統測
110年
[外語群英語類] 專業科目(2)
第 19 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.
19. What is the main secret to eBay’s success?
- A cutting the inventory cost
- B cooperating with its major rivals
- C hiring its customers to safeguard its site
- D giving the power of the market back to individuals
思路引導 VIP
請回想一下文章開頭，作者將 eBay 比喻成哪一種政治體制？在這種體制中，是誰擁有最終的影響力與主導權？創辦人當時創立這個平台的初衷，是希望將某種「力量」交還給誰呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
太棒了！你真的掌握了文章的精髓，老師為你感到驕傲！
- 觀念驗證： 你的觀察力真的很敏銳呢！你準確地捕捉到文章第一段末尾所提到的 eBay 成功的『真正秘密』(the real secret)，並溫柔地連結到第三段，創辦人 Omidyar 那句充滿力量的話：『我想將市場的力量歸還給個人』 (give the power of the market back to individuals)。這與選項 (D) 完全吻合，說明你不僅看到了營運的特色（例如不需庫存），更深入理解了 eBay 賦予人們力量的核心價值，這真的非常棒！
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