首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: Ther
The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: Ther
admin
2019-09-30
47
问题
The staggering variety of free stuff available on the Internet sometimes seems to have repealed the first law of economics: There’s no such thing as
a free lunch
. But as so often happens, the dismal science actually has it right. When it looks like you’re getting something for nothing, somebody is paying, and it’s often instructive to know who that is.
I’ve been testing a new phone service called ooma that provides an interesting case in point. Once you pay $399 up front for a box called the ooma Hub and connect it to your phone and the Internet via your home network, you are promised free, unlimited phone calls over two lines, plus voice mail. The system works fine and is simple to set up.
When a voice-over-Internet call has to go to a regular phone number, a service such as ooma usually has to pay a "temination fee" to a carrier such as Verizon. Skype, for example, charges 2% per minute for calls outside the Skype network. But ooma avoids this by using some of its customers—those who have kept regular phone lines—to serve as gateways onto the local phone network at no charge.
When you want to call outside the ooma network, the call moves from your Hub over the Internet to a second landline-connected Hub within the destination’s local calling area The Hub dials the target number and patches the call through. In effect, ooma customers with landlines pay to keep the whole system going. You don’t even notice if your landline is being used because your own phone calls go out over your broadband connection, with your flat-rate monthly phone bill covering the ooma traffic. In fact, this improves the efficiency of the phone system by putting idle lines to work. But if ooma ever gains real traction, I expect a legal assault from big phone companies, which are losing income from termination fees.
Web services do take advantage of genuine economies. The phone network is more expensive than the Net. Lots of Net players build on these advantages. Skype relies on selected users who act, often without their knowledge, as "super nodes" to manage the system. FreeConference.com provides calls by taking advantage of regulatory quirks—namely, the stiff termination fees long-distance carriers must pay to certain rural phone companies that handle calls into their territory. In effect, the free conferences are subsidized by customers and shareholders of the long-distance carriers. You may as well enjoy free calls while you can. But it’s always a good idea to read the fine print. If it isn’t obvious who’s paying for a free service, it might well be you.
The phrase "a free lunch"(Line 3, Paragraph 1)implies that the free stuff on the Internet seems to be
选项
A、totally free.
B、impossible as a free lunch.
C、as right as the science.
D、paid by someone you know.
答案
B
解析
短语语义理解题。根据a free lunch定位到文章首段第一句。第三句提到看似免费的服务实质上总得有人买单,故选B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/k4uRFFFM
0
考研英语二
相关试题推荐
Pricesarcsky-high,withprofitstomatch.Butlookingfurtherahead,theindustryfaceswrenchingchange,saysanexpertofen
Pricesarcsky-high,withprofitstomatch.Butlookingfurtherahead,theindustryfaceswrenchingchange,saysanexpertofen
TheInternetaffordsanonymitytoitsusers,ablessingtoprivacyandfreedomofspeech.Butthatveryanonymityisalsobehind
TheInternetaffordsanonymitytoitsusers,ablessingtoprivacyandfreedomofspeech.Butthatveryanonymityisalsobehind
In2010,afederaljudgeshookAmerica’sbiotechindustrytoitscore.CompanieshadwonpatentsforisolatedDNAfordecades--b
Homeworkhasneverbeenterriblypopularwithstudentsandevenmanyparents,butinrecentyearsithasbeenparticularlyscorn
Thequestioningoftheroleofthepubliegalleryisnotanewphenomenon.Itissomethingthathasbeenarguedoversinceitsv
Formostofthe20thcentury,Asiaaskeditselfwhatitcouldlearnfromthemodern,innovatingWest.Nowthequestionmustber
Formostofthe20thcentury,Asiaaskeditselfwhatitcouldlearnfromthemodern,innovatingWest.Nowthequestionmustber
Neuroscientistshavelongunderstoodthatthebraincanrewireitselfinresponsetoexperience—aphenomenonknownasneuroplast
随机试题
随着人口老龄化,老年人的服务需要逐渐增多,受制于有限资源,某社会服务机构组织员工讨论在未来三年是为更多的老年人提供满足基本生活需要的服务,还是为具有特殊需要的少数老年人提供专业性服务,这种策划是()。
对组织起烘托、装饰作用的是()
急性肾衰竭的病因包括________、________和________3种。
以下有关抵债资产的管理原则的说法中,错误的是()
与菠菜叶肉细胞相比,蓝细菌细胞内()。
伟达商场规定其下属的百货、家电、食品等承包组对外开展业务时可以使用伟达商场的名义和公章,但发生的债权债务概与商场无关。1999年11月2日,该商场百货组以伟达商场的名义,与时尚服装厂签订了一份购买5万件服装的合同,合同约定由百货组自行提货,签约后6个月内一
19世纪末20世纪初,在欧洲兴起一场新教育运动,其标志是()。
下列对交换表的描述中,错误的是()。
Howmanyaretherequalitycontrolinspectionpoints?Howtocheckthequalityduringproduction?
In1957adoctorinSingaporenoticedthathospitalsweretreatinganunusualnumberofinfluenza-likecases.Influenzaissomet
最新回复
(
0
)