六级阅读试题.docx

六级阅读试题.docx

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六级阅读试题

2019年6月大学生英语六级考试真题

第一套

TheBestRetailersCombineBricksandClicks

A）Retailprofitsarefallingsharply.Storesareclosing.Mallsareemptying.Thedepressingstoriesjustkeepcoming.ReadingtheearningsannouncementsoflargeretailstoreslikeMacy’s,Nordstrom,andTargetisaboutasupliftingasatourofanintensivecareunit.Theinteractisapparentlytakingdownyetanotherindustry.Brickandmortarstores（实体店）seemtobegoingthewayoftheyellowpages.Sureenough,theCensusBureaujustreleaseddatashowingthatonlineretailsalessurged15.2percentbetweenthefirstquarterof2015andthefirstquarterof2016.

B）Butbeforeyoudumpallofyourretailstocks,therearemorefactsyoushouldconsider.Lookingonlyatthat15.2percent"surge"wouldbemisleading.Itwasanincreasethatwasonasmallbaseof6.9percent.Evenwhenatinynumbergrowsbyalargepercentageterms,itisoftenstilltiny.

C）Morethan20yearsaftertheinternetwasopenedtocommerce,theCensusBureautellsusthatbrickandmortarsalesaccountedfor92.3percentofretailsalesinthefirstquarterof2016.Theirdatashowthatonly0.8percentofretailsalesshiftedfromofflinetoonlinebetweenthebeginningof2015and2016.

D）So,despiteallthetalkaboutdrone（无人机）deliveriestoyourdoorstep,alltheretailexecutivesexpressinganxietyoverconsumersgoingonline,andevenaPresidentialcandidateexclaimingthatAmazonhasa"hugeantitrustproblem,"theCensusdatasuggestthatphysicalretailisthriving.Ofcourse,theclosedstores,depressedexecutives,andsinkingstockssuggestotherwise.What'stherealstory?

E）Manyfirmsoperatingbrickandmortarstoresareintrouble.Theretailindustryisgettingreinvented,aswedescribeinournewbookMatchmakers.It'sstandinginthePathofwhatSchumpetercalledagale（大风）ofcreativedestruction.Thatstormhasbeenbrewingforsometime,andasithasreachedgaleforce,mostlargeretailersaresearchingforaresponse.AstheCFOofMacy’sputitrecently,“We’refranklyscratchingourheads.”

F）Butit’snothappeningasexpertspredicted.Inthepeakofthedot.combubble,brickandmortarretailwasoneofthoseindustriestheinternetwasgoingtokill-andquickly.Thedot.cornbustdiscreditedmostpredictionsofthatsortandintheyearsthatfollowed,onventionalretailers’confidenceinthefutureincreasedasCensuscontinuedtoreportweakonlinesales.Andthenthegalehit.

G）Itisbecomingincreasinglyclearthatretailreinventionisn’tasimplebattletothedeathbetweenbricksandclicks.Itisaboutdevisingretailmodelsthatworkforpeoplewhoaremakingincreasinguseofagrowingarrayofinternet-connectedtoolstochangehowtheysearch,shop,andbuy.Creativeretailersareusingthenewtechnologiestoinnovatejustabouteverythingstoresdofrommanaginginventory,tomarketing,togettingpaid.

H）Morethandronesdroppinganewsupplyofunderwearonyourdoorstep,Apple’smassivelysuccessfulbrick-and-mortar-and-glassretailstoresandAmazon’ssmallstepsinthesamedirectionarewhatshouldkeepold-fashionedretailersawakeatnight.Nottomentionthelargenumberofcreativenewretailers,likeBonobos,thatareblendingonlineandofflineexperiencesincreativeways.

I）Retailreinventionisnotasimpleprocess,andit’salsonothappeningonwhatusedtobecalled"InternetTime."Someinternet-drivenchangeshavehappenedquickly,ofcourse.Craigslistquicklyovertooknewspaperclassifiedadsandturnednewspapereconomicsupsidedown.Butmanywidelyanticipatedchangesweren’tquick,andsomehaven’treallystarted.Withthebenefitofhindsight（后见之明）,itlooksliketheinteractwilltransformtheeconomyatsomethinglikethepaceofothergreatinventionslikeelectricity.B2Bcommerce,forexample,didn’tmovemainlyonlineby2005asmanyhadpredictedin2000,norevenby2016,butthatdoesn’tmeanitwon’tdosooverthenextfewdecades.

J）Butthegaleisstillblowing.Thesuddendeclineinfoottrafficinrecentyears,eventhoughithasn’tbeenaccompaniedbyamassivedeclineinphysicalsales,isacriticalwarning.Peoplecanshopmoreefficientlyonlineandthereforedon’tneedtogotoasmanystorestofindwhattheywant.There’sasurplusofphysicalshoppingspaceforthecrowds,whichisonereasonwhystoresaredownsizingandclosing.

K）Theriseofthemobilephonehasrecentlyaddedanewlevelofcomplexitytotheprocessofretailreinvention.Evenfiveyearsagomostpeoplefacedachoice.Sitatyourcomputer,probablyathomeorattheoffice,searchandbrowse,andbuy.Orheadouttothemall,orMainStreet,lookandshop,andbuy.Now,justabouteveryonehasasmartphone,connectedtotheinternetalmosteverywherealmostallthetime.Evenwhenaretailergetsacustomertowalkinthestore,shecaneasilyseeifthere’sabetterdealonlineoratanotherstorenearby.

