Within hours after Greenspan's remarks, ______.
A. the indexes of stocks rose
B. people lost confidence
C. the Fed became concerned
D. the economy slowed down
Alan Greenspan: the Most Powerful Guy
With the American's Midterm Elections over, and a new Commander-in-Chief about to step in, some Americans are a little nervous about the nation's future. But others feel secure, knowing that the man they consider the most powerful person in the world isn't going anywhere.
Just who is this behind-the-scenes guy they think has more power than George W. Bush ever will? He's Alan Greenspan, a 74-year-old expert economist who heads the Federal Reserve, commonly known as the Fed.
Unlike the president, who has to please the voters and compromise with Congress, Greenspan doesn't have to answer to anyone.
But that doesn't mean his job is easy.
Basically, Greenspan is in charge of keeping the nation's economy stable. The economy is sort of like a balloon: blow in too much air, and it pops. But with too little air, it falls to the floor. Greenspan helps decide when to blow more air into the economy. In this case, the air in a balloon is. the amount of money in the economy. Greenspan can make the economy grow by increasing the money supply, or keep the economy from inflating too much by decreasing the money supply. His goal is for the economy to grow and contract gradually. Rapid changes can harm businesses and consumers.
Translating "Greenspan—Speak"
In a speech lately, Greenspan hinted the Fed was concerned the economy might be slowing down too fast. What Greenspan actually said was that the Fed should "remain alert to the possibility that greater caution and weakening asset values in financial markets could signal or precipitate(促成) an excessive softening in household and business spending. "But what investors heard was: "I may lower interest rates which will make it easier for the companies you are investing in to borrow money. That means they'll expand and their stock will be worth more in the future."
Within hours of Greenspan's remarks, so many investors bought stocks that the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ rose by three percent and ten percent that day. The value of some companies went up by millions of dollars, just because investors had confidence in Greenspan's words.
Increasing Influence
But Greenspan doesn't just work magic by talking. He was educated at New York University and Columbia and appointed to his job in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan. And he's credited with steering the country through some difficult times since then, including a serious stock market crash just after he took the job.
Another reason Greenspan has become almost a celebrity in America, is that more people are paying attention to the stock market than ever before. It used to be that only rich people and powerful corporations had the extra money to invest in stocks. But the U.S. economy has done so well in recent years, that more and more ordinary people are investing in stocks.
Who is Greenspan?
He's a native New Yorker. His first focus was music: He attended New York's Julliard School and toured the country for a year in the early 1940s, playing in the Henry Jerome swing band(摇摆乐队). If nothing else, friends believe, this experience of US travel gave him the ability to connect dispassionate(不带感情的) economic theories with the individuals they affect.
"The most outstanding thing about his is he knows the American economy…," says friend Herbert Stein, an economist.
A swing into economics carried him straight into moderate Republican politics. He advised Richard Nixon in his 1968 campaign, and served briefly in the Bureau of the Budget.
Seven years later, he returned to government service, replacing Mr. Stein as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the final days of Nixon presidency. He agreed only after being assured that Vice President Ford would keep him.
In that
A. business
B. money
C. the Fed
D. government
听力原文:W: Airports are sad places.
M: Sometimes, I guess. But we'll keep in touch and I'll fly over to see you at Christmas.
Q: What are the speakers doing?
(16)
A. The woman is meeting the man at the airport.
B. They are complaining about the poor airport service
C. They are discussing their plan for Christmas.
D. The man is seeing the woman off.
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.
"Most episodes of absent-mindedness-forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room--axe caused by a simple lack of attention," says Schacter, "You're supposed to remember something but you haven't encoded it deeply. '
"Encoding," Schacter explains, "is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later." Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you're involved in a conversation, you'll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe (衣柜) . "Your memory itself isn't failing you", says Schacter, "Rather you didn't give your memory system the information it needed. "
Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. "A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago", says Zelinski, "may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox. ' Women have slightly better memories than men possibly because they pay more attention to their environment and memory relies on just that.
"Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness," says Schacter, "But be sure the cue is clear and available", he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medication (药物) with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table--don't leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.
Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you' re there. Most likely you were thinking about something else. "Everyone does this from time to time", says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room and you' Il likely remember.
Why does the author think that encoding properly is very important?
A. It expands our memory capacity considerably.
B. It helps us understand our memory system better.
C. It slows down the process of losing our memory.
D. It enables us to recall something from our memory.