Question

Do you have a spare room in your house? What about a driveway for your car? Both of these can help you make money. Many people who are feeling the pinch are taking advantage of what’s been called the "sharing economy".

Perhaps the best-known example of a company in this field is Airbnb — an American web business which allows you to rent out your spare room to holidaymakers. It says it operates in 34,000 cities and it has over 1,500,000 listings. It seems to have cornered the market!

A British company is doing something with parking spaces. JustPark’s founder, Anthony Eskinazi, says, "When I had the original idea, I spotted a driveway close to a sports stadium. It would have been so convenient if I could have just parked in that driveway rather than in a commercial car park." And he has a big clientele(顾客): around 20,000 people have advertised their spaces on the site, and he says around half a million drivers use it. There are other sites doing very similar things, like Uber and Lyft — these let drivers share their cars with other passengers. Any driver knows how valuable a place to park is. A church near Kings Cross in central London has apparently made over ￡200,000 by renting out space in its yard to travelers!

Because this is a new business world, those rules aren’t there yet and many people are happy to share... as long as it pays!

But the sharing economy has its critics: the competitors of these new companies. People who run things like traditional B&B, commercial car parks and taxi services are afraid of ending up out of pocket. And there is another issue: regulations on these new businesses are unclear. How will renting out your driveway affect your neighbor?

1.What does the underlined phrase "feeling the pinch" probably mean?

A. Lacking in money.

B. Full of curiosity.

C. Willing to help others.

D. Unsatisfied with their life.

2.Who may be against the sharing economy?

A. A taxi driver who can’t find a parking place.

B. A priest in the church near Kings Cross.

C. A traveler who needs accommodation.

D. A well-known high-end holiday hotel.

3.Why are many people pleased to share according to Paragraph 4?

A. They can gain huge profits.

B. They needn’t pay any fee.

C. There’re few rules to limit them.

D. The new business has no risks.

4.Which of the following words can best describe the booming business?

A. Creative and developed.

B. Competitive but unpractical.

C. Effective but worrying.

D. Traditional and acceptable.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.C

【解析】本文是说明文,讲述了"分享经济"的概念以及一些利用分享经济赚钱的例子。

1.考查词义猜测。由第一段中的"Both of these can help you make money"可知分享经济的目的是赚钱。画线词后的内容告诉我们,许多人正在利用分享经济(赚钱),由此可推知,feel the pinch应意为"手头拮据的,缺钱的"。故选A。

2.考查推理判断。第二段中提到了分享房间的例子,第三段提到了分享经济的其他形式——分享车道给需要停车位的人、分享汽车座位以及分享位于Kings Cross附近的教堂的庭院给需要停车位的游 客,故A项(找不到停车位的出租车司机)、B项(Kings Cross附近的教堂的牧师)和C项(需要住宿的游客) 当然需要这种分享;由第五段中的"But the sharing economy has its critics: the competitors of these new companies... traditional B&B"可知,其竞争对手反对分享经济,而著名的高端假日酒店就是其竞争对手之一,故选D。

3.考查细节理解。由第四段"Because this is a new business world, those rules aren’t there yet and many people are happy to share... as long as it pays!"可知这种新型的分享经济之所以受欢迎是因为它的规则少,限制也少。故选择C。

4.考查推理判断。通读全文可知,这种分享经济是有效的,但根据最后一段尤其是"regulations on these new businesses are unclear... neighbor"可知它的发展又是令人担忧的。故选C。