Gulliver has a friend who recently gave up his job to study for "The Knowledge" , the notoriously difficult programme that Londo

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问题     Gulliver has a friend who recently gave up his job to study for "The Knowledge" , the notoriously difficult programme that London’s black-taxi drivers must pass through before getting a license.
    Would-be cabbies must first gain an encyclopedic(百科全书式的)knowledge of the capital’s central district—some 25,000 streets and approximately 20,000 landmarks—and be able to recite the best way of navigating between them. Studying for The Knowledge typically takes from two to four years.
    The sacrifice used to be worth it. Although driving a taxi for a living is undoubtedly hard work, cabbies earn a decent wage, choose their own hours and usually manage to spend a few weeks a year at their holiday villas in Spain. Alas, for Gulliver’s friend, it is no longer a job with prospects. Leaving aside that learning routes by rote in an era of satellite navigation is a waste of everyone’s time, the reason that cabbies put themselves through such a tough selection process is so they can earn the privilege of picking up passengers off the street, which only they are legally allowed to do.
    Uber is making this privilege increasingly irrelevant. The firm uses a smartphone platform to bring passengers and drivers together. It is on its way to cornering the world taxi market—although, like many cabbies, it is taking a circuitous(迂回的)route. Several American cities, including Portland, have ordered the firm to suspend operations, while whole countries, such as Germany, have outlawed it.
    Still, these are mere bumps in the road. The latest report by Certify, which tracks business-expense claims, found that for the first time the majority of "ground transportation receipts" were for rides in Uber cars. In the second quarter of 2015, 55% of such business expenses emanated(起源)from that single company, compared with 43% on all other taxi services. According to Certify, whose respondents are overwhelmingly American, the cities in which businessmen are most likely to use an Uber car are San Francisco(79%), followed by Dallas(60%)and Los Angeles(54%). It is easy to see why. Uber is cheap, reliable and easy to use. You know which driver is coming for you and the driver knows you. There is no need to play a game of hailing leapfrog(交替前进)with competitors along busy streets, in the hope of finding a taxi with a light on.
    On a recent trip to New York, Gulliver’s young daughter was desperate to take a ride in a yellow taxi because she had seen them on posters. So we took a ride as a tourist attraction. When it came to pulling our suitcases back to JFK, though, it was much more convenient to call an Uber car. Gulliver worries for his friend’s choice of new career. How long will it be before he becomes little more than a curiosity for those wanting to experience ye olde England?
The data mentioned in Paragraph 4 implies that______.

选项 A、Uber’s market share has already surpassed taxi companies
B、Uber is most popular with businessmen in American cities
C、Uber has bought most of the ground transportation receipts
D、Uber is providing clients with cheap and convenient service

答案A

解析 推理判断题。定位句指出,优步在2015年第二季度的营业额占市场份额的55%,而所有的其他出租车公司合在一起才占到43%,由此可以推断,优步的市场份额已经超过了出租车公司,故答案为A)。B)“优步在美国城市中最受商人的欢迎”,该段第四句中列举了三个数据,分别反映了三个商务人士最倾向于使用优步的城市各自的市场占有率,但这不能说明在所有美国城市中都是商务人士最喜欢用优步,故可排除;C)“优步购买了大部分地面交通收据”,这是对该段第二句的曲解,原句的意思是:优步车辆的“地面交通消费凭据”首次占到绝大多数,故排除;D)“优步给客户提供价格低廉、便捷的服务”,优步的服务是否廉价和便捷从本段的数据中并不能做出判断,故排除。
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