第单元电子商务

第10单元　电子商务
Unit 10 Electronic Business^[1]

Text A

Ⅰ．课文导读

随着互联网的普及，人们的交际活动越来越频繁。通过互联网接收和发送邮件进行网上购物，已经成为很多人的日常行为。与此同时，一些公司利用互联网开始了和他们与顾客的第一次沟通，而另外一些公司则运用互联网和他们的客户进行着交易。网络市场的高效性和低廉的交易成本使大量买家和卖家在此聚集，形成了电子商务。互联网在减少公司开支，全方位的向客户提供服务，帮助公司进入新的市场等方面提供了很大的便利。在当今社会，如果一个公司不能及时实现业务网络化，那么他们将会有可能在激烈的市场竞争中被淘汰。

Ⅱ．Text

In five years'time，says Andy Grove，the chairman of Intel，all companies will be Internet companies，or they won't be companies at all．The Internet is said to be both over-hyped^[2]and undervalued．Internet is themost transforMing invention in human history．It has the capacity to change everything—the way we work，the way we learn and play，even，maybe，the way we sleep or have sex．What ismore，it is doing so at far greater speed than the other great disruptive^[3]technologies of the 20th century，such as electricity，the telephone and the car．

Everybody loves e-mail; if you are a teenage girl，chat is cool;and the ability to retrieve information about so many things is truly miraculous，even if search engines are a bit clunky^[4]．Despite early Misgivings about credit-card security，buying certain kinds of things on the web—for example，books，CDs and personal computers—is convenient and econoMical，and has become popular．All these things are certainly nice to have，but they could hardly be called revolutionary．

Butwhile themedia have concentrated on just a few aspects of the web—the glamorous consumer side of content^[5]and shopping on the one hand，and the seamy^[6]end of pornography and extreMist rantings^[7]on the other—something much more important is happening behind the scenes:e-business．The Internet is turning business upside down and inside out．It is fundamentally changing the way companies operate，whether in high-tech ormetal-bashing^[8]．This goes far beyond buying and selling over the Internet，or e-business，and deep into the processes and culture of an enterprise．

Some companies are using the Internet to make direct connections with their customers for the first time．Others are using secure Internet connections to intensify relations with some of their trading partners，and using the Internet's reach and ubiquity^[9]to request quotes or sell off perishable stocks of goods or services by auction．Entirely new companies and businessmodels are emerging in industries ranging froMchemicals to road haulage^[10]to bring together buyers and sellers in super-efficient new electronic marketplaces．

The Internet is helping companies to lower costs dramatically across their supply and demand chains，take their customer service into a different league，enter new markets，create additional revenue streams^[11]and redefine their business relationships．What Mr．Grove was really saying was that if in five years' time a company is not using the Internet to do some or all of these things;itwill be destroyed by competitorswho are．

Most seniormanagers no longer need convincing．A recent worldwide survey of 500 large companies carried out jointly by the Economist Intelligence Unit(a sister company of The Economist) and Booz Allen HaMilton Inc．，a consultancy^[12]，found thatmore than 90% of topmanagers believe the Internetwill transforMor have a big impact on the globalmarketplace by 2001．

Thatmessage is endorsed by Forrester Research，a fashionable high-tech consultancy．It argues that e-business in America is about to reach a threshold froMwhich it will accelerate into “hyper-grow th”．Inter-company trade of goods over the Internet，it forecasts，will double every year over the next five years，surging from$ 43 billion last year to$ 1．3 trillion in 2003．If the value of services exchanged or booked online were included aswell，the figureswould bemore staggering^[13]still．

Thatmakes Forrester's forecasts of business-to-consumer e-business over the same period—rise from$ 8 billion to$ 108 billion—look positively modest．There are two explanations:business-to-business spending in the economy is far larger than consumer spending，and businesses aremore willing and able than individuals to use the Internet．

