Amazon is opening its 12th high-tech convenience store Tuesday in New York. The spot will be the first of the chain to allow customers to pay with cash. The move comes with growing resistance against cashless stores, which critics say refuse to serve people who don’t have bank accounts.
At other locations of the store, shoppers enter by scanning the Amazon Go app. That's still the case for customers paying with a credit card, but people paying with cash will have an “entry associate” scan them through the turnstiles (旋转栅门). Once they’re finished, those shoppers will check out with an Amazon Go employee and receive a paper receipt. Cashless customers can still walk out by scanning a phone that has the Amazon Go app at the turnstiles. Customers using the Go app can exit without waiting and get a digitized receipt.
The 1,300-square-foot New York store-the first Amazon Go store on the East Coast-will offer prepared foods, such as sandwiches and salads, It will also have Amazon Meal Kits and locally made options.
Amazon says it will begin accepting cash at its other Go stores “over time.” A number of retailers (零售商) and restaurants, such as Sweetgreen and Dos Toros Taqueria, are facing roadblocks to their cashless recommendations.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed a law banning cashless stores in that state. Philadelphia also passed a law to prohibit cashless stores earlier this month, and officials in New York City, Washington and San Francisco are considering similar moves. The federal government does not require retailers to accept cash.
“While card-only may be convenient for some businesses, it can actually be discriminatory against poor communities that don’t have as much access to banks or lines of credit,” said New Jersey State Senator Nellie Pou, who sponsored the state’s new law. Not accepting cash could also be bad for business. Americans use it in 30% of all business deals, according to a 2017 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
1.Why is Amazon opening a new store accepting cash?
A.To persuade those critics. B.To obey the local regulations.
C.To improve its retail service. D.To compete with cashless stores.
2.What will shoppers paying with cash do at the new store?
A.Exit in line with a digitized receipt.
B.Walk out by scanning a phone with the Go app.
C.Enter through the turnstiles by scanning a phone
D.Check out with an employee and get a paper receipt.
3.How did some states and cities react to cashless stores?
A.By making laws to stop them.
B.By requiring retailers to run them.
C.By learning from Amazon to improve them.
D.By following the federal government to accept them.
4.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A.It s necessary to make cashless stores easily accessible.
B.More banks should be built in poor communities.
C.Card-only payment is convenient for business.
D.Not accepting cash has its disadvantages.
When bicycle-sharing company oBike pulled out of Singapore abruptly last year, it left the city with unattended bicycles everywhere. Myanmar businessman Mike Than Tun Win saw the perfect opportunity to turn trash (垃圾) into treasure. “What if these bicycles could be distributed to poor students in villages so they can cycle to school?” he thought.
Mr Than, 33, grew up in Mandalay, where he used to walk to school as a student. While traveling through rural (乡村的) areas in Myanmar over the last few years he saw things had not changed. Long lines of children in rural villages continue to walk 30 minutes to an hour just to get to school. “I thought if we could just reduce the time they take, they could spend more time studying, gain more knowledge and increase their chances of getting out of poverty (贫困),” he said.
With that, he started a movement called Lesswalk with the intention of buying bicycles from bike-sharing firms oBike and ofo-which have stopped operations in Singapore — and shipping them to Yangon. He would renew the bicycles before distributing them to teenagers and families living in rural villages in Myanmar, beginning with villages in Mandalay and Sagaing areas.
Over the last three months, the businessman has bought 10,000 bicycles in Singapore and Malaysia. He paid for 5,000 of the bicycles out of his own pocket, with other sponsors paying for the rest.
Mr Than plans to modify (修改) the bicycles so that they can better suit the needs of the children in villages, most of the time they ride around with their little brothers and sisters. I’m planning to add an extra seat at the back so that they can go to school together,” he said. He also plans to remove the digital locks and give each a new one that works better in villages.
Including the cost of shipping, modification and distribution, Mr Than thinks each bicycle might cost him around US $35 to US $40. “I might have to spend more money, but it is better that these bicycles are going to help some people rather than going to waste,” he said.
1.What's the author’s main purpose of writing the first two paragraphs?
A.To show Myanmar’ s hard rural life.
B.To explain how to turn trash into treasure.
C.To call on more people to follow Mr Than.
D.To state the background of starting Lesswalk.
2.How does Mr Than plan to adapt the bicycles?
A.By painting them in a colorful way.
B.By adding a bright light to each of them.
C.By adding two extra seats to each of them.
D.By changing the digital locks into new ones.
3.What can we infer from Mr Than’s words in the last paragraph?
A.He has a high opinion of himself.
B.He feels regret about what he has done.
C.He is a man with strong social responsibility.
D.He has decided to keep on working with oBike.
4.What's the best title for the text?
A.More unattended bicycles are attracting big attention
B.Bicycle-sharing companies are forced to leave Singapore
C.Rural villages in Myanmar are sponsored out of poverty
D.Businessman donates recycled bicycles to poor students
Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness, by Rick Hanson and Forrest Hanson
Psychologist Rick Hanson believes that resilience (适应力) comes from developing positive inner strength. Resilient (co-authored with his son, Forrest Hanson) explores a dozen of these strengths, from gratitude (感恩) to calm to generosity. Based on Rick Hanson s stories, you get the sense that he has applied these techniques to overcome the wounds of his pas t, and wants to help readers do the same. This book offers not just a series of tips, but also a framework for learning and growth that can be applied to many things we want to improve.
