New economy online
     People are talking about the "new economy". It's very different from the "old economy".
     In the old economy, people travel to walk. They buy things in stores. They use the post office, the fax and
the telephone to send information. They see people face-to-face at their jobs or in stores. People get information from newspapers, radio, television, books and libraries.
     In the new economy, people do business through the "net", which is a connection of millions of computers
everywhere in the world. In the new economy, workers often work at home. They can get information online.
They can communicate with employers and co-workers by e-mail. Businesses have"virtual (虚拟的) stores".
They are websites on which customers can see the products. Business can sell to customers anywhere in the
world.
    In the new economy, people live a fast paced, convenient and colorful life. The whole world develops more
quickly than before. But the new economy is double-edge sword (双刃剑). Its disadvantage is also obvious.
For example, the Internet has led to a huge increase in credit care (信用卡) cheating. Some illegal websites
offer some cheap or banned(禁止的) goods or services. Online shoppers who enter their credit card
information may never receive the goods they want to buy and their card information could even be for sale in
an illegal website. So people in the new economy should be smarter and knowledgeable. 

1. The cause of the differences between the new economy and the old economy is ______.

A. the change of people's idea
B. the business people do
C. the use of the Internet
D. the change of people's life

2. In the old economy, people can do the following things EXCEPT______.

A. getting information from books
B. communicating with friends by telephone
C. meeting people face to face
D. shopping online

3. "But the new economy is a double-edge sword." in the last passage means______.

A. the new economy is as sharp as a sword
B. the new economy has advantages and disadvantages
C. the new economy is better than the old economy
D. both the new economy and the old economy have disadvantages

4. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. People can get all kinds of information on the Internet.
B. Telephone, radio, television, newspapers and so on will disappear in the new economy.
C. People in the new economy should have high quality.
D. Life in the new economy is more comfortable than the one in the old economy.

     In recent years, Israeli consumers have grown more demanding as they've become wealthier and more
worldly-wise. Foreign travel is a national passion; this summer alone, one in 10 citizens will go abroad.
Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere, Israelis are returning home expecting the same. American
firms have also begun arriving in large numbers. Chains such as KFC, McDonald's and Pizza Hut are setting
a new standard of customer service, using strict employee training and constant monitoring to ensure the
friendliness of frontline staff. Even the American habit of telling departing customers to "Have a nice day"
has caught on. "Let's be nicer", says Itsik Cohen, director of a consulting firm. "Nothing happens without
competition."
     Privatization, or the threat of it, is a motivation as well. Monopolies that until recently have been free to
take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry, a marketing professor, calls "the revengeful
consumer". When the government opened up com- petition with Bezaq, the phone company, its international
branch lost 40% of its market share, even while offering competitive rates. Says Perry, "People wanted
revenge for all the years of bad service." The electric company, whose monopoly may be short-lived, has
suddenly stopped requiring users to wait half a day for a repairman. Now, appointments are scheduled to the
half hour. The graceless EIAI Airlines, which is already at auction, has retrained its employees to emphasize
service and is boasting about the results in an ad campaign with the slogan, "you can feel the change in the air."
For the first time, praise outnumbers complaints on customer survey sheets.

1. It may be inferred from the passage that _____.

A. customer service in Israel is now improving
B. wealthy Israeli customers are hard to please
C. the tourist industry has brought chain stores to Israel
D. Israeli customers prefer foreign produce to domestic ones

2. In the author's views, higher service standards are impossible in Israel _____.

A. if customer complaints go unnoticed by the management
B. unless foreign companies are introduced in greater numbers
C. if there's no competition among companies
D. without strict routine training of employees

3. If someone in Israel today needs a repairman in case of a power failure, _____.

A. they can have it fixed in no time
B. it's no longer necessary to make an appointment
C. the appointment takes only half a day to make
D. they only have to wait half an hour at most

4. The example of E1Al Airlines shows that _____.

A. revengeful customers are a threat to the monopoly of enterprises
B. an ad campaign is a way out for enterprises in financial difficulty
C. a good slogan has great potential for improvement service
D. staff retraining is essential for better service

