Which credit card do you find the best, as a woman? As a sports lover, which credit card serves you best? Questions like these threw up the first credit cards ranking by top Chinese credit card doorway 51credit.com and Shanghai-based poll firm 51poll.com as they released the result of a three-month survey via Internet and telephone.

The ranking came from the survey of 20,000 cardholders in more than 100 cities, according to Tu Zhiyun, CEO and founder of 51credit.com. China Merchants Bank (CMB), one of the best performing commercial banks and the largest card issuer in China, was rated the best in the general group for its popular dual-currency (双币) credit card. Shanghai-based Pudong Development Bank was crowned the best in the platinum (白金) card for successfully targeting high-end customers, thanks to its close cooperation with Citibank (花旗银行). The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, topped the ranking in the co-branded (联名的) group for its card issued in association with China National Petroleum Corporation, China's largest oil company.

Several others got the top honors as the best credit card for women, travel, sports and best design. The total number of credit cards in China is around 30 million, compared with 500 million in the United States. The growing wealth of the Chinese people has added attraction to the credit card business. The number of credit cards issued is expected to double in 2007．

However, most banks are losing money in their credit card businesses as a large portion of the cards have apparently never been used since they were issued. CMB is currently the only commercial bank to have made a profit in the section. The bank said the circulation of its dual-currency credit card reached 10 million by the end of 2006, a jump of 100 percent from 2005, and accounted for 35 percent of the credit card market in China.

1．Which of the following has close relationship according to the text?

　 A．China Merchants Bank; the co-branded credit card

　 B．Shanghai-based Pudong Development Bank; the platinum credit card

　 C．The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China; the dual-currency credit card

　 D．Citibank; China National Petroleum Corporation

2．The number of credit cards issued in China in 2007 will reach about _____.

　 A．10 million 　　　　　　　　 B．30 million 　

　 C．60 million 　　　　　　　　 D．500 million

 

3．If more people used credit cards in their businesses, banks would _____.

　 A．make profits 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．restrict the number of cards

　 C．lose money 　　　　　　　　 D．charge holders more

4．Which statement is true according to the text?

　 A．The survey was conducted by 20,000 cardholders in more than 100 cities.

　 B．The growing number of credit cards attracts more foreign investigations.

　 C．No bank makes profits in credit card businesses.

　 D．More and more Chinese people will hold credit cards.

 

　 President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an important truth today—that business institutions have more prestige（威望）in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?

　 One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition than other institutions in society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected. Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected.

　 Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly（垄断）of power. In contrast to one all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses compete for the customers’ dollars, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves.

　 A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that competition is as important, or even more important, than democracy（民主）in preserving freedom.

　 Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the aristocratic（贵族的）idea of inherited privilege.

61. The statement “The business of America is business” probably means ________.

　 A. America is a great power in world business

　B. Business is of primary concern to Americans

　 C. The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce

　 D. Business problems are of great importance to the American government

62. Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only _______.

　A. by protecting their individual freedom

　B. when given equality of opportunity

C. by way of competition

　 D. through doing business

63. Who can benefit from business competition?

　A. People with ideals of equality and freedom.

　B. Both business institutions and government.

　C. Honest businessmen.

　D. Both businessmen and their customers.

64. Government is believed to differ strikingly from business in that government is characterized by ________.

　A. its role in protecting basic American values

　B. its absolute control of power

　C. its democratic way of exercising leadership

　D. its function in preserving personal freedom

65. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes ___________.

　A. in many countries success often depends on one’s social status

　 B. businesses in other countries are not as competitive as those in America

　C. American businesses are more democratic than those in other countries

　D. Americans are more ambitious than people in other countries

Every year, over 40,000 students in Britain run a business. “Each business runs for one year,” said Ben, one of the group of students visiting Shanghai. ”When we started our business, we borrowed money from parents and friends. At the end of the year, these people will receive some of the profits(利润).” I asked Ben if running a business was difficult. He said that it was no problem. He said that they always received a lot of advice from teachers and business people.

Another member of the group, Regina, told me the four questions they always asked themselves. The questions are:

What do people want to buy?

Where is a good place to sell the product?

How is our product better than other products?

How much is the product?

I also wanted to know how the group was organized, Regina said that there were usually about five to seven students in each business and among them are one manager and one accountant(会计). I asked them who was the manager. “I am, of course,” said Regina.

“It was my idea to produce picture books,” she said. “They have been very popular with the other students.” I also asked the students what other people sold, “Other groups in our school sell things like T-shirts, videos and computer games,” said Ben.

“How much money do the businesses usually make?” I asked. “Some businesses make $ 20,000—30,000, but most groups make a small profit of about $ 1,000 – 3,000”, said Regina. I asked them what they did with the profits. “We can do what we like with the profits.” However, Regina told me that it was important not to waste the money. She always told the other groups to give the money to charity(慈善事业).

Most students enjoy running a business and all the students said that they had learnt a lot.

1. When the students begin a business, they ______.

　 A. have made a small profit　

　 B. have got enough money

　 C. borrow money from parents and friends

　 D. borrow money from teachers and business people

2. The manager of this group of students is ______.

　 A. Ben　 　　 B. Regina　　　　 C. a teacher　　 D. a friend of theirs

3. This group of students sold ______ as their business.

　 A. picture books　　 B. computer games　 C. videos　　 D. T—shirt

4. The groups use the profits ______.

　 A. for holding a party　　　　　　　　　　　 B. to give to charity

　 C. for their parents and friends　　　　　　　　 D. in different ways

5. Which of the following is NOT TRUE?

　 A. Most groups are able to get more money than they put in.

　 B. Running a business is very difficult for Ben’s group.

　 C. These students try their best to produce better and cheaper products.

　 D. When the students run businesses, they get much help from other people.

 

President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an important truth today---that business institutions have more prestige（威望）in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?
　　One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition than other institutions in society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected. Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected.
　　Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly（垄断）of power. In contrast to one, all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses compete for the customers’ dollar, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves.
　　A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that competition is as important, or even more important, than democracy in preserving freedom.
　　Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the noble idea of inherited privilege.

53.The statement “The business of America is business” probably means 
  “________”.

  A. The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce
  B. Business problems are of great importance to the American government
  C. Business is of primary concern to Americans
  D. America is a great power in world business

54. Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only ________.

  A. when given equality of opportunity
  B. through doing business
  C. by protecting their individual freedom
  D. by way of competition

55. Who can benefit from business competition?
  A. Honest businessmen.
  B. Both businessmen and their customers.
  C. People with ideals of equality and freedom.
  D. Both business institutions and government.

56. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes _________.
  A. Americans are more ambitious than people in other countries
  B. in many countries success often depends on one’s social status
  C. American businesses are more democratic than those in other countries
  D. businesses in other countries are not as competitive as those in America