Forrester expects Britain and Germany to go into the same hyper-grow th stage of e-business about two years after America，with Japan，France and Italy a further two years behind．And just as countrieswillmove into e-business hyper-grow th at different times，so too will whole industries．For example，computing and electronics embraced the Internet early and will therefore reach criticalmass earlier than the rest．Aerospace，telecoms and cars are not far behind．Other conditions for early take-off include the ready availability of the right kind of software，computing platforms and systems-integration expertise^[14]．

Just as crucial is the impactof so-called“network effects”as online businessmoves froMa handful of evangelizing^[15]companieswith strong market clout^[16]，such as Cisco Systems，General Electric，Dell，Ford and Visa，tomyriad^[17]suppliers and customers．As both buyers and sellers reduce their costs and increase their efficiency by investing in the capacity to do business on the Internet，it is in their interest to persuade more and more of their business partners to do the same，thus creating a self-reinforcing circle．

However，even within particular industries companies aremoving at different speeds．Much depends on the competition they are exposed to，both froMfast-moving traditional rivals and froMInternet-based newcomers．But nobody can afford to be complacent^[18]．Successful new ebusinesses can emerge froMnowhere．Recent experience suggests it takes little more than two years for such a start-up to formulate^[19]an innovative business idea，establish aweb presence and begin to dominate its chosen sector．By then itmay be too late for slow-moving traditional businesses to respond．

For evidence of how farmost companies still have to go in developing their Internet strategies，look no further than their corporate websites．A few pioneers—such as Charles Schwab in stock broking and Dell in the PC business—have successfully transferred many of their core activities to the web，and some othersmay be trying their hand at a few web transactions，with an eye on developing their site as an extra distribution channel later．Butmore often than not，those websites are stodgily^[20]designed billboards，known in the business as“brochure^[21]ware”，which do littlemore than provide customers and supplierswith some fairly basic information about the company and its products．

Mostmanagers know perfectly well that they have to do better．The Yankee Group，another technology consultancy，earlier this year questioned 250 large and medium-sized American com-panies across a broad range of industries about their views on e-business，and found that58% of corporate decision makers considered the web to be importantor very important to their business strategy．Only 13% thought it not important at all．A large majority(83%) named“building brand awareness”and“providingmarketing information”as key tasks for their websites，and almost asmany(77%) thought the web was important for generating revenue．A smallermajority (57%) also sawits potential for cutting costs in sales and customer support．Yet despite all this positive talk，three-quarters did not yet have websites that would support online transactions or tie in with their customer databases and those of their suppliers，althoughmany wereworking on it．

In other words，most bosses know what they should be doing，but have not yet got around to it．It is easy to understand why．Knowing that you need a coherent e-business strategy is one thing，getting one is altogethermore difficult．And until you decide precisely what your strategy should be，it will not be clear what kind of IT infrastructure investments^[22]you will need to make．

Ⅲ．Notes

1．Intel(英特尔公司)．　Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara，California，United States and the world's largest seMiconductor chip maker，based on revenue．It is the inventor of the x86 series ofMicroprocessors，the processors found in most personal computers．Intel was founded on July 18，1968，as Integrated Electronics Corporation(though a common misconception is that“Intel”is froMtheword intelligence)．Intel alsomakesmotherboard chipsets，network interface controllers and integrated circuits，flash memory，graphic chips，embedded processors and other devices related to communications and computing．

2．The EconoMist Intelligence Unit(《经济学人》情报部EIU)．It is part of the Economist Group．It is a research and advisory company providing country，industry and management analysisworldwide and incorporates the former Business International Corporation，a U．S．company acquired by the parent organization in 1986．It is particularly well known for itsmonthly country reports，five-year country economic forecasts，country risk service reports and industry reports．The company also specializes in tailored research for companies that require analysis for particularmarkets or business sectors．2006 marked the 60th anniversary of the Economist Intelligence Unit's inception．

3．The EconoMist(《经济学家》)．The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd．and edited in offices in the City of Westminster，London，England．Continuous publication began under founder Jameswilson in September 1843．While The EconoMist refers to itself as a newspaper，each print edition appears on glossy paper，like a newsmagazine．In 2009，it reported an average cir-culation of justover1．6million copies per issue，above half of which are sold in North America and English speaking countries．

