In October 2002, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank 1 a new electronic market for economic indices that 2 substantial economic risks, such as nonfarm payroll (a measure of job availability) and retail sales. This new market was made possible by a 3 rating technology, developed by Longitude, a New York company providing software for financial markets, 4 the Parimutuel Digital Call Auction. This is “digital” 5 of a digital option: i.e., it pays out only if an underlying index lies in a narrow, discrete range. In effect, Longitude has created a horse race, where each “horse” wins if and 6 the specified index falls in a specified range. By creating horses for every possibl 7 of the index, and allowing people to bet 8 any number of runners, the company has produced a liquid integrated electronic market for a wide array options on economic indices.
Ten years ago it was 9 impossible to make use of electronic information about home values. Now, mortgage lenders have online automated valuation models that allow them to estimate values and to 10 the risk in their portfolios. This has led to a proliferation of types of home loan, some of 11 have improved risk-management characteristics.
We are also beginning to see new kinds of 12 for homes, which will make it possible to protect the value of 13 , for most people, is the single most important 14 of their wealth. The Yale University-Neighbourhood Reinvestment Corporation programme, 15 last year in the city of Syracuse, in New York state, may be a model for home-equity insurance policies that 16 sophisticated economic indices of house prices to define the 17 of the policy. Electronic futures markets that are based on econometric indices of house prices by city, already begun by City Index and IG Index in Britain and now 18 developed in the United States, will enable home-equity insurers to hedge the risks that they acquire by writing these policies.
These examples are not impressive successes yet. But they 19 as early precursors of a technology that should one day help us to deal with the massive risks of inequality that 20 will beset us in coming years.
1. A. createdB. generatedC. initiatedD. originated
2. A. reproduceB. restoreC. representD. resume
3. A. sophisticatedB. expensiveC. availableD. established
4. A. madeB. calledC. askedD. read
5. A. in the courseB. in the eventC. in the lightD. in the sense
6. A. whenB. until C. now thatD. only if
7. A. extentB. rangeC. lineD. area
8. A. forB. inC. onD. up
9. A. virtuallyB. admittedlyC. absolutelyD. originally
10. A. assume B. assessC. dismissD. erase
11. A. them B. whichC. thatD. whom
12. A. managementB. insuranceC. securityD. technology
13. A. what B. thoseC. whereD. it
14. A. guarantee B. protectionC. componentD. source
15. A. secured B. sponsoredC. releasedD. launched
16. A. look toB. set up C. lay downD. rely on
17. A. termsB. specificationsC. conceptsD. consequences
18. A. isB. being C. beenD. are
19. A. emergeB appearC. standD. arise
20. A. somehowB. anywayC. otherwiseD. thereby
答案
1.【答案】A
【解析】本題考查詞義辨析?？崭窬浔硎尽皠?chuàng)建了……市場”之一，created 語義恰當(dāng)，為答案。initiated 一般表示“開始實施，發(fā)起”之意，與 plans，schemes，social reforms 等連用。
2.【答案】C
【解析】本題考查形近詞辨析。represent 意為“代表，標(biāo)志”，帶入后句意為：創(chuàng)建了一個新的電子的經(jīng)濟(jì)指標(biāo)(economic indices)市場，這些指標(biāo)代表的是實質(zhì)性的經(jīng)濟(jì)風(fēng)險。
3.【答案】A
【解析】本題為一般的詞匯題。帶入后上下文語義連貫的選項為 A“先進(jìn)的”。
4.【答案】B
【解析】 called帶入后意為“被稱為 the Parimutuel Digital Call Auction的……”，與 “developed by...”一樣為后置定語，共同修飾前面的“technology”一詞。
5.【答案】D
【解析】本題考查介詞短語的用法?！癷n the sense of”意為“按照(就)……的意義來說”，帶入后句意為“它被稱為數(shù)字化的，是就其提供了的一個數(shù)字化的方法而言的”。
6.【答案】D
【解析】根據(jù)空格前后的遞進(jìn)性的句意邏輯，合適的關(guān)系詞是 only if(只有)，帶入后與 if 語氣遞進(jìn)。
7.【答案】B
【解析】這是一道詞匯題。由于前兩句都是在強(qiáng)調(diào)“range”(范圍)，該題答案也是 range 才能保持句意的連貫。
8.【答案】C
【解析】本題涉及介詞的用法。與 bet 搭配的常為 on，帶入后意為“在……下賭”。
9.【答案】A
【解析】本題考查詞匯知識?！皏irtually”意為“幾乎;確實”，帶入后符合句意，為答案。
10.【答案】B
【解析】本題考查詞匯知識?！癮ssess”意為“評估”，符合句意，為答案。
11.【答案】B
【解析】which帶入后引導(dǎo)非限制性定語從句，為正確答案。
12.【答案】B
【解析】本題涉及上下文的理解。由于下文主要討論家庭保險，所以本題答案為 insurance，符合句意邏輯。
13.【答案】A
【解析】 “what”引導(dǎo)賓語從句“what, for most people, is the single most ...”，做介詞 of的賓語。
14.【答案】C
【解析】這是一道詞匯題。C“組成部分”符合句意，為正確答案。
15.【答案】D
【解析】 這是一道詞匯題。launched(使開始， 推出)帶入后做后置定語，修飾前面的 program，意為“……所推出的計劃”，應(yīng)為選項。released意為“公布，發(fā)行”，應(yīng)排除。
16.【答案】D
【解析】本題涉及動詞短語。根據(jù)句意，D rely on(依靠)為正確答案。
17.【答案】A
【解析】本題考查詞匯知識。A terms“(雙方提出的)條件，條款”，帶入后句意為“確定保險單中的具體條款(to define the terms of the policy)”，前后連貫，為正確答案。
18.【答案】B
【解析】這是一道語法題。being帶入后，時態(tài)上與空格前的 now呼應(yīng)，構(gòu)成分詞結(jié)構(gòu)，與前面的 already begun并列為后置定語，共同修飾“Electronic futures markets”(電子期貨市場)。
19.【答案】C
【解析】本題涉及詞的引申用法，stand 可以表達(dá)“處于某種狀態(tài)或情形”之意，帶入后意為“但它們卻是這樣一種技術(shù)的雛形……” 。再如：The house stood empty for months. 故 C 為答案。其他三項意思均為“出現(xiàn)”，不符句意。
20.【答案】C
【解析】本題考查副詞的用法。A“以某種方式，不知怎么回事”，不符句意，排除。B“不管怎么說”，不符句意，排除。 C “用別的方式，在其他方面”符合句意，為正確答案。 D“因此”，不符句意，排除。
