The Growing Credit Crisis Forces Many Companies to Seek Government Help

On September fifteenth, Lehman Brothers, a one hundred fifty-eight year-old investment bank, sought legal protection from its creditors. It had failed to find a buyer after months of searching. With over six hundred billion dollars in debt, Lehman’s failure was the largest bankruptcv in United States history At the same time,the nation’s biggest insurance company,American International Group, had gotten into trouble selling credit default swaps These are contracts Similar to insurance that protect the holder against credit risk.

Credit rating agencies downgraded A.I.G because of concerns it could not honor its contracts. Unable to get new loans, A.I.G asked for government help The Federal Reserve agreed to loan A .I.G. eighty-five billion dollars in return for eighty percent of the company but it was not enough. By November, the government had extended a total of about one hundred fiftv billion doliars in aid to A .I.G—the most to any single company during the crisis.

As banks refused to lend, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed a plan to loosen credit markets by buylng risky assets. Congress approved the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of Two. Thousand eight on October third The bill provided seven hundred billion dollars to buy hard to-value securltles from banks. But within weeks, the government changed plans. The Treasury moved to invest two handred fifty billion dollars directly in banks to help them lend money again.

Lack of credit not only hurt banks but manufacturers, too. Falling car sales threatened America’s carmakers The big three automakers—General Motors, Ford and Chrysler—told Congress that they needed loans or they faced bankmptcy. In December, President Bush offered G.M and Chrysler over seventeen billion dollars in loans.

As the year ended, the Federal Reserve tried to support economic growth by lowering its main interest rate to nearly zero for the first time. But there was one more bad surprise New York money manager Bernard Madoff admitted he had cheated investors out of fifty billion dollars. The news only added to the sense that two thousand eight was the worst economic year since the nineteen thirties.

Which of the following is NOT the problem in the passage Lehman Brothers was faced with?

   A. lt is an Investment bank with more than one and a half centuries history.

   B. It didn’t find a buyer after months of searching.

   C. It has over six hundred billion dollars in debt.

D. Its failure was the largest bankruptcy in United States history.

The reason why A.I.G turned to the U.S government for help was that           .

   A. A.I.G would give eighty percent of the company in return for the loan

   B. A.I.G couldn’t get new loans from credit rating agencies

   C. the government extended a total of about one hundred fifty billion dollars in aid to A.I.G

D. the Federal Reserve agreed to loan A.I G eighty-five billion dollars

According to the passage, which of the following is probably NOT suffering from the lack of_______ .

   A. Banks.       B. Manufacturers        C. Carmakers          D. Barbers

The last sentence of this passage indicates that the author’s attitude towards the U.S economy in 2008 is        

   A.pessimistic      B. optimistic           C. objective            D.subjective


NEW YORK (Reuters Health)--Two years after New York City declared war on artificial trans fats(人造反式脂肪酸), nearly all city restaurants had successfully cut the fats from their menus, health officials reported Monday.
In December 2006, the city’s Board of Health decided to launch a gradual trans-fat phase-out (逐步淘汰)from all licensed eating establishments--including restaurants, school cafeterias and street vending spots. Then many cities like Washington, San Francisco and Philadelphia, reflected it actively.
By November 2008, more than 98 percent of city restaurants had stopped using artificial trans fats for cooking, frying and baking, researchers with the city’s health department report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Trans fats have become notorious because they not only raise so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol (胆固醇), as the fats in animal products do, but also lower levels of so-called “good”HDL cholesterol.
While some meats and dairy products naturally contain trans fat, most trans fats in people’s diet are artificial; they are formed when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil to make it become solid. These so-called partially hydrogenated oils were main products in foods, like crackers, cookies and pastries, and widely used by restaurants in cooking, frying and baking.
When the restriction was first adopted, the researchers note, some critics claimed it was an Orwellian measure, while others worried that restaurants would have a tough time finding suitable trans-fat replacements.                                                     
However, the transition has been smooth, Angell’s team writes, declaring that trans-fat restriction “is now a largely unnoticed part of New York City life.”
Ridding the food supply of trans fats, the researchers write, could potentially improve the cholesterol levels of millions of people.
1. In which city the local health department first decide to stop artificial trans fats?
A. Washington.    B. San Francisco.     C. Philadelphia.      D. New York.
2. We can learn from the third paragraph that ________.
A. in the city most people still use artificial trans fats
B. only a few restaurants still use trans fats and the decision win most people’s support
C. the city’s decision proves to be useless
D. many people think using artificial trans fats is not so bad
3. The underlined word “notorious” in the fourth paragraph means ________.
A. having a very bad reputation          B. having a very good reputation
C. nutritious                         D. delicious
4. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. New York restaurants are nearly all trans-fat-free (无……有)
B. None of the restaurants in the U.S can use trans fats.
C. Most of the restaurants still use trans fats once in a while.
D. Trans fats are bad for health.