4．Booz Allen HaMilton Inc．(BAH)(博思艾伦管理和技术咨询公司)．It is an American public consulting firMheadquartered in McLean，Fairfax County，Virginia，with 80 other offices throughout the United States．The firMwas founded by Edwin Booz in Chicago circa 1914．It is listed as number438 in the 2011 Fortune 500 and is listed as the 9th largest USGovernment contractor(the largest for consulting services) by Washington Technology magazine in 2011．

5．Forrester Research(美国福雷斯特研究公司)．An independent technology andmarket research company that provides its clientswith advice about technology's impact on business and consumers．Forrester Research has five research centers in the US．It also has four European research centers．The firMhas 27 sales locationsworldwide．It offers a variety of services including syndicated research on technology as it relates to business，quantitativemarket research on consumer technology adoption as well as enterprise IT spending，research-based consulting and advisory services，events，workshops，teleconferences，and executive peer-networking programs．

6．Cisco SysteMs(思科系统公司)．　Cisco Systems，Inc．is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose，California，United States，that designs and sells consumer electronics，networking，voice，and communications technology and services．Cisco has more than 70，000 employees and annual revenue of US$ 40．0 billion as of 2010．Cisco's current portfolio of products and services is focused upon threemarket segments-Enterprise and Service Provider，Small Business and the Home．

7．General Electric(通用电气公司)．GE is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady，New York and headquartered in Fairfield，Connecticut，United States．The company operates through four segments:Energy，Technology Infrastructure，Capital Finance and Consumer＆Industrial．

8．Dell(戴尔公司)．Dell，Inc．is an American multinational information technology corporation which develops，sells and supports computers and related products and services．Bearing the name of its founder，Michael Dell，the company is one of the largest technological corporations in the world，employing more than 103，300 people worldwide．Dell is listed at number 41 in the Fortune 500 list．

9．Visa(维萨公司)．Visa Inc．is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered on 595 Market Street，Financial District in San Francisco，California，United States，although much of the company's staff is based in Foster City，California．It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world，most commonly through Visa-branded credit card and debit cards．

10．The Charles Schwab Corporation(嘉信理财集团)．An American brokerage and banking company，based in San Francisco，California．，Itwas founded in 1971 by Charles R．as a traditional，brick and mortar brokerage firMand investment newsletter publisher．In 1973，the company name changed froMFirst Commander Corporation to Charles Schwab＆Co．，Inc．The company started offering discount brokerage on May 1，1975，and would become one of the world's largest discount brokers．In 2009，Chairman Charles R．Schwab received the inaugural Tiburon CEO SumMit award for Maintaining a Focus on Consumer Needs．

11．Yankee Group(扬基集团)．A Massachusetts company，sells advice and market-research information relating to information technology．Founded in 1970，the Yankee Group emerged as the first independent technology research and consulting firm．Launched by Howard Anderson and focused onmarket research surroundingmajor telecommunications service providers，the Yankee Group went through a re-branding in 2005 after itwas acquired froMReuters by EMily Nagle Green and Alta Communications．Yankee Group believes that the emergence of a seaMless，ever-present，high capacity，highly-capable network will transforMsocial and business interactions over the next20 years．

Ⅳ．Useful Expressions

1．concentrate on:集中精力做某事

2．a handful of:少量

3．a self-reinforcing circle:自我强化的循环圈

4．be exposed to:暴露于

5．corporate website:公司网站

6．distribution channel:分销渠道

7．more often than not:经常，往往

8．get round to:着手做某事(包含拖延之意)

Ⅴ．Reading CoMprehension

Questions

1．In whatways does Internet turn business upside down and inside out？

2．What are the complaints about Internet？

3．What can we infer froMthe difference between the two forecasts of inter-company trade of goods and business-to-consumer e-business？

4．What are themain functions of the Internet for companies？

5．What does itmean by‘evangelizing companieswith strong market clout’？

Decide whether each of the following statements is true or false．

1．Internet，as themost transforming invention，has changed the traditionalway of business．(　)

