Well, parents, surprise! Lots of us are using Twitter and Facebook to find rides, and not just to school. It’s awkward to call a friend and ask for a ride, and half the time they’ll say, “Sorry, my car is full.” But with Twitter, you just tweet (贴子,留言) and look for other people heading the same way.
It may sound risky, but many teens stay within their own social circles to find rides, and don’t branch out beyond friends of friends when asking on Twitter. For me, I only rideshare with people I know, but to some young people, especially those taking longer trips, stranger danger is less of a concern.
The sharing economy got big during the recession（经济衰退）. It allows people to access more goods and services using technology, while also allowing them to share cost. And that technology, for me, is what the car was for my mom, a gateway to more freedom.
According to the researchers at the University of Michigan, 30 years ago, eight in ten American 18-year-olds had a driver’s license. Today it’s six in ten. So it’s not that surprising that on my 16^thbirthday I wasn’t rushing to get a license. All I wanted was an iPhone. Juliet Schor (Sociology professor at Boston College) knows people my age love being connected and for young people driving means they have to disconnect from their technology, and that’s a negative. So if they could sit in the passenger side and still be connected, that’s going to be a plus.
To me, another plus is ridesharing represents something much bigger than trying to save money. I see it as evidence that people still depend on each other. My generation shares their cars and apartments the way neighbors used to share cups of sugar. For the system to work, some of us still need our own cars. But until I get my own version of the silver Super Beetle, you can find me on Twitter.
【小题1】The writer usually rideshares with _____.

A．anyone heading the same way	B．people he knows
C．friends of friends	D．strangers of his age

【小题2】Fewer young people choose to ride by themselves because _____.

A．driving means offering free rides to others.

B．getting a driving license becomes more difficult.

C．driving one’s own cars causes a negative impression.

D．driving makes them disconnected from technology.

【小题3】We can conclude from the passage that _____.

A．the writer rideshares just to save money

B．people under 18 are not allowed to drive

C．silver Super Beetle is the writer’s favorite

D．the older generation had to fight for freedom

【小题4】Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Teens use Twitter to thumb rides.

B．Tips on reducing risks in ridesharing.

C．Car is no longer a gateway to freedom.

D．New generation knows how to save money.

   The new study shows that we spend more time using the mobile Internet to read newspapers and magazines or do some other things. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau（IAB），the average European spends 4.8 hours reading newspapers and magazines but 1.6 hours more using the mobile Internet per week.

The IAB questioned 15,000 people in 15 European countries, looking at how people were using the Internet and its influence on their everyday lives. It found that the mobile Internet is increasingly finding its way into the public awareness. Over 71 million Europeans now have Internet access on their mobile phones. In the UK, 10 million people now access the Internet through their mobile phones and spend 6.3 hours doing so per week averagely.

Unsurprisingly, young generations in the UK are leading the way, with nearly half of the country's 16-to 24-year-olds and a quarter of 25-to 34-year-olds using the Internet, spending 6.5 and 6.2 hours online each week.

Entertainment plays a main role in our mobile Internet lives，with one in five British people using their phones for online games，a third listening to the online radio and 39 percent watching films，TV or other videos at least once a week. One third of those using an Internet phone said they received videos，images or other multimedia on their mobile，and 61percent said they passed on the contents they had received.

From a communication point of view，80 percent of those questioned agreed that the Internet had made it easier for them to stay in touch with friends and family.

Alison Fennah，director of the IAB，said the use of the mobile Internet had come to the point that marketers should be looking to strategies（策略）that connect them with consumers more effectively. "Better tools as well as improved consumer motivation that start coming together in 2011 can make a great difference to extending the online experience，" Fennah said.

【小题1】How long does a European spend on the mobile Internet per week according to the IAB？

A．6.4hours.	B．6.2hours.
C．4.8hours.	D．1.6 hours.

【小题2】What do people mainly use the mobile Internet for？

A．Communication.	B．Entertainment.
C．Study.	D．Advertising.

【小题3】It can be known from the passage that __________.

A．more than half of the people in the UK use the mobile Internet

B．the Internet is the most effective way to stay in touch with friends and family

C．the UK has the largest number of people who use the mobile Internet in Europe

D．better tools and improved consumer motivation help extend the online experience

【小题4】The author wrote the passage to tell us __________.