     Job sharing refers to the situation in which two people divide the responsibility of one full-time job. The
two people willingly act as part-time workers, enough hours between them to fulfill the duties of a full-time
worker. If they each work half the job, for example, they each receive 50 per cent of the job's wages, its
holidays and its other benefits.
     Job sharing differs from conventional (常规的) part-time work in that it occurs mainly in the more highly
skilled and professional areas, which require higher levels of responsibility and employee commitment. Job
sharing should not be confused with the term work sharing, which refers to increasing the number of jobs
by reducing the number of hours of each existing job, thus offering more positions to the growing number
of unemployed people. Job sharing, by contrast, is not designed to address unemployment problems; its
focus, rather, is to provide well-paid work for skilled workers and professionals who want more free time
for other activities.
     As would be expected, most job sharers are women. A survey carded out in 1988 by Britain's Equal
Opportunities Commission showed that 78 per cent of sharers were female, the majority of whom were
between 20 and 40 years of age Subsequent studies have come up with similar results. Many of these
women were re-entering the job market after having had children, but they chose not to seek part-time
work because it would have meant lower status. Job sharing also offered an acceptable shift back into
full-time work after a long absence.
     The necessity of close cooperation when sharing a job with another person makes the actual work
quite different from conventional one-position jobs. However, to ensure a greater chance that the partnership
will succeed, each person needs to know the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of his or her partner
before applying for a position. Moreover, there must be a fair division of both routine tasks and interesting
ones. In sum, for a position to be job-shared well, the two individuals must be well matched and must treat
each other as equals.

1. In what way is work sharing different from job sharing?

A. Work sharing requires more working hours.
B. Work sharing is aimed at creating more jobs.
C. Work sharing provides a more satisfactory salary.
D. Work sharing depends on the employer's decision.

2. According to Paragraph 4, young mothers preferred job sharing to conventional part-time work mainly
    because _____.

A. they sought higher social status
B. they were over ideal working ages
C. they had difficulty finding full-time jobs
D. they had to take care of both work and family

3. In job sharing the partners should _____.

A. enjoy equal social status
B. have similar work experience
C. keep in touch with each other
D. know each other very well

4. The main purpose of the passage is to _____.

A. describe job sharing in general
B. discuss how to provide more jobs
C. recommend job sharing to women
D. compare job sharing with work sharing

     In cities with rent control, the city government sets the maximum rent that a landlord can charge for an
apartment. Supporters of rent control argue that it protects people who are living in apartments. Their rent
cannot increase; therefore, they are not in danger of losing their homes. However, the critics say that after
a long time, rent control may have negative effects. Landlords know that they cannot increase their profits.
Therefore, they invest in other businesses where they can increase their profits. They do not invest in new
buildings which would also be rentcontrolled. As a result, new apartments are not built. Many people who
need apartments cannot find any. According to the critics, the end result of rent control is a shortage of
apartments in the city.
     Some theorists argue that the minimum wage law can cause problems in the same way. The federal
government sets the minimum that an employer must pay workers. The minimum helps people who generally
look for unskilled, low-paying jobs; However, if the minimum is high, employers may hire fewer workers.
They will replace workers with machinery. Therefore, other things being equal, the number of workers that
employers want decreases. Thus, critics hold the opinion that an increase in the minimum wage may cause
unemployment. Some poor people may find themselves without jobs instead of with jobs at the minimum
wage.
     Supporters of the minimum wage say that it helps people keep their dignity. Because of the law, workers
cannot sell their services for less than the minimum. Furthermore, employers cannot force workers to accept
jobs at unfair wages.
     Economic theory predicts the results of economic decisions such as decisions about farm production,
rent control and the minimum wage. The predictions may be correct only if "other things are equal".
Economists do not agree on some of the predictions. They also do not agree on the value of different decisions.
Some economists support a particular decision while others criticize it. Economists do agree, however, that
there are no simple answers to economic questions.

1. This passage shows that setting maximum rent may _____.

A. encourage the construction of more apartments
B. discourage the renting of apartments as homes
C. reduce the shortage of apartments
D. result in a shortage of apartments

2. From the passage, we can infer that rent control _____.

A. is completely unnecessary
B. will likely bring about undesired results
C. will bring positive effects in the long run
D. is necessary under all circumstances

3. The problem of unemployment may come up when _____.

A. the minimum wage is set too low
B. the workers are unskilled
C. the minimum wage is set too high
D. people need low-paying jobs

4. This passage is mainly about economists disagreement on _____.

A. the effectiveness of government controls
B. the urgency of getting rid of government controls
C. the relationship between supply and demand
D. the possible results of government controls

5. We can conclude from the passage that _____.

A. the results of economic decisions can always be predicted
B. predicting the results of economic decisions is something complicated
C. minimum wage can not protect employees
D. economists usually have the same prediction about an economic decision

     When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be "last weekend." Some
people go even more often. Why? For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one
place: food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services. So, are malls one of the
highlights of modern civilization? Environmental activists would say No! They would go even further and
say that consumer behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster. They cause consumers of ignorance
of the side effect of their shopping-urban sprawl (扩大).
     Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last
half century. Prior to 1950, most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public
transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages
and came into town only when they needed things they couldn't produce themselves. If you gazed at the
landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside. Then a massive change occurred.
     Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live
in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap
land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to the usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas,
and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one-storey buildings and their parking lot took up
a great deal space. Well-meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops.
In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would
be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it.
     Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the
problems of unconditional grows. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental
problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams,
and the death of businesses in the old town centers. Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the
problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to
do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment.

