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
41
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.
The most frequently shared items are those expensive to buy but not fully used.
选项
答案
C
解析
题干:最经常被分享的东西是那些很贵但是又很实用的东西。题干关键词most frequently,expensive和fully used。文中C段第三句提到,很多买着很贵,而且东西没有被主人充分利用,是典型的物品。如卧室和汽车。与题干吻合,故选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/W0q7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
Americanshavelongpridedthemselvesasbeingpartofanoptimisticsociety.ButanewresearchdescribesAmericansaspessimis
A、Herpresentationwasreallysuccessful.B、Shewilldoapresentationinthemeeting.C、Shespoketomanypeoplewithoutbeing
Apaper,Anatomy(剖析)ofaLargeScaleSocialSearchEngine,layingoutastrategyforsocialsearchhasbeengettingagooddeal
WhyMinorityStudentsDon’tGraduatefromCollegeA)BarryMills,thepresidentofBowdoinCollege,wasjustifiablyproudofBowd
ThecountriesthathavelefttheUnitedStatesbehindinmathandscienceeducationhaveonethingincommon:Theyofferthesam
ThecountriesthathavelefttheUnitedStatesbehindinmathandscienceeducationhaveonethingincommon:Theyofferthesam
ThecountriesthathavelefttheUnitedStatesbehindinmathandscienceeducationhaveonethingincommon:Theyofferthesam
Sinceancienttimes,thedestructiveeffectsofearthquakesonhumanlivesandpropertyhaveencouragedthesearchforreliable
A、Bethebestofagroup.B、Solveproblemsquickly.C、Bebraveandtreatotherskindly.D、Acceptlifeasitis.C语义理解题。男士给女士提的最后
Somedayastrangerwillreadyoure-mailwithoutyourpermissionorscantheWebsitesyou’vevisited.Orperhapssomeonewillca
随机试题
()是指为了完成特定目标而设置的人的职务及其关系的结构。
TheCognitiveApproachgivesimportancetothelearner’sactivepartintheprocessofusingandlearningalanguage,particula
A.实热积滞,燥屎坚结B.脘腹冷痛,大便秘结C.腹大水肿,二便不通D.津枯血少,肠燥便秘E.虫积腹痛,大便秘结(1995-85,86题)甘遂配牵牛子可用于()(
关于精液的描述,错误的是
25岁初孕妇,36周妊娠。因重度妊娠高血压综合征入院,检查:血压160/110mmHg,心率78次/分,血红蛋白100g/L,血清总蛋白55g/L,白蛋白25g/L,血K+、Na+、Cl正常,选择合适的扩容药是
下列关于针刺足三里、中脘、天枢等腧穴治疗胃十二指肠溃疡穿孔的叙述,错误的是
A、可溶片B、泡腾片C、缓释片D、控释片E、阴道片片剂中的药物应是易溶性的,加水产生气泡后应能溶解
()是指建筑成品表现在自然状态下的简单点数所表示的个、条、樘、块等计量单位。
主题统觉测验的开创者是()
如下关于μCOS–II/III的说法,正确的是()。
最新回复
(
0
)