In the first year or so of Web business, most of the action has revolved around efforts to Lap the consumer market. More recently, as the Web proved to be more than a fashion. companies have started to buy and sell products and services with one another. Such business-to-business sales make sense because business people typically know what product they’re looking for.

　　Nonetheless, many companies still hesitate to use the Web because of doubts about its reliability. "Businesses need to feel they can trust the pathway between them and the supplier," says senior analyst Blane Erwin of Forrester Research. Some companies are limiting the risk by conducting online transactions only with established business partners who are given access to the company's private intranet.

　　Another major shift in the model for Internet commerce concerns the technology available for marketing. Until recently, Internet marketing activities have focused on strategies to "pull" customers into sites. In the past year, however, software companies have developed tools chat allow companies to "push" information directly out to consumers, transmitting marketing messages directly to targeted customers, Most notably, the Pointcast Network uses a screen saver to deliver a continually updated stream of news and advertisements to subscribers' computer monitors. Subscribers can customize the information they want to receive and proceed directly to a company's Web site. Companies such as Virtual Vineyards are already starting to use similar technologies to push messages to customers about special sales, product offering, or other events.But push technology has earned the contempt of many Web users. Online culture thinks highly of the notion that the information flowing onto the screen comes there by specific request. Once commercial promotion begins to fill the screen uninvited, the distinction between the Web and television fades. Thar's a prospect that horrifies Net purists.

　　But it is hardly inevitable that companies on the Web will need to resort to push strategies to make money, The examples of Virtual Vineyards, Amazon.com and other pioneers show that a Web site selling the right. kind of products with the right mix of interactivity, hospitality, and security will attract online customers, And the cost of computing power continues to free fall, which is a good sign for any enterprise setting up shop m silicon. People looking back 5 or 10 years from now may well wonder why so few companies took the online plunge.

　　測試題

　　1.What do we learn about the present Web business?

　　A) Web business is no longer in fashion.

　　B) Business-to-business sales are the trend.

　　C) Web business is prosperous in the consumer market.

　　D) Many companies still lack confidence in Web business.

　　2.Established business partners are preferred in Web business because____________.

　　A) they are more creditable than others

　　B) they specify the products they want

　　C) they have access to the company's private intranet

　　D) they are capable of conducting online transactions

　　3.Pointcast Network is most probably_______________.

　　A) a company that develops the latest push software

　　B) a tool that promotes a company's online marketing

　　C) the firs! company that used an online push software

　　D) the most popular software that helps a company push

　　4.Net purists arc most worried that_________________.

　　A) only the requested information comes to the screen

　　B) the Net is filled with commercial promotion

　　C) the difference between the Web and TV will fade

　　D) push technology will dominate the screen of the computers

　　5.What does the author intend to express by mentioning Amazon.com'?

　　A) Its success is attributed to push strategies.

　　B) It is prosperous without push strategies.

　　C) It is highly concerned about the cost of computing power.

　　D) It is a good example of the flourishing online business.

　　答案詳解

　　1.對于目前的網絡商務我們知道什么?

　　A)網絡商務不再時興。 B)企業對企業電子商務是潮流。

　　C)網絡商務在消費市場正興旺。 D)許多公司對網絡商務依然缺少自信。

　　[D]第2段開頭的Nonetheless表明該句與首段提到的內容有轉折關系，而D與該句內容相同，為本題答案。

　　2.在網絡商務中已建立關系的商業伙伴是優先的，因為____________。

　　A)他們比其他人更可信

　　B)他們能詳細說明自己想要的產品

　　C)他們擁有進入公司專用內部網的權利

　　D)他們能夠進行網上交易

　　[A]由第2段最后一句可知公司這樣做的原因是為“控制風險”，而再由上文中的reliability，trust等詞可看出風險問題是源于“信譽”問題，只有A與該段所說的核心意思相符，故選A。

　　3.Pointcast Network最可能是_____________。

　　A)研發最新推銷軟件的公司 B)促進公司網上營銷的工具

　　C)第一家使用網上推銷軟件的公司 D)幫助公司進行推銷的最流行軟件

　　[A]第3段第4句開頭的Most notably表明該句提及的Pointcast Network是說明上一句觀點的例子，由此可見，Pointcast Network應為一家開發軟件的公司，因此A為本題答案。

　　4.網絡純粹主義者最擔心______________。

　　A)只有被需求的信息顯示在屏幕上 B)網絡中滿是商業促銷

　　C)網絡和電視的區別會淡化 D)網上推銷技術將掌控屏幕

　　[D]第3段末句開頭的That's a prospect表明前面提到的內容就是使網絡凈化者覺得擔憂的問題，上文說網絡廣告不應像電視那樣不請自來，由此可見，網絡凈化者最擔心的是以后電腦屏幕會被不請自來的廣告占據，因此D為本題答案。

　　5.關于亞馬遜我們能推斷出什么?

　　A)其成功源于網上推銷策略。

　　B)它沒有采用推銷策略，仍很繁榮。

　　C)它對計算能力的花費高度關注。

　　D)它是繁榮的網絡商務的一個很好的例子。

　　[B]末段首句中的hardly inevitable(不是不可避免)表明有些公司不使用“推銷”策略也可取得成功，第2句以Amazon.com為例說明這個觀點，由此可見,B正確而A錯誤。

　　參考譯文

　　大約在網上交易的第一年中，大部分業務活動都是圍繞著努力開拓消費者市場而進行的。最近，隨著網絡被證明不是一時的時髦后，公司間才開始在網上交易產品和提供服務。公司間的這種交易方式能行得通是因為商人一般都知道自己所需要的產品。

　　[1]然而，許多公司由于懷疑網絡的可靠性，仍對網絡的使用猶豫不決。[2]Forrester研究中心的資深分析家Blane Erwin說，“交易雙方需要認識到他們可以信賴銷售商和供應商之間的途徑。”有些公司只向固定交易伙伴提供公司內部的局域網接點，它們通過這種在線交易方式來達到降低風險的目的。

　　網絡商業模式的另一個重大變化是營銷策略的變化。直到最近，互聯網上的銷售活動重點是把用戶“吸引”到自己的網站上來。[3]然而，就在去年，軟件公司開發出了新的技術，能讓公司直接向用戶“推銷”信息——將銷售信息直接傳送給特定的用戶。最突出的例子是Pointcast網絡，該網絡使用一種屏幕保護系統，將最新的信息和廣告不斷地傳送到用戶的計算機顯示器上。用戶可以定制想要的信息，然后直接進入某個公司的網站。像Virtual Vineyards這樣的公司已經開始使用類似的策略將有關特價商品、產品推銷或其他活動的信息“推”向用戶。但是，推銷策略遭到許多網上用戶的鄙視。[4]網上文化珍視這樣一個概念，即信息應傳送給那些提出需求的用戶。一旦商業廣告不請自來地充斥著電腦屏幕，網絡與電視就沒多大差別了。這樣的前景令網絡純粹主義者感到不安。

　　[5]但是，網上公司完全可以避免使用“推銷”策略來賺錢。Virtual Vineyards和Amazon.com以及其他開拓者的例子表明：網站銷售對路的產品，加相互合作、禮貌周到、安全可靠這幾方面恰到好處地結合起來，將同樣能吸引網上客戶。計算機的運算能力成本不斷下降，這對于企事業單位在計算機上建立銷售點—個好兆頭。只要回顧一下過去5到10年的歷史，人們很可能會感到奇怪：為什么如此少的公司嘗試在線服務呢?