1、专业英语八级-阅读理解(二十六)及答案解析 (总分：100.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、BREADING COMPREH(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、BTEXT A/B(总题数：1，分数：25.00)Credit card rewards programs have traditionally featured airline miles, gift certificates, and cash back for customers who spend enough on their cards to rack up points. But recently, credit card c
2、ompanies have started offering a different kind of gift: Theyre handing out lower interest rates, refunding interest payments, and using other strategies to provide incentives for cardholders to pay down their debt and make on-time payments. The deals, however, dont always work in consumers favor.Th
3、e new Citi Forward card gives cardholders points and reduces their annual interest rate for making on-time payments and for staying under their credit limit. TD Banks Simply Flexible card changes customers interest rates depending on how much of their balance they pay off. If they pay off 10 percent
4、 or more of their balance, then they get the lowest available interest rate; paying between the minimum payment and 5 percent of the balance gets them the highest interest rate. And Discovers Motiva card gives cardholders one months worth of interest back after six consecutive on-time payments.Card
5、companies say the idea behind the new rewards is to help customers get on top of their finances. Its all about promoting financial fitness and giving customers the choices they need to help them manage their debt, says Michael Copley, senior vice president of retail lending for TD Bank. He says he t
6、hinks the Simply Flexible card motivates cardholders to pay off more of their debt and attributes the companys relatively low delinquency rate to the product.Because of the continuing recession, companies have an incentive to keep their customers from sliding further under water. This is in response
7、 to recognition on the part of issuers that they have to help their cardholders do a better job of managing their money, so customers keep those cards for a long time, says Ron Shevlin, senior analyst at Aite Group, a research and advisory firm. The challenge for companies, he says, is to balance th
8、e profitability of consumers who maintain a balance, and therefore pay interest fees each month, against the increased risk that those cardholders pose because they are more likely to default on their debt. Rewards programs that encourage customers to maintain a balance while paying on time, such as
9、 the Motiva card, may help them strike that balance.According to consumer advocates and credit card experts, consumers who carry a balance may be better off selecting a card with the lowest interest rate rather than participating in one of these rewards programs, although they can help consumers imp
10、rove their credit. In general, I think these cards are great for people who dont have great credit and regularly carry a balance on their cards, says Adam Jusko, founder of www. IndexCreditC. Customers who only occasionally carry a balance, on the other hand, would be better off finding a card with
11、a more appealing rewards program, he adds.TD Banks Copley says its up to the customer to make the decision as to whether or not the card is a good idea. We wouldnt approve them unless we knew they could pay the minimum, he says, adding, Whether or not they want to pay more than the minimum payment i
12、s their call.（分数：25.00）(1).The recent credit card rewards programs include A. air miles. B. gift certificates. C. cash back. D. lower interest rates.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(2).A cardholder of Simply Flexible Card will get the lowest interest rate if he A. makes six successive on-time payments. B. pays off
13、 the balance on time and stay under his credit limit. C. pays off 15 percent of his balance. D. pays off 5 percent of his balance.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(3).Michael Copley holds that rewards programs A. dont always work in customers favor. B. can help the customers pay off more of their debt. C. will help
14、 the cardholders manage their finance. D. can result in a relative low delinquency rate to the credit card.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(4).The phrase to keep. from sliding further under water (Para. Four) implies that A. the companies aim to help their customers during the recession. B. the companies are going
15、 to manage the money of their cardholders. C. the companies help the customers manage their finance better so they keep the cards longer. D. the companies want to give the customers more choices in the recession.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(5).The consumer advocates and credit card experts suggest that A. the
16、lowest interest card is a better choice for those who carry a balance. B. the customers who pay off the balance should not participate in any rewards program. C. it is better for those who pay off the balance to select a lower interest card. D. customers who carry a balance should select a card with
