Over three million people will do their Christmas shopping entirely online this year without once visiting an actual shop, a poll (民意调查) has found. Overcrowding and long queues in shops are forcing people away from the high street as the hassle (烦扰) of Christmas shopping becomes too much.
The number of people turning their backs on the high street is almost one million higher than it was last year, according to the poll by YouGov. Last Christmas 2.4 million shoppers did not do any of their shopping in actual shops. The figure this year is predicted to be around 3.4 million, equal to around 7 percent of the adult population.
Over a third of people said that the main turn-off about shopping on the high street is 0ver-crow-ding. Meanwhile almost a quarter said that long queues at the cheek-out are the worst thing about it.
Of the 2.065 people pored, even those who are stir taking to the shops plan to spend less time in them this Christmas. Around 31 percent of shoppers who plan to spend at least some time on the high street will spend less than half of their shopping time in actual shops, using the rest of the time to shop remotely via the internet. This compares to 28 percent of people last year. Meanwhile the proportion of people spending over half of their shopping time in high street shops has dropped from 41 percent last year to 39 percent this year. Just 2 percent of people said that they are looking forward to dealing wi.th store staff this festival season.
Guy Boxall, senior product marketing manager at Casio Business Solutions Division, which commissioned the research from YouGov, said that despite the fall in people visiting the high street,humans are "social creatures" who actually like spending time together.
"Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers (零售商) should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away," said Mr. Boxall.
【小题1】According to the poll, in this year's Christmas       

A.about 7 % of the population will do both online and actual shopping
B.about 31% of shoppers will do half of their shopping in actual shops
C.about 39% of shoppers will do more than half of their shopping in actual shops
D.over three million shoppers will quit actual shopping just because of the long queues
【小题2】What's the meaning of "turn-off" in Para.5?
A.Something that makes people lose heart
B.Something that makes people lose face
C.Something that makes people lose interest
D.Something that makes people lose courage
【小题3】It can be inferred from Mr. Boxall's words that                                                                                                   
A.retailers should reduce their in-store goods.
B.retailers wiR be pessimistic about the result of this research.
C.retailers should focus on the advantage of in-store shopping.
D.retailers will make more profits this Christmas than last Christmas
【小题4】Wheat's the writer's attitude towards Christmas online shopping?
A.Concerned.B.Doubtful.C.Approving.D.Objective.

Owning a smartphone may not be as smart as you think. They may let you surf the Internet, listen to music and take photos wherever you are, but they also turn you into a workaholic(工作狂).
A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the smartphone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles. The study shows the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours, but a further 2 hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls.
Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers say they are on call almost 24 hours a day. Nearly two-thirds say they often check work emails just before they go to bed and as soon as they wake up, while over a third have replied to one in the middle of the night. The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 7 am, with more than a third checking their first email in this period, and a quarter checking them between 11pm and midnight.
Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said: “The ability to access millions of applications has made smartphones invaluable for many people. However, there are disadvantages. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smartphones mean that people cannot get away from work. The more constantly in touch we become, the more is expected of us in work . ”
【小题1】With a smartphone the average UK working day is _______.

A.2 hours B.9 to 10 hoursC.11 to 12 hoursD.24 hours
【小题2】It could be inferred from the text that the British people _______.
A.prefer to check emails in the morning
B.are crazy about different smartphones
C.shorten their normal working hours
D.work extra hours with smartphones
【小题3】What does Ghadi Hobeika feel about smartphones?
A.They are unimportant for most of people.
B.They have disadvantages for some companies.
C.They make it impossible for people to rest.
D.They are useful to improve a work ability.
【小题4】Where can we most probably read this text?
A.In a science fiction.B.In a newspaper.
C.In a travel magazine.D.In a storybook.

Over three million people will do their Christmas shopping entirely online this year without once visiting an actual shop, a poll (民意调查) has found. Overcrowding and long queues in shops are forcing people away from the high street as the hassle (烦扰) of Christmas shopping becomes too much.

The number of people turning their backs on the high street is almost one million higher than it was last year, according to the poll by YouGov. Last Christmas 2.4 million shoppers did not do any of their shopping in actual shops. The figure this year is predicted to be around 3.4 million, equal to around 7 percent of the adult population.

Over a third of people said that the main turn-off about shopping on the high street is 0ver-crow-ding. Meanwhile almost a quarter said that long queues at the cheek-out are the worst thing about it.

