The sharing economy, represented by companies like Airbnb or Uber, is the latest fashion craze. But many supporters have overlooked the reality that this new business model is largely based on escaping regulations and breaking the law.
Airbnb is an Internet-based service that allows people to rent out spare rooms to strangers for short stays. Uber is an Internet taxi service that allows thousands of people to answer ride requests with their own cars. There are hundreds of other such services.
The good thing about the sharing economy is that it promotes the use of underused resources. Millions of people have houses or apartments with empty rooms, and Airbnb allows them to profit from these rooms while allowing guests a place to stay at prices that are often far less than those charged by hotels. Uber offers prices that are competitive with standard taxi prices and their drivers are often much quicker and more trustworthy.
But the downside of the sharing economy has gotten much less attention. Most cities and states both tax and regulate hotels, and the tourists who stay in hotels are usually an important source of tax income. But many of Airbnb’s customers are not paying the taxes required under the law.
Airbnb can also raise issues of safety for its customers and trouble for hosts’ neighbors. Hotels are regularly inspected to ensure that they are not fire traps and that they don’t form other risks for visitors. Airbnb hosts face no such inspections.
Since Airbnb is allowing people to escape taxes and regulations, the company is simply promoting thefts. Others in the economy will lose by bearing an additional tax burden or being forced to live next to an apartment unit with a never-ending series of noisy visitors.
The same story may apply with Uber. Uber is currently in disputes over whether its cars meet the safety and insurance requirements imposed on standard taxis. Also, if Uber and related services flood the market, they could harm all taxi drivers’ ability to earn a minimum wage.
This downside of the sharing needs to be taken seriously, but that doesn’t mean the current tax and regulatory structure is perfect.
1.What is the positive thing about the sharing economy?
A. It is a global trend.
B. It is beyond regulations.
C. It draws on spare resources.
D. It brings in modest profits.
2.What is the problem with Airbnb customers according to the passage?
A. They are not regularly inspected.
B. They are likely to commit thefts.
C. They are allowed not to pay taxes.
D. They can be noisy to hosts’ neighbours.
3.What is the argument over Uber according to the passage?
A. Whether it guarantees customers’ safety.
B. Whether it provides reliable services.
C. Whether it lowers customers’ expenses.
D. Whether it can compete with standard taxis.
4.What will be talked about in the following paragraphs?
A. Existing regulations and laws.
B. Necessary improvements of current laws.
C. Further development of Airbnb and Uber.
D. More downsides of Airbnb and Uber.
科目：高中英语 来源：浙江省2016-2017学年高二下学期期末模拟考试英语试卷 题型：阅读理解
Following news of the potential for life on the recently-discovered TRAPPIST-1 system, there may be another competitor ready to take its place.
With the help of the Cassini spacecraft, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) scientists have picked up the first evidence that chemical reactions are taking place deep below the surface of Enceladus, Saturn’s (土星的) sixth-largest moon. This means that there could be life in Enceladus’ warm underground seas.
An early study found that liquid oceans exist miles below Enceladus’ surface. But to reveal what is happening down there, scientists must rely on the plumes (股) of water that spray (喷射) through cracks in Enceladus’ icy surface. In October 2015, NASA sent Cassini into a deep dive into one of the plumes.
Cassini’s findings, published on April 13 in the journal Science, showed that hydrogen (氢) not only exists on Enceladus, but is also responsible for a chemical reaction between hot rocks and water in the ocean beneath its surface.
This same process on Earth provides energy for entire ecosystems around volcanic vents (火山口). There, tiny creatures are able to survive without sunlight, using hydrogen and carbon dioxide as fuel in a process known as “methanogenesis (甲烷生成)”.
The discovery of this chemical energy source on Enceladus means it could be a very good candidate to host life.
“Confirmation (确认) that the chemical energy for life exists within the ocean of a small moon of Saturn is an important milestone (里程碑) in our search for habitable (可居住的) worlds beyond Earth,” Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA, told the Daily Mail.
Alien life was once only thought possible on habitable planets within the “Goldilocks zone” – far enough from our sun not to be a fireball, but not so far as to be freezing.
Research on Enceladus is still in its early stages, but the recent findings have important meanings for future exploration.
