“白嫖”时代一去不复返了？

One of the problems with technology is that it can be really good at narcing（打小报告）. And I don’t mean in the scary Big Brother Thought Police kinda way， it means forcing us to pay for things we used to get for free.

Once upon a time， you could have yourself a nice Saturday of stocking up at Costco （using your sister’s membership card， naturally）， before hitting up a museum （free admission with your 15-year-old expired student ID） or settling into a reality TV binge sesh （streaming on your college roommate’s ex-boyfriend’s Netflix login）.

You wouldn’t call it stealing， mooching， perhaps. But thanks to the fine-tuning（微调） of the tech that Corporate America uses to police subscriptions， those freeloading days are over. Costco and Disney this month took a page from the Netflix playbook and announced they are cracking down on account sharers.

So the next time you want to restock your Kirkland chocolate covered almond stash， you’ll need to have an honest-to-God membership of your own that you scan at the door. Want to put on “Frozen” for the kids so you can have two hours to do literally anything else？ You’re going to need a Disney+ login associated with your household.

Cracking down on sharing was hugely successful for Netflix. For years， the streaming giant turned a blind eye to password sharing because doing so allowed more people to experience the product and， crucially， come to rely on it. But now Netflix had a sudden influx of competition. Disney， Apple， HBO and Amazon also stepped up their streaming games.

So Netflix cashed in on its brand loyalty， betting that it had made itself indispensable to enough viewers that they’d be willing to cough up $7-$15 a month to keep their access. It was a risky bet， but one that seemed to pay off.

Of course， just because it worked for Netflix doesn’t mean it’ll be a slam dunk（稳操胜券的事）for others. Disney’s streaming business — Disney+， Hulu and ESPN+ — only became profitable in the second quarter this year. It’s a beloved brand， a name that sparks joy. But has it reached the same level of must-watch-ability that Netflix has built？ Unclear.

As for Costco， last year， the store reported $4.6 billion in revenue from membership fees， and that accounts for the majority of its profit. The membership fee， which is going up by $5 next month — the first increase since 2017 — allows Costco to keep its prices low and its staff paid. There may be no such thing as a free lunch， but at Costco there’s at least $1.50 hot dogs and soda， which， in this economy， is nearly free.

（材料选自New York CNN，有删改）

1.What writing techniques did the author use to explain the issue of technology？

A.Give examples. B. Make comparison.

C.Column of figures. D.Draw a diagram.

2.What challenge is Disney+ facing in comparison to Netflix， according to the article？

A.Disney+ is not as profitable as Netflix.

B.Disney+ is not as popular as Netflix.

C.Disney+ has not yet reached the same level of audience indispensability as Netflix.

D.Disney+ faces collective resistance from people， and people don’t like Disney anymore.

3.How Netflix successfully cracked down on account sharing？

A.Netflix chooses to bet on its strong brand loyalty， believing that people cannot live without Netflix in their daily lives.

B.Netflix chooses to further create higher quality TV dramas， attracting people to purchase membership by producing more eye-catching films.

C.Netflix has decided not to take any action.

D.Netflix releases a policy prohibiting account sharing.

4.Where could this article possibly come from？

A.A Science magazine.   B. A Newspaper.

C. A Fiction Novel.         D.An Educational book.

1.B。解析：细节理解题。材料第三段提到“美国企业对监管订阅的技术进行了微调，那些免费下载的日子结束了”，第二段和第四段则分别写了微调前和微调后的情况，两个段落起到比较的作用，表现出生活上的差别，故选B。

2.C。解析：推理判断题。材料第七段的第三、四、五句提到“迪士尼是一个备受人们喜爱的品牌，光是提到这个名字就能让人开心，但它是否达到了奈飞那种必看级别的吸引力？还不确定”。C选项“迪士尼还没有达到像奈飞那样对观众不可或缺的程度”与材料内容相符，故选C。

3.A。解析：推理判断题。材料第六段提到“因此，奈飞选择押注自家强大的品牌忠诚度，赌自己已经成为很多观众生活中离不开的存在，他们愿意每月掏出7到15美元来继续享受服务。这是一个风险很大的赌注，但似乎赌对了”。A选项与材料内容相符，故选A。

4.B。解析：主旨大意题。材料的主要内容是“奈飞、开市客和迪士尼尝试打击账号共享，赢取更多的商业利润”，属于新闻媒体类报道，故选B。