Directions: In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each stat contains-|||-information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.-|||-You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter.Answer the-|||-questions by marking the corresponding letter Answer Sheet 2.-|||-The Rise of the Sharing Economy-|||-A)Last night 40,000 people rented accommodation from a serv 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 4m people have used it - 25m 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,co-ordinated v the Internet.-|||-B)You might think this is no different from running a bed-and brealgast(家庭旅店),owning a timeshare (分时度-|||-假房)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 avabilablity of more-|||-data about people and things,which allows physical assets to be disagrregated and consumed as services. Before-|||-the Internet,renting a s urfboard,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,RelayRides and Sna match up owners and-|||-renters;smarthones with G 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-t 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 proponents of the sharing-|||-economy like to put it,access rnumps(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-|||-S26 billion.Broader definitio of the sharing cconomy include peer-to-p lending or putting a solar panel on-|||-your roof and selling power back 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"cwabwarie(合作的)commpi 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 ,300.Car owners who rent their vehicles to others using RelayRides make an average of -|||-a month;some make more than S1,000.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 (倔脾气的-|||-人)who imagine that every renter is Norman Bates 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 ma it easy to spot bad drivers,bathrobe-thieves and-|||-surfboard-wreckers.By using Facebook and other social networks,participants can check cach other out and-|||-identify friends(or frien 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 Airbnbor a car-hire servi 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 opportunitie for enterprise. Some people have bought cars solely to rent them-|||-out,for example.-|||-H)Existing rental businesse 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 models,listing excess capacity-|||-(whether vehicles,equipme 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 Walmart 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 disnuptive (项覆性的)enough for regulators and companies to have woken up to it.That is a sign of its-|||-immense potential. It is to start caring about sharing.-|||-注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。-|||-36.Sharing items such as cars does good to the environment.-|||-37.Airbnb`s success clearly illustrates the emergence of a huge sharing economy.-|||-38.The major concern about the sharing economy is how the government regula-|||-39.The most frequently shared items are those expensive to buy but not fully used.-|||-40.The sharing economy has a promising future.-|||-41.Online sharing will change the way business is done in transportation,travel, rentals, etc.-|||-42.Airbnb is a website that enables owners and renters to complete transaction online.-|||-43.The sharing economy is likely to go the way of online shopping.-|||-44.One advantage of sharing is that owners earn money from renting out items not made full use of.-|||-45.Sharing appeals to the sociable in that they can meet new people.