For most people, shopping is still a matter of wandering down the street or load

For most people, shopping is still a matter ofwandering down the street or loading a cart in a shopping mall. Soon, that willchange. Electronic commerce is growing fast and will soon bring people morechoices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from fraudwill be harder. Many governments therefore want to extend high streetregulations to the electronic world. But politicians would be wiser to seecyberspace as a basis for a new era of corporate self-regulation.

Consumersin rich countries have grown used to the idea that the government takesresponsibility for everything from the stability of the banks to the safety ofthe drugs, or their rights to refund when goods are faulty. But governmentscannot enforce national laws on businesses whose only presence in their countryis on the screen. Other countries have regulators, but the rules of consumerprotection differ, as does enforcement. Even where a clear right tocompensation exists, the online catalogue customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly goto New York to extract a refund for a dud purchase.

Oneanswer is for governments to cooperate more: to recognize each other’s rules.But that requires years of work and volumes of detailed rules. And plenty ofcountries have rules too fanciful for sober states to accept. There is,however, an alternative. Let the electronic businesses do the “regulation”themselves. They do, after all, have a self-interest in doing so.

Inelectronic commerce, a reputation for honest dealing will be a valuablecompetitive asset. Governments, too, may compete to be trusted. For instance,customers ordering medicines online may prefer to buy from the United Statesbecause they trust the rigorous screening of the Food and Drug Administration;or they may decide that the FDA’s rules are too strict, and buy fromSwitzerland instead.

Consumers will need to use their judgment. Butprecisely because the technology is new, electronic shoppers are likely for awhile to be a lot more cautious than consumers of the normal sort---and the newtechnology will also make it easier for them to complain noisily when a companylets them down. In this way, at least, the advent of cyberspace may argue forfewer consumer protection laws, not more.

1.According to the author, what will be the bestpolicy for electronic commerce?

         A．Self– regulation by the business.      B．Strictconsumer protection laws.

         C．Closeinternational cooperation.       D．Governmentprotection.

2.In case an electronic shopper bought faultygoods from a foreign country, what could he do?

         A．Refuseto pay for the purchase.        B．Goto the seller and ask for a refund.

         C．Appealto consumer protection law.          D．Complainabout it on the Internet.

3.In the author’s view, businesses would place ahigh emphasis on honest dealing because in the electronic world         .

         A．internationalcooperation would be much more frequent

         B．consumerscould easily seek government protection

         C．agood reputation is a great advantage in competition

         D．itwould be easy for consumers to complain

4.We can infer from the passage that inlicensing new drugs the FDA in the United States is    .

         A．veryquick  B．very cautious     C．veryslow   D．rather careless

5.If a customer buys something that does notmeet his expectation, what is the advantage of dealing through electroniccommerce over the present normal one?

         A．Itwill be easier for him to return the goods he is not satisfied with.

         B．Itwill be easier for him to attain the refund from the seller.

C．Itwill be easier for him to get his complaints heard by other consumers.

D．Itwill be easier for him to complain about this to the government.

试题答案

【答案】

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.B

5.C

【解析】略