“At present, we know of only one genesis (诞生) of life, the one that led to us,” David Rothery, professor of planetary geosciences (行星与地球科学) from the Open University in the UK, told The Telegraph.
“If we knew that life had started independently in two places in our solar system, then we could be pretty confident that life also got started on some of the tens of billions of planets and moons around other stars in our galaxy,” he said.
1.What is the article mainly about?
A. The connection between the TRAPPIST-1 system and Enceladus.
B. The potential for life on Saturn’s moon, Enceladus.
C. The chemical energy source on Enceladus.
D. Scientists’ constant search for life in the solar system.
2.Scientists assume that there could be life on Enceladus because ______.
A. there is evidence of a warm ocean under Enceladus’ surface
B. hot rocks and water have been discovered on Enceladus
C. hydrogen discovered on Enceladus could be a chemical energy source
D. the entire ecosystems of Enceladus are somewhat similar to those of Earth
3.According to David Rothery, the recent findings on Enceladus could mean that ______.
A. there is only one genesis of life in our galaxy
B. there could be many habitable planets, but all in the “Goldilocks zone”
C. it won’t be long before scientists find a habitable planet beyond Earth
D. alien life could exist on some other planets if it existed on Enceladus
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科目：高中英语 来源：江苏省高中英语选修六牛津译林版练习题：Unit 4 Helping people around the world 题型：单项填空
Did it ever ________to you to contact the police when you saw the suspect?
A. occur B. refer
C. happen D. apply
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科目：高中英语 来源：贵州省2016-2017学年高二期末考试英语试卷 题型：七选五
Are you simply moving through your day without fully living? I think many of us have done this. Everyone wants to fully live every day. 1. So I’ve decided to share with you some ways to help you enjoy every moment.
Sit in the morning. When you wake up, in the quiet of the morning, sit on the floor. I often use this opportunity to stretch. I feel every muscle in my body. 2.
3. I like to take breaks from work, and go outside for a slow walk. Pay attention to your breathing, to everything around you, to the sounds and light of objects.
Read in silence. Find a quiet time and a quiet place, and read a good novel. Have no television or computers on nearby. 4. It might seem difficult to let your mind move from the present into the time of novel, but it’s a great patience in focus. Also, I love a good novel more than almost anything else.
Look at someone in a grateful way. 5. If you want, you can tell that person how thankful you are to him.
A. Walk slowly.
B. Work with force.
C. But this is easier said than done.
D. And just put yourself in the world of the novel.
E. It’s a way of building something good into your life.
F. I also just sit, and focus on my breathing going in and out.
G. Find someone you care about and be grateful for his existence.
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科目：高中英语 来源：内蒙古乌兰察布分校2016-2017学年高一下学期第二次调考英语试卷 题型：短文填空
The bank worker told me my check had run out. It 1. (take) me some minutes to understand her words. This year had brought me so much pain—a divorce, losing my house and the loss 2.my iob. After 3. (leave) the bank, I wondered what I would do. 4. it was only 5:30 pm, it was already dark and cold outside. At one point, I stopped and cried out to God. With a 5. (break) spirit, I said aloud, "Lord, I really need help right now, today, not tomorrow and not the next day." 6. (final), when my tears dried up, I headed home. Approaching my home, I noticed 7. envelope. The envelope 8. (fill) with hundreds of dollars of gift cards 9. could meet my urgent needs! I was in shock and surprise. God heard those 10. (cry) from a cold, dark and lonely place and assured me that he did hear and would provide.
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科目：高中英语 来源：辽宁省辽源市2016-2017学年高二上学期期末考试英语试卷 题型：七选五
I was ten when I first sat with my grandmother behind the cashier(收银台) in her grocery store. 1. I quickly learned the importance of treating customers politely and saying “thank you.”
At first I was paid in candy. 2. I worked every day after school, and during the summer and on weekends and holidays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. My father helped me set up a bank account._ 3.
By the time I was 12, my grandmother thought I had done such a good job that she promoted me to selling cosmetics(化妆品). I developed the ability to look customers directly in the eye. Even though I was just a kid, women would ask me such things as “What color do you think I should wear?” I took a real interest in their questions and was able to translate what they wanted into makeup(化妆) ideas. 4.
