首页
登录
职称英语
(1) It is easy to forget that even the most trivial commercial transactions r
(1) It is easy to forget that even the most trivial commercial transactions r
游客
2024-09-10
21
管理
问题
(1) It is easy to forget that even the most trivial commercial transactions rely on small acts of trust. Laws encourage good behaviour, but states lack the resources to force everyone to be good all the time. Trust keeps society running. Just ordering a pizza requires faith that the dough will be well made, that the pizzeria will not abuse the customer’s credit-card information, and that the delivery man will not abscond with the cargo. More complex partnerships, of the sort that make long-run economic growth possible, require much higher degrees of trust. New technologies, from sharing-economy apps to the blockchain, offer routes around some of the trust deficits that stand in the way of growth. Yet whether such solutions to problems of mistrust build on or undermine social ties is no easy question to answer.
(2) Trust in society is not just a nicety. It makes possible, as one paper on the subject has it, "the commitment of resources to an activity where the outcome depends upon the co-operative behaviour of others". Low-trust societies waste piles of time and money working out who can be counted on, defending vulnerable stores of wealth, and guarding against con men. Such places are infertile ground for long-run investment, the gains from which could be grabbed by rivals or stolen by government. Meanwhile trust is highest, and defences against chicanery lowest, within some of world’s wealthiest countries. Studies of the relationship between measures of trust and economic growth find a close link between the two. That does not necessarily mean one causes the other. But research also suggests that trust boosts trade, participation in financial markets and investment, suggesting that greater trust spurs the activities that make a place richer.
(3) Sadly, cultivating trust is hard. It is a sort of social capital which must be built through time and effort. Repeated positive interactions and demonstrations of trustworthiness create a foundation of mutual confidence. Within close communities, emotional cues like praise and shame effectively discourage antisocial activity. In environments rich in social capital, the return for co-operative behaviour is high; you can make more money playing by the rules and building a business, for instance, than by reneging on a contract at the first opportunity. In the same way, trustworthiness is rarely rewarded in low-trust societies; both high-trust and low-trust states of the world are sticky.
(4) Inventive humans are good at finding ways around trust bottlenecks. Reliance on families or tribes— groups whose members’ interests are more closely aligned, presumably, than those of the population as a whole—is a common strategy. Yet by their nature, such workarounds are limited in scope, and leave many members of society isolated. New technologies offer a more promising approach. A company’s ability to use the Internet to monitor production in a factory half a world away means that firms need not establish deep relationships with foreign suppliers before opening a distant plant. Network connections between retailers and banks can help verify a customer’s ability to pay; the blockchain, a shared, public and trusted digital of transactions, eliminates the need for a central counterparty altogether.
(5) Historically, however, technology has done more to open up society than to segregate it. New technologies make it easier to trust unfamiliar groups. Public ratings, for instance, can undercut discrimination. Taxi drivers who might normally speed past members of a different race may feel more comfortable picking up a diverse set of riders given good ratings on Uber. A survey conducted by BlaBlaCar, a popular ridesharing service, found that 88% of its members reported a high level of trust in fellow users—higher than that reported for colleagues or neighbours. In a study in America, Alberto Alesina, of Harvard University, and Eliana La Ferrara, of Bocconi University in Milan, found that places with higher levels of racial and income diversity have lower levels of trust. By arranging interactions across such boundaries, technology may widen the circle of trust.
(6) Apps often encourage good behaviour as well. Public ratings, like the ones that Uber presents for its drivers or that Yelp collects for businesses, mean that good customer service is increasingly important in capturing new business. Firms and customers that behave badly risk a permanent stain on their reputation.
(7) It is one thing to use Airbnb to rent a spare room from someone of a different background, and quite another to build the deep social bonds needed to support long-run investments. For big commitments, people will not suddenly let down their guard, however impressive technology becomes. Yet trust is a habit. New technologies that encourage co-operation in some spheres of life contribute to social capital rather than weaken it. [br] New technologies could help with trust issues in all the following ways EXCEPT______.
选项
A、isolating certain members of the society
B、verifying a customer’s ability to pay
C、offering a blockchain for transactions
D、using the Internet to monitor production
答案
A
解析
细节题。原文第四段第四句讲道,科技为解决信任问题提供了更有希望的方法,之后第五、六句分别介绍了利用科技验证支付能力、提供交易链、监督生产,因此[B]、[C]、[D]均排除。[A]“孤立一些社会成员”,文章第五段第一句明确提到科技让社会更加开放,而不是更加分离,故[A]为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3751350.html
相关试题推荐
Whenitcomestotheendofthemeeting,don’tforgettomakeaconclusion,____
A、Shealwaysforgetstoturnitoff.B、Shehastomakebusinesscallsatnight.
(1)Inanefforttosustaincommercialandrecreationalfishingforthenext
(1)Itiseasytoforgetthateventhemosttrivialcommercialtransactionsr
(1)Itiseasytoforgetthateventhemosttrivialcommercialtransactionsr
(1)Itiseasytoforgetthateventhemosttrivialcommercialtransactionsr
Whenyouhavefinishedwiththatbook,don’tforgettoputitbackonmydesk,_
Whenitcomestotheendofthemeeting,don’tforgettomakeaconclusion,____
Mary,whenyouhavefinishedyourhomework,don’tforgettoturnoffthelight,
Mary,whenyouhavefinishedyourhomework,don’tforgetturnoffthelight,__
随机试题
DearTom, YouaskedmewhyIlikelivin
下列选项中,关于系统移交的监理措施说法错误的是()。A.审查承建单位的项目
后牙缺失,缺隙较大,间距离较大,最好选用的人工牙为()A.金属全冠牙
以下不属于自然保护区的是( )。A.自然生态系统 B.野生生物 C.自然遗
某上市银行工作人员小王在编制本行年度报告的过程中,了解到近期会有重大利好,告知其
抢救新生儿窒息的首要护理措施是()A.拍打足底刺激呼吸 B.快速刺激背部
临床治疗皮肤黏膜淋巴结综合征,多首选A:阿司匹林 B:双嘧达莫(潘生丁) C
个人住房贷款档案包括的内容有()。A.委托转账付款授权书 B.房屋他项权
我国法律渊源包括( )。A.宪法 B.法律条文 C.法律规范 D.法律关
间接转让中国应税财产的交易双方及被间接转让股权的中国居民企业可以向主管税务机关报
最新回复
(
0
)