In October 2002, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank 1 a new electronic market for economic indices that 2 substantial economic risks, such as nonfarm payroll (a measure of job availability) and retail sales. This new market was made possible by a 3 rating technology, developed by Longitude, a New York company providing software for financial markets, 4 the Parimutuel Digital Call Auction. This is “digital” 5 of a digital option: i.e., it pays out only if an underlying index lies in a narrow, discrete range. In effect, Longitude has created a horse race, where each “horse” wins if and 6 the specified index falls in a specified range. By creating horses for every possibl 7 of the index, and allowing people to bet 8 any number of runners, the company has produced a liquid integrated electronic market for a wide array options on economic indices.

Ten years ago it was 9 impossible to make use of electronic information about home values. Now, mortgage lenders have online automated valuation models that allow them to estimate values and to 10 the risk in their portfolios. This has led to a proliferation of types of home loan, some of 11 have improved risk-management characteristics.

We are also beginning to see new kinds of 12 for homes, which will make it possible to protect the value of 13 , for most people, is the single most important 14 of their wealth. The Yale University-Neighbourhood Reinvestment Corporation programme, 15 last year in the city of Syracuse, in New York state, may be a model for home-equity insurance policies that 16 sophisticated economic indices of house prices to define the 17 of the policy. Electronic futures markets that are based on econometric indices of house prices by city, already begun by City Index and IG Index in Britain and now 18 developed in the United States, will enable home-equity insurers to hedge the risks that they acquire by writing these policies.

These examples are not impressive successes yet. But they 19 as early precursors of a technology that should one day help us to deal with the massive risks of inequality that 20 will beset us in coming years.

1. A. createdB. generatedC. initiatedD. originated

2. A. reproduceB. restoreC. representD. resume

3. A. sophisticatedB. expensiveC. availableD. established

4. A. madeB. calledC. askedD. read

5. A. in the courseB. in the eventC. in the lightD. in the sense

6. A. whenB. until C. now thatD. only if

7. A. extentB. rangeC. lineD. area

8. A. forB. inC. onD. up

9. A. virtuallyB. admittedlyC. absolutelyD. originally

10. A. assume B. assessC. dismissD. erase

11. A. them B. whichC. thatD. whom

12. A. managementB. insuranceC. securityD. technology

13. A. what B. thoseC. whereD. it

14. A. guarantee B. protectionC. componentD. source

15. A. secured B. sponsoredC. releasedD. launched

16. A. look toB. set up C. lay downD. rely on

17. A. termsB. specificationsC. conceptsD. consequences

18. A. isB. being C. beenD. are

19. A. emergeB appearC. standD. arise

20. A. somehowB. anywayC. otherwiseD. thereby

1.【答案】A

【解析】本题考查词义辨析。空格句表示“创建了……市场”之一，created 语义恰当，为答案。initiated 一般表示“开始实施，发起”之意，与 plans，schemes，social reforms 等连用。

2.【答案】C

【解析】本题考查形近词辨析。represent 意为“代表，标志”，带入后句意为：创建了一个新的电子的经济指标(economic indices)市场，这些指标代表的是实质性的经济风险。

3.【答案】A

【解析】本题为一般的词汇题。带入后上下文语义连贯的选项为 A“先进的”。

4.【答案】B

【解析】 called带入后意为“被称为 the Parimutuel Digital Call Auction的……”，与 “developed by...”一样为后置定语，共同修饰前面的“technology”一词。

5.【答案】D

【解析】本题考查介词短语的用法。“in the sense of”意为“按照(就)……的意义来说”，带入后句意为“它被称为数字化的，是就其提供了的一个数字化的方法而言的”。

6.【答案】D

【解析】根据空格前后的递进性的句意逻辑，合适的关系词是 only if(只有)，带入后与 if 语气递进。

7.【答案】B

【解析】这是一道词汇题。由于前两句都是在强调“range”(范围)，该题答案也是 range 才能保持句意的连贯。

8.【答案】C

【解析】本题涉及介词的用法。与 bet 搭配的常为 on，带入后意为“在……下赌”。

9.【答案】A

【解析】本题考查词汇知识。“virtually”意为“几乎;确实”，带入后符合句意，为答案。

10.【答案】B

【解析】本题考查词汇知识。“assess”意为“评估”，符合句意，为答案。

11.【答案】B

【解析】which带入后引导非限制性定语从句，为正确答案。

12.【答案】B

【解析】本题涉及上下文的理解。由于下文主要讨论家庭保险，所以本题答案为 insurance，符合句意逻辑。

13.【答案】A

【解析】 “what”引导宾语从句“what, for most people, is the single most ...”，做介词 of的宾语。

14.【答案】C

【解析】这是一道词汇题。C“组成部分”符合句意，为正确答案。

15.【答案】D

【解析】 这是一道词汇题。launched(使开始， 推出)带入后做后置定语，修饰前面的 program，意为“……所推出的计划”，应为最佳选项。released意为“公布，发行”，应排除。

16.【答案】D

【解析】本题涉及动词短语。根据句意，D rely on(依靠)为正确答案。

17.【答案】A

【解析】本题考查词汇知识。A terms“(双方提出的)条件，条款”，带入后句意为“确定保险单中的具体条款(to define the terms of the policy)”，前后连贯，为正确答案。

18.【答案】B

【解析】这是一道语法题。being带入后，时态上与空格前的 now呼应，构成分词结构，与前面的 already begun并列为后置定语，共同修饰“Electronic futures markets”(电子期货市场)。

19.【答案】C

【解析】本题涉及词的引申用法，stand 可以表达“处于某种状态或情形”之意，带入后意为“但它们却是这样一种技术的雏形……” 。再如：The house stood empty for months. 故 C 为答案。其他三项意思均为“出现”，不符句意。

20.【答案】C

【解析】本题考查副词的用法。A“以某种方式，不知怎么回事”，不符句意，排除。B“不管怎么说”，不符句意，排除。 C “用别的方式，在其他方面”符合句意，为正确答案。 D“因此”，不符句意，排除。