答案：H 解析：文章H部分主要用实例说明使用社会媒体，比如Facebook，或者Twitter，其主要目的是使得购物轻松简单。J. C. Penney Company, Inc. operates a store within Facebook in which browsers can pick up a sweater or pair of shoes without ever leaving the social network. Shoppers can also sign up via Facebook to receive digital coupons on their phone or \location-based network Foursquare to score similar deals. 50. It is convenient to use a mobile device to do shopping during the holiday season especially when economy is not good. A 答案：A 解析：文章A部分提到在经济不景气，就业压力大的情况下，越来越多的消费者会选择用智能手机购物，因为用智能手机可以比较价格，挑选礼物，并且抢购特别优惠的商品。Stuck in a challenging economy and facing continued high rates of unemployment, consumers are increasingly finding that their mobile devices can come in handy. 51. Price-conscious costomers will stick to shopping online since they can save money. F 答案：F 解析：文章F部分讲述一个名叫Bill Grayson的50岁的工程师如何通过上网比较商品价格，节省1400美元购得一台大屏幕电视的过程。Grayson said. \definitely going to use it again this Christmas.\可见Bill Grayson对网上购物充满信心。 52. Shopping online will be a common thing just as shopping offline. J 答案：J 解析：文章J部分提到会有更多的人拥有智能手机，人们也会习惯于使用手机网上购物，网上购物会和商场购物一样普及。Over time, the difference between shopping online and offline will fade away. At the end of the day, people just care about finding the right gift at the right price. 53. Merchants realize that these electronic devices are playing an important role for shoppers. B 答案：B 解析：文章B部分主要提到商家意识到智能手机对于消费者来说的重要性，急切想要通过智能手机要消费者掏钱。进而商家所要做的除了促销，加长营业时间外，他们还链接购物应用软件，优化手机网站，以及媒体网页。Once content to simply sell these electronic devices, merchants and mall operators are now recognizing the increasingly important role phones and tablets are playing for shoppers and are eager to tap into this electronic path to consumers' wallets. 54. An app will become popular if it can make the shopping easy. E 答案：E 解析：文章E部分主要讲到移动设备调整以方便消费者手机购物，所以如果一个应用软件能够使购物变得轻松，简单，那么这个软件就会很普及。The Amazon.com app popularized one-click ordering for breezy checkouts without the need to fill in billing and address information over and over again. Perhaps the most useful apps collect product data from several retailers and sort it so consumers can compare prices side-by-side from local and online merchants to find the best deal. 55. Statistics show that many people use mobile devices to compare or check prices, but not everyone uses them to do shopping. C 答案：C 解析：文章C部分用数字说明有59%的人用手机比较价格，46%的人用手机查看产品实用性，44%的人会用手机上网寻找折扣，浏览产品等等。尽管这样，有些人还是热衷于商场购物。Shopping with mobile devices isn't for everyone, especially for folks who prefer to browse through a mall at a leisurely pace looking for gift ideas. Section C Directions： There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter. 文章大意： 美国经济的萧条加速了个体经营者数目的增加。据估计，到2019年，个体经营者将会占到美国劳动力总数的40%。因此本文作者呼吁：为了经济的发展，应该帮助这些个体经营业主。作者认为美国国会应该重新颁布和修订相关法案来帮助和扶持这些人。这样做本身就是在帮助美国经济加速复苏。 Over 40 million self-employed people in the US—31% of the labor force— form an increasingly important part of the economy. The Great Recession accelerated the trend. In December 2011, an American Staffing Assn. survey of 10,000 employers showed the number of temporary workers assigned to companies by agencies such as Manpower and Kelly Services has jumped 19% over the past year. By 2019 the self-employed will account for 40% of all American workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The growth of these freelancers' (自由职业者) businesses is stymied by labor codes and taxes. The American employment-based benefits system dates to World War II, when wage freezes made it hard for large companies to attract quality workers. To keep employees, especially skilled men, corporations such as General Motors and US Steel began to subsidize (补助) health-care coverage, retirement plans, and vacations—a strategy that grew after the war as unions locked in benefits with long-term contracts. This system served U.S. workers well until the 1980s, when globalization started to make large employers less dependent on full-time domestic employees.
Today, the fast-growing freelance workforce is shouldering costs and risks formerly borne by companies. The self-employed can't get unemployment insurance or file for workman's compensation, and they aren't covered by most federal or state employee labor laws, leaving them little recourse (救助) beyond spending precious time and money in small claims court if they aren't paid. Worse, the self-employed are taxed as if they're medium-size employers, but they can't deduct health insurance premiums and other expenses that bigger companies can. Consultants on average earn about a third less than people in similar jobs at companies, according to the IRS, but they pay both the employer and employee shares of Social Security and Medicare—a total of 15% of their income.
Congress should reenact the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. This piece of the stimulus, which expired at the end of last year, allowed freelancers to fully deduct their health premiums before assessing Social Security and Medicare tax. Then let's amend Federal labor Law to cover the nonpayment of consultants so they have recourse through the Labor Dept. rather than suing in small claims court. This would level the field because it would shift the burden of proof from the freelancer to the company charged with nonpayment.
Millions of the self-employed shouldn't have to struggle so hard. As these individuals represent the single greatest source of job creation today—and likely in the coming decades—supporting them will only strengthen the recovery. Easing their burdens might just help them make the leap from struggling solo businesses to healthy small employers, creating even more jobs.
56. Which of the following words can be used to take the place of the word \A) Blocked.
B) Relieved. C) Liberated. D) Stimulated.
√ 答案：A
解析：完全是个生词。要找出同义词可以根据单词所在句子，去推测单词的含义，然后找选项中的单词同义替换。其所在句子为The growth of these freelancers' businesses is stymied by labor codes and taxes。并且这句话是本段的主题句，根据接下来所谈的内容可知，劳动法规和税收妨碍了个体经济的发展。在四个选项中，选出同义单词为blocked，所以选A。 57. Why did the American employment-based benefits system become less effective after the 1980s? A) Larger employers were less willing to offer retirement plans, and vacations.
B) Larger companies depended less on full-time domestic workers due to globalization. √
C) Fewer and fewer full-time quality workers tended to sign long-term contracts with employers.
D) The number of full-time quality workers declined dramatically in the United States of America. 答案：B 解析：根据题干的关键词American employment-based benefits system和the 1980s，回文章找出处。第二段的最后一句话This system served US workers well until the 1980s, when globalization started to make large employers less dependent on full-time domestic employees，意思是“这个体系一直运转良好，直到20世纪80年代，全球化使得大公司对国内全职员工的依赖大大降低。”所以选B。 58. Compared with those people working at companies, the self-employed workers ________. A) shoulder more risks but less costs B) shoulder fewer risks but more costs C) earn more money but pay less taxes D) earn less money but pay more taxes √
答案：D
解析：本题旨在要求回答个体经营者与公司雇员相比，所获得的利益和承担的义务情况。文章第三段中指出，个体经营者无法像公司雇员那样获得失业保险金或工人补助金（The self-employed can't get unemployment insurance or file for workman's compensation），却要像中型企业那样缴纳税务（Worse, the self-employed are taxed as if they're medium-size employers, but they can't deduct health insurance premiums and other expenses that bigger companies can）。所以，他们承担的风险大，成本高，排除A、B两项。同时，自由职业咨询师的平均工资比公司同类职业工资低三分之一，却要缴纳更多的税