2．Buying and selling on Internet can be called revolutionary．　(　)

3．Nowadays，some companies are using the Internet to sell stocks by auction．　(　)

4．Electronic business can lower the cost of a company but increase the risks．　(　)

5．In future five years，a company which does not use Internet to do business could fail in competition．　(　)

6．Individuals are lesswilling and unable to shop on Internet．　(　)

7．Computing and electronics have a closer relationship with the Internet than others．(　)

8．It costsmuch time and money to build a company on Internet to do business．(　)

9．Transferring many of their core activities to the web makes the success of Charles Schwab and Dell．　(　)

10．Brochure ware provides customers with all of information about the product and the suppliers．　(　)

Ⅵ．Discussion

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of e-business？

Text B

BEC Reading Texts

PART ONE

Questions 1—8

·Look at the statements below and the five extracts about e-commerce froMan article．

·Which extract(A，B，C，D or E) does each statement(1—8) refer to？

·For each statement(1—8)，make one letter(A，B，C，D or E) on your Answer Sheet．

·You will need to use some of these lettersmore than once．

1. The acceleration of e-commerce is in want of relative regulations or rules．

2. Discussion continues to revolve around whether e-commerce should be considered as trade in goods or in services．

3. E-commerce is becoming more social and more connected to the offline world．

4. In the last decade，many startup e-commerce accelerates the development of telecoMproducts．

5. The Internet has created a new economic ecosystem，the e-commercemarketplace．

6. Doing business on the Internet is becoMing the indispensable part of people's daily life．

7. The development of e-commerce，in turn，hasmotivated the growing of global economy．

8. Many e-commerce service providers stand to gain as e-commerce traffic accelerates．

A. The e-commercemarket has become the virtualmain street of the world．Providing a quick and convenient way of exchanging goods and services both regionally and globally，ecommerce has boomed．Today，e-commerce has grown into a huge industry with USonline retail generating$ 175B in revenues in 2007．withmore than 70% of Americans using the Interneton a daily basis for private and/or business use and the rest of the world also beginning to catch on，e-commerce's global grow th curve is not likely to taper off anytime soon．

B. Global Internet penetration rates have an enormous impacton e-commerce grow th rates．Currently，more than 30．2% of theworld has access to the internet，and hence，e-commerce．Reduced Internet surfing charges，Internet technology development covering expanded bandwidth，and increased speeds＆reliability could make e-commerce available to a large pool of emerging market consumers．In China，the internet penetration rate is now at29% as of June 2010．

C. Many companies interested in selling products and services through the Internet choose to contract the construction and operation of their e-commerce platforms to third-party vendors．Some of these companies，such as Volusion e-commerce，GSICommerce(GSIC)，Web Cube and Digital River(DRIV) offer comprehensive，integrated packages that include software，webhosting，order fulfillment and distribution and online marketing．Other firms offermore limited services such as Ariba(ARBA) and Akamai Technologies(AKAM)．

D. Perhaps the clearest indication of the growing importance of e-commerce in the global economy is the rapidity with which Internet use has grown and spread during the last decade．The booMin e-commerce also includes increased use of othermedia for trade，such as the telephone，television，fax，and electronic payment．Because e-commerce became such an integral part of the global economy，the WTO has begun to consider howit fits into the multilateral trade framework，and what rules or regulations should apply．

E. Developing countries，particularly those without strong e-commerce sectors，are in favor of classifying e-commerce as trade in services．They argue that they need the flexibility of regulating e-commerce in order to nurture their own industries，and that liberalizing too soon would give an unfair advantage to the e-commerce industries in developed countries．Developing countries such as India and China who have booming e-commerce sectors are in favor of liberalizing trade in e-commerce，butwould prefer to do so under the GATS so that they can begin with industries that have a comparative advantage．

