E) For sociable souls, meeting new people by staying in their homes is part of the charm. Curmudgeons (低脾气的人)who imagine that every renter is a murderer can still stay at conventional hotels. For others, the web fosters trust. As well as the background checks carried out by platform owners, online reviews and ratings are usually posted by both parties to each transaction, which makes it easy to spot bad drivers, bathrobe-thieves and surfboard-wreckers. By using Facebook and other social networks, participants can check each other out and identify friends (or friends of friends) in common. An Airbnb user had her apartment trashed in 2011. But the remarkable thing is how well the system usually works.
Peering into the future
F) The shying economy is a little like online shopping, which started in America 15 years ago. At first, people were worried about security. But having made a successful purchase from, say, Amazon, they felt safe buying elsewhere. Similarly, using Airbnb or a car-hire service for the first time encourages people to try other offerings. Next, consider eBay. Having started out as a peer-to-peer marketplace, it is now dominated by professional “power sellers" (many of whom started out as ordinary eBay users). The same may happen with the sharing economy, which also provides new opportunities for enterprise. Some people have bought cars solely to rent them out, for example.
G) Existing rental businesses are getting involved too. Avis, a car-hire firm, has a share in a sharing rival. So do GM and Daimler, two carmakers, in future, companies may develop hybrid (混合的)models, listing excess capacity (whether vehicles，equipment or office space) on peer-to-peer rental sites. In the past, new ways of doing things online have not displaced the old ways entirely. But they have often changed them. Just as internet shopping forced Wal-mart and Tesco to adapt, so online sharing will shake up transport, tourism, equipment-hire and more.
H) The main worry is regulatory uncertainty. Will room-renters be subject to hotel taxes, for example? In Amsterdam officials are using Airbnb listings to track down unlicensed hotels. In some American cities, peer-to-peer taxi services have been banned after lobbying by traditional taxi firms. The danger is that although some rules need to be updated to protect consumers from harm, existing rental businesses will try to destroy competition. People who rent out rooms should pay tax, of course, but they should not be regulated like a Ritz-Carlton hotel. The lighter rules that typically govern bed-and- breakfasts are more than adequate.
I) The sharing economy is the latest example of the internet's value to consumers. This emerging model is now big and disruptive (颠覆性的)enough for regulators and companies to have woken up to it. That is a sign of its immense potential. It is time to start caring about sharing.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
46. Sharing items such as cars does good to the environment.
47. Airbnb's success clearly illustrates the emergence of a huge sharing economy.
48. The major concern about the sharing economy is how the government regulates it.
49. The most frequently shared items are those expensive to buy but not fully used.
50. The sharing economy has a promising future.
51. Online sharing will change the way business is done in transportation, travel, rentals, etc.
52. Airbnb is a website that enables owners and renters to complete transactions online.
53. The sharing economy is likely to go the way of online shopping.
54. One advantage of sharing is that owners earn money from renting out items not made full use of.
55. Sharing appeals to the sociable in that they can meet new people.
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