Federal Reserve System， central banking system of the United States， popularly called the Fed. A central bank serves as the banker to both the bankingcommunity and the government； it also issues the national currency， conducts monetarypolicy， and plays a major role in the supervision and regulation of banks and bank holding companies. In the U.S. these function are the responsibilities of key officials of the Federal Reserve System： the Board of Governors， located in Washington， D.C.， and the top officers of 12 district Federal Reserve banks， located throughout the nation. The Fed's actions， described below， generally have a significant effect on U.S. interest rates and， subsequently， on stock， bond， and other financial markets.

The Federal Reserve's basic powers are concentrated in the Board of Governors， which is paramount in all policy issues concerning bank regulation and supervision and in most aspects of monetary control. The board enunciates the Fed's policies on both monetary and banking matter. Because the board is not an operating agency， most of the day-to day implementation of policy decisions is left to the district Federal Reserve banks， stock in which is owned by the commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. Ownership in this instance， however， does not imply control； the Board of Governors and the heads of the Reserve banks orient their policies to the public interest rather than to the benefit of the private banking system.

The U.S. banking system's regulatory apparatus is complex； the authority of the Federal Reserve is shared in some instances for example， in mergers or the examination of banks with other Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation （FDIC）。 In the critical area of regulating the nation's money supply in accordance with national economic goals， however， the Federal Reserve is independent within the government， Income and expenditures of the Federal Reserve banks and of the board of governors are not subject to the congressionalappropriation process； the Federal Reserve is self-financing. Its income （$20.2 billion in 1992） comes mainly from Reserve bank holdings of income-earning securities， primarily those of the U.S. government. Outlays （$1.5 billion in 1992） are mostly for operational expenses in providing services to the government and for expenditures connected with regulation and monetarypolicy. In 1992 the Federal Reserve returned 416.8 billion in earnings to the U.S. treasury.

1.The Fed of the United States ___.

A.function as China Bank

B.is the counterpart of People's Bank of China

C.is subjected to the bankingcommunity and government

D.has 13 top officers who can influence the American financial market

2.The fact that stock in the Fed belongs to commercial banks ___.

A.doesn't mean the latter is in control

B.means the latter is in control

C.means the latter is subjected to the Reserve banks

D.means the Reserve banks orient the latter's policies

3.Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage？

A.The fed is a very big， complex and significant system which comprises many local banks.

B.All the commercial banks are not the components of Federal Reserve System.

C.Board of governors is the supreme policy-makers of America.

D.District Reserve banks rather than Board of governors perform the day-to-day policies.

4.The authority of the federal Reserve ___.

A.has to be shared with other establishments.

B.is exclusive at other times

C.isn't limited by comptroller of the Currency and FDIC

D.is limited by Board of governors

5.Income of the Board of governors ___.

A.is borrowed from the U.S. treasury

B.is used by the government to make various policies

C.comes from the U.S. Treasury

D.is not granted by the government

答案：BACBD

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第50篇

The food irradiation process is a simple one. The new U.S. plant， Vindicator of Florida Incorporated in Mulberry， Fla.， uses a material called cobalt 60 to irradiate food. Cobalt 60 is radioactive isotope （form） of the metallic element cobalt. Cobalt 60， which gives off radiation in the form of gamma rays， is also used for radiation therapy for cancer patients and for sterilizing hospital equipment. The radioactive isotope is created by bombarding cobalt with subatomic particles in a nuclear reactor. However， irradiation plants do not themselves contain nuclear reactors.

In the irradiation plant， food is exposed to thin rods of cobalt 60. The rods give off gamma rays， which disrupt chemical processes in contaminating organisms. The disruption breaks down the cell walls of organisms or destroys their genetic material. The dose， set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration （FDA）， is enough to kill organisms on food， but not enough to produce significant changes in the food itself.

Although irradiation slightly decreases the nutritive value of foods， the loss is less than that produced by some other methods of food preservation. Canning， for example， results in a much greater loss of nutrients.

Those who object to irradiation say that the process may create substances not found in nonirradiated food. Since the 1960's researchers have studied irradiated food at microscopic levels to try to find such substances， called unique radiolytic products. After reviewing these studies， the FDA determined that compounds formed during irradiation are similar to substance found in nonirradiated foods and are not dangerous to consume.

Destruction of microorganisms that cause illness is an important goal of irradiation. About 250 million cases of food poisoning or 1 per person-occur every year in the U.S.， according to FDA estimates. Food poisoning can cause vomiting， diarrhea， fever， headache-and， occasionally， death.

Because of the apparent safety of food irradiation， and the problems presented by contaminated food， scientific groups-including the American Medical Association， the World Health Organization， and the United Nations food and Agriculture Association-have voiced nearly universal support for the process. Worldwide， 38 nations have approved irradiation for 355 products.

Like microwave ovens， food irradiation has aroused apprehension and misunderstanding. Yet it has been scrutinized more thoroughly than other methods of food treatment that we have come to regard as safe， and it appears to be a method whose time has come.

1.Cobalt 60， besides irradiating food， is also employed to ___.

A.detect metallic flaws

B.run a nuclear reactor

C.cure cancer patients

D.strengthen concrete walls

2.Gamma rays used to irradiate food ___.

A.are generally not strong enough to destroy contaminating organisms

B.do not bring about significant changes in the food itself

C.may destroy some of the nutrients in the food

D.should be submitted to FDA for approval

3.Irradiated food ___.

A.certainly loses its nutritive value

B.maintains its nutritive value no different from the nonirradiated

C.keeps its nutritive value better than canned food

D.is recommended as the best of all preserved foods

4.With cases of food poisoning increasing， ___.

