Question

The Chinese tradition of giving gifts of money in red envelopes at Lunar New Year has turned into big business for Web giants Alibaba and Tencent, which now both offer electronic "hong bao".

At the end of each lunar year, it is common in China to give children hong bao -- some money in envelopes that are red, the colour of success. But now the old also take part in this activity.

It is now possible to exchange "red envelopes" with smart phone, which is popular in China and has caused a battle(战争) for the lucrative market between the two companies providing the service, Tencent and Alibaba.

"You don't have to pay the same cost or wait as long as you would for a traditional bank transfer(转账). It's more convenient, simple and fun," Wang Le, a 28-year-old Beijinger, told AFP. " With electronic red envelopes, you're not limited by your identity（身份） or the time of year. It's a new, fresh way of playing the game."

The idea was introduced in 2014 by WeChat, a mobile messaging system with over 400 million users and run by Tencent, China's largest Internet service system. It was successful at once.

This year, Alipay Wallet（阿里支付宝）, the payment system run by Alibaba, is ready to take on the competition. It is allowing its 190 million users to send digital gifts, especially on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

For the past few weeks a digital battle has been terrible, with Tencent banning （禁止）Alipay from sending red envelopes on WeChat, saying they were at a risk. Recently, WeChat also blocked(封锁) Alibaba's music app Xiami.

To attract the public's attention, the two companies have launched lotteries through which they award red envelopes to users in an online game.

It's easy to send and receive hong bao or take part in the lotteries: you simply need to register （登记）your bank details.

According to market research group iResearch, Alipay controls 82.6 percent of the Chinese mobile phone payment market, compared to 10 percent for Tencent's Tenpay.

1.Which Web giants now offer electronic "hong bao"?

A. Alibaba    B. Tencent    C. Alibaba and Tencent  D. Sina Weibo

2.According to the passage, what’s the popular trend for people to send “red envelopes” ?

A. Sending "red envelopes" through short messages

B. Sending "red envelopes" through vedios.

C. Sending "red envelopes" through smart phones.

D. Sending "red envelopes" through Express.

3.What does the underlined word “lucrative” mean?

A.利润丰厚的B. 富有想象力的C. 平滑的 D. 好奇的

4.Which one is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Tencent allows Alipay to send red envelopes via Wechat.

B. The idea of electronic red envelope was introduced by Wechat in 2014.

C. It’s complicated (麻烦的) to send and receive hongbao or participate in the lotteries.

D. Alipay controls a smaller payment market of the Chinese microphone than Tencent’s Tenpay.

5. What’s the main business purpose for Tencent and Alibaba launch lotteries?

A. To catch the new fashion on the website.

B. To raise money from netizens.

C. To obtain a better reputation.

D. To gain many more new App users.

Answer

1.C

2.C

3.A

4.B

5.D

【解析】

试题分析：传统发红包的方式已经过时了，现在人们更加喜欢网上发红包，这种方式很方便、快捷。腾讯和阿里巴巴这个网络巨人都提供人们这种服务，因此在两家网站之间为争取更多的用户发生了很多斗争。

1.1】C细节理解题。根据短文第一段中.... has turned into big business for Web giants Alibaba and Tencent, which now both offer electronic "hong bao"可知，阿里巴巴和腾讯这两个网络巨人都提供了网上发红包的服务。由此可知应选C。

2.2】C 细节理解题。根据短文第二段中It is now possible to exchange "red envelopes" with smart phone, which is popular in China可知，现在可以使用智能手机来发红包，这在中国很流行。其三个选项没有在文中提到。故选C。

3.3】A词义猜测题。根据短文中划线单词所在的句子It is now possible to exchange "red envelopes" with smart phone, which is popular in China and has caused a battle(战争) for the lucrative market between the two companies providing the service, Tencent and Alibaba可知，由于网上发红包收到了中国人的欢迎，两家公司腾讯和阿里巴巴因为这个利润丰厚的市场展开了斗争。因此我们推断lucrative是利润丰厚的，故选A。

4.4】B推理判断题。根据短文中The idea was introduced in 2014 by WeChat, a mobile messaging system with over 400 million users and run by Tencent, China's largest Internet service system可知，电子发红包这种方式是2014年由微信首先引进的。故B正确。根据Tencent banning （禁止）Alipay from sending red envelopes on WeChat可知A不对；根据It's easy to send and receive hong bao or take part in the lotteries可知C不对；根据Alipay controls 82.6 percent of the Chinese mobile phone payment market, compared to 10 percent for Tencent's Tenpay可知D不对。

5.5】D 细节理解题。根据短文第八段中To attract the public's attention, the two companies have launched lotteries through which they award red envelopes to users in an online game可知，腾讯和阿里巴巴都发布福利是为了吸引公众的注意力，让更多的人使用他们的软件。故应选D。

考点：社会现象类短文阅读。