Financial regulations in Britain have imposed a rather unusual rule on the bosses of big banks. Starting next year, any guaranteed bonus of top executives could be delayed 10 years if their banks are under investigation for wrongdoing. The main purpose of this “clawback” rule is to hold bankers responsible for harmful risk-taking and to restore public trust in financial institution. Yet officials also hope for a much larger benefit: more long-term decision-making not only by banks but also by all corporations, to build a stronger economy for future generations.
“Short-termism” or the desire for quick profits, has worsened in publicly traded companies, says the Bank of England’s top economist, Andrew Haldane. He quotes a giant of classical economies, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting like “Children who pick the strawberries out of their pudding to eat them at once” rather than putting them aside to be eaten last.
The average time for holding a stock in both the United States and Britain, he notes, has dropped from seven years to seven months in recent decades. Transient(短期的) investors, who demand high quarterly profits from companies, can hold back a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer loyalty. This has been called “quarterly capitalism”.
In addition, new digital technologies have allowed more rapid trading of equities( 股 票 ), quicker use of information, and thus shortens attention spans in financial markets. “There seems to be an advantage of short-term thinking at the expense of long-term investing,” said Commissioner Daniel Gallagher of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in speech this week.
In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has pushed most public companies to delay performance bonuses for senior executives by about a year, slightly helping reduce “short-termism.” In its latest survey of CEO pay, The Wall Street Journal finds that “a substantial part” of executive pay is now tied to performance.
Much more could be done to encourage “long-termism,” such as changes in the tax code and quicker disclosure(披露) of stock acquisitions. In France, shareholders who hold onto a company investment for at least two years can sometimes earn more voting rights in a company.
Within companies, the right compensation design can provide motivation for executives to think beyond their own time at the company and on behalf of all shareholders. Britain’s new rule is a reminder to bankers that society has an interest in their performance, not just for the short term but for the long term.
1.According to Paragraph 1, one reason for imposing the new rule is the _______.
A.enhance banker’s sense of responsibility
B.help corporations achieve larger profits
C.build a new system of financial regulation
D.guarantee the bonuses of top executives
2.It is argued that the influence of transient investment on public companies can be _______.
A.indirect B.negative
C.favorable D.temporary
3.The US and France examples in paragraphs 5 and 6 are used to illustrate_______.
A.the obstacles to preventing “short-termism”.
B.the significance of long-term thinking.
C.the approaches to promoting “long-termism”
D.the popularity of short-term thinking.
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A.Failure of Quarterly Capitalism
B.Patience as a Corporate Virtue
C.Decisiveness Required of Top Executives
D.Frustration of Risk-taking Bankers
高三英语阅读理解困难题
Financial regulations in Britain have imposed a rather unusual rule on the bosses of big banks. Starting next year, any guaranteed bonus of top executives could be delayed 10 years if their banks are under investigation for wrongdoing. The main purpose of this “clawback” rule is to hold bankers responsible for harmful risk-taking and to restore public trust in financial institution. Yet officials also hope for a much larger benefit: more long-term decision-making not only by banks but also by all corporations, to build a stronger economy for future generations.
“Short-termism” or the desire for quick profits, has worsened in publicly traded companies, says the Bank of England’s top economist, Andrew Haldane. He quotes a giant of classical economies, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting like “Children who pick the strawberries out of their pudding to eat them at once” rather than putting them aside to be eaten last.
The average time for holding a stock in both the United States and Britain, he notes, has dropped from seven years to seven months in recent decades. Transient(短期的) investors, who demand high quarterly profits from companies, can hold back a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer loyalty. This has been called “quarterly capitalism”.
In addition, new digital technologies have allowed more rapid trading of equities( 股 票 ), quicker use of information, and thus shortens attention spans in financial markets. “There seems to be an advantage of short-term thinking at the expense of long-term investing,” said Commissioner Daniel Gallagher of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in speech this week.
In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has pushed most public companies to delay performance bonuses for senior executives by about a year, slightly helping reduce “short-termism.” In its latest survey of CEO pay, The Wall Street Journal finds that “a substantial part” of executive pay is now tied to performance.
Much more could be done to encourage “long-termism,” such as changes in the tax code and quicker disclosure(披露) of stock acquisitions. In France, shareholders who hold onto a company investment for at least two years can sometimes earn more voting rights in a company.
Within companies, the right compensation design can provide motivation for executives to think beyond their own time at the company and on behalf of all shareholders. Britain’s new rule is a reminder to bankers that society has an interest in their performance, not just for the short term but for the long term.
1.According to Paragraph 1, one reason for imposing the new rule is the _______.
A.enhance banker’s sense of responsibility
B.help corporations achieve larger profits
C.build a new system of financial regulation
D.guarantee the bonuses of top executives
2.It is argued that the influence of transient investment on public companies can be _______.
