“白嫖”時代一去不復返了？

One of the problems with technology is that it can be really good at narcing（打小報告）. And I don’t mean in the scary Big Brother Thought Police kinda way， it means forcing us to pay for things we used to get for free.

Once upon a time， you could have yourself a nice Saturday of stocking up at Costco （using your sister’s membership card， naturally）， before hitting up a museum （free admission with your 15-year-old expired student ID） or settling into a reality TV binge sesh （streaming on your college roommate’s ex-boyfriend’s Netflix login）.

You wouldn’t call it stealing， mooching， perhaps. But thanks to the fine-tuning（微調） of the tech that Corporate America uses to police subscriptions， those freeloading days are over. Costco and Disney this month took a page from the Netflix playbook and announced they are cracking down on account sharers.

So the next time you want to restock your Kirkland chocolate covered almond stash， you’ll need to have an honest-to-God membership of your own that you scan at the door. Want to put on “Frozen” for the kids so you can have two hours to do literally anything else？ You’re going to need a Disney+ login associated with your household.

Cracking down on sharing was hugely successful for Netflix. For years， the streaming giant turned a blind eye to password sharing because doing so allowed more people to experience the product and， crucially， come to rely on it. But now Netflix had a sudden influx of competition. Disney， Apple， HBO and Amazon also stepped up their streaming games.

So Netflix cashed in on its brand loyalty， betting that it had made itself indispensable to enough viewers that they’d be willing to cough up $7-$15 a month to keep their access. It was a risky bet， but one that seemed to pay off.

Of course， just because it worked for Netflix doesn’t mean it’ll be a slam dunk（穩操勝券的事）for others. Disney’s streaming business — Disney+， Hulu and ESPN+ — only became profitable in the second quarter this year. It’s a beloved brand， a name that sparks joy. But has it reached the same level of must-watch-ability that Netflix has built？ Unclear.

As for Costco， last year， the store reported $4.6 billion in revenue from membership fees， and that accounts for the majority of its profit. The membership fee， which is going up by $5 next month — the first increase since 2017 — allows Costco to keep its prices low and its staff paid. There may be no such thing as a free lunch， but at Costco there’s at least $1.50 hot dogs and soda， which， in this economy， is nearly free.

（材料選自New York CNN，有刪改）

1.What writing techniques did the author use to explain the issue of technology？

A.Give examples. B. Make comparison.

C.Column of figures. D.Draw a diagram.

2.What challenge is Disney+ facing in comparison to Netflix， according to the article？

A.Disney+ is not as profitable as Netflix.

B.Disney+ is not as popular as Netflix.

C.Disney+ has not yet reached the same level of audience indispensability as Netflix.

D.Disney+ faces collective resistance from people， and people don’t like Disney anymore.

3.How Netflix successfully cracked down on account sharing？

A.Netflix chooses to bet on its strong brand loyalty， believing that people cannot live without Netflix in t5366137714d7ba3b4edaafc6b15fa8e3heir daily lives.

B.Netflix chooses to further create higher quality TV dramas， attracting people to purchase membership by producing more eye-catching films.

C.Netflix has decided not to take any action.

D.Netflix releases a policy prohibiting account sharing.

4.Where could this article possibly come from？

A.A Science magazine. B. A Newspaper.

C. A Fiction Novel. D.An Educational book.

1.B。解析：細節理解題。材料第三段提到“美國企業對監管訂閱的技術進行了微調，那些免費下載的日子結束了”，第二段和第四段則分別寫了微調前和微調后的情況，兩個段落起到比較的作用，表現出生活上的差別，故選B。

2.C。解析：推理判斷題。材料第七段的第三、四、五句提到“迪士尼是一個備受人們喜愛的品牌，光是提到這個名字就能讓人開心，但它是否達到了奈飛那種必看級別的吸引力？還不確定”。C選項“迪士尼還沒有達到像奈飛那樣對觀眾不可或缺的程度”與材料內容相符，故選C。

3.A。解析：推理判斷題。材料第六段提到“因此，奈飛選擇押注自家強大的品牌忠誠度，賭自己已經成為很多觀眾生活中離不開的存在，他們愿意每月掏出7到15美元來繼續享受服務。這是一個風險很大的賭注，但似乎賭對了”。A選項與材料內容相符，故選A。

4.B。解析：主旨大意題。材料的主要內容是“奈飛、開市客和迪士尼嘗試打擊賬號共享，贏取更多的商業利潤”，屬于新聞媒體類報道，故選B。