Groupon is what the dot-com boom was supposed to be about.
Groupon 就是新興網路生意的最佳寫照。
 全民英檢101年施測日程表
In the past, if singles or small families wanted to get lower prices on items, they had to buy them in bulk. Times have changed, and now a new service has _(1)_ bulk buying with the lightning-fast technology of the Internet. Groupon, a combination of the words group and coupon, is a deal-of-the-day website that _(2)_ discounted gift certificates and has become one of the biggest success stories the Internet has ever seen.
Like most people in Internet businesses, Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason had to fail first to succeed. His first Internet start-up, The Point, was well-intentioned but _(3)_ being used for pranks. However, Mason found that customers liked banding together to buy things, so he started a blog that _(4)_ turned into Groupon. The premise of Groupon is that a deal on a product becomes _(5)_ if a certain number of people buy it. For example, yoga lessons will be half their regular price if 100 customers _(6)_. Once the magic number is hit, Groupon gets _(7)_ half the money the customers pay for the coupons. If the targeted number is not reached, no one gets the deal that day.
Each day, Mason would _(8)_ emails to everyone on his list, and things grew rapidly from there. Small businesses understood that even if they didn't make much money, it was still a great way to _(9)_ their products or services. Now, Groupon is in more than 500 markets and 44 countries. One of Groupon's biggest problems is that because it's so internationally successful, imitators have _(10)_ everywhere. For Mason, competition is the least of his worries as he is focused on expanding and becoming the fastest company ever to bring in US$1 billion.
(A) ended up (B) available (C) popped up (D) send out (E) combined (F) approximately (G) sign up (H) features (I) eventually (J) publicize
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- Times have changed, and now a new service has combined bulk buying with the lightning-fast technology of the Internet.
理由:
a. 空格前有完成式助動詞 has，其後則有名詞詞組 bulk buying（大量購買），可知空格內應置入過去分詞形態的及物動詞或片語及物動詞。
b. 符合上述的選項僅有 (E) combined（結合），且置入後與介詞 with 形成以下用法：
combine A with/and B 結合 A 和 B
例: If you combine yellow with blue paint, it will turn green.
（把黃色和藍色 2 種顏料混在一起就會變成綠色。）
c. 根據上述，可知 (E) 為正選。
- Groupon...is a deal-of-the-day website that features discounted gift certificates and has become one of the biggest success stories...
理由:
a. 空格前有作主詞的關係代名詞 that（= a deal-of-the-day website），而空格後有名詞詞組 discounted gift certificates（折價禮券），且根據本句時態，可知空格內應置入第三人稱單數形的及物動詞或片語及物動詞。
b. 符合上述的選項僅有 (H) features（以……為特色），置入後亦符合語意，故選之。
c. feature vt. 以……為特色
例: The new restaurant features my favorite kind of steak.
（這家新餐廳的招牌菜是我最喜歡的牛排。）
- His first Internet start-up, The Point, was well-intentioned but ended up being used for pranks.
理由:
a. 空格前有主詞 His first Internet start-up（他最初創辦的網路公司）、過去式 be 動詞 was 及對等連接詞 but，空格後則有現在分詞片語 being used for pranks（被用來當作惡作劇），可知空格內應置入可接現在分詞片語作補語的不完全不及物動詞片語。
b. 符合上述的選項僅有 (A) ended up（結果∕最後……），置入後亦符合語意，故選之。
c. end up + 現在分詞 結果∕最後……
例: Larry ended up divorcing his wife because she was driving him crazy.
（賴瑞最後跟他太太離婚，因為她快把他逼瘋了。）
- However, Mason found that..., so he started a blog that eventually turned into Groupon.
理由:
a. 空格所在的句子為一完整句構，可知空格內應置入副詞，以修飾動詞片語 turned into（轉變成……）。
b. 選項中為副詞的有 (F) approximately（大約）和 (I) eventually（最後，終於），惟 eventually 置入後符合語意，可知應選 (I)。
c. eventually adv. 最後，終於
例: Thanks to Gina's advice, we eventually worked out the problem.
（多虧吉娜的建議，我們終於解決了那個問題。）
- The premise of Groupon is that a deal on a product becomes available if a certain number of people buy it.
理由:
a. 空格前有不完全不及物動詞 becomes（變得），可知空格應置入名詞或形容詞作主詞補語。
b. 選項中僅 (B) available（可得到的；可利用的）為形容詞，置入後亦符合語意，故選之。
c. available a. 可得到的；可利用的
例: Are there any seats available on the afternoon flight?
（下午的班機還有沒有空位？）
- For example, yoga lessons will be half their regular price if 100 customers sign up.
理由:
a. 空格位於句尾，前有主詞 customers（顧客），可知空格內應置入不及物動詞或不及物動詞片語。
b. 符合上述的選項僅有 (G) sign up（報名），置入後亦符合語意，故選之。
c. sign up (for...) 報名（上……課程）
例: Nick signed up for an English class to improve his language skills.
（尼克報名上英文課來增進自己的語言技巧。）
- Once the magic number is hit, Groupon gets approximately half the money the customers pay for the coupons.
理由:
a. 空格所在的句子為一完整句構，而空格後又有表數量的形容詞 half（一半的），可知空格內應置入可用來修飾數量的副詞。
b. 符合上述選項的僅有 (F) approximately（大約），置入後亦符合語意，故選之。
c. approximately adv. 大約
例: Approximately 100 people showed up for the meeting.
（大約有 100 人出席了那場會議。）
- Each day, Mason would send out emails to everyone on his list, ...
理由:
a. 空格前有助動詞 would，後有名詞 emails（電子郵件），可知空格內應置入原形及物動詞或片語及物動詞。
b. 符合上述的選項有 (D) send out（發送∕發射……）和 (J) publicize（宣傳），惟 send out 置入後符合語意 ，故選 (D)。
c. send out... 發送∕發射……
例: The sinking ship sent out an SOS signal.
（這艘就快沈沒的船隻發送出求救訊號。）
- Small businesses understood that..., it was still a great way to publicize their products or services.
理由:
a. 空格前有不定詞 to，其後則有受詞 their products（他們的產品），可知空格內應置入原形及物動詞或片語及物動詞。
b. 符合上述的選項僅有 (J) publicize（宣傳），置入後亦符合語意，故選之。
c. publicize vt. 宣傳
例: The company was publicizing their latest products on the Internet.
（這家公司在網路上為他們最新的產品做宣傳。）
- One of Groupon's biggest problems is that because..., imitators have popped up everywhere.
理由:
a. 空格前有名詞 imitators（模仿者）和完成式助動詞 have，後無受詞，可知空格內應置入過去分詞形態的不及物動詞或不及物動詞片語。
b. 符合上述的選項僅有 (C) popped up（突然出現；突然發生），置入後亦符合語意，故選之。
c. pop up 突然出現；突然發生（= spring up）
例: Many cafés have popped up around my university recently.
（最近我的大學校園四周突然冒出許多咖啡店。）
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