When he was just 19, Michael Dell started the company that would dominate the industry.

At the time, IBM personal computers sold in stores for about $3,000. After taking them apart and rebuilding them, Dell realized the components (零部件) could be bought for one-fourth the price. Soon he was buying components to reduce the cost. A good business decision, but it meant his room was starting to look like a mechanic’s shop.

“I was quite excited about the possibilities for personal computers and how they could change society. I had this idea to sell the products directly to the users over the phone”, he said. College plans and his parents’ expectations bothered him a lot. But Michael Dell was determined. He drove off to the University of Texas at Austin in August 1983 in a car he’d bought with earnings from selling newspapers. He was surprised that his mother wasn’t suspicious about the three computers in the backseat. By November, news reached his parents that he wasn’t attending classes. On a surprise visit to Austin, they caught their son on spot. Michael Dell told his dad that he wanted to compete with IBM.

Although Michael agreed to focus on his studies, the business chances and the timing couldn’t have been better. The public was becoming more interested in computers, but no one was producing them. In early May, a week before his final exams, Michael started Dell computer Corporation with $1,000. He took his exams, and then dropped out of college at the end of his freshman year. It was time to try out his direct-to-customer business model.

“Three years later”, Dell says, “we had already achieved annual sales of about $150 million, I was 22 years old then.”

1.What does the underlined word in paragraph 1 mean?

A. affect                      B. develop                            C. support                            D. lead

2.Which of the following is true according to paragraph 2?

A. Dell discovered a good chance to make money

B. Dell could buy a computer at one-fourth the price

C. IBM made little money from personal computers

D. Dell rebuilt computers in a mechanic’s shop

3.When Dell’s parents learned about his absence from class, they       .

A. tried to help with his business                         

B. were too suspicious to accept it

C. wanted him to go hack to class                        

D. encouraged him to compete with IBM

4.It can be inferred from the article that       .

A. Dell was tired of his college life                       

B. Dell was not devoted to his study at college

C. Dell’s college life helped him greatly     

D. Dell didn’t finish his final exams

5.Dell’s experiences show that       .

A. determination and opportunity lead to success

B. family support plays an import in one’s success

C. there’s no need for all of us to go to college

D. we should insist on whatever we are doing

 

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)--Two years after New York City declared war on artificial trans fats(人造反式脂肪酸), nearly all city restaurants had successfully cut the fats from their menus, health officials reported Monday.

In December 2006, the city’s Board of Health decided to launch a gradual trans-fat phase-out (逐步淘汰)from all licensed eating establishments--including restaurants, school cafeterias and street vending spots. Then many cities like Washington, San Francisco and Philadelphia, reflected it actively.

By November 2008, more than 98 percent of city restaurants had stopped using artificial trans fats for cooking, frying and baking, researchers with the city’s health department report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Trans fats have become notorious because they not only raise so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol (胆固醇), as the fats in animal products do, but also lower levels of so-called “good”HDL cholesterol.

While some meats and dairy products naturally contain trans fat, most trans fats in people’s diet are artificial; they are formed when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil to make it become solid. These so-called partially hydrogenated oils were main products in foods, like crackers, cookies and pastries, and widely used by restaurants in cooking, frying and baking.

When the restriction was first adopted, the researchers note, some critics claimed it was an Orwellian measure, while others worried that restaurants would have a tough time finding suitable trans-fat replacements.                                                     

However, the transition has been smooth, Angell’s team writes, declaring that trans-fat restriction “is now a largely unnoticed part of New York City life.”

Ridding the food supply of trans fats, the researchers write, could potentially improve the cholesterol levels of millions of people.

1. In which city the local health department first decide to stop artificial trans fats?

    A. Washington.    B. San Francisco.     C. Philadelphia.      D. New York.

2. We can learn from the third paragraph that ________.

    A. in the city most people still use artificial trans fats

    B. only a few restaurants still use trans fats and the decision win most people’s support

    C. the city’s decision proves to be useless

    D. many people think using artificial trans fats is not so bad

3. The underlined word “notorious” in the fourth paragraph means ________.

    A. having a very bad reputation          B. having a very good reputation

    C. nutritious                         D. delicious

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

    A. New York restaurants are nearly all trans-fat-free (无……有)

    B. None of the restaurants in the U.S can use trans fats.

    C. Most of the restaurants still use trans fats once in a while.

D. Trans fats are bad for health.

 

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