Banks are not ordinarily prepared to pay out all accounts(账，账户); they rely on depositors (储户) not to demand payment all at the same time. If depositors should come to fear that a bank is not safe, that it cannot pay off all its depositors, then that fear might cause all the depositors to appear on the same day. If they did, the bank could not pay all accounts. However, if they did not all appear at once, then there would always be enough money to pay those who wanted their money when they wanted it. Mrs. Elsie Vaught has told us of a terrifying bank run that she experienced. One day in December of 1925 several banks failed to open in a city where Mrs. Vaught lived. The other banks expected a run the next day, and so the officers of the bank in which Mrs Vaught worked as a teller had enough money on hand to pay off their depositors. The officers simply told the tellers to pay on demand. The next morning a crowd gathered in the bank and on the sidewalk outside. The length of the line made many think that the bank could not possibly pay off everyone. People began to push and then to fight for places near the tellers’ windows. The power of the panic atmosphere was such that two tellers, though they knew that the bank was quite all right and could pay all depositors, drew their own money from the bank. Mrs Vaught says that she had difficulty keeping herself from doing the same.

1.A bank run happens when _______.

　　 A. too many depositors try to draw out their money at one time　　

     B. a bank is closed for one or more days

　   C. there is  enough money to pay all its depositors at one time

　　 D. tellers of a bank take their own money from the bank　

2.The tellers in Mrs. Vaught’s bank were told to ________.

　　A. explain why they could not pay out all accounts

　　B. pay out accounts as requested

　　C. make the depositors believe that the bank was stand

　　D. pay out money as slowly as possible

3. According to the passage, the actions of the depositors of Mrs. Vaught’s bank were affected            mainly by the _______.

　A.　ease with which they could get their money

　B.　confidence  that Mrs. Vaught showed

　C.　confidence shown by other depositors of the bank

　D. failure of several other banks to open

 

Hoffman，40，a former senior vice president of a financial company，had what she describes as “one of those extreme jobs.” “I loved working,” she says. But her career path reached a crossroad when her second child was born，and she left her job in February 2007. Hoffman is one of many people who have left the work force to take a break，but she has a position as a consultant．She has described this type of career detour(绕路) ----- which is more common for women than for men—as “off- ramping．” Typically it occurs when the balancing act of parenting and work becomes too tough．
A study by the center found that more than 90 percent of women who off-ramp want to on-ramp back into the work force eventually．But making the transition back to work is rarely easy，and it is even harder in this economic climate of layoffs and hiring freezes.
Considering some of the obstacles faced by on- rampers , a three-day program called “Greater Returns：Restarting Your Career” was held at Columbia University. The goal of the three days was to have them walk away with a big shot of confidence.
　According to one school of thought, women looking to make a comeback might even have an advantage in the current economy，especially if they are looking for part-time or consultant positions that do not offer benefits. And a majority of on-rampers are women with extensive working experiences that could give them a slight advantage over less-experienced competition．
　“You absolutely cannot be defensive about why you off-ramped,” Ms Hoffman says, “ defensive” would have put her into a hard situation if the Greater Returns program had had not taught her how to describe the years she spent at home．“I now feel confident talking to an employer and saying，‘ Yes，I have been out of the work force，but here is where I can make significant contributions.’”
【小题1】What is the best title for the passage?

A．Off ramp：it is common

B．On ramp：it is easy

C．Off ramp or on ramp：it depends on confidence

D．Off ramp to on ramp：it can be a hard Journey

【小题2】According to the passage，Greater Returns___________．

A．is intended to relieve the pressure of the jobless women

B．has all the jobless women restart their career

C．will build up the confidence of those in search of jobs

D．is to last a11 the year around for the jobless women

【小题3】The main reason for the women’s off-ramping is that_________．

A．they have to suffer the sexual discrimination

B．they have to parent their children

C．they reach a crossroad of career

D．they have great work pressure

【小题4】From what Ms．Hoffman says in the last paragraph，we can conclude________ .

A．she didn’t get advice from the Greater Returns program

B．she was defensive about her off-ramping

C．she didn’t get the job because she lied about her experience

D．she is off ramp partly due to her straightforward manner

【小题5】Which job is easier to get for a woman off-ramper?

A．Regular workers.	B．Casual workers.
C．Company managers.	D．Bank clerks.

My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York city was immediate and definite: “You won’t catch me putting my money in there!” he declared, “Not in that glass box!”

　  Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money. In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity (实物) that could be carried, or stolen.

　　Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a building’s design made it appear impenetrable（难以渗透的), the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol reflected people’s prevailing attitude toward money.

　　But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit. A deficit (赤字) economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavy-walled bank.

　　Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion (人们的说法) begins.

36. The main idea of this passage is that________.

A. money is not as valuable as it was in the past

B. changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept of banks

C. the architectural style of the older bank is superior to that of the modern bank

D. prejudice makes the older generation think that the modern bank is unreliable

37. How do the older generation and the younger one think about money respectively?

A. The former thinks more of money than the latter.

B. The younger generation values money more than the older generation.

C. Both generations rely on the imaginative power of bankers to make money.

D. To the former money is a real commodity but to the latter be a means to produce more money.

38. The words “tangible commodity” (Line 2, Para. 4) refer to something ______.

　 A. that can be replaceable              B. that is usable

　 C. that can be touched                 D. that can be reproduced

39. According to this passage, a modern banker should be _______.

A. ambitious and friendly                             B. reliable and powerful

C. sensible and impenetrable                         D. imaginative and creative

40. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s attitude towards the new trend in banking is _______.

A. cautious        B. regretful       C. positive        D. hostile