Large companies need a way to reach the savings of the public at large. The same problem, on a smaller scale, faces practically every company trying to develop new products and create new jobs. There can be little hope of raising the money needed from friends and people we know, and while banks may agree to provide money for short-term finance, they are generally unwilling to provide money for long-term projects. So companies turn to the public, inviting people to lend them money, or take a share in the business in exchange for a share in future interests. This they do by issuing stocks and shares in the business through the Stock Exchange. By doing so they can put into circulation(流通) the savings of single persons and institutions, both at home and abroad.

When the saver needs his money back, he does not have to go to the company with whom he originally placed it. Instead, he sells his shares through a stockbroker to some other saver who is seeking to invest his money.

Many of the services needed both by industry and by each of us are provided by the Government or by local organizations. Without hospitals, roads, electricity, telephones, railways, this country could not work. All these require continuous spending on new equipment and new development if they are to serve us properly, requiring more money than is raised through taxes alone. The Government, local organizations, and nationalized industries therefore frequently need to borrow money to finance major capital spending, and they, too, come to the Stock Exchange.

There is hardly a man or woman in this country whose standard of living does not depend on the ability of his or her employers to raise money to finance new development. In one way or another this new money must come from the savings of the country. The Stock Exchange exists to provide a channel through which these savings can reach those who need finance.

 

60. The money which enables these companies to go ahead with their projects is    __.

       A. exchanged for part ownership in the Stock Exchange

       B. raised by the selling of shares in the companies

       C. repaid to its original owners as soon as possible

       D. invested in different companies on the Stock Exchange

61. All the basic services on which we depend are    __.

       A. unable to provide for the needs of the population

       B. financed wholly by rates and taxes

       C. in constant need of financial support

       D. run by the Government or our local organizations

62. The Stock Exchange makes it possible for the Government, local organizations and nationalized industries    __.

       A. to make certain everybody saves money

       B. to borrow as much as they wish

       C. to make certain everybody lends money to them

       D. to raise money to finance new development

63. The underlined word invest here probably means    __.

       A. give more money with     B. provide less money with

       C. borrow less money with                 D. make more money with

 

 

 

“I find myself glancing at my watch to see how long I’ve been standing in line,” she said. “Everywhere I go, I notice if the dumpster(垃圾罐)gates are open or if there’s trash in the parking lot.” Ms. Clark is a “mystery shopper”, one of thousands of contract workers that companies hire to pretend as regular customers in order to judge customer service, cleanliness and whether a store is selling a product that meets company specifications (规格).

Mystery shoppers can be found or, rather, not found, everywhere from restaurants and automotive shops to convenience stores and department stores. They play a constant cat-and-mouse game with store and restaurant employees and managers. However it’s not all fun and games. Once in the field, a mystery shopper will typically visit several stores or restaurants per hour, taking mental notes while inside, then jotting down physical notes after they leave.

It’s important for mystery shoppers to be as exact as possible, because the client companies are looking for data they can use to improve their service. The questionnaire won’t say, “Does the trash can need to be emptied?” What an educated shopper will say is, “The trash can to the left of the front door was overflowing with 10 pieces of trash on the ground.” Companies don’t need opinion but facts.

Nowadays mystery shoppers are armed with a number of high-tech devices, such as a digital scale and a digital thermometer, as well as a handheld PC for recording the entire experience. It’s a challenging job but a rewarding one. Mystery shoppers can be full time or part time, but the full-time workers tend to stick to standard mystery shopping while part-timers often choose the less complex reward-based programs. In those , the shoppers stay disguised(装扮的) only until the “shop” is finished, and then reveal (透漏) themselves to the store management and award prizes to employees who provided excellent service.

To be a mystery shopper, it’s important to be a good observer, but sometimes it’s important to have the right profile(外表), too. Companies often hire shoppers from particular backgrounds to better blend in with clients’ regular customers. If a secret shopper will be sent in, for example, to do a high-end automotive shop, the candidate must have a particular profile that meets a high-end, luxury car-type buyer profile. “It’s a challenge to perform your shop without being discovered,” Ms. Clark said, “because most of the people that we work for are very aware of the mystery shopping program.”

67. According to the text a “mystery shopper” would not have to        .

A. sign a contract with the employer     B. travel a lot around the city

C. provide exact facts to the company   D. fill in questionnaires  

68. We learn from the text that Ms. Clark        .

A. visits some shops regularly and sometimes does something special

B. pretends to be a shopper and evaluates the services

C. is a government official looking into the services

D. is a manager of a company offering good services

69. People are willing to become a mystery shopper mainly because they can        .

A. get the best service and get paid at the same time

B. play a cat-and-mouse game with shop employees and managers

C. do the job either full time or part time and get paid well

D. observe clearly what happens in the shops

70. What does the underlined word “those” in the 4th paragraph refer to?

A. The shops where the mystery shoppers go.     

B. The less complex reward-based programs.

C. Part-time jobs.           

D. Excellent services.

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