单选题 Thanks to the GPS, the apps on your phone have long been able to determine your general location. But what if they could do so with enough precision that a supermarket, say, could tempt you with digital coupons depending on whether you were hovering near the white bread or the bagels?
It may sound far-fetched, but there's a good chance the technology is already built into your iPhone or Android device. All it takes for retailers to tap into it are small, inexpensive transmitters called beacons. Here's how it works: using Bluetooth technology, handsets can pinpoint their position to within as little as 2cm by receiving signals from the beacons stores install. Apple's version of the concept is called iBeacon; it's in use at its own stores and is being tested by Macy's, American Eagle, Safeway, the National Football League and Major League Baseball.
Companies can then use your location to pelt (连续攻击) you with special offers or simply monitor your movements. But just as with GPS, they won't see you unless you've installed their apps and granted them access. By melding your physical position with facts they've already collected about you from rewards programs, {{U}}brick-and-mortar businesses{{/U}} can finally get the potentially profitable insight into your shopping habits that online merchants now take for granted.
The possibilities go beyond coupons. PayPal is readying a beacon that will let consumers pay for goods without swiping a card or removing a phone from their pocket. Doug Thompson of industry site Beekn.net predicts the technology will become an everyday reality by year's end. But don't look for stores or venues to call attention to the devices. "People won't know these beacons are there," he says. "They'll just know their app has suddenly become smarter."

单选题 The GPS on your phone can ______.

A.locate your general position
B.prevent you from being followed
C.help you decide which shop to enter
D.provide you with a safer environment

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。选项与原文对比。原文出现在第一段首句：Thanks to the GPS. the apps on your phone have long been able to determine your general location.可见GPS的作用是determine your general location(判断你的大概位置)，故A是正确的同义转换，而选项B、C、D都是无中生有。

单选题 iBeacon is being tested by the following except ______.

A.Macy's
B.American Eagle
C.the bagels
D.Safeway

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。选项与原文对比。第二段尾句：Apple's version of the concept is called iBeacon; it's in use at its own stores and is being tested by Macy's, American Eagle, Safeway, the National Football League and Major League Baseball.所有选项中，只有C未提及，故C为答案。

单选题 We know from the second paragraph that beacons are ______.

A.new kind of handsets
B.Apple's new products
C.iPhone and Android devices
D.small and cheap transmitters

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。选项与原文对比。第二段第二句：All it takes for retailers to tap into it are small, inexpensive transmitters called beacons.原文中被叫做beacons的是small, inexpensive transmitters, 相当于D项small and cheap transmitters.

单选题 The phrase "brick-and-mortar businesses" (Para. 3) is relative and closest to ______.

A.rewards programs
B.online merchants
C.profitable insight
D.shopping habits

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 语义题。选项与原文对比。该题考查的是brick-and-mortar businesses这一词组，而上下文出现了许多名词词组都有可能与其相关，我们即使看不懂brick-and-mortar，至少能看懂businesses(生意，企业)；而这个词与4个备选项中哪个最接近，这是非常容易判断的。显然不可能等于programs，insight或者habits，而是等同于merchants(商人，商家)，由此判断B为答案。

单选题 PayPal is preparing a beacon that ______.

A.will change the shopping habits of consumers
B.will make customers get their goods without paying
C.will make consumers pay for goods more conveniently
D.will become the only way that consumers pay for their goods

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题/推理题。选项与原文对比。最后一段第二句：PayPal is readying a beacon that will let consumers pay for goods without swiping a card or removing a phone from their pocket.答案在于that后面的内容。其中will let consumers pay for goods without swiping a card or removing a phone from their pocket(让消费者无需刷卡或者从口袋中取出手机就能够付款)=C项will make consumers pay for goods more conveniently(让消费者更方便地付款)。