China Merchants Bank Co Ltd has teamed up with ride-hailing major Didi Kuaidi to provide automobile financing and expand its reach in China's booming mobile payment industry. The two have inked a comprehensive partnership, which includes a strategic investment by the former in the latter. Under the partnership, CMB will become the first bricks-and-mortar bank that can offer in-app credit card payments to Didi users. At present, users of Didi can only choose third-party payment solutions like WeChat Payment and Alipay to pay cab fares. Zhao Ju, vice-president of CMB, said the cooperation with Didi was an important step in its mobile Internet finance strategy. "CMB's mobile payment is going to enter a new chapter by leveraging Didi Kuaidi's vast user base," he said. According to a report by China Internet Network Information Center earlier this month, Didi holds 87.2 percent of China's private car hailing market. The company said it has received 1.43 billion car-hailing requests on its platforms in 2015, which means 1.43 billion payments were made via smartphones. CMB is expected to use Didi to reach the core users of China's mobile payment market. Jean Liu, president of Didi, said many of the expats prefer payment by credit card rather than Alipay or WeChat. "The new partnership will help improve service quality and customer loyalty," she said. The investment makes CMB part of Didi's existing investors, including Tencent Holdings Ltd, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and China Investment Corporation. Both of the companies declined to reveal the actual amount of the investment. Liu, who showed up on Tuesday for the first time in public after her treatment for breast cancer, said the cooperation with CMB is for the long run and "the capital investment is only part of it". Under the partnership, CMB and Didi will cooperate on a wide range of initiatives on financial services and online-to-offline cooperation. Apart from the in-app credit card payments, the two companies are going to launch joint credit cards in late... What's Li Chao' attitude towards the partnership between CMB and Didi? A) cautious B) positive C) indifferent D) disapproving
A
Visiting London can be an expensive trip, so establishing a budget and finding bargains when you arrive will help you get around London on the cheap. The following steps can help you find cheaper alternatives for transport for your London trip. l Familiarize yourself with the city's boroughs and specifically the area where you will be staying. You can use a street map, or an online map search engine, to establish where in the city you will be staying and the distance you are from the major tourist attractions you want to visit. l Find a local provider of Transport for London tickets or travel cards, since your first bargain purchase will be an Oyster Card. Traveling around London with an Oyster Card will give you access to the cheapest option of transportation methods and the Oyster Card is accepted citywide on buses, boats and the London Underground, known by the locals as "the tube". l Seek out your nearest Tube Station. The Tube is the cheapest and most reliable form of transportation and runs from around 6 a.m. until around 1 a.m. ..., depending on the line or the station. There are 287 tube stations in London that accept the Oyster Card, with a high concentration in central London. If you are staying anywhere in central London, there will be a tube station less than 10 minutes away. The Transport for London website offers a tube station search facility to find the nearest subway station to any location in the city. When you find a tube station, you can easily locate the closest bus stop by using the comparison bus-tube maps at the station's entrance. l Follow the Transport for London Tube Guide to your destinations and always plan ahead. Making a plan for transport will save you unnecessary expenses, wasted trips on the tube and doubling back on your journey . We can conclude from the passage that _ . A) the subway is the cheapest means of transport in London. B) only Tube stations in Central London accept Oyster Card. C) subway lines in London run no less than 19 hours a day. D) the transfer from subway to bus is very convenient.
A
Q: Today's Britain is full of TV shows like Fame Academy, which claim to offer young hopefuls an instant passport to fame and riches. But a very different kind of academy may provide a new generation of Brits with a slower, steadier path to wealth. A 'pig academy' in the east of England is aiming to train up new pig farmers to help promote local agriculture and meet the UK's growing demand for pork. Last year consumption of pork products increased by 6,000 tonnes. But British farmers have not benefited from this rise in demand. A combination of increasing feed prices, competition from cheaper imports and an outbreak of foot and mouth disease have all eaten into their profits. Pig numbers in the UK have actually almost halved in the last decade. Now, Fresh Start Pig Academy in Lincolnshire is launching a course which intends to redress the balance. They say pig husbandry is a growth industry and newcomers are welcome. For those of you who fancy _ , the course will teach you everything you need to know, from keeping pigs healthy to raising the capital needed to start up. Pig farmer Anne Longthorp followed her father into the industry and believes that farming pigs is very rewarding work: "They're great, curious animals to work with. Just watching their behaviour - it's really interesting work. There is a lot more to pig farming than people give us credit for. It's very scientific." So, while most of Britain's young people may continue to dream of overnight stardom, others will hope a more traditional career will help them bring home the bacon. Which is not the contribution to the decrease in pig farmers' enthusiasm? A) growing demand for pork B) increasing feed prices C) competition from cheaper imports D) outbreak of foot and mouth disease
A: A
(Question)
In Japan's capital city of Tokyo, earthquake danger limits the height of buildings. The city has spread out so far and the traffic has become so heavy that it is very difficult to go from one place to another. The price of the land, too, has skyrocketed. All these explains why a group of Japanese land developers came to the conclusion that there was nowhere to go but down. So far they have dug out space underground for fifteen shopping centres. What are some of the advantages of shopping and eating underground? Clean air is one of them. The city of Tokyo has one of the most serious smog problems in the world. Another advantage is that you escape the ever-present threat of traffic accidents on the city's busy streets. Still another is the convenience of getting around: you are usually right next to, or even in, a subway station. And you can even spend the night underground if you like. The Kibosh station, for example, in downtown Tokyo, has a hotel with a bar, restaurant, and barbershop. What are the advantages of shopping and eating underground A) Less air pollution, the convenience of shopping. B) Less air pollution, the convenience of shopping, and less traffic accidents. C) Clean air and the convenience of getting around. D) Clean air, less accidents' threat, and the convenience of getting around.
(Answer)
D