodation from a service that offers 250,000 rooms in 30,0
admin
2015-01-31
36
问题
The Rise of the Sharing Economy
A)Last night 40,000 people rented accommodation from a service that offers 250,000 rooms in 30,000 cities in 192 countries. They chose their rooms and paid for everything online. But their beds were provided by private individuals, rather than a hotel chain. Hosts and guests were matched up by Airbnb, a firm based in San Francisco. Since its launch in 2008 more than 4 million people have used it—2.5 million of them in 2012 alone. It is the most prominent example of a huge new "sharing economy", in which people rent beds, cars, boats and other assets directly from each other, coordinated via the internet.
B)You might think this is no different from running a bed-and-breakfast. Owning a time share or participating in a car pool. But technology has reduced transaction costs, making sharing assets cheaper and easier than ever—and therefore possible on a much larger scale. The big change is the availability of more data about people and things, which allows physical assets to be divided and consumed as services. Before the internet, renting a surfboard, a power tool or a parking space from someone else was feasible, but was usually more trouble than it was worth. Now websites such as Airbnb, Relay Rides and Snap Goods match up owners and renters; smart phones with GPS let people see where the nearest rentable car is parked; social networks provide a way to check up on people and build trust; and online payment systems handle the billing.
What’s mine is yours, for a fee
C)Just as peer-to-peer businesses like eBay allow anyone to become a retailer, sharing sites let individuals act as an ad hoc(临时的)taxi service, car-hire firm or boutique hotel(精品酒店)as and when it suits them. Just go online or download an app. The model works for items that are expensive to buy and are widely owned by people who do not make full use of them. Bedrooms and cars are the most obvious examples, but you can also rent camping spaces in Sweden, fields in Australia and washing machines in France. As advocates of the sharing economy like to put it, access trumps(胜过)ownership.
D)Rachel Botsman, the author of a book on the subject, says the consumer peer-to-peer rental market alone is worth $26 billion. Broader definitions of the sharing economy include peer-to-peer lending or putting a solar panel on your roof and selling power hack to the grid(电网). And it is not just individuals: the web makes it easier for companies to rent out spare offices and idle machines, too. But the core of the sharing economy is people renting things from each other.
E)Such "collaborative(合作的)consumption" is a good thing for several reasons. Owners make money from underused assets. Airbnb says hosts in San Francisco who rent out their homes do so for an average of 58 nights a year, making $ 9,300. Car owners who rent their vehicles to others using Relay Rides make an average of $250 a month; some make more than $1,000. Renters, meanwhile, pay less than they would if they bought the item themselves, or turned to a traditional provider such as a hotel or car-hire firm. And there are environmental benefits, too: renting a car when you need it, rather than owning one, means fewer cars are required and fewer resources must be devoted to making them.
F)For sociable souls, meeting new people by staying in their homes is part of the charm. Curmudgeons(脾气倔的人)who imagine that every renter is a murderer can still stay at conventional hotels. For others, the web fosters trust. As well as the background checks carried out by platform owners, online reviews and ratings are usually posted by both parties to each transaction, which makes it easy to spot bad drivers, bathrobe-thieves and surfboard-wreckers. By using Facebook and other social networks, participants can check each other out and identify friends(or friends of friends)in common. An Airbnb user had her apartment trashed in 2011. But the remarkable thing is how well the system usually works.
Peering into the future
G)The sharing economy is a little like online shopping, which started in America 15 years ago. At first, people were worried about security. But having made a successful purchase from, say, Amazon, they felt safe buying elsewhere. Similarly, using Airbnb or a car-hire service for the first time encourages people to try other offerings. Next, consider eBay. Having started out as a peer-to-peer marketplace, it is now dominated by professional "power sellers"(many of whom started out as ordinary eBay users). The same may happen with the sharing economy, which also provides new opportunities for enterprise; Some people have bought cars solely to rent them out, for example.
H)Existing rental businesses are getting involved too. Avis, a car-hire firm, has a share in a sharing rival. So do GM and Daimler, two carmakers. In future, companies may develop hybrid(混合的)models, listing excess capacity(whether vehicles, equipment or office. space)on peer-to-peer rental sites. In the past, new ways of doing things online have not displaced the old ways entirely. But they have often changed them. Just as internet shopping forced Wal-mart and Tesco to adapt, so online sharing will shake up transport, tourism, equipment-hire and more.