A．how to use mobile phones to surf the Internet

B．newspapers and magazines will disappear soon

C．more and more people use the Internet in Europe

D．how the Internet influences our daily lives

短文改错

As is often the case, when people are attending to meetings, having meals or waiting for buses, you can always find them addicted to their phones, completely ignored others.

This is really a common phenomena in our life. The reason is why phones nowadays can be used for people to play mobile games and kept in touch with friends through QQ and WeChat. Therefore, too much exposure to phones are bad for people in terms of health.  Moreover, people involving in phones fail to communicate well with those around us.

As far as I concerned, people should wisely make use of their phones to help with their work and study. Meanwhile, they should also care more about their family and friends rather than phones.

   One of the biggest challenges faced by brick- and-mortar retailers（实体零售店） in recent years has been the" showrooming". Driven by the desire to get the best prices, many shoppers are now visiting stores to check on products that interest them, only to leave and then buy the items online. The new trend is forcing retailers to find out new ways to keep consumers from leaving their stores for cheaper prices online.

Smart phones have pushed showrooming into the front. Shoppers no longer have to wait until they get home to see if they can find a cheaper price for the products they're considering buying. With smart phones, consumers can now compare online prices with those of brick-and-mortar stores while still inside a retail store. If they can find what they're seeking with less money online, the majority will seek the first exit. A recent study showed that 45 percent of consumers shopping at brick-and-mortar stores walk out and make their purchase online for a discount of as little as 2. 5 percent.

This puts pressure on retailers to provide both an in-store experience worth staying and an online presence that can attract shoppers who are showrooming in other businesses.

To cut down on showrooming, many retailers are adopting new methods to keep shoppers in their stores. Among the steps they're taking are price-matching guarantees that allow shoppers to pay a discounted price if they find it cheaper online. This ensures that even a showrooming shopper can make the purchase in the store regardless of whether he finds the cheaper price online.

Another popular method of fighting against showrooming is to give shoppers the ability to buy something online and pick it up at the store. This reduces shipping costs and gets customers in the store, where they may be encouraged to make an additional purchase.

It is also important for businesses to take into consideration what makes shoppers purchase something in a store rather than online, and meet those needs. Research has found that more than 8 in 10 Americans consider the most important aspects--being able to take the goods home immediately and the ability to touch and feel them when they are deciding to purchase in a store rather than online.

【小题1】According to the passage, what does a showrooming shopper tend to do?

A．Pay for everything online.

B．Purchase online for a lower price.

C．Rush to buy things in a store.

D．Have better bargaining skills.

【小题2】What contributes to growing popularity of showrooming?

A．The advertisement by online retail giants.

B．The competition among big stores.

C．The wide use of smart phones.

D．The decline of the brick-and-mortar stores.

【小题3】What does the underlined words "seek the first exit" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Search for lower prices.

B．Make a purchase at once.

C．Locate the nearest exit quickly.

D．Leave as soon as possible.

【小题4】What do the last three paragraphs mainly talk about?

A．Ways of increasing sales at stores.

B．Ways of promoting purchase online.

C．Ways of satisfying customers needs.

D．Ways of advising shoppers to buy more.

语法填空

Amsterdam 【小题1】 (call) the “City of Bicycles” because of the convenience of riding bicycles there. In the 1960s, a group of cycling fans had 【小题2】 idea that it would be better for everybody if cars weren't allowed in the city centre and only bicycles were. They were 【小题3】 (hope) that this would help to save energy, reduce 【小题4】 (pollute) and provide free public transport. The group painted hundreds of bicycles white and placed them in lots of neighbourhoods around Amsterdam for people to use.

【小题5】 (fortunate), it didn't work because 【小题6】 (thief) took all the bicycles within weeks! However, more than thirty years later, the “white bike” is back in town — this time with a computer chip to record its every move!【小题7】 (take) a bicycle, you have to insert a special card. People who want to use the bikes 【小题8】 (park) at special parking places have to take them to another special parking place 【小题9】 has enough room. Thanks to the good ideas of lots of people, many people around the world have been enjoying city center streets 【小题10】 cars for many years.