1. What is mainly discussed in the passage?

A. Weekend Fun.
B. Urban Sprawl.
C. New Automobiles.
D. Isolated Villages.

2. What does the underlined word "They" refer to in the first paragraph?

A. Malls.
B. Activists.
C. Farmers.
D. Scientists.

3. Who do activists blame for environmental problems?

A. Endangered animals.
B. Shopping mall owners.
C. Unthinking shoppers.
D. Ambitious farmers.

4. What do scholars think should be done about urban sprawl?

A. Understand the situations better.
B. Follow customary policies.
C. Start school in shopping mails.
D. Charge polluters a lot of money.

5. What is the scholars' attitude toward urban sprawl?

A. Respectful.
B. Disapproving.
C. Pessimistic.
D. Doubtful.

     Spending beyond one's means is becoming a national problem for Americans. Borrowing has become so
easy that it takes great willpower for people to refuse it. "I received a number of gold MasterCard and gold
Visa card offers in the mail during the past two months," said one computer engineer at AT&T Bell
Laboratories in Chicago. "I got three of them in one day last week."
     Lenders are providing easy credit (信贷) for borrowers. Many banks now offer every borrower a great
variety of credit, a service once offered almost only to big companies. Norwest Bank Minneapolis offers
lending programs for cars and boats that can cut monthly payments nearly in half. Carmakers, too, are
lengthening easier terms. Ford Motor Credit states that 45% of its recent lending has been for sixty months,
rather than the thirty-six-month period that was usual before.
     The total consumer debt (债务) in the United States rose 173 percent between 1974 and 1984, as the
debt for each man, woman, and child increased from $10, 264 to $26, 566. Huge debt now is present in our
economy (经济) at all levels. As a nation, we are more than $7 trillion in debt, and the total keeps increasing
astonishingly.
     As we have over-borrowed, so have we overspent. In late 1986, the share of after-tax income that
Americans saved sank below 2 percent for a short time, less than half the figure at which we saved only
10 years ago. Americans now are buying from foreigners between about $50 and $100 billion more Mercedes
and Toyotas, Paris fashions, and tours to Europe than the Boeing 747s, agriculture machinery, or Kansas
wheat that the foreigners bought from America The country could not produce and pay for all the things it
wanted.
     To make a long story short, we Americans have serious problems in keeping down spending and keeping
up personal savings. It is high time for us American people to learn the basics of long-term money
management.

1. According to the author, what is a main reason for Americans to overspend?

A. Americans buy a lot of foreign products.
B. It is easy for Americans to manage their debts.
C. Borrowing money has become a simple matter.
D. Americans have more extra money than before.

2. Ford Motor Credit lengthens 45% of its lending to 60 months in order to _____.

A. help more Americans to settle their debts
B. encourage people to buy foreign cars
C. make better use of its money
D. attract more customers 

3. What does the author suggest as a way to deal with over-borrowing?

A. Teaching people how to manage money.
B. Advising people on what to buy.
C. Limiting the use of credit cards.
D. Reducing average incomes.

4. Which of the following points does the author wish to make?

A. America should sell more of its products abroad.
B. A healthy society has to learn to live within its means.
C. People's income determines their money management.
D. Government should prevent people from over-borrowing.

     Spending beyond one's means is becoming a national problem for Americans. Borrowing has become
so easy that it takes great willpower for people to refuse it. "I received a number of gold MasterCard and gold Visa card offers in the mail during the past two months," said one computer engineer at AT&T Bell
Laboratories in Chicago. "I got three of them in one day last week."
     Lenders are providing easy credit (信贷) for borrowers. Many banks now offer every borrower a
great variety of credit, a service once offered almost only to big companies. Norwest Bank Minneapolis
offers lending programs for cars and boats that can cut monthly payments nearly in half. Carmakers, too,
are lengthening easier terms. Ford Motor Credit states that 45% of its recent lending has been for sixty
months, rather than the thirty-six-month period that was usual before.
     The total consumer debt (债务) in the United States rose 173 percent between 1974 and 1984, as
the debt for each man, woman, and child increased from $10, 264 to $26, 566. Huge debt now is
present in our economy (经济) at all levels. As a nation, we are more than $7 trillion in debt, and the
total keeps increasing astonishingly.
     As we have over-borrowed, so have we overspent. In late 1986, the share of after-tax income that
Americans saved sank below 2 percent for a short time, less than half the figure at which we saved only
10 years ago. Americans now are buying from foreigners between about $50 and $100 billion more
Mercedes and Toyotas, Paris fashions, and tours to Europe than the Boeing 747s, agriculture machinery,
or Kansas wheat that the foreigners bought from America The country could not produce and pay for all
the things it wanted.
     To make a long story short, we Americans have serious problems in keeping down spending and
keeping up personal savings. It is high time for us American people to learn the basics of long-term
money management.