I)The main worry is regulatory uncertainty. Will room-renters be subject to hotel taxes, for example? In Amsterdam officials are using Airbnb listings to track down
unlicensed hotels. In some American cities, peer-to-peer taxi services have been banned after lobbying by traditional taxi firms. The danger is that although some rules need to be updated to protect consumers from harm, existing rental businesses will try to destroy competition. People who rent out rooms should pay tax, of course, but they should not be regulated like a Ritz-Carlton hotel. The lighter rules that typically govern bed-and-breakfasts are more than adequate.
J)The sharing economy is the latest example of the internet’s value to consumers. This emerging model is now big and disruptive(颠覆性的)enough for regulators and companies to have woken up to it. That is a sign of its immense potential. It is time to start caring about sharing.
Airbnb is a website that enables owners and renters to complete transactions online.
选项
答案
A
解析
题干:Airbnb是一个可以让所有者和租赁者之间在网上完成交易的网站。题干关键词Airbnb,owners and renters和transactions online。文中A段第二句提到,很多人在网上租房子,并支付一切费用,与题干意思吻合,故选A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/T0q7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
PoorpeoplehaveI.Q.’ssignificantlylowerthanthoseofrichpeople,andtheawkwardconventionalwisdomhasbeenthatthisis
ABriefHistoryofOnlineShoppingA)WhenAmazon.comopenedforbusiness15yearsago,itwasnothingmorethanafewpeoplepac
A、Hehasbeenawriterfor20years.B、Hebecamefamousovernight.C、Hisfriendshelpedhimwhenhedidn’tmakeenoughtoeat.D
Americanshavelongpridedthemselvesasbeingpartofanoptimisticsociety.ButanewresearchdescribesAmericansaspessimis
A、Bylettingthebusruninthemorningonly.B、Bylimitingthenumberofthestudents.C、Byobtainingthesupportfromthegove
WhyMinorityStudentsDon’tGraduatefromCollegeA)BarryMills,thepresidentofBowdoinCollege,wasjustifiablyproudofBowd
MyfavoriteT.V.show?"TheTwilightZone."I【B1】______liketheepisodecalled"ThePrinter’sDevil."It’saboutanewspapered
MyfavoriteT.V.show?"TheTwilightZone."I【B1】______liketheepisodecalled"ThePrinter’sDevil."It’saboutanewspapered
随机试题
A.手足厥逆,汗出,呼吸微弱,脉微B.手足厥逆,下利清谷,身反不恶寒,面色赤,脉微欲绝C.手足厥逆,恶寒踡卧,下利清谷,神疲欲寐,口不渴,脉沉微细D.手足厥冷,舌淡苔白,脉沉细四逆汤主治
A、结核菌初次进入机体所致B、结核菌侵入肺动脉所致C、结核菌侵入肺静脉所致D、机体发生的迟发型变态反应E、机体对结核菌的代谢产物高度敏感的反应急性粟粒性肺结核是因为()
女,37岁,自缢后呼吸、心跳停止,经抢救复苏后,为防治脑水肿给予脱水、降温治疗,维持肺功能稳定。关于降温治疗,不正确的是
制备软胶囊剂时,固体药物粉末混悬在油性介质中,必须具有与液体相同的( )。
在项目建设全过程的各个阶段中,即决策、初步设计、技术设计、施工图设计、招标投标、合同实施及施工验收等阶段,都进行相应的计价,这体现了工程造价()的计价特征。
在家庭现金流量表中,下列属于理财收入的是()。
①一些地球环境的历史变化,没有深海海底的钻探取样,是可能发现不了的②到533万年前海面上升,与大西洋的通道恢复时,“地中海盐度危机”便告结束,大西洋水又呈瀑布状泻人地中海③现在查明,由于地中海四面被陆地包围,只以水深300米的直布罗陀海峡与地中海连通,
甲、乙、丙3个试管中各盛有10克、20克、30克水。把某种浓度的盐水10克倒入甲管中,混合后取10克倒入乙管中,再混合后从乙管中取出10克倒入丙管中。现在丙管中的盐水的浓度为0.5%。最早倒入甲管中的盐水浓度是:
下列结构中为非线性结构的是
Self-motivationisbasicallytheabilitytogetyourselftotakeactionwhetheryoufeellikeitornot.Manypeoplehavea【B1】_
最新回复
(
0
)