PART TWO

Questions 9—14

·Read the text about the transaction on the internet．

·Choose the best sentence to fill each of the gaps．

·For each gap(9—14)，mark one letter(A-H) on your Answer Sheet．

·Do not use any lettermore than once．

Transacting Business via Electronic Data

The terMe-commerce embraces all the ways of transacting business via electronic data．(9)．．．，and it is the internet thathas pute-commerce near the top of the corporate agenda in the first years of the 21st century．

(10)．．．，but it embodies a revolutionary idea:that electronic commerce is qualitatively dif-ferent froMordinary time-worn commerce，that(in the jargon) there is a paradigMshift in the way that business is conducted in the world of e-commerce．Doing business via the internet is not only much quicker and much cheaper than othermethods，(11)．．．There is themuch-vaunted death of distance:a customer 10，000 Miles away becomes as accessible as one around the corner．And e-commerce has created the phenomenon of the long tail．

(12)．．．In its April1999 report“Making Open Finance Pay”，Forrester Research，an American research company，gave examples of the way in which the internet had altered the pricing structure of a number of industries，particularly those with high information content．Before the advent of the internet it cost$ 100 tomake an equitymarketorder．Afterwards it cost just$ 15，an 85% fall in price，farmore than could ever have been gleaned froMtraditional economies of scale．This is a revolution for organizationswhose structures and strategies have built-in assumptions about relationships between price and volume．

(13)．．．Online sales in the United States are reckoned to have grown by some 18% in 2007．The country's five largest online retailers(often called e-tailers) were Amazon，Staples，Office Depot，Dell and Hew lett-Packard．Dell became amarket leader in computers through early use of the internet to sell goods and services direct to consumers，and to buy components froMsuppliers．

Financial service offerings over the internet have also sprouted likemushrooms，(14)．．．At Charles Schwab，an American retail brokerage firm，it took just three years for online dealing to account formore than half of all its securities trading．

A. Furthermore，economies of scale are undermined

B. although security issues have imposed some restraint on the industry

C. E-commerce ismerely an elision of electronic commerce

D. E-commerce also allows unknown firms to establish new businesses cheaply and rapidly

E. Electronic commerce has grown rapidly

F. But it ismost closely identified with commerce transacted over the internet

G. though the security challenges is being faced as a result of engaging in electronic commerce

H. it is also thought to overturn old rules about time，space and price

PART THREE

Questions 15—20

·Read the following article on three pillars of electronic commerce．

·For each question(15—20) mark one letter(A，B，C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose．

An electronic businessmodel that builds on traditionalmarket spaces is the three pillars of electronic commercemodel by Peter Fingar．At the foundation of themodel is the existingmarket space．Three electronic pillars support open market processes:electronic information，elec-tronic relationships，and electronic transactions．Thus，thismodel builds on the existing market space and utilizes electronic mechanisms as an enabler of supporting open market processes．

The first pillar is electronic information．The WWwis viewed as a“global repository”of documents and multimedia data．Constructing an electronic information pillar is easy:mostword processing software packages will easily convert documents into a web-readable format．The challenge is to construct a good，solid pillar that will not crumble，or in WWW terms，the web page does not freeze-up or links do not lead the visitor to a dead-end or having theMwandering through amaze of linkswithout easily finding the necessary information．Thus，the construction of the electronic information pillar should not be conducted in a shoddy fashion，or it will not adequately support the objective of an openmarket．The retrieval of the desired electronic information is the cause of frustration tomany web“surfers．”Search engines and other intelligent agents are increasing in popularity to assist users to more efficiently and effectively navigate the WWW．

The second pillar，electronic relationships，is the central pillar．The saying“If you build it，they will come”does not apply to web-site based electronic commerce．Placing information on products and service offerings on a web site does notmean that potential customers or guests will visit thatweb site a first time，and it especially does notmean that a user will return to the site．The electronic relationships pillar is about building a site that has the feeling of being a “port of entry”into a community．Having entrants pass through this portof entry on a somewhat regular basis is the key to successfully engaging in electronic commerce．In order to attract users over and over again to a site(which also means away froMother sites)，the site needs to have certain features;itmust:(1)Be innovative;(2)Add value;(3)Provide information and interaction not otherwise available;and(4)Create forums for opinion-building activities．

