Tropical rain pounds on the roof of a cavernous warehouse near Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. Inside , youngsters in orange T-shirts haul around clothes, luggage and electrical goods for Lazada, an e-commerce firm, which has just moved in. The 12,000 square metre space is three times the size of the old one, but it already looks full. Three years ago Lazada's entire stock filled a storeroom the size of a studio flat, recalls Magnus Ekbom, its twenty-something boss in Indonesia.
Internet shopping accounts for less than 1 % of all purchases in South-East Asia—a region twice as populous as America, where the proportion is nearly 10%. But surging smartphone use and a broadening middle class mean the market is set to multiply; perhaps five fold by 2018,reckons Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm. Since it launched in 2012 Lazada has laid claim to six South-East Asian countries, largely unchallenged by e-commerce giants such as Amazon of the United States, Alibaba of China and Rakuten of Japan. It may soon have to fight them for its territory.
Lazada was created by Rocket Internet, a Berlin-based investor that helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets. Rocket still holds a 24% stake, though Lazada has now raised more than $ 600m from investors including Tesco, a British grocer, and Temasek, a Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund. These deals appear to value it at about $ 1.3 billion, which could well make it South-East Asia's dearest technology firm.
Like other Rocket companies, Lazada is run by a group of young European emigrants, plucked from finance and consulting. It seems ready to stomach years of losses. In the first half of 2014—the only recent period for which results are available—it lost $ 50m before interest and tax, on revenues of $ 60m.
Again like other Rocket companies, its critics say it is just a copycat, in this case a mere clone of Amazon. Lazada's bosses say such charges underestimate the sophistication and ambition required to succeed in places such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Online marketing is trickier there than in America or Europe, because locals use a much wider variety of search and social-media sites. The region's diversity means constant adjustment of online portals to suit local languages and cultures. It also means battling a
hotch-potch
of customs rules.
单选题
We can learn from Paragraph 1 that______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：推理题。[A]online shopping in Indonesia is flourishing“印尼网上购物正在兴起”：首段第三行提到e-commerce firm“电商企业”，该词提示online shopping“网上购物”：接着说电商来赞达12 000平米的仓库已满，而3年前其货物存储量仅为一室公寓大小，暗示印尼电商迅速发展，故该项正确。[B]the weather in Jakarta may influence shipping“雅加达的天气可能会影响货运”；首句提到雅加达大雨滂沱，一群年轻人正在搬运货物，但是没有提到货运会受影响，该项属于无中生有。[C]Lazada is the only e-commerce firm in Jakarta“来赞达是雅加达唯一的电商企业”；本项only一词过于绝对，而且文章首段也没有提到来赞达是否是雅加达唯一的电商，故该项错误。[D]the customers of Lazada are mostly youngsters“来赞达的顾客大多数是年轻人”；文章提到一群年轻人在搬运货物，并没有提到来赞达的顾客群体是什么人，故该项错误。综上，本题选择[A]。
单选题
According to Frost & Sullivan, online shopping market in Southeast Asia may______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据Frost&Sullivan定位到第二段第四行；而online shopping market in Southeast Asia对应该段第一句。答案句为第二句：But surging smartphone use and a broadening middle class mean the market is set to multiply；perhaps five fold by 2018，reckons Frost&Sullivan，a consulting firm．其中the market指的就是online shopping market in SoutheastAsia：故答案关键为：the market is set to multiply；perhaps five fold by 2018…该句大意为“这个市场势必会扩大，到2018年将扩大5倍”。与答案句接近的选项是[D]be greatly expanded“大大扩张”。选项[A]attract e-commerce giants“吸引电商巨头”；[B]benefit the middle class“有利于中产阶级”；[C]double in a few years“在几年内翻倍”；这三个选项均与答案句无法同义替换，故排除。
单选题
Which of the following is true about Rocket Internet?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据Rocket Internet定位到第三段。[A]It aims at dominating international markets．“它旨在主导国际市场”：该段首句提到：helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets．“帮助旨在主导新兴市场的新企业。”首先文章说Rocket Internet帮助新企业，而非自己主导市场，且选项的international markets与文中emerging markets不符，故该项错误。[B]It invests on new firms with promising future．“它投资于前景光明的新企业”；该项依然对应首句：Lazada was created by Rocket Internet，a Berlin-based investor that helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets．句中investor“投资者”=invests“投资”：startups“新企业”=new firms“新公司”：dominate emerging markets“主导新兴市场”=promising future“前景光明”。故该项正确。[C]Its market value is the highest in Southeast Asia．“其市值是东南亚最高的”：该项对应最后一句：These deals appear to value it at about $1．3billion，which could well make it South-East Asia’s dearest technology firm．其中it指代Lazada，而非Rocket Internet，故该项错误。[D]It helps startups to evaluate the emerging markets．“它帮助新企业评估新兴市场”；该项对应原文：helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets．原文说的是dominate“主导”市场，而非evaluate“评估”市场，该项属于典型的偷换概念。且评估市场是Frost＆Sullivan的工作。综上，本题答案为[B]。
单选题
Lazada's bosses argue that to survive in Southeast Asia market, one needs to be______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：观点题。根据Lazada’s bosses argue定位到最后一段第二行：Lazada’s bosses say…；Southeast Asia market=places such as Thailand，Indonesia，the Philippines and Vietnam；to survive in=to succeed in：needs=required；故答案句为：sophistication and ambition“老练与野心”。选项[A]tactful and aspiring“老练而有抱负”；其中tactful=sophistication，aspiring=ambition；该项正确。[B]tricky and complicated“狡猾而复杂”；该项仅仅体现sophistication“老练复杂”一词，并未体现ambition“野心抱负”，故该项属于片面选项。[C]ambitious and influential“有抱负且有影响力”；ambitious正确，但influential一词无中生有，故可以排除该项。[D]sophisticated and experienced“老练且有经验”；该项还是强调“sophistication”一词，没有体现“ambition”，与[B]同属于片面选项。综上，本题选择[A]。
单选题
The underlined word"hotch-potch" (Line 6, Para. 5) most probably means______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：语义题。定位到全文最后一句。其中also一词为并列结构提示词，提示该句与上句并列，故该句的it=the region’s diversity“区域多样性”；将其代入原文：The region’s diversity also means battling a hotch-potch of customs rules．“区域多样性也意味着要应对的海关规定。”单从句子本身判断应该填入“多样性”一词。选项[A]change“改变”；[B]constancy“持久性”；[C]variety“多样性”；[D]adjustment“调整”。显然[C]为正确答案。