1. According to the author, what is a main reason for Americans to overspend?

A. Americans buy a lot of foreign products.
B. It is easy for Americans to manage their debts.
C. Borrowing money has become a simple matter.
D. Americans have more extra money than before.

2. Ford Motor Credit lengthens 45% of its lending to 60 months in order to _________.

A. help more Americans to settle their debts
B. encourage people to buy foreign cars
C. make better use of its money    
D. attract more customers

3. What does the author suggest as a way to deal with over-borrowing?

A. Teaching people how to manage money.
B. Advising people on what to buy.
C. Limiting the use of credit cards.
D. Reducing average incomes.

4. Which of the following points does the author wish to make?

A. America should sell more of its products abroad.
B. A healthy society has to learn to live within its means.
C. People's income determines their money management.
D. Government should prevent people from over-borrowing.  

    China reported blistering growth for the last three months of 2009 ,raising expectations of interest rate
increases and other measures to head off inflation.
     China has declared that it is recovering from the global economic crisis.
     Ma Jiantang, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said Thursday the country's economy grew by
10.7 percent in the last three months of 2009.
     Ma says China has managed to quickly hold back what he described as "the sliding of the national
economy". He says China has become the first country, on the whole, to achieve economic recovery and
stabilization.
     According to previous estimates, Ma says China's  gross domestic product for 2009 rose 8.7 percent,
to nearly five trillion dollars.
     This goes beyond the official growth rate target of eight percent. The government has long considered
eight percent growth essential to create enough jobs for the country's more than one billion people.
     At the same time, Ma says some problems and contradictions are natural.
     Ma says the Chinese government will  give more priority  to  restructuring  economic  and  improving
peoples' livelihood.
     To reduce the effects of the global economic crisis that began in 2008 ,China loosened lending
practices, cut interest rates and began massive spending programs. But the government wants to make
sure those measures do not contribute to inflation, which can be politically sensitive in a country where
hundreds of millions of people remain poor.
     Beijing resident Ms Wang says she is worried. She says she thinks prices are rising really fast. She
points to the price of cabbage, which has increased more than 10 times in the past year.
The head  of the  Chinese  Banking  Regulatory Commission, this week said the government will step up
monitoring of banks and rein in lending to prevent speculative bubbles (投机泡沫) in real estate ( 房地
产) and other assets.
     The World Bank on Thursday released a report that predicts China's economy will grow by nine
percent this year. This contrasts with forecasts of 2.5 percent growth rate for the United States and one
percent growth for European economies in , because of weaknesses remaining from the global financial
crisis.

1.What does the underlined phrase in the first paragraph mean?

A. Prevent.    
B. Begin.  
C. Continue.    
D. Reduce.

2. How many measures did China take to reduce the sliding of the national economy?

A. 2.  
B. 3.  
C. 4.  
D. 5.

3.The global economy in  will ________.

A. increase more quickly than in 2009
B. recover immediately if proper measures are taken
C. remain weak as a result of the global financial crisis
D. remain the same standard as that in 2009

4.The passage is mainly about ________.

A. jobs created for more than one billion people
B. lending practices loosened in China in the new year
C. rapid growth of Chinese economy in last months of 2009
D. fast growth in economy leading to inflation

