出自:国家开放大学-商务英语
China has the most franchises in the world but the scale of their operations is relatively small. Each system in China has an average of 43 outlets, compared to more than 540 in the United States. Together, there are 2,600 brands in some 200,000 retail markets. KFC was the most significant foreign entry in 1987 and is widespread. Many franchises are in fact joint-ventures, as at their forming the franchise law was not explicit. For example, McDonald.s is a joint venture. Pizza Hut, TGIF, Wal-mart, Starbucks followed a little later. But total franchising is only 3% of retail trade, which seeks foreign franchise growth. The year 2005 saw the birth of an updated franchise law, “Measures for the Administration of Commercial Franchise”. Previous legislation (1997) made no specific inclusion of foreign investors. Today the franchise law is much clearer by virtue of the 2007 law, a revision of the 2005 law. The laws are applicable if there are transactions involving a trademark combined with payments with many obligations on the franchisor. The law comprises 42 articles and eight chapters.
1. According to the passage, the passage mainly talks about 回答
.
A. the scale of franchising in China
B. the franchise law in China
C. an outline of franchising in China
2. KFC was the 回答
foreign franchise to China in 1987 and is widespread.
A. most profound
B. first
C. wealthiest
3. Many franchises are in fact joint-ventures, because 回答
.
A. at the beginning stage, franchise law was not so clear
B. at the beginning stage, many franchises could not find the right partners
C. many foreigners were not familiar with Chinese culture
4. Foreign franchise grows in China because of 回答
.
A. the open policy
B. the small amount of retail trade
C. the Chinese culture
5. The writer has the 回答
attitude to franchising in China
A. negative
B. positive
C. neutral
Online Shopping Spree Sets Record
Chinese shoppers spent billions online yesterday as they took advantage of discounts offered on Singles Day (November 11). It is a festival for young single people to celebrate by eating together, sending gifts or going shopping, thus seized on by online retailers to increase sales.
It took only 13 hours for sales on just two online sites, Taobao and Tmall, to fly past last year.s overall total of 19.1 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion).The final figure of Singles Day reached an astonishing 35.02 billion yuan as hundreds of thousands of consumers rushed to buy clothes, furniture, and home decoration items at discount prices. What friends and colleagues greeted each other with that day was “Bought anything today?” as they exchanged tales of bargains or disappointing news of popular items sold out minutes after the spree began at midnight.
In under nine hours, turnover at the Alibaba Group.s Tmall and Taobao sites had exceeded that of last year.s Cyber Monday, a similar event in the United States.
“We hope other e-commerce sites also did a good job as we want Singles Day to be a holiday for consumers and a good chance for retailers to discover the unmet needs of shoppers,” Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba Group, told reporters.
“It.s not a difficult thing to bring our total transaction size to 100 billion yuan in a couple of years but we hope to do more to help vendors and manufacturers to upgrade their products and service to reach more clients,” Ma said at a news briefing.
1. Online retailers took hold of the shopping spree to increase sales successfully.回答
2. The final figure of Singles Day for this year reached 19.1 billion yuan.回答
3. Cyber Monday is a similar event in the Great Britain.回答
4. Other e-commerce sites did as well as Alibaba Group on Singles Day.回答
5. Jack Ma.s goal of transaction size is to reach 100 billion yuan in several years.回答
Three Americans Win Nobel Economics Prize
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in economics to three Americans, Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller on Oct. 14, 2013. Eugene Fama and Lars Peter Hansen are both professors at the University of Chicago. Robert Shiller is a professor at Yale University. They will share the prize worth about 1.2 million dollars.
“This year.s prize in economic sciences is about predictions.” All three of this year.s prize winners are mainly known for their research and explanations of pricing forces in financial markets. They have had a big influence on the way people look at and talk about financial markets.
Eugene Fama.s research on financial markets in the 1960s led market watchers to change their ideas about investing. His ideas are linked to the theory that markets are efficient, which means market actors taking all available information to create the correct price for things at any given time. This also means that over short periods of time, it is not possible to predict prices.
Robert Shiller found, however, that over long periods, the opposite is true. It is possible to predict the movement of prices and that price changes are linked to human behavior.
The findings of both economists have led to the growth of index funds, investing many different securities as a way to reduce risk. Mr Shiller also helped to create the Standard & Poor.s Case-Shiller home prices index. That index follows home prices across the United States.
Lars Peter Hansen developed a method for studying historical pricing information. His method supports Mr Shiller.s findings and has influenced efforts to predict prices in the financial industry.
The Nobel Prize in economics was not created by Alfred Nobel, but was established in his memory by Sweden.s central bank in 1968.
1. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in electronics to three Americans on Oct. 14, 2013.回答
2. Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller won the prize for their research and explanations of pricing forces in financial markets.回答
3. Eugene Fama.s research on financial markets in the 1960s resulted in some change in how market watchers look at investing.回答
4. The findings of both economists have led to the growth of price prediction, investing many different securities as a way to reduce risk.回答
5. The Nobel Prize in economics was established in memory of Alfred Nobel by Sweden.s central bank in 1968.回答