A.food irradiation should be carried out with care

B.it is more urgent to irradiate foods

C.medical researches into treatment of the diseased should be strengthened

D.Americans are beginning to accept food irradiation

5.The passage may be taken from ___.

A.a news report

B.a textbook of food processing

C.a book of popular science

D.a manual of food irradiation

答案：CBCCD

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第51篇

Until recently， women in advertisements wore one of three things-an apron， a glamorous dress or a frown. Although that is now changing， many women still feel angry enough to deface offending advertisements with stickers protesting， "This ad degrades women." Why does this sort of advertising exist？ How can advertisers and ad agencies produce， sometimes， after months of research， advertising that offends the consumer？

The Advertising Standards Authority （the body which deals with complaints about print media） is carrying out research into how women feel about the way they are portrayed in advertisements. Its conclusions are likely to be what the advertising industry already knows： although women often irritated by the way they are seen in ads， few feel strongly enough to complain.

Women are not the only victims of poor and boring stereotypes-in many TV commercials men are seen either as useless， childish oafs who are unable to perform the simplest household tasks， or as in considerate boors， permanently on the lookout for an escape to the pub. But it is women who seem to bear the brunt of the industry's apparent inability to put people into an authentic present-day context.

Yet according to Emma Bennett， executive creative director of a London advertising agency， women are not infuriated by stereotypes and sexist advertising. It tends to wash over them， they are not militant or angry-they just find it annoying or tiresome. They reluctantly accept outdated stereotypes， but heave a sigh of relief when an advertisement really gets it right.

She says that it is not advertising's use of the housewife role that bothers women， but the way in which it is handles. "Researchers have often asked the wrong questions. The most important thing is the advertisement's tone of voice. Women hate being patronized， flattered or given desperately down-to-earth commonsense advice."

In the end， the responsibility for good advertising must be shared between the advertiser， the advertising agency and the consumer. Advertising does not set trends but it reflects them. It is up to the consumer to tell advertisers where they fail， and until people on the receiving end take the business seriously and make their feelings known， the process of change will remain laboriously slow.

1.Despite recent changes in attitudes， some advertisements still fail to ___.

A.change women's opinions of themselves

B.show any understanding of people's feelings

C.persuade the public to buy certain products

D.meet the needs of the advertising industry

2.According to the writer， the commonest fault of present day advertising is to ___.

A.condemn the role of the housewife

B.ignore protests about advertisements

C.present a misleading image of women

D.misrepresent the activities of men

3.Research suggests that the reaction of women towards misrepresentation by advertisement is ___.

A.apathy

B.hostility

C.approbation

D.unbelief

4.Emma Bennett suggests that advertisement ought to ___.

A.give further emphasis to practical advice

B.change their style rather than their content

C.use male images instead of female ones

D.pay more compliments to women than before

5.Ultimately the advertising industry should ___.

A.take its job more earnestly

B.do more pioneering work

C.take notice of the public opinion

D.concentrate on the products advertised.

答案：BCABC

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第52篇

Pronouncing a language is a skill. Every normal person is expert in the skill of pronouncing his own language； but few people are even moderately proficient at pronouncing foreign languages. Now there are many reasons for this， some obvious， some perhaps not so obvious. But I suggest that the fundamental reason why people in general do not speak foreign languages very much better than they do is that they fail to grasp the true nature of the problem of learning to pronounce， and consequently never set about tackling it in the right way. Far too many people fail to realize that pronouncing a foreign language is a skill-one that needs careful training of a special kind， and one that cannot be acquired by just leaving it to take care of itself. I think even teachers of language， while recognizing the importance of good accent， tend to neglect， in their practical teaching， the branch of study concerned with speaking the language. So the first point I want to make is that English pronunciation must be taught； the teacher should be prepared to devote some of the lesson time to this， and by his whole attitude to the subject should get the student feel that there is a matter worthy of receiving his close attention. So， there should be occasions when other aspects of English， such as grammar or spelling， are allowed for the moment to take second place.

Apart from this question of the time given to pronunciation， there are two other requirements for the teacher： the first， knowledge； the second， technique.

It is important that the teacher should be in possession of the necessary information. This can generally be obtained from books. It is possible to get from books some idea of the mechanics of speech， and of what we call general phonetic theory. It is also possible in this way to get a clear mental picture of the relationship between the sounds of different languages， between the speech habits of English people and those， say， of your students. Unless the teacher has such a picture， any comments he may make on his students pronunciation are unlikely to be of much use， and lesson time spent on pronunciation may well be time wasted.

1.What does the writer actually say about pronouncing foreign languages？

A.Only a few people are really proficient.

B.No one is really an expert in the skill.

C.There aren't many people who are even fairly good.

D.There are even some people who are moderately proficient.

2.The writer argues that going about the problem of pronunciation in the wrong ways ___.

A.an obvious cause of not grasping the problem correctly

B.a fundamental consequence of not speaking well

C.a consequence of not grasping the problem correctly

D.not an obvious cause of speaking poorly

3.The best way of learning to speak a foreign language， he suggests， is by ___.

A.picking it up naturally as a child

B.learning from a native speaker

C.not concentrating on pronunciation much

D.undertaking systematic work

4.The value the student puts on correct speech habits depends upon ___.

A.how closely he attends to the matter

B.whether it is English that is being taught

C.his teacher's approach to pronunciation

D.the importance normally given to grammar and spelling

5.How might the teacher find himself wasting lesson time？

A.By spending lesson time on pronunciation.

B.By making ill-informed comments upon pronunciation.

C.By not using books on phonetics in the classroom.

D.By not giving students a clear mental picture of the different between sounds.

答案：CCDCB

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