1.  It was a dark and stormy evening, rapidly turning into the proverbial dark and stormy night, and I needed to find a place to stay. I was driving along an Austrian freeway, so I did what I've done on any number of previous occasions: I took the near exit and looked for a sign pointing to the nearest gasthof, or inn.
    The exit was Gleisdorf, between Graz and the Hungarian border. And off the highway, a couple of kilometers along the road, there it was, a sign at a lefthand turn, pointing up a narrow country road into the dark. The sign read "Gasthof Gruber" — so of course I followed the indication.
    Fifteen minutes or so later, I found myself in the village of Markt, at a quaint-looking inn whose windows glowed invitingly and whose balconies were full of flowers. A smiling woman in a floor-length dirndl led me to a comfortable room, equipped with a television and private bath.
    I dropped my bags, went back downstairs, and settled into the dining room, which was heated by a big, old-fashioned tiled stove. Soon I was sipping a glass of sturm, a mildly alcoholic, fleshly fermented grape juice, and digging in to a bowl of delicious soup. The room, with a full breakfast, cost 30, or about $ 36, and my dinner, with wine, cost 10.
    One of the pleasures of driving in Austria is, in fact, stopping for the night. All parts of the country are studded with family-run country inns that, like the Gasthof Gruber, offer spotless, moderately priced rooms and good, sometimes excellent, food that often features specialties of the region. Room prices average ∈25 to ∈35 for a single.
    Some inns are clustered in towns or villages along main roadways. But many are deep in the countryside or in mountain hamlets reached by winding lanes.
    Standardized green signs bearing the name of a gasthof and the symbols of a bed and crossed knife and fork point the way at many intersections. In popular vacation areas, there may be half a dozen or more such signs stacked on one post or standing next to each other at a turn-off.
    In years of driving regularly in Austria, I have rarely booked a room in advance, trusting always that I will find a pleasant place to stay by following the signs. I've rarely been disappointed, and often my night in a gasthof has proved such an enjoyable oasis between bouts of long-distance driving that I found it difficult to leave in the morning and get back on the road.

2.  Libraries form a vital part of the world's systems of communication and education.
    They make available knowledge accumulated through the ages. People in all walks of life use library resources in their work. People also turn to libraries to satisfy a desire for knowledge or to obtain material for leisure-time activity. In addition, many people enjoy book discussions, concerts, film programs, lectures, story hours, and a variety of other activities provided by libraries. Libraries also play an important role in preserving a society's cultural heritage(遗产). The library ranks as one of society's most useful service institutions.
    The contents of libraries have changed so much through the years that the word library itself is, in a sense, inaccurate. The word comes from the Latin word liber, which means book. Today's libraries house many books, of course. However, they also have a wide variety of other materials that communicate, educate, and entertain. These materials include magazines, manuscripts (手稿), newspapers, and computer documents.
    Audio and visual materials include CDs, audiocassette tapes, videotapes, films, maps, paintings, and photographs.
    In addition to regular books, a library may have large-type books, books for the blind, and tape recordings of books, called talking books. Librarians keep pace with the changing contents of libraries to serve as many people as possible. Their efforts have turned libraries into multimedia resource centers.
    The expansion of library contents greatly increases the library's ability to communicate and educate. For example, people interested in classical music can listen to CDs and read books on the topic. Students of agriculture can read magazines and watch videotapes on farming methods. Many people use magazines and newspapers to find the most up-to-date material on current events.
    In addition to expanding contents, librarians have developed many kinds of libraries to serve the needs of different people. The materials of each kind of library are selected to meet the needs of a specific group of patrons. School libraries have collections that provide the information needed by elementary and high school students. Public libraries tailor their collections to the general public. Government library collections are geared chiefly toward serving the needs of government officials. Thousands of special libraries provide information for professional people, such as advertising specialists, bankers, editors, engineers, lawyers, physicians, and scientists.

1.  当今，世界各国的实力较量涉及诸多因素，其中最重要的一个要素是市场规模。哪个国家的市场大，对其他国家的吸引力就越大，也越容易处于领先地位。中国有14亿人口，这就决定了它拥有世界上最大的消费市场。经济学家都认为，过去这些年，中国市场发展的速度是世界上最快的。
    连续九年，中国是世界上最大的汽车市场。2016年，美国销售了1,700万辆汽车，同年中国则销售了2,400万辆。其中在中国的美国合资公司销售的汽车占比很大。中国还是世界上最大的智能手机市场，也是最大的服装、电商、国内旅游和农产品市场。中国市场展现了惊人的发展潜力。在中国，中产和富裕阶层人士迅速增长，年轻人有了全新的消费习惯，线上线下销售渠道覆盖了全国各地。随着医疗、养老产业不断发展，还将进一步提升中国人的消费能力。

2.  改革开放30多年来，西藏通过深化改革和扩大开放积极推动全区商业、对外贸易和旅游产业加快发展，不仅增强了与内地的交流，同时还加快了与世界的联系和合作。1993年西藏与全国一道开始建立“框架一致、体制衔接”的社会主义市场经济体制，深化物资、粮食、日用消费品等领域价格流通改革并全面进入市场。
    目前，西藏已经深深融入全国统一的市场体系，来自全国和世界各地的商品源源不断地进入西藏，丰富着城乡市场和百姓生活。西藏的名、优、特产品及民族手工业产品，大量进入全国市场。西藏与世界的经济联系日益密切。2012年，全区进出口总额为34.24亿美元，是1953年400万美元的850多倍，年均增长12.1%。西藏立足区位优势，实施面向南亚的陆路贸易大通道建设，大力发展边境贸易。