Question

For most people, shopping is still a matter of wandering down the street or loading a cart in a shopping mall. Soon, that will change. Electronic commerce (trade) is growing fast and will soon bring people more choices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from being cheated will be harder. Many governments therefore want to apply street regulations to the electronic world. But politicians would be wiser to see cyberspace as a basis for a new era of corporate self-regulation.
Consumers in rich countries have grown used to the idea that the government takes responsibility for everything from the stability of the banks to the safety of the drugs or their rights to refund when goods are faulty. But governments cannot enforce national laws on businesses whose only presence is on the screen. Even in a country where a clear right to compensation exists, the on-line customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly go to New York to get a refund (退款) for a clothes purchase.
One answer is for government to cooperate more: to recognize each other’s rules. But that requires years of work and volumes of detailed rules. And plenty of countries have rules too fanciful for sober countries to accept. There is, however, another choice. Let the electronic businesses do the regulation themselves. They do, after all, have a self-interest in doing so.
In electronic commerce, a reputation for honest dealing will be a valuable competitive asset. Governments, too, may compete to be trusted. For instance, customers ordering medicines on- line may prefer to buy from the United States because they trust the rigorous screening of the Food and Drug Administration; or they may decide that the FDA’s rules are too strict, and buy from Switzerland instead.
Customers will still need to use their judgment, but precisely because the technology is new, electronic shoppers are likely for a while to be a lot more cautious than customers of the normal sort. And the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain when a company lets them down. In this way, at least, the advent(出现) of cyberspace may argue for fewer consumer protection laws, not more.
【小题1】In case an electronic shopper bought faulty goods from a foreign country, what could he do?

A．Refuse to pay for the purchase.	B．Go to the seller and ask for a refund.
C．Appeal to consumer protection law.	D．Complain about it on the Internet.

【小题2】In the author’s view, businesses would place a high emphasis on honest dealing because in the electronic world _______.

A．international cooperation would be much more frequent

B．consumers could easily seek government protection

C．a good reputation is a great advantage in competition

D．it would be easy for consumers to complain

【小题3】We can infer from the passage that in licensing new drugs the FDA in the United States is______.

A．very quick

B．very cautious

C．very slow

D．rather careless

【小题4】According to the author, what will be the best policy for electronic commerce?

A．Self-regulation by the business.	B．Strict Consumer protection laws.
C．Close international cooperation.	D．Government protection.

Answer 1

【小题1】D
【小题2】C
【小题3】B
【小题4】A

解析试题分析: 在未来社会，购物不再意味着逛街、推着购物车逛商场。电子商务的出现使得人们在网上购物更为方便。但是，网上购物也存在一些弊端，比如，如果在网上买到假冒商品时候，政府还缺少必要的措施制度去保障消费者利益。
【小题1】D细节理解题。细节理解题。文章第一段提到在网上购物使保护消费者权益更难，然后在文章末段作者提出And the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain when a company lets them down.，由此判断如果在网上买到假冒伪劣商品，人们可以提出投诉，选D。
【小题2】C细节理解题。根据文章倒数第二段举的例子可以判断公司的诚信是公司在激烈的竞争中获得更多利益好处的保障，故答案选C。
【小题3】B细节理解题。 从文章倒数第四段because they trust the rigorous screening of the Food and Drug Administration; or they may decide that the FDA’s rules are too strict, and buy from Switzerland instead.可知美国在批准新药品方面是非常谨慎、严格的，故选B。
【小题4】A推理判断题。文章第三段提出让电子公司自己对自己进行监管，然后在文章第三段提出这样做的好处，由此判断作者认为最好的政策就是网络公司的自我制约，选A。
考点：考查社会生活类短文阅读。