The third pillar is the electronic transactions pillar．Many businesses have builtan electronic information pillar and some have built or are building an electronic community pillar，but substantially fewer have constructed the electronic transaction pillar．Two impediments to constructing the pillar exist:the ability to engage in meaningful and sufficient negotiation processes and security of transaction data．

15. Which is the base of the electronic businessmodel？

A. The electronic information．

B. The existing market space．

C. The electronic relationship．

D. The electronic transaction．

16. What is our aiMto construct an electronic information pillar？

A. Converting the documentary information into a web-readable format．

B. Enabling the potential consumers easily to find the necessary information．

C. Collecting documents and multimedia data froMthe internet．

D. Constructing a good，solid web page which can provide the information．

17. Why is the electronic relationships the central pillar．？

A. Because the wed page readers can't find the information by themselves．

B. Because the potential customers do not return to the site to find information．

C. Because the web site should play the role of“port of entry”into a community．

D. Because a web site won'twork if only you find some way to attract and keep the consumers．

18. Which is not the information we can learn froMthe third pillar？

A. The electronic transaction pillar is a guarantee of a successful negotiation in the transaction．

B. There are still some obstructions in building the electronic transaction pillar．

C. The electronic transaction pillar is a systeMof security in transaction．

D. Building electronic transaction pillar is to make an efficient and safe transaction．

19. In order to build good customer relationships，electronic commerceweb sites need to be designed to

A. be innovative and attractive．

B. provide information and interaction not otherwise available．

C. create forums for opinion-building activities．．

D. give potential customers the feeling of community and interaction they are increasingly expecting．

20. What is themain idea of the text？

A. There are threemain pillars that support the e-commerce．

B. We should pay attention on making an interactive relationship．

C. E-commerce is ramping up at a good rate．

D. The internet is the substantialmedia in e-commerce．

PART FOUR

Questions 21—30

·Read the article below about the impact of electronic commerce on businessmodels．

·Choose the correctword to fill each gap froMa，B，C or D．

·For each question(21—30)，mark one letter(A，B，C or D) on your Answer Sheet．

IMpact of Electronic Commerce

Today's forward thinking CEO recognizes the(21)．．．of e-commerce as a strategic business issue，not just onemore technical issue to be(22)．．．to the IS department，perhaps the existing EDIgroup．Although a company may have reengineered its(23)．．．business process and perhaps painfully installed an ERP systeMto bring inefficiencies to the back office，e-commerce is about reengineering outward-facing processes-industry process reengineering．

(24)．．．，electronic commerce is not just a technology，it is a way of(25)．．．business that has the potential to impact every aspect of the firm's value chain．Implementing full-scale，innovative applications of electronic commerce requiresmanagement teams to view themarketplace beyond the typical physical boundaries．

The biggest probleMthat electronic commerce pioneers encounter is the liMited set ofmentalmodels that(26)．．．our thinking．We tend to think of the web in our“industrial age”(27)．．．—where everything must be described and related to the physicalworld．

If electronic commerce applications are not placed in the proper business context and the strategy(28)．．．with the business'overall business strategy，then the electronic commerce application is likely to fail．Thus，new business models are necessary that(29)．．．electronic commerce initiativeswith overall business goals．So first of all，we should discuss the need to align a firm's on-line strategy with its overall business strategy．(30)．．．that discussion，emerging business paradigms that fully embrace the electronic commerce philosophy are going to be discussed，including a new vieWof the value chain．

21. A. problem　　　　B. challenge　　C. importance　　D. doubt

22. A. represented　　B. appointed　　C. replaced　　　D. delegated

23. A. internal　　　 B. external　　 C. inward　　　　D. outward

24. A. Thus　　　　　 B. Besides　　　C. However　　　 D. Further

25. A. making　　　　 B. managing　 　C. running　　　 D. conducting

26. A. bound　　　　　B. provoke　　　C. constrain　　 D. control

27. A. illusion　　　 B. vision　　　 C. paradigm　　　D. form

28. A. connected　　　B. linked　　　 C. aligned　　　 D. combined

29. A. combine　　　　B. integrate　　C. assemble　　　D. ally

30. A. Concerning　　 B. Following　　C. After　　　　 D. Beside

PART FIVE

Questions 31—40

·Read the article below about the role of e-commerce as a powerful business channel．