17、 some rewards programs.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.三、BTEXT B/B(总题数：1，分数：25.00)As a young child, Buffett was pretty serious about making money. He used to go door-to-door and sell soda pop. He and a friend used math to develop a system for picking winners in horseracing and started selling their Stable-Boy Sele
18、ctions tip sheets until they were shut down for not having a license. Later, he also worked at his grandfathers grocery store. At the ripe age of 11, Buffett bought his first stock.When his family moved to Washington, D.C., Buffett became a paperboy for The Washington Post and its rival the Times-He
19、rald. Buffett ran his five paper routes like an assembly line and even added magazines to round out his product offerings. While still in school, he was making $175 a month, a full-time wage for many young men.When he was 14, Buffett spent $1,200 on 40 acres of farmland in Nebraska and soon began co
20、llecting rent from a tenant farmer. He and a friend also made $50 a week by placing pinball machines in barber shops. They called their venture Wilson Coin Operated Machine Co.Already a successful albeit small-time businessman, Buffett wasnt keen on going to college but ended up at Wharton at the Un
21、iversity of Pennsylvania his father encouraged him to go. After two years at Wharton, Buffett transferred to his parents Alma Mater, the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, for his final year of college. There Buffett took a job with the Lincoln Journal supervising 50 paper boys in six rural counties
22、.Buffett applied to Harvard Business School but was turned down in what had to be one of the worst admissions decisions in Harvard history. The out-come ended up profoundly affecting Buffetts life, for he ended up attending Columbia Business School, where he studied under revered mentor Benjamin Gra
23、ham, the father of securities analysis who provided the foundation for Buffetts investment strategy.From the beginning, Buffett made his fortune from investing. He started with all the money he had made from selling pop, delivering papers, and operating pinball machines. Between 1950 and 1956, he gr
24、ew his $9,800 kitty to $140,000. From there, he organized investment partnerships with his family and friends, and then gradually drew in other investors through word of mouth and very attractive terms.Buffetts goal was to top the Dow Jones Industrial Average by an average of 10% a year. Over the le
25、ngth of the Buffett partnership between 1957 and 1969, Buffetts investments grew at a compound annual rate of 29.5%, crushing the Dows return of 7.4% over the same period.Buffetts investment strategy mirrors his lifestyle and overall philosophy. He doesnt collect houses or cars or works of art, and
26、he disdains companies that waste money on such extravagances as limousines, private dining rooms, and high-priced real estate. He is a creature of habit same house, same office, same city, same soda and dislikes change. In his investments, that means holding on to core holdings such as American Expr
27、ess, Coca-Cola, and The Washington Post Co. forever.Buffetts view of inherited money also departs from the norm. Critical of the self- indulgence of the super-rich, Buffett thinks of inheritances as privately funded food stamps that keep children of the rich from leading normal, independent lives. W
28、ith his own three kids, he gave them each $10,000 a year the tax-deductible limit at Christmas. When he gave them a loan, they had to sign a written agreement. When his daughter, also named Susie like her mother, needed $20 to park at the airport, he made her write him a check for it.As for charity,
29、 Buffetts strict standards have made it difficult for him to give much away. He evaluates charities the same way he looks for stocks: value for money, return on invested capital. He has established the Buffett Foundation, designed to accumulate money and give it away after his and his wifes deaths t
30、hough the foundation has given millions to organizations involved with population control, family planning, abortion, and birth control. The argument goes that Buffett can actually give away a greater sum in the end by growing his money while hes still alive.（分数：25.00）(1).According to the passage, B
31、uffett A. started to make money as a child working at his grandfathers grocery store. B. had already started to run his own business with his friend at the age of 14. C. worked full time as a paperboy for two rival newspapers in Washington D.C. D. developed the Stable-Boy Selections tip sheets with
32、his friend at age 11.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(2).Buffetts investment strategy seems to reflect all of the following EXCEPT A. Buffetts critical view of inheritances. B. Buffetts lifestyle and overall philosophy. C. Buffetts evaluations of philanthropy. D. Benjamin Grahams investment conception.（分数：5.00）A.B
