16．
A．permits B．booked C．online D．complaints E．ban
F．really G．increased H．wave I．available J．probably
K．unfamiliar |
Empty taxis whiz by （呼啸而过）one after another．Frustrated people standing on the curb（人行道的边缘） （45）H at them with a forlorn（可怜的） sense of helplessness．Why won't the taxis stop？Are all the drivers in a hurry to answer the call of nature？No，the cabbies are hurrying to pick up fares who have （46）Ba taxi by using an app on their smart phones．
Taxi booking apps have been available for more than a year，but in the past couple of months，their appeal has （47）Gbecause of subsidies（补贴）offered by the two major players in the business，Kuaidi Dache and Di di Dache．Drivers receive 10yuan for the first ten fares they accept using a taxi app and customers receive a 13yuan rebate（退款优惠）for using an app．The apps put extra money into the drivers'pockets and they offer a savings to customers．Everybody wins，right？
Well，not everybody．The shanghai government has received hundreds of （48）D from non-app users who have been left waiting on the curb during the cold，wet Shanghai spring．Many of the complaints are from older people who are （49）K with new technology like smart phones and they have suffered long waits for taxis after shopping at the market or visiting the doctor．
The city's response has been to （50）Ethe use taxi apps during the morning and evening rush hours，they argue that，taxis are a public service and should be （51）I to everyone，smart phone or no smart phone．Drivers who ignore the ban will be fined two hundred yuan and their work （52）J will be suspended for 15days．It's not certain how effective the ban will be since it will be hard to enforce，but the city fell it had to do something
The taxi app flap is really the result of competition between China's Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent．Both want more people to use their （53）Cpayment platforms and they are behind the subsidies that Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache are offering．It's a strategy that is costing Alibaba and Tencent hundreds of million of yuan and it will be hard to maintain．So the taxi app flap will （54）F disappear when the money runs out．In the meantime，it seems people will just have to get used to all those empty taxis passing them by．