·For each question 31—40，write one word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet．

E-commerce，A Powerful Business Channel

Electronic commerce has the proMise to be a very powerful business channel．Many“traditional”businesses such as General Electric，American Airlines，and US Air have(31)．．．successfully implemented successful web-based strategies．New businesses，such as Amazon．com，are challenging many traditional businesses to rethink the(32)．．．they conduct business．The success of Amazon．coMhas prompted many，previously“traditional”businesses，such as the bookstore retailer，Barnes and Noble，to(33)．．．the electronic commerce arena．

When implemented properly and when aligned(34)．．．the firm's overall corporate strategy，electronic commerce can significantly enhance the operations of a firm．The potential benefits of electronic commerce to businesses depend on the extentof implementation and also the industry in(35)．．．the firMoperates．The outlook for web-based revenues is particularly(36)．．．for the travel，financial services，computing hardware and software industries．The primary benefits to consumers are convenience，access to information，and price comparison．All of these benefits to the consumer(37)．．．in more buying power．

(38)．．．businessmodels and the value chain are no longer representatives of the virtual society in which electronic commerce operates．The value chain of electronic commerce-based companies places the customer as the center of focus with a sharing of data throughout all processes of the value chain and the customer．

Besides，the(39)．．．of electronic commerce depends on the assurance in which businesses and customers place in its underlying systems．Security is often cited as the number one impediment(40)．．．the grow th of electronic commerce．

PART SIX

Questions 41—52

·Read the text below froMa report about online shopping．

·In most lines(41—52)，there is one extra word．It either is grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text．Some lines，however，are correct．

·If a line is correct，write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet．

·If there is an extra word in the line，write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet．

Shopping Online

41. In America，women noWoutnumber overmen online; the average age of all web surfers is

42. increasing;their level of education is decreasing;and their average spending is growing．In a

43. short，online consumers are rapidly becoming just like offline consumers．So it should be come

44. as no surprise that，justas itwas on the high street，clothing was the biggest category of goods

45. sold online in America at last Christmas．SiMilar trends are already evident in Europe and will no

46. doubt spread to Asia．But e-commerce involves in a lotmore than retail sales and services such as travel，in whichmore than half of all bookings are expected tomove onlinewithin a few years．

47. For instance，with billions of dollars of used goods are now sold on internet auction sites，notably on the hugely successful eBay．Second-hand cars are now eBay's biggest category，sales that

48. many once thoughtwould be impossible to conduct on the internet．Some of the big A-merican

49. dotcoms are now finding that grow th is accelerating even faster than overseas:eBay's Chinese service，for instance，is already the biggest e-commerce site in that country．Then there are the

50. billions spent on buying everything froMpornography to financial services—and this does not

51. include business-to-business(B2B) services，already worth more than$ 1 trillion a year according

52. to some estimates．Wal-Mart，for one reason，now conducts all its businesswith suppliers over a proprietary B2B network．

【注释】

[1]电子商务可为e-business或者e-commerce

[2]over-hype:夸张

[3]disruptive:颠覆性的

[4]clunky:笨拙的

[5]content:满意

[6]seamy:丑恶的

[7]rantings:咆哮

[8]metal-bashing:金属敲击——舆论界的这种叫法是指撞击废铜烂铁而制作成的音乐

[9]ubiquity:无所不在

[10]road haulage:公路运输

[11]revenue stream:收益来源

[12]consultancy:顾问公司

[13]staggering:令人惊愕的

[14]expertise:专业技能

[15]evangelize:传福音

[16]clout:影响力

[17]myriad:无数的

[18]complacent:自满的

[19]formulate:规划

[20]stodgily:死板地

[21]brochure:小册子

[22]infrastructure investments:基础设施投资