Game Changer: Sports Council Unveils Innovative Booking System for Seamless Sports Facility Access
Applicable grade levels: Chinese (lower grades)
To ensure a level playing field for users, the Sports Council has launched a beta version of its sports facility booking system. When users reserve peak hours, they will be randomly assigned by lottery, which is different from the current first-come, first-served method. The new system is expected to be officially launched next year.
Xie Ruijiao, a 56-year-old sports facility user, plays badminton with her friends every Monday to stay active physically and mentally. Even though the reservation was for off-peak hours, it still took a lot of effort.
Xie Ruijiao said: “It’s time to rush. Around 6:59 in the morning, all the computers are turned on. We have to book for two hours, but we can only book for one hour at a time, so after booking, we have to go out and go in again. It’s very stressful.”
Although the authorities have stepped up efforts to stop these activities of reselling sports facilities time slots, it is still not difficult to find many people reselling them on online platforms such as Facebook, meetup, and telegram.(A) equalityThe price is 10 yuan. There are even people who pay 70% higher than the reservation price and ask others to help make reservations.
To ensure fair competition when users book sports facilities, the authorities will launch a test system this month. Users can book 16 venues for eight sports including badminton, basketball and tennis. They are required to log in using the electronic government password Singpass to avoid anyone booking time slots through bots. When booking during peak periods, a lottery will be used(B) Harvest。
One user said: “I think this is a fairer system, rather than facing competition from bots, so everyone has a chance to order.”
Another user said: “(Rush) time is more important to me, and the location doesn’t matter. Because Singapore is small, you can arrive in an hour at most. If it is decided by lottery, at least everyone will have a chance to win.”
When asked, the Sports Council stated that it would collect user feedback from this beta version of the system and then make improvements.
(Adapted from news on March 4, 2024:Sports Council launches beta version of sports facility booking system to ensure fair competition for users）
Question 1:Sports Council launches beta version of sports facility booking system, why? ( )
A. To increase sources of income.
B. To improve system efficiency.
C. To reduce the number of user reservations.
D. To ensure fair competition for users.
Question 2:How will the system allocate users to peak booking times? ( )
A. First come first served basis.
B. By drawing lots.
C. Based on the amount of the payment.
D. Based on the user’s home address.
Question 3:What are the attitudes of the two interviewed users towards the beta version of the sports facility reservation system? ( )
A. Both support it.
B. Both objects.
C. Not sure either.
D. Conflict of views.
Question 4:Based on the content of the passage and the meaning of the context, replace one of the underlined words and write the correct word on the horizontal line. (Ability to identify and match words and correct inappropriate words)
A：______________
B：______________