Question

【题目】 As Uber looks to expand its food courier service in Japan, the ride-share giant has faced road blocks rarely seen on the home soil of the United States. 【1】.

Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg News his company's food-delivery in Japan has taken an alternative route to delivering food. The country has strict laws against ride sharing, and its unemployment rate is at 2.4 percent, making a tight job market. With a growing demand for food delivery, more of the elderly population has applied to become couriers.

“The elderly are actually signing up for Eats couriers,” Khosrowshahi said. “Eats has been a huge success for us in Japan. 【2】.” In Japan, the majority of current food deliverers bring the product via scooter or bicycle, but the older generation of applicants prefer to do it by foot. 【3】; adult diapers (尿布) outsell baby diapers. “This is one area unique to Japan, and we are looking if we can expand to the rest of the world,” Khosrowshahi said.

That plan includes increasing staffing levels in Japan by at least 30 percent over the next year, and these jobs aren't limited to grannies in sneakers. 【4】. It's still a slow pace considering the San Francisco-based company has more than 22,000 employees.

Uber currently works with eight taxi cab companies in Japan, and the pedestrian courier method is a way to branch out into areas untouched so far. There are cab-hailing apps available, as well as Uber Black, a car-hire service that's only available in Tokyo for now. “It will take time, but we like what we see in terms of the potential of the market” Khosrowshahi said. “【5】.”

A.The population is aging

B.They also include sales, operations and account management

C.It is going to be a very effective introduction to the Uber brand

D.Last year, Uber shifted to partnerships with local taxi companies

E.Japan is a growing nation for food-delivery-still way far behind the US

F.But putting grandma and grandpa in running shoes seems to make sense

G.The innovations that we are going to make here are going to carry around the world

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】F

【2】C

【3】A

【4】B

【5】G

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了在Uber寻求扩大其在日本的食品快递服务之际，优步首席执行官Dara Khosrowshahi告诉Bloomberg新闻社，他的公司在日本的送餐服务采取了另一种送餐方式，即老年人送餐服务。文章说明了这一现象的原因以及好处。

【1】根据第二段中最后一句With a growing demand for food delivery, more of the elderly population has applied to become couriers.可知，随着送餐需求的增长，越来越多的老年人申请成为送餐员。由此可知，越来越多的老年人申请成为送餐员，本句为第一段最后一句起到启示下文“老年人成为送餐员”的作用。故F选项“但是让老年人穿上跑鞋送餐似乎行得通”符合上下文语境，故选F。

【2】根据上文Eats has been a huge success for us in Japan.可知，在日本，“吃”对我们来说是个巨大的成功。由此可知，本句承接上文说明让老年人送餐的好处，是对优步品牌非常有效的介绍。故C选项“这将是对优步品牌非常有效的介绍”符合上下文语境，故选C。

【3】根据后文adult diapers outsell baby diapers.可知，成人纸尿裤销量超过婴儿纸尿裤。由此可推知，日本的人口正面临着老龄化问题，成人纸尿裤销量超过婴儿纸尿裤。故A选项“人口老龄化”符合上下文语境，故选A。

【4】根据上文That plan includes increasing staffing levels in Japan by at least 30 percent over the next year, and these jobs aren't limited to grannies in sneakers.可知，该计划包括在明年将日本的员工人数增加至少30%，而且这些工作并不仅限于穿着运动鞋的老奶奶。由此可知，本句承接上文继续说明计划包括的内容有哪些。故B选项“它们还包括销售、运营和账户管理”符合上下文语境，故选B。

【5】作为本文的结束语，本句的主语The innovations that we are going to make here概括了前文中提到的Uber在日本尝试的各种创新。故G选项“我们将在这里进行的创新将会传播到世界各地”符合上下文语境，故选G。