The power and ambition of the giants of the digital economy is astonishing — Amazon has just announced the purchase of the upmarket grocery chain Whole Foods for $13.5bn, but two years ago Facebook paid even more than that to acquire the WhatsApp messaging service, which doesn’t have any physical product at all. What WhatsApp offered Facebook was an intricate and finely detailed web of its users’ friendships and social lives.
Facebook promised the European commission then that it would not link phone numbers to Facebook identities, but it broke the promise almost as soon as the deal went through. Even without knowing what was in the messages, the knowledge of who sent them and to whom was enormously revealing and still could be. What political journalist, what party whip, would not want to know the makeup of the WhatsApp groups in which Theresa May’s enemies are currently plotting? It may be that the value of Whole Foods to Amazon is not so much the 460 shops of owns, but the records of which customers have purchased what.
Competition law appears to be the only way to address these imbalances of power. But it is clumsy. For one thing, it is very slow compared to the pace of change within the digital economy. By the time a problem has been addressed and remedied it may have vanished in the marketplace, to be replaced by new abuses of power. But there is a deeper conceptual problem, too. Competition law as presently interpreted deals with financial disadvantage to consumers and this is not obvious when the users of these services don’t pay for them. The users of their services are not their customers. That would be the people who buy advertising from them — and Facebook and Google, the two virtual giants, dominate digital advertising to the disadvantage of all other media and entertainment companies.
The product they’re selling is data, and we, the users, convert our lives to data for the benefit of the digital giants. Just as some ants farm the bugs called aphids for the honeydew they produce when they feed, so Google farms us for the data that our digital lives yield. Ants keep enemy insects away from where their aphids (蚜虫) feed; Gmail keeps the spammers out of our inboxes. It doesn't feel like a human or democratic relationship, even if both sides benefit.
1.According to Paragraph1, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for its________.
A.digital products B.user information
C.physical assets D.quality service
2.Linking phone numbers to Facebook identities may________.
A.worsen political disputes B.mess up customer records
C.pose a risk to Facebook users D.mislead the European commission
3.Competition law as presently interpreted can hardly protect Facebook users because________.
A.they are no defined as customers B.they are not financially reliable
C.these services are generally digital D.the services are paid for by advertisers
4.The ants analogy is used to illustrate_________.
A.a win-win business model between digital giants
B.a typical competition pattern among digital giants
C.the benefits provided for digital giants' customers
D.the relationship between digital giants and their users
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and Exhibition Tour
Overview
Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition is the world’s largest exhibition devoted to Shakespeare. Located beneath the reconstructed Globe Theatre on London’s Bankside, the exhibition explores the remarkable story of the Globe, and brings Shakespeare’s world to life using a range of interactive displays and live demonstrations.
Highlights
Tour the reconstructed Globe Theatre and see how plays were staged in Shakespeare’s day
All-day access to the interactive Globe Exhibition
Actors, recordings and interactive displays bring Shakespeare’s world to life
Schedule
April 23 to October 9
9:00am to 5:00pm. On Monday, tours run all day. Tuesday to Saturday, last tour departs at 12:30pm and at 11:30am on Sunday due to performances taking place on these days.
October 10 to March 31
10:00am to 5:00pm.
Important note:
Rehearsals(排练) will also take place throughout the Theatre Season. Please note that access to the Globe Theatre may be restricted and there may be occasions when the Globe tours are unable to run. When the Globe tours are not available, Rose or Bankside tours can be offered instead.
Additional info
Inclusions: Entrance fee and all day access to Exhibition
Guided tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (maximum 50 people)
Exclusions(不包含项目): Hotel pickup and drop off
Food and drinks, unless specified
Pricing
Click the link below to check pricing & availability on your preferred travel date. Our pricing is constantly updated to ensure you always receive the lowest price possible - we 100% guarantee it.
VIEW PRICING AND AVAILABLE
Theatre Tour and Exhibition | Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Tour and Exhibition | $22.34 |
Theatre Tour and Afternoon Tea | Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Tour and Exhibition plus Afternoon Tea at 3:00pm in the Swan Brasserie or Bar. | $62.89 |
1.The passage can be found ___________.
A. in a newspaper B. in a magazine
C. on the Internet D. in a guidebook
2.In this Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Tour, we can _________.
A. visit the original Globe Theatre
B. enjoy a British afternoon tea for free
C. experience Shakespeare’s world in an interactive way
D. visit the exhibition in the Globe Theatre
3.What is true about the tour according to the passage?
