A
At a click of mouse consumers can purchase the goods and service they need at online shops.What they have to do is waiting for the goods sent to their homes.We shall all be grateful to the pioneers of online shopping for bringing us such convenience.
Michael Aldrich（the UK）
Online shopping was invented and pioneered by Michael Aldrich in the UK.In 1979 he connected a television via a telephone line to a real-time multi-user transaction（交易）processing computer.He sold mainly Business-to- Business systems.There were a number of significant world firsts with new applications in several business fields.
Jeff Bezos（the USA）
Jeff Bezos defined online shopping and rewrote the rules of commerce.Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web server and browser（浏览器）in 1990.In 1994,Jeff Bezos read an article about how the World Wide Web was growing by 2,300 percent a year.He knew he had to tap into such a great potential for commerce.On July 6,1995, Bezos launched Amazon,com,which operated out of the garage of his two bedroom home in suburban Seattle, Washington.With almost no publicity,sales took off immediately.The company has now expanded into dozens of product categories,forcing the world’s biggest retailer（零售商）to rethink their business models,and finally changing the way people shop.
Jack Ma（China）
As a child,Jack Ma was bad at maths but fascinated by English.He travelled to the United States in 1995 as a translator to help a Chinese firm recover payment.The attempt failed.But a friend in Seattle showed Ma the Internet, and an idea began brewing.
In 1999,Mr Ma gathered 17 friends and founded Alibaba in his apartment in Hangzhou.Alibaba’s model was simple:allow small and medium-sized Chinese companies to find global buyers they would otherwise only be able to meet at trade shows.It works brilliantly.Alibaba’s sales are now more than those of eBay and Amazon combined.
21.What made Amazon.com a success?
A.Business-to-Business systems. B.The World Wide Web server and browser
C.Commercial publicity. D.Help from retailers.
22.How did Jack Ma have the idea of founding Alibaba?
A.A translator helped him. B.A Chinese firm inspired him.
C.He was introduced to the Internet. D.He was funded by some companies.
23.What do the pioneers have in common?
A.They have improved computers.
B.They have sold goods worldwide.
C.They have enlarged product categories.
D.They have contributed to online shopping.