L）Sofar,themainthingmanylargeretailershavedoneinresponsetoallthisistoopenonlinestores,sopeoplewillcometothemdirectlyratherthantoAmazonanditssmalleronlinerivals.Manyarehavingthesameproblemthatnewspapershave.Eveniftheygetonlinetraffic,theystruggletomakeenoughmoneyonlinetocompensateforwhattheyarelosingoffline.

M）Afewseemtobemakingthiswork.Amonglargetraditionalretailers,Walmartrecentlyreportedthebestresults,leadingitsstockpricetosurge,whileMacy’s,Target,andNordstrom’sdropped.YetWalmart’syear-over-yearonlinesalesonlygrew7percent,leadingitsCEOtolament（哀叹）,“Growthhereistooslow.”PartoftheproblemisthatalmosttwodecadesafterAmazonfiledtheone.clickpatent,theonlineretailshoppingandbuyingexperienceisfilledwithfrictions.Arecentstudygradedmorethan600internetretailersonhoweasyitwasforconsumerstoshop,buy,andpay.Almosthalfofthesitesdidn’tgetapassinggradeandonly18percentgotanAorB.<

N）TheturmoilonthegroundinphysicalretailishardtosquarewiththeCensusdata.Unfortunately,partoftheexplanationisthattheCensusretaildataareunreliable.Ourdeep100kintothosedataandtheirpreparationrevealedseriousproblems.ItseemslikelythatCensussimplymisclassifiesalargechunkofonlinesales.ItiscertainthattheCensusprocedures,whichlumptheonlinesalesofmajortraditionalretailerslikeWalmartwith“non-storeretailers"1ikefoodtrucks.canmaskmajorchangesinindividualretailcategories.Thebureaucouldeasilypresenttheirdatainmoreusefulways.buttheyhavechosennotto.

O）Despitetheturmoil,brickandmortarwon’tdisappearanytimesoon.Thebigquestionsarewhich,ifany,ofthelargetraditionalretailerswillstillbeonthesceneinadecadeortwobecausetheyhavesuccessfullyreinventedthemselves,whichnewplayerswilloperatebusystoresonMainStreetsandmaybeeveninshoppingmalls,andhowtheshoppingandbuyingexperiencewillhavechangedineachretailcategory.Investorsshouldn’twriteoffbrickandmortar.Whethertheyshouldbetonthetraditionalplayerswhorunthosestoresnowisanothermatter

36.Althoughonlineretailinghasexistedforsometwentyyears,nearlyhalfoftheinternetretailersstillfailtoreceivesatisfactoryfeedbackfromconsumers,accordingtoarecentsurvey.

37.Innovativeretailersintegrateinternettechnologieswithconventionalretailingtocreatenewretailmodels.

38.DespitewhattheCensusdatasuggest,thevalueofphysicalretail’sstockshasbeendropping.

39.Innovative—drivenchangesintheretailindustrydidn’ttakeplaceasquicklyaswidelyanticipated.

40.Statisticsindicatethatbrickandmortarsalesstillmadeupthelion’sshareoftheretailbusiness.

41.Companiesthatsuccessfullycombineonlineandofflinebusinessmodelsmayprovetobeabigconcernfortraditionalretailers.

42.Brickandmortarretailers’faithintheirbusinesswasstrengthenedwhenthedotcombubbleburst.

43.Despitethetremendouschallengesfromonlineretailing,traditionalretailingwillbeheretostayforquitesometime.

44.Withtheriseofonlinecommerce,physicalretailstoresarelikelytosufferthesamefateasitheyellowpages.

45.Thewideuseofsmartphoneshasmadeitmorecomplexfortraditionalretailerstoreinventtheirbusiness.

Passageone

ProfessorStephenHawkinghaswarnedthatthecreationofpowerfulartificialintelligence（AI）willbe“eitherthebest,ortheworstthing,evertohappentohumanity”,andpraisedthecreationofanacademicinstitutededicatedtoresearchingthefutureofintelligenceas“crucialtothefutureofourcivilizationandourspecies.”

HawkingwasspeakingattheopeningoftheLeverhulmeCentrefortheFutureofIntelligence（LCFI）atCambridgeUniversity,amulti-disciplinaryinstitutethatwillattempttotacklesomeoftheopen-endedquestionsraisedbytherapidpaceofdevelopmentinAIresearch.“Wespendagreatdealoftimestudyinghistory,”Hawkingsaid,“which,let’sfaceit,ismostlythehistoryofstupidity.Soit’sawelcomechangethatpeoplearestudyinginsteadthefutureofintelligence.”

Whiletheworld-renownedphysicisthasoftenbeencautiousaboutAI,raisingconcernsthathumanitycouldbethearchitectofitsowndestructionifitcreatesasuper-intelligencewithawillofitsown,hewasalsoquicktohighlightthepositivesthatAIresearchcanbring.“Thepotentialbenefitsofcreatingintelligencearehuge,”hesaid.“WecannotpredictwhatwemightachievewhenourownmindsareamplifiedbyAI.Perhapswiththetoolsofthisnewtechnologicalrevolution,wewillbeabletoundosomeofthedamagedonetothenaturalworldbythelastone–industrialization.Andsurelywewillaimtofinal