Question

Many people have bought insurance, either life or property (财产), commercial or compulsory. Yet some people know little about it and some even misunderstand its nature and function.

Insurance is the sharing of risks. Nearly everyone is exposed to a risk of some sort. The house owner, for example, knows that his property can be damaged by fire; the shipowner knows that his ships may be lost at sea; the breadwinner knows that he may die at an early age and leave his family poorer. On the other hand, not every house is damaged by fire nor every ship is lost at sea. If these persons each put a small amount of money into a pool, there will be enough to meet the needs of the few who do suffer losses. In other words, the losses of the few are met from the contributions of the many. This is the basis of insurance. Those who pay the contribution are known as the insured and those who manage the pool of contributions as insurers.

The legal basis of all insurance is the policy. This is a printed form of contract on a piece of paper in best quality. It states that every year the insured shall pay an amount of which is called the premium; in return, the insurer will pay an amount of money or compensation for losses if the risk or event insured against actually happens.

The premium for insurance naturally depends upon how likely the risk is to happen, as suggested by past experience. If companies fix their premiums too high, there will be more competition in their area of insurance and they may lose business. On the other hand, if they make the premium too low, they will lose money and may even have to drop out of business. So the ordinary forces of supply and demand keep premiums at a level satisfactory to both the insurer and the insured.

1.The underlined phrase in Para. 2 most probably means __________.

A. money paid by the insurers

B. each premium

C. money paid by all those insured

D. the cost of administering insurance

2.Insurance premiums do not become too high because __________.

A. not many people insure themselves

B. premiums depend on the risk of losses

C. insurers have to be more competitive

D. insurance companies can never lose money

3.According to the passage, insurance business gains profit because __________.

A. more and more people buy insurance

B. the firms have sound management

C. the premium is increased year by year

D. only a few of those insured suffer losses

4.The purpose of the passage is to __________.

A. explain an insurance policy

B. introduce insurance business

C. persuade people to be insured

D. warn people of possible losses

Answer 1