A.indirect B.negative
C.favorable D.temporary
3.The US and France examples in paragraphs 5 and 6 are used to illustrate_______.
A.the obstacles to preventing “short-termism”.
B.the significance of long-term thinking.
C.the approaches to promoting “long-termism”
D.the popularity of short-term thinking.
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A.Failure of Quarterly Capitalism
B.Patience as a Corporate Virtue
C.Decisiveness Required of Top Executives
D.Frustration of Risk-taking Bankers
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
People all over the world have some strange hobbies, and one of the most unusual in Britain is "trainspotting". 1..You'll see the grown.ups standing around a railway stations and other places where trains pass by, and you'll see them taking photos and exchanging notes with each other. So, what are they doing?
2. - the numbers on the front of the trains, or the make and model of the "locomotive (火车头)" -the part of the train which pulls all the other part. In the same way that some people collect toys or stamps, these men collect and exchange all kinds of details about trains and railways.
The idea goes back as far as 1942. That year, a young man named Ian Allan was working at Waterloo railway station in London.3., and quite a lot of the questions he received were very similar. He found himself getting a little annoyed at sending the sine replies to the same questions .so he had a word with him boss. He asked if he could write a brochure giving the answers to the most frequently asked questions. His boss said if he wanted to waste his time on such a project, that'OK.4..So he did. The brochure he wrote was the earliest version of the FAQs (常见问题) you see on websites nowadays.
The first 2,000 copies were all sold in days, and by the 1950s, a million copies of British Railways Locomotives were selling every year. Ian Allan went to become a successful publisher, and got an Order of the British Empire(OBE,大英帝国勋章) from the Queen in 1995.5..
A.But he should do it in his own time
B.The young man spent much time on it
C.They're looking for the trains they've taken
D.Well, they're collecting information about trains
E.It's usually men over the age of 40, but not always
F.He died in 2015, but his trainspotting hobby lives on
G.It was his job to answer letters from people about trains
高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析
Humans and many other mammals have unusually efficient internal temperature regulating systems that automatically maintain stable core body temperatures(核心体温)in cold winters and warm summers. In addition, people have developed cultural patterns and technologies that help them adjust to extremes of temperature and humidity(湿度).
In very cold climates, there is a constant danger of developing hypothermia(低体温), which is a life threatening drop in core body temperature to below normal levels. The normal temperature for humans is about 37.0°C. However, differences in persons and even the time of day can cause it to be as much as 6°C higher or lower in healthy individuals. It is also normal for core body temperature to be lower in elderly people. Hypothermia begins to occur when the core body temperature drops to 34.4°C. Below 29.4°C, the body cools more rapidly because its natural temperature regulating system usually fails. The rapid decline in core body temperature is likely to result in death. However, there have been rare cases in which people have been saved after their temperatures had dropped to 13.9—15.6°C. This happened in 1999 to a Swedish woman who was trapped under an ice sheet in freezing water for 80 minutes. She was found unconscious, not breathing, and her heart had stopped beating, yet she was eventually saved despite the fact that her temperature had dropped to 13.7°C.
In extremely hot climates or as a result of uncontrollable infections, core body temperatures can rise to equally dangerous levels. This is hyperthermia. Life threatening hyperthermia typically starts in humans when their temperatures rise to 40.6—41.7°C. Only a few days at this extraordinarily high temperature level is likely to result in the worsening of internal organs and death.
1.Why can humans keep stable body temperatures in different seasons?
A. Because their bodies are unusually efficient.
B. Because they experience different climates.
C. Because they can adjust to cultural patterns and technologies.
D. Because they have internal temperature regulating systems.
2.What does Paragraph 2 mainly discuss?
A. The dangerous effects of hypothermia.
B. The change of body temperature.
C. The survival of the Swedish woman.
D. The regulating systems of natural temperature.
3.People are unlikely to survive under the body temperature .
A. higher than 34.4°C B. lower than 29.4°C
C. between 40.6—41.7°C D. between 34.4—37°C
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Surviving in an ice trap
B. Getting to know hypothermia
C. Adapting to climate extremes
D. Changing core body temperature
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Humans and many other mammals have unusually efficient internal temperature regulating systems that automatically maintain stable core body temperatures(核心体温)in cold winters and warm summers. In addition, people have developed cultural patterns and technologies that help them adjust to extremes of temperature and humidity(湿度).
