The protest movement called Occupy Wall Street has struck a nerve.The demonstrators' goals may not be obvious but their complaints are very real. The truth is that millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes and their life savings because of the greed and illegal behavior of Wall Street.Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bemanke also said the protesters hold the view that the financial institutions are responsible for "getting the US into this mess", and added, "I can't blame those protesters." Where do we go from this movement? How do we calm the protesters' anger? For starters, we should break up the super financial institutions.Left to their own selfish will.Wall Street bankers will continue to gamble with other people's money.There also is a sound economic argument against too few owning far too much.The idea that six super financial institutions (Bank of America, CitiGroup, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs) can take control over the economy frightens anyone who believes in a competitive free-market system.Good Republican presidents like William Howard Taft and Teddy Roosevelt broke up Standard Oil, the Railroad Trusts .and other huge companies a century ago. Real unemployment is more than 16%.Average family income has declined by $3,600 over the last decade.A record 46 million Americans live in poverty.The gap between the very rich and everyone else, the widest of any major country, is growing wider.Now is the time for us to end the financial oligarchy that has been so harmful to our economy.If a bank is too big, it is too big to exist. Which of the following belongs to the super financial institutions? A) Standard Oil B) Federal Reserve C) JP Morgan Chase D) Teddy Roosevelt
C
In China ,with the development of society, more and more people are annoyed at the continually rising house prices. They want to know who is to blame for it. Local governments,developers and speculators share a vested interest in it. People who are really in need of homes are most likely to suffer heavy losses. Many local governments depend on selling land to keep its normal operation. The higher land prices,the more money. Therefore,developers back the local governments by buying land at high prices. In return,the governments make favorable policies to help the developers. For example,drive all the possible home buyers to this nasty market. They even encourage large numbers of speculators to catch more people. Rising house prices have already become the fence which divides the Chinese society. It has caused widespread dissatisfaction. The government will lose the support of the common people if leaving house prices out of control. Besides,rising house prices will stop us building the new countryside as the present policy actually forbid people to flow freely from cities to the countryside. Collecting taxes on houses can fundamentally solve this problem. On one hand,it will discourage the speculators. On the other hand,it will offer a stable tax resource apart from reducing the sales cost of the developers. secondly,stop the developers selling the houses before completion. If so,the developers will certainly try their best to sell all their houses once completed. And this will also lower speculators' expectation of price rising,which will decrease speculations. We can infer from the passage that continually rising house prices will _ . A) benefit the government B) affect the sound development of the Chinese society C) help the housing industry develop soundly D) draw more home buyers
B
Q: I grew up in Lakeland, Los Angeles.We all lived on my parents' farm.When I was 12,1 got a part-time job on a dairy farm, helping to milk cows.We milked 65 cows at 5 o'clock in the morning and again at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, seven days a week. One day before daylight, I complained to my father about having to go to milk those cows.My father said, "You know, boy, to work is a blessing." Going to college was a rare privilege for a kid from Lakeland.My father told me if I picked something to study that I liked, I would always look forward to my work.But he also added, "Even having a job you hate is better than not having a job at all." I wanted to be a farmer, but I joined the army to help pay for college. In the late 1980s, during a visit to Bangladesh, I saw a woman with a baby on her back, breaking bricks with a hammer.I asked a Bangladesh officer why they weren't using a machine, which would have been a lot easier.He told me a machine would put that lady out of work.Breaking those bricks meant she would earn enough money to feed herself and her baby that day.Although that woman's job was bad, it was enough to keep a small family alive.It reminded me of my father's words: to work is a blessing. I don't think I'll ever quit working.I'm retired from the army, but I'm still working to help people.I'm not going to stop.I believe in my father's words.I believe in the blessing of work. How did the author probably find the milking work? A) Exciting. B) Boring. C) Important. D) Easy
A: B
(Q).
The old shopkeeper led me through to the back of the shop. The room was filled with boxes and dusty photographs of people holding packages in their hands. Mr. Hopkins said, "We have a very wide choice of items for sale. Whenever I serve a new customer, I take his picture. " Mr. Hopkins pointed to an ancient camera on a table. I began to appreciate the lovely items on sale. I spent a very pleasant hour being shown the _ in the shop. Finally, I bought an antique jewelry box, a pair of riding boots and a sewing machine. I was very excited that I had found such a good little shop. "I will tell all my friends about your love-ly place. " I told the shopkeeper. "Please don't do that, sir. " said Mr. Hopkins. "This is a special place for special people. You must keep this shop a secret. " Then he took my photograph and handed me the picture straight away. " That was quick ! " I exclaimed. In the picture I looked proud and excited holding the presents I had bought there. On Christmas Day, my friends and relatives were delighted with the presents I had bought for them. For weeks, my brother begged me to take him to the wonderful little shop. I finally agreed. We walked along Oxford Street, past the department store and found---nothing. In its place was an empty space being used as a car park. I checked the area again. There was the music shop, and there was the department store. In between should have been Hopkins and Son, but it wasn't there. Just then, an old policeman came. "Are you looking for something, sir?" he asked. "I am looking for a little shop called Hopkins and Son. " "Oh yes, there was a shop here 'once called Hopkins and Son. But it was knocked down over 30 years ago. " I looked again at the place, then I reached into my pocket and took out the photograph that Mr. Hop-kins had taken of me holding my presents in the little shop. " How strange ! " I screamed. What can we learn about the shop? A) It was closed by the police. . B) It was well - known in that area. C) It was knocked down a few weeks ago. D) It was between a music shop and a department store.
(A).
D