     The first-ever meeting of G-20 foreign ministers will discuss pressing global issues including  
governance, trans-national crime, green growth, climate change and food security, US officials have 
 said.
     Organised by Mexican Foreign Minister, Ms Patricia Espinosa, in the Mexican resort town of Los
  Cabos, the meeting is to be attended by among others, the US Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton,  
German Foreign Minister, Mr Guido Westerwelle, and European Union foreign policy chief, Ms  
Catherine Ashton.
      Several other G-20 countries including France, China, Brazil and India will be represented at a  lower
level. Mexico is the current chair of the G-20 countries and the meeting will be hosted on June  18-19.
      A senior state department official said that the meeting is informal so it will not result in any formal 
 statements.
      "This meeting reflects, in many ways, the evolution of the G-20 since the first summit (峰会) of  
Washington in the fall of 2008, which was designed to deal with the global financial crisis," the official  
said.
      "This is going to focus on broad non-financial global issues, some of which have been discussed by
  G-20 leaders in the past, but some of which are new to the G-20 process or at least have not been  
emphasized to any great degree, including some broad economic governance issues, some  
environmental issues, development policy, and green growth," the official said.
      During her meetings, Ms Clinton will be emphasizing some themes that are included in the broad
  G-20 rights. Although, she will not be going to get into the details of the G-20 financial part of the
  process, she will call for an open, free, transparent, and fair global economic system.
      Ms Clinton will address things like anti-competitive government practices or interference, which
  include the ways in which governments artificially distort (歪曲) markets or create uneven economic 
 playing fields, the official said.
      Among other things, she will also highlight issues like climate change, freedom of navigation and  
shipping and sailing security to promote a well-functioning global economy; besides governance issues
  like fight against corruption.  

1. The passage mainly tells us about _____.  

A. some pressing global issues
B. issues to be talked about by Ms Clinton
C. the possible results of the meeting
D. the meeting of G-20 foreign ministers to be held in June  

2. Which will not be discussed at the meeting?   

A. The evolution of G-20.
B. Issues discussed by G-20 leaders in the past.
C. Environmental issues.
D. Green growth.  

3. The aim of the first summit of Washington was to _____.  

A. settle the global financial crisis
B. deal with economic governance issues
C. increase the evolution of G-20
D. promote fair global economic system

4. We can infer from the fifth and the sixth paragraphs that G-20 _____.   

A. hasn't changed through these years
B. is currently concerned with more than financial issues
C. holds a meeting every year
D. never discusses old issues

5. Ms Clinton will do the following except _____. 

A. call for an open, free, and fair global economic system
B. talk about some details of the G-20 financial part of the process
C. highlight issues of climate change
D. call on G-20 to fight against corruption and bribery

     More than two-thirds of adults support the shutdown of social networks during periods of social
unrest such as the riots (暴乱) in England this summer, new research has shown.
     A survey of 973 adults carried out for the online security firm Unisys found 70% of adults supported
the shutdown of Twitter, Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), while only 27% disagreed.
     Three-quarters agreed that governments should have open access to data on social network users in
order to prevent relevant (相应的) crime. Support for action against social networks was strongest
among over-65s and weakest among 18 to 24-year-olds, who are the heaviest users of the online
services.
     Several people were accused of attempting to start disturbances (骚动) using Facebook during the
outbreak of rioting across England in August. The court recently refused a request o lower the sentences
of two people sent to prison for four years for attempting to arrange riots on the social media site, despite
them not leading to any disturbances.
     Analysis by the Guardian found little evidence to support claims the network had been used to set
off unrest. However, the BBM network was believed to have played a role in organizing disturbances.
     It's very worrying that people would believe shutting down social networks would be worth. The vast
majority of social network use during the unrest was people spreading information and helping each other
get home safely. These kinds of actions would weaken the UK's position against authoritarian regimes (独裁政权). As we live more of our lives online, people should be conscious of the amount of power they're probably handing over to government.
     Jonathan Polanyi, a lawyer in criminal law and member of the Bar Council's IT Committee, said
developments across 2011 suggested the UK's legal system was failing to keep pace with technological
change.
     "We've seen discussions about libel (诽谤) and super-forbidden on Twitter; the use of social
networking to coordinate civil unrest in UK cities and a series of high profile attacks on well-known
companies which have led to loss of data," he said. "It is important that the law quickly develops to deal
with issues related to new technology."

1. Which of the following person probably most agree with against social networks?

A. A girl aged 10.          
B. An 18-year-old boy.
C. A young woman of 24.    
D. An old man of 66.  

2. Two people were sentenced to prison for four years because they             .

A. were against the social networks    
B. attempted to plan riots on the social media site
C. led to some disturbance to the social media site
D. started disturbances using Facebook and Twitter

3. What is analyzed by the Guardian proved that                .

A. the network had nothing to do with unrest    
B. the BBM network organized disturbances
C. shutting down social networks would be desirable
D. 70% of adults supported the shutdown of the network

4. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A. The UK's legal system should be changed completely.
B. The law associated with new technology should be progressed.
C. Twitter has led to loss of data and should be accused.
D. Some well-known companies were attacked by Twitter.