2011英语四级全真预模拟试卷及答案解六_第2页

The site — named for an 18th-century stunt involving a turbaned chess-playing “machine” with an actual chess master hidden within — began as a way to help Amazon manage its product database, says Sharon Chiarella, vice president of Amazon Mechanical Turk. Amazon uses the site to help sort images and content, paying people a few cents a task. Mechanical Turk also serves a variety of companies who need Web tasks performed, especially those that require a human element. Test-prep startup Knewton Inc., for example, uses it extensively for focus-group-type tasks, as well as enlisting people to take its practice tests.

　　Keri Knutson, a mother of five from Independence, La., discovered Mechanical Turk when her eldest son was headed for college. Ms. Knutson, now 45, needed money for his tuition and fees. She took on all kinds of low-paying but easy tasks at the beginning, from finding a place to purchase a specific item to identifying the name of a street in a photograph.

　　People looking to make money online as fee-for-service experts should read the fine print. Live Person has one of the more formal payment systems, requiring users to sign up for an account before talking with an expert. Some sites, including Associated Content and Mechanical Turk, reserve the right to refuse payment if a task is not completed satisfactorily.

　　Most sites have a robust community of workers who regularly offer one another tips on which tasks pay the best. Mechanical Turk users have an independent site called Turker Nation (turkers.proboards80.com), which reviews the companies that solicit (索求) and pay for tasks so that workers can check a company’s record before taking on a task.

　　Consumers who use these sites also need to exercise caution. Relying on legal or medical advice from an unknown online source has obvious drawbacks, and the Web sites acknowledge that some users have registered complaints about the advice offered on the sites. LivePerson warns consumers to offer their financial and personal details with care.

　　For the workers on these sites, even incremental sources of income are helpful these days. Ms. Knutson now spends the majority of her time transcribing Web audio and video for clients, earning about $250 a week for 30 hours of work. She says she has seen more competition lately but is determined to keep up her weekly pace.

　　“If I didn’t have this money,” she says, “we’d be struggling to find what to eat every week.”

　　1. What is the passage mainly talking about?

　　A) The economic recession will last a few years.

　　B) More people are taking their skills online to make money.

　　C) Asking for advice through the Internet is a good way to solve your problems.

　　D) People shouldn’t release their financial and personal details online.

　　2. Live Person Inc. is a Web site where ___________.

　　A) people chat with each other and make friends freely

　　B) professionals and advisers help others for free

　　C) people pay money for applying to become an expert

　　D) clients pay for online chat time with professionals and advisers

　　3. Why are labor-at-the-keyboard sites gaining popularity?

　　A) Because people love to work on the Internet.

　　B) Because more people are finding jobs on the Internet.

　　C) Because people are being asked to work on the Internet.

　　D) Because working on the Internet is easier than other ways of working.

　　4. How much will an expert get through Live Person if a client pays $10?

　　A) $3 to $3.5. B) $10. C) $6.5 to $7. D) $5.

　　5. Mechanical Turk originated as a method to _________.

　　A) label images of a particular animal in a photograph

　　B) serve a variety of companies who need Web tasks performed

　　C) help Amazon manage its product database

　　D) find someone’s email address

　　6. What does Turker Nation do?

　　A) It reserves the right to refuse payment if a task is not completed satisfactorily.

　　B) It relies on legal or medical advice from an unknown online source.

　　C) It registers complaints about the advice offered on the site.

　　D) It reviews the companies that solicit and pay for tasks.