Large companies need a way to reach the savings of the public at large. The same problem, on a smaller scale(小規(guī)模地), 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 short-term finance(資金), 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(股份) in the business in exchange for a share in future interests. This they do by issuing(發(fā)行) stocks(股票) 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(儲蓄者) 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(證券經(jīng)紀人) 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 and 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 it is raised through taxes alone. The government, local organizations and nationalized industries therefore frequently need to borrow money to finance(給…提供資金) 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 his 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.

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 in the Stock Exchange

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 local organizations

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 money as they wish

C. to make certain everybody lends money to them

D. to raise money to finance new development

The underlined word invest probably means _______.

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

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

Scientists are uncovering the secrets of two port cities lost under the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, a researcher said yesterday.

Herakleion and Menouthis were rich and proud cities until something reduced them to rubble (碎石) and buried them in the mud beneath 30 feet of sea water, French underwater explorer Franck Goddio said at the American Geophysical Union conference.

“This is a mystery that is ongoing,” said Goddio, a founder of the European Institute of Marine Archeology, a Paris-based underwater research organization backed by the wealthy Hilti Foundation of Liechtenstein(列支敦士登基金會).

The destruction of the twin port cities has haunted Goddio ever since he happened upon the site about 15 miles from Alexandria while exploring sunken ships from Napoleon’s fleet.

Goddio and his group of expert divers, marine archeologists(海洋考古學家) and others, are using high powered vacuums, satellite navigation systems and sophisticated sonar(聲納) to excavate(挖掘) the sunken cities from underneath a carpet of silt about one meter (three feet) high.

Walls of shops, remains of streets and gold artifacts have been found and recovered.

Some experts believe that the port cities were destroyed by a series of massive earthquakes, much like the quakes scientists believe felled Troy(特洛伊城), Jericho and other ancient cities. The uniform direction of the collapsed columns and walls suggest an earthquake, Goddio said, but no fault lines have been found nearby.

Other researchers believe a massive wave, caused by either an offshore earthquake or a distant underwater landslide, could explain the catastrophe. Still others think rising seas and a shift in the Nile River outlet doomed the cities.

“The argument, as you can see, continues,” Goddio said.

The reason why the two port cities disappeared under the waters of Mediterranean Sea is that ______.

A. the two port cities were destroyed by huge earthquakes

B. the disappearance of the two port cities was caused by underwater landslide

C. rising seas and a shift in the Nile River outlet doomed the cities

D. the story didn’t tell us at all

From the story we can draw a conclusion that _______.

A. the two port cities were famous for their wealth and the mystery

B. the two cities belonged to France

C. some mysterious creatures from other planets destroyed the two cities

D. the American Geophysical Union conference was once held in one of the two cities

This article is probably from _______.

A. a scientific magazine       B. a report to the government

C. a school text book         D. a scientific report in a newspaper

Seated himself in a chair, he began to look through the paper and suddenly he heard a

          A         B                      C                              D

knock at ther door.

In the front of our house stands a tall tree with many green leaves.

             A                B               C         D

Seeing from the space, the earth looks like a huge water-covered globe.

          A                        B   C            D

“It gives me great joy and I feel more pressure than I did _______ I won in China,” Ding Junhui said.

A. that B. when　?

C. which D. how?

The traffic is very_______.It’s quicker to walk there.?

A. noisy B. crowded?

C. narrow D. heavy?

Our teacher told us _______ that we never forget it.?

A. so an interesting joke?

B. such an interesting joke?

C. so interesting a joke?

D. such interesting a joke?

Mr Bush is on time for everything. How _______ it be that he was late for the opening ceremony?

A. can B. should?

C. may D. must?

It rained a lot during their journey,so they _______ have had a good time.

A. can’t B. must

C. shouldn’t D. might?