The job taught me a valuable lesson: to be a successful salesperson, you didn’t need to be a rocket scientist—you needed to be a great listener. 5. Expect they are no longer women buying cosmetics from me; instead, they are kids who tell me which toys they would like to see designed and developed.
A. Later I received 50 cents an hour.
B. Before long, she let me sit there by myself.
C. I ended up selling a record amount of cosmetics.
D. Today I still carry that lesson with me: I listen to customers.
E. My grandma’s trust taught me how to handle responsibility（承担责任）.
F. Soon I found myself looking more beautiful than ever before.
G. Watching my money grow was more rewarding/worthy than anything I could have bought.
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科目：高中英语 来源：福建省泉州市2016-2017学年高一上学期期末考试英语试卷 题型：单句改错
1.He persuaded some people go back with him to Greenland.
2.Biarni was hoping to join his father which was with Eric.
3.Some fish can produce sounds twice as louder as your speaking voice.
4.I tried to make my brother understand, but he was terrifying and stayed in the boat.
5.The hikes costs $2,500 included all flights and accommodation.
6.He asked Marco to serve in his court and sent him to do many important task.
7.He was also confused by the black stones people used to burning for fuel.
8.Later, these rocks proved that at one time in the distant past the Antarctic is covered by plants.
9.They were hopeful that this would help to save energy, reduce pollution and provide free public transport to everybody.
10.But a lot of people think that solar cars are either too slow nor unreliable.
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科目：高中英语 来源：黑龙江省肇东市2016-2017学年高二下学期期中考试英语试卷 题型：阅读理解
The sun is shining when I get on No. 151 bus. We passengers sit jammed together in heavy clothes. No one speaks. That’s one of the unwritten rules of Chicago commuting. Although we see the same faces every day, we prefer to hide behind our newspapers. The phenomenon is striking: people who sit so close together are using those thin sheets of newsprint to keep their distance.
As the bus approaches the Magnificent Mile, a voice suddenly rings out: “Attention! Attention!” Papers rattle (发出细小声). Necks crane (伸长). “This is your driver speaking.”
We look at the back of the driver’s head. His voice has authority.
“All of you put your papers down.”
The papers come down, an inch at a time. The driver waits. The papers are folded and placed on our laps.
“Now, turn and face the person next to you. Go ahead.”
Amazingly, we all do it. Still, no one smiles.
I face an older woman, her head wrapped tightly in a red scarf. I see her nearly every day. Our eyes meet. We wait, unblinking, for the next order from the driver.
“Now, repeat after me…” It is a command, delivered in the tones of a drill sergeant (操练军士). “Good morning, neighbor!”
Our voices are weak and timid. For many of us, these are the first words we have spoken today. But we say them at the same time, like schoolchildren, to the strangers beside us.
We smile and can’t help it. We have said it; the barrier has been broken. Good morning, neighbor. It is not so hard after all. Some of us repeat it. Others shake hands. Many laugh.
The bus driver says nothing more. He doesn’t need to. Not a single newspaper goes back up. I hear laughter, a warm sound I have never heard before on bus No. 151. This day is starting off better than most.
1.On hearing the sudden utterance of “Attention!”, the passengers ___________.
A. stopped reading and put down their newspapers immediately
B. looked up from the newspapers to see who was speaking
C. sat still without response
D. were frightened
2.The underlined word “commuting” in Paragraph 1 most probably means ___________.
A. daily traveling between home and work B. long-distance ride
C. communication technology D. behavior patterns
3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. The passengers on the crowded bus are so absorbed in reading their newspapers that no one speaks.
B. The passengers are physically close together but mentally they keep each other at a terrible distance.
C. The passengers don’t follow the driver’s instruction at first.
D. When the bus driver says nothing more, the passengers pick up and read their newspapers again.
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A. The Warmth of Communication B. The Exchange of Information
C. The Power of Observation D. The Attitude to Loneliness
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科目：高中英语 来源：江苏省牛津译林版英语Module 5 Unit 1 test1 题型：单项填空
With a lot of difficult problems ________, the newly-elected president is having a hard time.
A. settled B. settling
C. to settle D. being settled
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