Online Group Buying to Be Regulated

本篇阅读材料的难度属偏难，全文约370词，因此建议阅读时间（含做题）为7分钟。阅读要求：认真阅读短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

In a major effort to protect customers’ interests， China has begun regulating online group buying， a growing market with increasing illegal（非法的） business activities in recent years. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce forced its local governments to examine the qualifications（资格） of online group buying providers and monitor them， according to the latest circular（通告） posted on the administration’s website.

Problems such as cheating， fake（假冒的） products and price raising are becoming more frequent as online group buying grows in China， the circular said. “Complaints related to online group buying have seen a sharp rise，” the administration said.

According to a report made by China E?Commerce Research Center， an independent research institute， a total of 203 million people did online shopping in China in 2011， up 28.5 percent from a year earlier.

The country’s online retail（零售） sales reached 801 billion yuan last year， a sharp increase from 514 billion yuan in 2010， the report said. Meanwhile， the number of group buying websites hit 3，909 in December， up from 2，630 in January last year， the institute’s statistics showed.

The institute collected about 100，000 complaints related to e?commerce last year， 25 percent of which involved online group buying， the report said.

“At present， online shopping gets so many complaints because the country now lacks strict regulations and supervision（监管） of such service providers，” said Wu Xuefei， a researcher at the institute.

In May， ， a Chinese group buying website， fired a vice?president after discovering that some of its employees were found to have cheated in an iPhone lottery（摸彩）on weibo. The event drew online doubt about the credibility（可靠性） of the website when the “lucky winners” turned out to be gaopeng’s employees. “It is certain that consumers will lose confidence in online group buying， if such events continue to hit them in future，” she said.

Experts said the latest circular is timely and will benefit a sound development of the online group buying industry. Many complaints may be avoided if group buying websites are required to clarify details on delivery， payment， exchange and the return of goods and services before trading， according to the circular. It also stops unfair competitions.

1. Why does the Chinese government want to regulate online group buying market？

A. Because it wants to increase online group buying sales.

B. Because the online buying group market has developed greatly.

C. Because the group buying websites are cheating on tax.

D. Because there is a rise in trading activities against the law recently.

2. How many people did online shopping in China in 2010？

A. About 158 million. B. About 58 million.

C. About 203 million. D. About 514 billion.

3. What did NOT cause customers to complain about online group buying？

A. Some illegal websites selling fake products.

B. Lack of strict control over the competitions in the market.

C. Online group buying providers being dishonest with customers.

D. Original prices of goods being raised on purpose.

4. Why did the vice?president of get fired？

A. Because he discovered his employees cheating in a lottery.

B. Because he was found cheating the iPhone company.

C. Because his employees were caught cheating in a lottery.

D. Because he was caught cheating in a lottery.

5. What is the attitude of experts towards the circular？

A. Negative. B. Positive. C. Indifferent. D. Not mentioned.

【答案与解析】

1. D。细节理解题。从第一段第一句，特别是with increasing illegal business activities部分可知。

2. A。推理判断题。根据第三段数据“2011年参与网购的人数（203 million）比前一年（2010年）增加了28.5%”可推测。

3. B。推理判断题。从第二段可知A、C、D项都是消费者网购投诉的原因，B项没有提及。

4. C。细节理解题。从第七段前两句可知。

5. B。推理判断题。从第八段第一句可知。

【长难句分析】

1. According to a report made by China E?Commerce Research Center， an independent research institute， a total of 203 million people did online shopping in China in 2011， up 28.5 percent from a year earlier. 根据中国电子商务研究中心—— 一个独立研究机构——的报告，2011年，中国共有两亿零三百万人进行网购，比前一年增长了28.5%。

本句的句子主干是a total of 203 million people did online shopping in China in 2011；an independent research institute为China E?Commerce Research Center的同位语，补充介绍这是个什么性质的机构；up 28.5 percent from a year earlier是个补充的状语成分。

2. In May， ， a Chinese group buying website， fired a vice?president after discovering that some of its employees were found to have cheated in an iPhone lottery on weibo. 五月，高朋网——中国一个团购网站——在它的一些雇员被发现在微博上进行的iPhone摸彩活动中有作弊行为后，解雇了（对此事负责的）副总裁。

本句的句子主干是 fired a vice?president，前面的in May为时间状语，后面的after discovering that...也是时间状语，可以看作是after it discovered that...的省略形式；that some of its employees were found to have cheated in an iPhone lottery on weibo是一个宾语从句，作discovering的宾语，a Chinese group buying website是主语的同位语。

3. Many complaints may be avoided if group buying websites are required to clarify details on delivery， payment， exchange and the return of goods and services before trading， according to the circular. 根据这个通告，如果要求团购网站在交易之前就明确关于送货、付款、退换货和服务的细节，很多投诉是可以避免。

这是一个主从复合句，主句为Many complaints may be avoided，后面的if引导一个条件状语从句，according to the circular为插入语。