In very cold climates, there is a constant danger of developing hypothermia(低体温), which is a life threatening drop in core body temperature to below normal levels. The normal temperature for humans is about 37.0°C. However, differences in persons and even the time of day can cause it to be as much as 6°C higher or lower in healthy individuals. It is also normal for core body temperature to be lower in elderly people. Hypothermia begins to occur when the core body temperature drops to 34.4°C. Below 29.4°C, the body cools more rapidly because its natural temperature regulating system usually fails. The rapid decline in core body temperature is likely to result in death. However, there have been rare cases in which people have been saved after their temperatures had dropped to 13.9-15.6°C. This happened in 1999 to a Swedish woman who was trapped under an ice sheet in freezing water for 80 minutes. She was found unconscious, not breathing, and her heart had stopped beating, yet she was eventually saved despite the fact that her temperature had dropped to 13.7°C.
In extremely hot climates or as a result of uncontrollable infections, core body temperatures can rise to equally dangerous levels. This is hyperthermia. Life threatening hyperthermia typically starts in humans when their temperatures rise to 40.6-41.7°C. Only a few days at this extraordinarily high temperature level is likely to result in the worsening of internal organs and death.
1.Why can humans keep stable body temperatures in different seasons?
A.Because their bodies are unusually efficient.
B.Because they experience different climates.
C.Because they can adjust to cultural patterns and technologies.
D.Because they have internal temperature regulating systems.
2.What does Paragraph 2 mainly discuss?
A.The dangerous effects of hypothermia.
B.The change of body temperature.
C.The survival of the Swedish woman.
D.The regulating systems of natural temperature.
3.People are unlikely to survive under the body temperature .
A.higher than 34.4°C B.lower than 29.4°C
C.between 40.6-41.7°C D.between 34.4-37°C
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A.Surviving in an ice trap
B.Getting to know hypothermia
C.Adapting to climate extremes
D.Changing core body temperature
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Humans and many other mammals have unusually efficient internal temperature regulating systems that automatically maintain stable core body temperatures in cold winters and warm summers. In addition, people have developed cultural patterns and technologies that help them adjust to extremes of temperature and humidity (湿度).
In very cold climates, there is a constant danger of developing hypothermia, which is a life-threatening drop in core body temperature to below normal levels. The normal temperature for humans is about 37.0°C. However, differences in persons and even the time of day can cause it to be as much as 6°C higher or lower in healthy individuals. It is also normal for core body temperature to be lower in elderly people. Hypothermia begins to occur when the core body temperature drops to 34.4°C. Below 29.4°C, the body cools more rapidly because its natural temperature regulating system usually fails. The rapid decline in core body temperature is likely to result in death. However, there have been rare cases in which people have been saved after their temperatures had dropped to 13.9-15.6°C. This happened in 1999 to a Swedish woman who was trapped under an ice sheet in freezing water for 80 minutes. She was found unconscious, not breathing, and her heart had stopped beating, yet she was eventually saved despite the fact that her temperature had dropped to 13.7°C.
In extremely hot climates or as a result of uncontrollable infections, core body temperatures can rise to equally dangerous levels. This is hyperthermia. Life-threatening hyperthermia typically starts in humans when their temperatures rise to 40.6-41.7°C. Only a few days at this extraordinarily high temperature level is likely to result in the worsening of internal organs and death.
1.What keeps our body temperature stable?
A. Culture and technologies.
B. The stable earth temperature.
C. Our strong determination.
D. Some kind of in-body system.
2.What is a Swedish woman mentioned for in the text?
A. Proving the strength of life.
B. Arguing against some conclusion.
C. Showing the limit on humans’ body temperature.
D. Introducing an exceptional case about our body temperature.
3.Which of the following may cause hyperthermia?
A. Extreme climates.
B. Very cold climates.
C. Controllable infections.
D. Temperatures below 29.4°C.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Humans’ Temperature Regulating System
B. Changes of Body Temperatures
C. Humans’ Temperature
D. A Ice Trap Survivor
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Humans and many other mammals have unusually efficient internal temperature regulating systems that automatically maintain stable core body temperatures(核心体温)in cold winters and warm summers. In addition, people have developed cultural patterns and technologies that help them adjust to extremes of temperature and humidity(湿度).
In very cold climates, there is a constant danger of developing hypothermia(低体温), which is a life threatening drop in core body temperature to below normal levels. The normal temperature for humans is about 37.0°C. However, differences in persons and even the time of day can cause it to be as much as 6°C higher or lower in healthy individuals. It is also normal for core body temperature to be lower in elderly people. Hypothermia begins to occur when the core body temperature drops to 34.4°C. Below 29.4°C, the body cools more rapidly because its natural temperature regulating system usually fails. The rapid decline in core body temperature is likely to result in death. However, there have been rare cases in which people have been saved after their temperatures had dropped to 13.9—15.6°C. This happened in 1999 to a Swedish woman who was trapped under an ice sheet in freezing water for 80 minutes. She was found unconscious, not breathing, and her heart had stopped beating, yet she was eventually saved despite the fact that her temperature had dropped to 13.7°C.
