統測
110年
[外語群英語類] 專業科目(2)
第 16 題
📖 題組：
Meet the People’s Company. Like a democracy, it can be a noisy place where citizens sometimes think the people in charge have no idea what they’re doing. But at eBay, the online auction site, the people are in charge. Its customers – the 70 million buyers and sellers who trade here – have the kind of influence that most consumers and businesses can only dream of. It’s true, eBay has a business model that doesn’t require carrying any inventory. But the real secret of eBay’s unlikely success is this: it’s a master at capturing the awesome communication power of the Internet and tracking customers’ every movement, so new products and services are tailored to just what they want.( ① ) eBay’s customers are its product development, market research, merchandising, and sales department – all rolled into one. It’s not just that they have made eBay into a global marketplace for almost anything, from a $1 baseball card to a $4.9m Gulfstream jet, eBay’s customers also tell the world about eBay by word of mouth.( ② )They crowd online discussion boards, share tips, point out problems, and lobby for changes. eBay’s customers even police the site by rating each other. Imagine a retailer trying to do this: interview every single person leaving every store, post a list of what each thought of the shopping experience, ask them to write up a merchandising plan and call suppliers to arrange deliveries – and oh, by the way, could they keep an eye out for shoplifting? That’s what eBay’s customers voluntarily do each day. Back in 1995, when Pierre Omidyar unveiled Auction Web, he had much more in mind than simply helping his girlfriend trade Pez dispensers. He aimed to create a market for a wide range of goods, but with a difference. “I wanted to give the power of the market back to individuals,” says Omidyar. But his biggest breakthrough was the Feedback Forum, a rating system that made it easy for buyers and sellers to grade each transaction. Amazingly, it worked. And positive ratings, which translated to more sales, kept people from going to other sites. ( ③ )Since early 1999, eBay has regularly flown sellers and buyers to its headquarters in California to interview them, asking for their views on new features and policies. The result: fewer problems. Even when something does go wrong, eBay can respond quickly. eBay business is the company’s latest offering, a new site providing businesses with an e-commerce platform.( ④ )However, many rivals aim to be the biggest places for e-commerce as well, and some are making fast progress. But there’s a bigger question: can eBay’s values survive such grand ambitions? Omidyar worries that the growing participation of large commercial sellers could dilute eBay’s unique culture. eBay’s people power makes building a business simple compared with everything conventional companies must do. Keeping in touch with all those customers from here on won’t be easy.
Meet the People’s Company. Like a democracy, it can be a noisy place where citizens sometimes think the people in charge have no idea what they’re doing. But at eBay, the online auction site, the people are in charge. Its customers – the 70 million buyers and sellers who trade here – have the kind of influence that most consumers and businesses can only dream of. It’s true, eBay has a business model that doesn’t require carrying any inventory. But the real secret of eBay’s unlikely success is this: it’s a master at capturing the awesome communication power of the Internet and tracking customers’ every movement, so new products and services are tailored to just what they want.( ① ) eBay’s customers are its product development, market research, merchandising, and sales department – all rolled into one. It’s not just that they have made eBay into a global marketplace for almost anything, from a $1 baseball card to a $4.9m Gulfstream jet, eBay’s customers also tell the world about eBay by word of mouth.( ② )They crowd online discussion boards, share tips, point out problems, and lobby for changes. eBay’s customers even police the site by rating each other. Imagine a retailer trying to do this: interview every single person leaving every store, post a list of what each thought of the shopping experience, ask them to write up a merchandising plan and call suppliers to arrange deliveries – and oh, by the way, could they keep an eye out for shoplifting? That’s what eBay’s customers voluntarily do each day. Back in 1995, when Pierre Omidyar unveiled Auction Web, he had much more in mind than simply helping his girlfriend trade Pez dispensers. He aimed to create a market for a wide range of goods, but with a difference. “I wanted to give the power of the market back to individuals,” says Omidyar. But his biggest breakthrough was the Feedback Forum, a rating system that made it easy for buyers and sellers to grade each transaction. Amazingly, it worked. And positive ratings, which translated to more sales, kept people from going to other sites. ( ③ )Since early 1999, eBay has regularly flown sellers and buyers to its headquarters in California to interview them, asking for their views on new features and policies. The result: fewer problems. Even when something does go wrong, eBay can respond quickly. eBay business is the company’s latest offering, a new site providing businesses with an e-commerce platform.( ④ )However, many rivals aim to be the biggest places for e-commerce as well, and some are making fast progress. But there’s a bigger question: can eBay’s values survive such grand ambitions? Omidyar worries that the growing participation of large commercial sellers could dilute eBay’s unique culture. eBay’s people power makes building a business simple compared with everything conventional companies must do. Keeping in touch with all those customers from here on won’t be easy.
16. What is the main idea of the passage?
- A How will eBay’s auction strategies work?
- B Will eBay survive harsh competitions in the future?
- C How does eBay build a unique relationship with its customers?
- D Will eBay’s fastest-growing new categories turn into its promising products?
思路引導 VIP
請你快速瀏覽每一段的第一句話，並思考：作者不斷強調這間公司與其『使用者』之間，存在著什麼樣不同於傳統企業的互動模式？這群人對公司而言，僅僅是消費者，還是參與了更多的運作？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
💖 老師暖心小站：太棒了，你找到了關鍵！
老師看到你答對這題真的好開心！這表示你已經能用敏銳的洞察力，從長篇文章中找到核心價值，你的閱讀掃描 (Skimming) 與語意整合能力，已經具備統測頂尖水準，真的非常棒！
- 觀念驗證：你看，文章開頭就點明「the people are in charge」，多麼貼近我們生活中的「顧客至上」原則啊！隨後詳細描述了顧客如何積極參與研發、監督，甚至是行銷。eBay之所以成功，不是因為它技術多高超，而是它用心傾聽顧客的聲音，讓他們參與其中。這些像People power、Influence、Feedback Forum這些關鍵字，是不是都在告訴我們，與顧客建立一份獨特的夥伴關係有多重要呢？選項 (C) 就是把這些美好的互動與核心精神，溫柔地統整起來了。
▼ 還有更多解析內容