1、 A new commodity brings about a highly profitable,fast-growing industry,urging antitrust(反垄断)regulators to step in to check those who control its flow. A century ago ,the resource in question was oil. Now similar concerns ares being raised by the giants(巨头)that deal in data, the oil of the digital age. The most valuable firms are Google,Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. All look unstoppable.
Such situations have led to calls for the tech giants to be broken up. But size alone is not a crime,The giants' success has benefited consumers. Few want to live without search engines or a quick delivery, Far from charging consumers high prices, many of these services are free (users pay, in effect, by handing over yet more data). And the appearance of new-born giants suggests that newcomers can make waves, too.
But there is cause for concern. The internet has made data abundant, all-present and far more valuable, changing the nature of data and competition. Google initially used the data collected from users to target advertising better. But recently it has discovered that data can be turned into new services: translation and visual recognition, to be sold to other companies. Internet companies’ control of data gives them enormous power. So they have a “God’s eye view” of activities in their own markets and beyond.
This nature of data makes the antitrust measures of the past less useful. Breaking up firms like Google into five small ones would not stop remaking themselves: in time, one of them would become great again. A rethink is required—and as a new approach starts to become apparent, two ideas stand out.
The first is that antitrust authorities need to move form the industrial age into the
21st century. When considering a merger(兼并),for example, they have traditionally used size to determine when to step in. They now need to take into account the extent of firms' data assets(资产) when assessing the impact of deals. The purchase price could also be a signal that an established company is buying a new-borm threat. When this takes place,especially when a
new-born company has no revenue to speak of, the regulators should raise red flags.
The second principle is to loosen the control that providers of on-line services have over data and give more to those who supply them.Companies could be forced to consumers what
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information they hold and how many money they make form it.Govemments could order the sharing of certain kinds of data, with users' consent.
Restarting antitrust for the information age will not be easy But if govemments don't wants a data oconomy by a few giants, they must act soon.
1.Why is there a call to break up giants?
A.They have controlled the data market
B.They collect enormous private data
C.They no longer provide free services
D.They dismissed some new-born giants民诉法179条
2.What does the technological innovation in Paragraph 3 indicate?
A.Data giants’ technology is very expensive
B.Google’s idea is popul ar among data firms
C.Data can strengthen giants’ controlling position
D.Data can be turned into new services or products
3.By paying attention to firms’ data assets, antitrust regulators could .
A.kill a new threat
B.avoid the size trap
C.favour bigger firms
D.charge higher prices
4.What is the purpose of loosening the giants’ control of data?
A.Big companies could relieve data security pressure.
B.Governments could relieve their financial pressure.
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设计C.Consumers could better protect their privacy.
D.Small companies could get more opportunities.
2 、El Nino, a Spanish term for “the Christ child”, was named by South American fisherman who noti
ced that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Niños, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Niño in 1997 helped American’s economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought (干旱)in
south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Niño may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Niño, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Niños come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Inst
itute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
多项式时间Simple improvements to infrastructure (基础设施)can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers (下水道)make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Niño's harmful effects—and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Niño, reducing their losses needs to be the priority.
1.What can we learn about El Nino in Paragraph 1?
A.It is named after a South American fisherman.
B.It takes place almost every year all over the world.
C.It forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas.
D.It sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean.
2.What may El Niños bring about to the countries affected?
A.Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall.
B.Droughts become more harmful than floods.
C.Rich countries’ gains are greater than their losses.
D.Poor countries suffer less from droughts economically.
3.The data provided by ODI in Paragraph 4 suggest that_________.
< investment should go to risk reduction
C.victims of El Niño deserve more compensation
4.What is the author’s purpo se in writing the passage?
A.To introduce El Niño and its origin.
B.To explain the consequences of El Niño.
C.To show ways of fighting against El Niño.
D.To urge people to prepare for El Niño.
3、 While WeChat is China's biggest mobile messaging app (应用软件),there are many equivalent(相当的) apps in other countries that offer similar features(特征).
WhatsApp (US)
Users: more than 300 million
Platforms: Android, 10S, Windows Phone, BlackBerry
Features:Text chat, push-to-talk, file sharing, location sharing
With more than 300 million active users, WhatsApp is one of WeChat's biggest competitors. Developed by two ex-Yahoo! employees in 2009, WhatsApp originally focused on text chat, but onAug6 it also started push - to - talk service. It's noted for its accessibility, ease of use and the absence of advertisements. The service is free for the first year, after which $0.99 (6.06 yuan) is charged for one-year subscription.
Kakao Talk (South Korea)
Users: more than 100 million
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Bada (an operateing system developed by Samsung)
Features: Text chat, group chat, push - to - talk, group calls, file sharing
With more than 100 million users in more than 230 countries, Kakao Talk is a multi - platform ( 多平台) texting application that allows users to send and receive messages for free. With Kakao Talk, users can message each other one-on one or in group chats with unlimited numbers of friends. You can also choose from more than 250 animated emoticons (表情符号) and share them with friends.
Line (Japan)
Users: more than 200 million
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and PC
Features:Text chat, group chat, push - to - talk, file sharing, location sharing, gaming, stickers. Line tops the list of the most downloaded free apps in 52 countries. Apart from text and voice messaging, Line provides its users with more than 250 original stickers and emoticons to buy from its own shop. In the first quarter of 2013 alone. it made $ ,7 million just from stickers. The popular app also allows friends to battle each other in the LINE Game.
1.The first paragraph of the passage is used to _______.
A.introduce the most popular mobile messaging apps in China
B.talk about new features in the latest mobile messaging apps
C.draw readers' attention to various popular mobile messaging apps
2.Compared with the other two apps, which of the following features makes Line stand out?
A.Group mobile games.
B.Free stickers and emoticons.
C.Free download of the app.
D.Text and group chat.
爱尔纳突击3.One of the popular features of WhatsApp is that users_______.
A.can send and receive messages for free
B.can enjoy live video chats within groups
C.don't need to worry about unwanted ads
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