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 is growing fast and will soon bring people more choices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from fraud will be harder. Many governments therefore want to extend high 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 in their country is on the screen. Other countries have regulators, but the rules of consumer protection differ, as does enforcement. Even where a clear right to compensation exists, the online catalogue customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly go to New York to extract a refund for a dud purchase.

　　One answer is for governments 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 states to accept. There is, however, an alternative. 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 online 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.

Consumers will 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 consumers of the normal sort---and the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain noisily when a company lets them down. In this way, at least, the advent of cyberspace may argue for fewer consumer protection laws, not more.

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.

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.

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

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

If a customer buys something that does not meet his expectation, what is the advantage of dealing through electronic commerce over the present normal one?

       A．It will be easier for him to return the goods he is not satisfied with.

       B．It will be easier for him to attain the refund from the seller.

C．It will be easier for him to get his complaints heard by other consumers.

D．It will be easier for him to complain about this to the government.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Over the last 25 years, British society has changed a great deal – or at least many parts of it have.   71  . Ideas about social class – whether a person is “working - class” or “middle - class” – are one area in which changes have been extremely slow.

　　In the past, the working-class tended to be paid less than middle-class people. The typical working man would collect his wages on Friday evening and then, it was widely believed, having given his wife her "housekeeping", would go out and squander the rest on beer and betting.

　　The old style of what a middle-class man did with his money was perhaps nearer the truth. He was-and still is - inclined to take a longer-term view. Not only did he regard buying a house as a most important thing, but he also considered the education of his children as extremely important.      72    . Only in very few cases did workers have the opportunity （or the education and training） to make such long-term plans.

　　   73   . In a large number of cases factory workers earn as much as their middle – class supervisors (管理者). Social security and laws to improve century, have made it less necessary than before to worry about "tomorrow". Working-class people seem slowly to be losing the feeling of inferiority(自卑感). In fact there has been a growing tendency in the past few years for the middle-classes to feel slightly ashamed of their position.

        74    .They generally tend to share very similar tastes in music and clothes, they spend their money in having a good time, and save for holidays or longer-term plans when necessary. There seems to be much less difference than in precious generations.    75   . As long as this gap exists, there will always be a possibility that new conflicts and jealousies will emerge, or rather that the old conflicts will re-appear, but between different groups.

       A．Nowadays, a great deal has changed

       B．Both of these provided him and his family with security

       C．As a result, differences in life – styles and attitudes came into existence

       D．However, we still have a wide gap between the well – paid and the low - paid

       E．In recent years, the working – class people have begun to design long – term plans

       F．In some ways, however, very little has changed, particularly where attitudes are concerned

       G．The changes in both life – styles and attitudes are probably most easily seen amongst younger people

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 is growing fast and will soon bring people more choices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from fraud will be harder. Many governments therefore want to extend high 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 in their country is on the screen. Other countries have regulators, but the rules of consumer protection differ, as does enforcement. Even where a clear right to compensation exists, the online catalogue customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly go to New York to extract a refund for a dud purchase.

　　One answer is for governments 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 states to accept. There is, however, an alternative. 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 online 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.

Consumers will 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 consumers of the normal sort---and the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain noisily when a company lets them down. In this way, at least, the advent of cyberspace may argue for fewer consumer protection laws, not more.

1.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.

2.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.

3.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

4.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

5.If a customer buys something that does not meet his expectation, what is the advantage of dealing through electronic commerce over the present normal one?

         A．It will be easier for him to return the goods he is not satisfied with.

         B．It will be easier for him to attain the refund from the seller.

C．It will be easier for him to get his complaints heard by other consumers.

D．It will be easier for him to complain about this to the government.

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 is growing fast and will soon bring people more choices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from fraud will be harder. Many governments therefore want to extend high 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 in their country is on the screen. Other countries have regulators, but the rules of consumer protection differ, as does enforcement. Even where a clear right to compensation exists, the online catalogue customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly go to New York to extract a refund for a dud purchase.
　　One answer is for governments 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 states to accept. There is, however, an alternative. 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 online 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.
Consumers will 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 consumers of the normal sort---and the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain noisily when a company lets them down. In this way, at least, the advent of cyberspace may argue for fewer consumer protection laws, not more.
【小题1】According to the author, what will be the best policy for electronic commerce?