A. Rehearsals may affect the tour.
B. The pricing remains the same.
C. Performances take place throughout the year.
D. The opening hours are the same in May and in November.
Everyone gathered around and Paddy read out loud, slowly, his tone growing sadder and sadder. The little headline said: BOXER RECEIVES LIFF SENTENCE.
Frank Cleary, aged 26, professional boxer, was today found guilty of the murder of Albert Gumming, aged 32, laborer, last July. The jury (陪审团) reached its decision after only ten minutes, recommending the most severe punishment to the court. It was, said the Judge, a simple case. Cumming and Cleary had quarreled violently at the Harbour Hotel on July 23rd and police saw Cleary kicking at the head of the unconscious Gumming. When arrested, Cleary was drunk but clear-thinking.
Cleary was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Asked if he had anything to say, Cleary answered, “Just don’t tell my mother.”
“It happened over three years ago,” Paddy said helplessly. No one answered him or moved, for no one knew what to do. “Just don’t tell my mother,” said Fee numbly (麻木地). “And no one did! Oh, God! My poor, poor Frank!”
Paddy wiped the tears from his face and said. “Fee, pack your things. We’ll go to see him.”
She half-rose before sinking back, her eyes in her small white face stared as if dead. “I can't go,” she said without a hint of pain, yet making everyone feel that the pain was there. “It would kill him to see me. I know him so well — his pride, his ambition. Let him bear the shame alone, it’s what he wants. We’ve got to help him keep his secret. What good will it do him to see us?”
Paddy was still weeping, not for Frank, but for the life which had gone from Fee’s face, for the dying in her eyes. Frank had always brought bitterness and misfortune, always stood between Fee and himself. He was the cause of her withdrawal from his heart and the hearts of his children. Every time it looked as if there might be happiness for Fee, Frank took it away. But Paddy’s love for her was as deep and impossible to wipe out as hers was for Frank.
So he said, “Well, Fee, we won’t go. But we must make sure he is taken care of. How about if I write to Father Jones and ask him to look out for Frank?”
There was no excitement in the eyes, but a faint pink stole into her cheeks. “Yes, Paddy, do that. Only make sure he knows not to tell Frank we found out. Perhaps it would ease Frank to think for certain that we don’t know.”
1.Paddy cried because he thought ________.
A.what had happened to Frank was killing Fee
B.Frank should have told Fee what had happened
C.Frank did kill someone and deserved the punishment
D.Frank had always been a man of bad moral character
2.The underlined sentence “She half-rose before sinking back...” in Paragraph 6 shows that ________.
A.Fee was so heart-broken that she could hardly stand up
B.Fee didn’t want to upset Paddy by visiting Frank
C.Fee struggled between wanting to see Frank and respecting his wish
D.Fee couldn’t leave her family to go to see Frank
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.The jury and the judge agreed on the Boxer’s Sentence of Life Imprisonment.
B.Frank didn’t want his family to know the sentence to him, most probably out of his pride.
C.The family didn’t find out what had happened to Frank until 3 years later.
D.The police found Gumming unconscious, heavily struck by Frank.
4.What is Frank and Paddy’s probable relationship with Fee?
A.Frank is Fee’s son and Paddy is Fee’s brother.
B.Frank is Fee’s lover and Paddy is Fee’s husband.
C.Frank is Fee’s brother and Paddy is Fee’s lover.
D.Frank is Fee’s son and Paddy is Fee’s husband.
Scientists in Norway have more good news for coffee drinkers. Researchers have already found evidence that the drink — or the beans can help with weight loss, _______one's risk of developing some diseases, _______ muscle growth, protect against certain types of cancers and can even reduce one's risk of _______ death. Now comes word that a cup of coffee reduces physical pain.
The surprising finding is based on a study _______ 48 volunteers who agreed to spend 90 minutes performing fake computer tasks meant to mimic office work. The tasks were known to _______pain in the shoulders, neck, forearms and wrists, and the researchers wanted to _________ how people with pain and those who were pain-free tolerated the pain of such tasks. As a matter of convenience, the scientists allowed people to drink coffee before taking the test "to avoid _______effects of caffeine deprivation, e.g. decreased vigor and alertness, sleepiness, and fatigue," they reported.