33、.C.D.(3).The relationship between the fourth and fifth paragraphs is that A. the 4th generalizes and the 5th gives an example. B. each presents one stage of the development. C. the 5th is the logical result of the 4tb. D. both illustrate Buffetts academic life.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(4).Which of the follo
34、wing is INCORRECT, according to the passage? A. People usually tend to think of inheritances as being normal. B. Buffetts three kids are kept from leading normal, independent lives. C. Buffett has strict standards for using the money of his Foundation. D. The Foundation has been intended to grow bef
35、ore Buffetts death.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(5).According to the passage, Buffett is best described as a A. wise investor with an unchanged portfolio. B. wise investor who gave away all his money. C. talented investor with a simple lifestyle. D. talented investor who views charity low.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.四、BTE
36、XT C/B(总题数：1，分数：25.00)A night out at the opera to see an adaptation of an obscure 17th-century English play may sound like an expensive nap. But what if audience members were handed Venetian masks and invited to wander around the theater as the action unfolded? Thats exactly what the London-based th
37、eater company Punchdrunk and the English National Opera have done with The Duchess of Malfi, which opened July 13 in an empty office complex outside the city. With dancers, opera singers, and musicians roving throughout the three-story building, the audience is turned loose to explore an elaborate s
38、et that includes Victorian sitting rooms, rustic teahouses which offer actual cocktails a ghostly forest, and macabre offices. Along the way, viewers stumble upon random scenes, which they must piece together before everyone gathers in a warehouse for the grand finale.The show, which immediately sol
39、d out, is just Londons latest example of immersive theater, a popular new genre that blends high drama with haunted-house theatrics in a strange mashup of acting, performance art, and choose-your-own-adventure storytelling. Its a combination of spectacle and intimacy, says Felix Barrett, Punchdrunks
40、 artistic director, who believes the hunger for deeper, more personalized theater experiences reflects a backlash against the shallow immediacy of todays Internet culture. Some people have gotten lazy. And The Duchess of Malfi is something that, really, you have to work for. Its a theatrical puzzle
41、the audience needs to solve themselves. For David Jubb, the artistic director at Londons Battersea Arts Centre, who has worked closely with Punchdrunk on past productions, having participants construct their own narrative is part of the democratization of the art form. Too often, theater is somethin
42、g where you sit, and could happen if you were there or not, he says. Its an experience that needs to catch up with the times.As with any democracy, participation is key, which is why Jubb is staging a One-on- One Festival this month showcasing a variety of short works performed for one viewer at a t
43、ime. In most of them, all thats required is a good-natured willingness to play along. For example, in Rotating in a Room of Images, by the group Lundahl & Seitl, audience members wear headphones while a whispering voice and delicate hands guide them alone through dark rooms, past haunting scenes res
44、embling Dutch Renaissance paintings.Immersive moments are also making their way into more standard fare. Some of the best are the least expected. At a staging of La Bohme at the Cock Tavern Theatre in North London earlier this year, ticketholders filed down to the pub at intermission only to be surp
45、rised by a song-and-dance routine performed by actors pretending to be patrons sipping their beers.Encouraging audience participation has its risks. If you are blurring the boundaries between artist and audience, that will lead to moments when your audience is doing things you did not expect, says J
46、ubb. Blood has even been spilled. During a performance of Money a piece by the theater company Shunt that takes place on a dystopian, machinelike stage set an overzealous audience member head-butted one of the actors midscene. Rule No.1 in immersive theatergoing: get your mask at the door, but bring
47、 your own helmet.（分数：25.00）(1).What can we learn about traditional theaters according to the passage? A. Traditional theaters put on performances in the evening. B. Most people could not afford to go to the theaters. C. Sometimes audience was invited to join the play. D. Modern people become uninter
48、ested in old-time theaters.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(2).Which of the following is true about immersive theater? A. People are reluctant to buy the tickets of such theater. B. Its more popular than todays Internet culture. C. The audience needs to participate in the theater. D. Often it can happen whether the audience is there or not.（分数：5.0