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, by Daniel Pink
Research shows that we all have peak (巅峰状态的) moments during the day when we are at our best, and Pink warns us to save tasks requiring concentration for those times of the day. Understanding how timing works can save us countless hours of low productivity. Pink s book provides lots of advice on when it s best to do different activities.
The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity, by Nadine Burke Harris
When Dr. Harris set up the Bayview Child Health Center in 2007, she immediately noticed an association between traumatic (痛苦的) experiences and health outcomes in the children she treated. Childhood trauma leads to more physical and mental illness in adulthood. Harris s book combines a huge amount of experience and research into an interesting story about the lasting consequence of childhood trauma — and how we might overcome it.
Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, by Soraya Chemaly
Anger is an emotion associated with power and strength. But women aren’t always comfortable expressing it, in part because their anger is often misunderstood. Chemaly’s book provides tips for channeling anger in constructive ways, including accepting your anger, developing body confidence, being brave, and owning your power.
1.What do we know about the author Rick Hanson?
A.He is Forrest Hanson’s son. B.He suffered a lot in his past life.
C.His opinion came from research. D.His book focuses on women readers.
2.Whose book can give you advice on how to improve your work efficiency?
A.Daniel Pink’s. B.Rick Hanson’s.
C.Soraya Chemaly’s. D.Nadine Burke Harris’s.
3.Which book can help solve problems caused by painful childhood experiences?
A.When. B.Resilient.
C.The Deepest Well. D.Rage Becomes Her.
单词拼写
1.E________ is a process of gradual change that takes place over many generations, during which species of animals, plants, or insects slowly change some of their physical characteristics.
2.Emile invented a record player that used discs as a________ to tubes, so the modern record player was born.
3.No matter what c________, when the phone rings, everything stops so that the call can be answered.
4.The course has four main c________: business law, finance, computing and management skills.
5.The beautiful island is only a________ by boat.
6.Gravity is a natural p________ (现象).
7.A needle is used for letting liquid out of body parts which had ________ (肿胀) up.
8.Aspirin has the ________ (可能性) to reduce the risk of heart attacks.
9.This medicine has proved ________ (有益的) to mankind, because it has saved millions of people’s lives.
10.The kidney plays a ________ (极其重要的) role in the removal of waste products from the blood.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
These days, people 1. (do) manual work often receive far more money 2. clerks who work in offices. People who work in offices are frequently 3.(refer) to as 'white-collar workers' for the simple reason 4. they usually wear a collar and tie to go to work. 5. is human nature, that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay 6. the privilege of becoming white collar workers. This can give rise to curious situations, 7. it did in the case of Alfred Bloggs who worked as a dustman for the Ellesmere Corporation. When he got married, Alf was too 8.(embarrass) to say anything to his wife about his job. He 9.(simple) told her that he worked for the Corporation. Every morning, he left home 10.(dress) in a smart black suit.
For The Flying Classroom’s second project, 11 of us from Tehran went to Tokhme-Baloot, a rural village in Ilam, one of the poorest provinces in the country. ____ by the government, Ilam has a high rate of unemployment, ____ and drug use. People there used to make their living by farming, but now this way of life is ____ by constant famine (饥荒). The situation for children there is ____. Boys who don’t do well in school must start work after eighth grade and girls who don’t do well in school stay at home doing ____ or get married.
Because our research before the trip made us believe there were large ____ around the village, we planned our project concept around oak (橡树) trees and squirrels to make the children ____ the beauty of the environment.
____, when we arrived at the village, we saw that there were only flat, ____ grass fields. Tokhme-Baloot was far less ____ than we had expected. The village had only gotten gas and electricity four years earlier, and it was sometimes ____ in the winter. After we saw the village and the surrounding area, the best concept for the project that we could think of focused on the respect for ____.
We began working with the students. Children started ____ the school equipment in bright colors. My colleague Zoya and I cut a dead branch into pieces and painted it to recreate a tree inside the school, as a symbol of nature ____ by children, and on it we hung the squirrels and cranes. We left the school in bright colors with objects to ____ the children’s imaginations.
Projects like ours are viewed ____ by Iran’s government, and during our trip we were ____ twice, once by the army and once by Basij, a paramilitary (准军事的) militia (民兵组织). They came to the school and talked to our group’s founder about the project, questioning him about is ____, who supported it, who our members were, etc. After the tip, we ____ that The Flying Classroom might be stopped, but ____, it wasn’t.
1.A.Supported B.Ignored C.Cheated D.Valued
2.A.poverty B.influence C.development D.increase
3.A.used B.covered C.threatened D.enjoyed
4.A.hopeful B.poor C.wonderful D.strange
5.A.homework B.cooking C.chores D.washing
6.A.companies B.factories C.forests D.markets
7.A.destroy B.appreciate C.forget D.decide
8.A.However B.Therefore C.Besides D.Instead
9.A.false B.dusty C.poisonous D.rare
10.A.developed B.visited C.known D.polluted
11.A.benefited B.produced C.burned D.interrupted
12.A.war B.nature C.love D.god
13.A.dreaming B.stealing C.painting D.borrowing
14.A.praised B.written C.created D.saved
15.A.limit B.inspire C.share D.check
16.A.skeptically B.naturally C.wonderfully D.secretly
17.A.sentenced B.killed C.interviewed D.rescued
18.A.purpose B.result C.income D.success
19.A.hoped B.concluded C.pretended D.feared
20.A.secondly B.fortunately C.unluckily D.gradually