In extremely hot climates or as a result of uncontrollable infections, core body temperatures can rise to equally dangerous levels. This is hyperthermia. Life threatening hyperthermia typically starts in humans when their temperatures rise to 40.6—41.7°C. Only a few days at this extraordinarily high temperature level is likely to result in the worsening of internal organs and death.
1.Why can humans keep stable body temperatures in different seasons?
A. Because their bodies are unusually efficient.
B. Because they experience different climates.
C. Because they can adjust to cultural patterns and technologies.
D. Because they have internal temperature regulating systems.
2.What does Paragraph 2 mainly discuss?
A. The dangerous effects of hypothermia.
B. The change of body temperature.
C. The survival of the Swedish woman.
D. The regulating systems of natural temperature.
3.People are unlikely to survive under the body temperature .
A. higher than 34.4°C B. lower than 29.4°C
C. between 40.6—41.7°C D. between 34.4—37°C
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Surviving in an ice trap
B. Getting to know hypothermia
C. Adapting to climate extremes
D. Changing core body temperature
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Britain’s press is unusual in________ it is divided into two very different types of newspaper : the equality press and the popular press.
A. how B. what C. which D. that
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Scientists have long understood the key role that oceans play in regulating the Earth’s climate. Oceans cover 70 percent of the globe and store a thousand times more heat than the atmosphere does. What’s newer is the understanding of how this key component of our climate system responds to global warming.
A brake on global warming — for now
One of oceans’most important climate functions is absorbing heat and carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the gases that cause global warming. Acting as a heat sponge (海绵), oceans have absorbed huge amounts of heat and CO2 in the last forty years.
Fujita explains that "oceans are saving us from faster climate change — they are a big flywheel that delays rapid overheating of the Earth, putting a brake on the climate system."
"That’s the good news," he adds. "The bad news is that oceans only slow the atmospheric warming. Once oceans come to balance with a greenhouse gas warmed earth, the extreme heat will remain in the atmosphere and things will get much hotter." But where and how oceans release this accumulated (积累的) heat is uncertain. And as oceans store heat, fragile underwater ecosystems are struggling.
The most recent scientific report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also notes with concern that oceans are acidifying because of increased absorption of atmospheric CO2, and thus causing a threat for shell-forming species. Sharp increases in carbon dioxide levels will cause further acidification of oceans.
Currents distributing heat
Another important role oceans play is that of distributor. Oceans deliver heat and life-sustaining nutrients around the globe. Just as blood vessels bring oxygen and nutrients to cells in the human body, oceans’ currents carry oxygen, nutrients and heat throughout the Earth. Oceans distribute 25 percent to 50 percent of the energy the planet receives from the sun. For example, the Gulf Stream carries heat across the Atlantic. This warm current gives northwestern Europe a milder climate than it would normally have so far north. A change to oceans’ circulation (循环) patterns could throw Europe into a colder period, even as the rest of world experiences warmer temperatures.
1.We can infer from the passage that .
A.oceans cause global warming
B.oceans stop global warming
C.oceans release nutrients and heat
D.ocean ecosystems face more dangers
2.From the passage we can learn that oceans’ currents .
A.produce oxygen and nutrients everywhere
B.absorb 25% to 50% of the energy from the sun
C.distribute heat and nutrients around the globe
D.change oceans’ circulation patterns
3.Which of the following is NOT the result of oceans absorbing heat and carbon dioxide?
A.It causes further acidification.
B.It affects shell-forming species.
C.It makes the atmosphere hotter.
D.It regulates the Earth’s climate.
4.This passage mainly talks about .
A.the roles of oceans B.global warming
C.ocean currents D.carbon dioxide
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
I won't have anyone _______ in here. _________breaks the regulation will get punished.
A.to smoke, Whoever B. smoke, No matter who
C. Smoked, No matter who D. smoking, Whoever
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
B
Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.
At school the children are taught to add up and subtract(减法) but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.
Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.
As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft(透支) as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”
The UK has been in the worst financial recession(衰退)for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents.
61. The passage is mainly about _____________.
A. how to manage school lessons
B. how to deal with the financial crisis
C. teaching young people about money
D. teaching students how to study effectively
62. It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.
A. the author complains about the school education
B. pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract
C. students have been taught to manage their finances
D. laws on financial education have been effectively carried out
63. The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.
A. instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money
B. promote the connection of schools and families
C. ask the government to dismiss the parliament
D. appeal for the curriculum of financial education
64. According to Pfeg, ___________.
A. it is easy to keep good habits long
B. teenagers spend their money as planned
C. parents are willing to pay the debt for their kids
D. it will be in trouble if the teenagers are left alone
65. A poll is mentioned to ___________.
A. stress the necessity of the curriculum reform
B. show the seriousness of the financial recession
C. make the readers aware of burden of the parents
D. illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析