Of the 2.065 people pored, even those who are stir taking to the shops plan to spend less time in them this Christmas. Around 31 percent of shoppers who plan to spend at least some time on the high street will spend less than half of their shopping time in actual shops, using the rest of the time to shop remotely via the internet. This compares to 28 percent of people last year. Meanwhile the proportion of people spending over half of their shopping time in high street shops has dropped from 41 percent last year to 39 percent this year. Just 2 percent of people said that they are looking forward to dealing wi.th store staff this festival season.

Guy Boxall, senior product marketing manager at Casio Business Solutions Division, which commissioned the research from YouGov, said that despite the fall in people visiting the high street,humans are "social creatures" who actually like spending time together.

"Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers (零售商) should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away," said Mr. Boxall.

1.According to the poll, in this year's Christmas       

A.about 7 % of the population will do both online and actual shopping

B.about 31% of shoppers will do half of their shopping in actual shops

C.about 39% of shoppers will do more than half of their shopping in actual shops

D.over three million shoppers will quit actual shopping just because of the long queues

2.What's the meaning of "turn-off" in Para.5?

A.Something that makes people lose heart

B.Something that makes people lose face

C.Something that makes people lose interest

D.Something that makes people lose courage

3.It can be inferred from Mr. Boxall's words that                                                                                                   

A.retailers should reduce their in-store goods.

B.retailers wiR be pessimistic about the result of this research.

C.retailers should focus on the advantage of in-store shopping.

D.retailers will make more profits this Christmas than last Christmas

4.Wheat's the writer's attitude towards Christmas online shopping?

A.Concerned.        B.Doubtful.          C.Approving.        D.Objective.

 

Owning a smartphone may not be as smart as you think. They may let you surf the Internet, listen to music and take photos wherever you are, but they also turn you into a workaholic(工作狂).

A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the smartphone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles. The study shows the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours, but a further 2 hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls.

Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers say they are on call almost 24 hours a day. Nearly two-thirds say they often check work emails just before they go to bed and as soon as they wake up, while over a third have replied to one in the middle of the night. The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 7 am, with more than a third checking their first email in this period, and a quarter checking them between 11pm and midnight.

Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said: “The ability to access millions of applications has made smartphones invaluable for many people. However, there are disadvantages. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smartphones mean that people cannot get away from work. The more constantly in touch we become, the more is expected of us in work . ”

1.With a smartphone the average UK working day is _______.

A.2 hours           B.9 to 10 hours       C.11 to 12 hours      D.24 hours

2.It could be inferred from the text that the British people _______.

A.prefer to check emails in the morning

B.are crazy about different smartphones

C.shorten their normal working hours

D.work extra hours with smartphones

3.What does Ghadi Hobeika feel about smartphones?

A.They are unimportant for most of people.

B.They have disadvantages for some companies.

C.They make it impossible for people to rest.

D.They are useful to improve a work ability.

4.Where can we most probably read this text?

A.In a science fiction.                      B.In a newspaper.

C.In a travel magazine.                     D.In a storybook.

 

Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and the required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

The worst US economic recession (萧条) in 70 years is forcing senior citizens out of retirement, leaving them fighting for jobs in a weak labor market or risking homelessness.

A study by Experience Works, released on Tuesday, showed 46 percent of the 2,000 low income people over 55 years who participated needed to find work to keep their homes. Nearly half of them had been searching for work for more than a year.

“These people are at the age where they understandably thought their job-searching years were behind them,” said Cynthia Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Works.

“But here they are, many in their 60s, 70s and beyond, desperate to find work so they can keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.”

According to the study, many of the participants had no intention of working past their 60th birthday, but had to change plans after being dismissed or following the death of the partner. Over a third of the participants had retired.

Ninety percent of respondents 76 years and older planned to continue working for the next five years.

Huge medical bills due to a personal illness or that of a spouse(配偶) were also reasons for coming out of retirement, the survey found. The longest and deepest economic slump since the 1930s is making finding a job for the low-income elderly workers a difficult challenge.

The Experience Works study found that 46 percent of the elderly jobseekers were sometimes forced to choose between paying rent, buying food or medication. Almost three-quarters believed their age made it harder to compete for jobs with younger workers.

“This study underscores calls for the need to create policies that remove barriers to employment for older workers and provide additional programs and services specifically aimed at helping older people re-enter the work force or remain working,” said Metzler.

1. What has caused the American retired senior citizens back to work?  (No more than 8 words)

2. Why is it hard for the elderly job seekers to find a job?  (No more than 13 words)

3. Use several words to describe the possible feelings of the elderly job seekers? (No more than 4 words)

4. What might be the solution to the problem according to the study?  (No more than 15 words)

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网