But when it came time to analyze the data, the researchers from Norway's National Institute of Occupational Health and Oslo University Hospital noticed that the 19 people who drank coffee reported a lower _______ of pain than the 29 people who didn't. In the shoulders and neck, _______, the average pain intensity was rated 41 (on a 100-point scale) among the coffee drinkers and 55 for non-coffee drinkers. Similar gaps were found for all pain sites measured, and coffee's apparent pain-reduction effect ________.
However, the authors of the study, which was published this week in the journal BMC Research Notes, cautioned that since the study wasn't designed to test coffee's influence on pain, the results came with many ________. For starters, the researchers don't know how much coffee the coffee drinkers consumed before taking the computer tests. ________they doubt whether the coffee drinkers and non-coffee drinkers were ________in all respects except for their coffee consumption. Problems like these tend to ________ the importance of the findings. But those doubts are ________ to trouble the coffee drinkers looking for any reason not to cut back on their daily caffeine habit.
1.A.rise B.reduce C.release D.suffer
2.A.shape B.establish C.boost D.preserve
3.A.mutual B.subtle C.premature D.prepared
4.A.involving B.researching C.interviewing D.qualifying
5.A.cause B.endure C.ease D.cure
6.A.warn B.compare C.relieve D.treat
7.A.unpleasant B.modest C.significant D.positive
8.A.tendency B.intention C.intensity D.extension
9.A.on the contrary B.as a result C.for instance D.in one word
10.A.turned up B.broke out C.pointed out D.took up
11.A.satisfactions B.uncertainties C.consequences D.qualifications
12.A.Moreover B.However C.Otherwise D.Nevertheless
13.A.contemporary B.similar C.temporary D.initial
14.A.realize B.attach C.demonstrate D.weaken
15.A.unlikely B.sensible C.influential D.definite
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Last year, a report by a committee of education experts said that a lot of American students cannot write well. The report noted the concerns of business leaders and teachers. The experts said that more students should have to pass a writing test 1. they can finish high school. They pointed out major college entrance tests are changing now 2. (include) a writing part.
Educators know that teaching students to write well is not easy. One problem is the amount of time needed to read through large amounts of work. So some companies 3. (develop) computer programs that can grade students writing more quickly than a person can. Writing tests can also cost 4. (little) to carry out by computer than paper-and-pencil. These computer systems, known as e-readers, use artificial intelligence to think in a way 5. teachers. For two years, both a computer and humans graded the student writing. Officials say there was almost no difference between the computer grades and 6. given by the human readers.
The entrance test commonly 7.(use) by business schools, the GMAT, already uses e-readers. The GRE and TOEFL tests might start; officials are deciding.
Systems 8.(use) to grade writing in college classes as well. The computers read a few hundred examples of student writing already graded by humans. Then the systems compare new writing against those already examined.
Some teachers say machines can never do the job as well as people can. A computer can find spelling and grammar mistakes, but it can never really understand 9. a writer is trying to say. Critics say a program cannot follow a thought or judge humor or understand a beautifully expressed idea.
But inventors of the programs say computer grading guarantees that each piece of writing is graded in the same way. They also say the systems 10.(mean) to judge knowledge more than creativity.
阅读下面材料，根据其内容进行续写,使之构成一个完整的短文。
Lill was a shy , young girl who grew up in a village. At the age of 16, her father forced her to drop out of school and find a job to help the family.
With poor education, skills and hope, the young girl would take the bus into the big cities of Windsor and Detroit, walk aimlessly about and then return home every day. She couldn't even bring herself to knock on a door.
As the days passed, Lill knew she had to have the courage to knock on a door. On one of her trips, Lill saw a sign at Carhartt Overall Company, saying, “Help Wanted, Secretary. Apply Within. ” She walked up to the office and was met by the office manager Margaret, who sat her down at a typewriter and said with a smile, “Let's see how good you really are."
She directed Lill to type a single letter and then left. Lill looked at the clock： 11: 40 am. She figured that she could run away in the crowd when the clock struck 12. But she knew she should at least stay and give it a try.
On her first try, she got through one line. It had five words and she made four mistakes. She pulled the paper out and threw it away. The clock read 11: 45. “In fifteen minutes," she said to herself, “I'll escape from the company, and she will never see me again. ” On her second try, Lill got through a full paragraph, but still made many mistakes. Again she pulled out the paper, threw it out and started over. This time she completed the whole letter, but still there were many errors in it. She looked at the clock： 11:55 — five minutes to freedom.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Just then, the door at one end of the office opened and Margaret walked in. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lill did stay at Carhartt Overall Company for 51 years, __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
