Part I　Lead-in Activities

Directions:You will hear a passage about Alibaba Group，a world-famous Chinese ecommerce company.The words or phrases listed below will be of some help to you.

web portal n.门户网站

electronic payment n.电子支付

search engine n.搜索引擎

cloud computing n.云计算（Cloud computing is a recently evolved computing terminology or metaphor based on utility and consumption of computing resources.Cloud computing involves deploying groups of remote servers and software networks that allow centralized data storage and online access to computer services or resources.Clouds can be classified as public，private or hybrid.）

initial public offering（IPO）n.初次公开发行，首次公开募股

Reuters Instrument Code n.路透工具代码，路透证券码［A Reuters instrument code，or RIC，is a ticker-like code used by Thomson Reuters to identify financial instruments and indices.The codes are used for looking up information on various Thomson Reuters financial information networks（like Bridge and RMDS）and appear to have developed from the Quotron service they purchased in the 1980s.］

Cayman Islands n.开曼群岛（位于拉丁美洲）

shell corporation n.a company that is incorporated but has no assets or operations空壳公司

escrow n.a written agreement（or property or money）delivered to a third party or put in trust by one party to a contract to be returned after fulfillment of some condition暂交第三者保管的款项（或资产）（又称“第三方托管”，即买方将货款付给买卖双方之外的第三方，第三方收到款项后通知已收到买方货款，并同时通知卖方发货，卖方即可将货物发运给买方，买方通知第三方收到满意的卖方货物，第三方便将货款付给卖方。）

escrow service n.委托付款服务（比如阿里巴巴公司推出的支付宝Alipay就属此类服务）

Singles Day n.a pop culture entertaining holiday on November 11 for young Chinese to celebrate their bachelor life光棍节

go public:be listed，come into the market（封闭式公司）让股票上市；（公开招股公司）挂牌上市

consumer base（also customer base）:the group of customers who repeatedly purchase the goods or services of a business老客户群

as of直至，在……时候，到……时候为止

Complete the following paragraphs according to the recording you have just heard.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited（NYSE:BABA）is a Chinese e-commerce company that provides consumer-to-consumer，business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services____1__web portal.It also provides electronic payment services，a shopping search engine and data-centric cloud computing services.The group began in 1999 when Jack Ma____2__the website Alibaba.com，a business-to-business portal to connect Chinese____3__with overseas buyers.In 2012，two of Alibaba's____4__handled 1.1____5__yuan（＄170 billion）in sales.The company primarily operates in the People's Republic of China，and at closing time，on the date of its historic initial public offering（IPO），19 September 2014，Alibaba's market value was measured at US＄231 billion.

In September 2013，the company____6__IPO in the United States after a deal could not be reached with Hong Kong regulators.Planning occurred over 12 months before the company's market__7__in September 2014.The Alibaba Reuters Instrument Code is“BABA.N”，while the pricing of the IPO initially raised US＄21.8 billion，which later increased to US＄25 billion，____8__it the largest IPO in history.However，buyers weren't purchasing actual shares in the group，since China forbids foreign____9__，but rather just shares in a Cayman Islands shell corporation.

Alibaba's consumer-to-consumer portal___10___similar to eBay.com，features nearly a billion products and is one of the 20 most-visited websites___11___.The Group's websites accounted for over 60% of the___12___delivered in China by March 2013，and 80% of the nation's online sales by September 2014.Alipay，an___13___payment escrow service，accounts for roughly half of all online payment___14___within China.

Alibaba reported sale of more than＄9___15___on China's Singles Day in 2014.

Judge whether the following statements are true or false according to the listening material you have just heard.

1.Alibaba.com didn't go public at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange until 2012.

2.Tmall.com is an online retail platform，offering global brands to an increasingly affluent Chinese consumer base.

3.Taobao's growth was attributed to offering free registration and commission-free transactions using a free third-party payment platform.

4.“Flash sales”allows us to buy goods at a discount but we must purchase the item within a defined time.

5.There was little controversy among the staff when Alibaba Group spun off Alipay in 2010.