[简答题]With the nation’s financial system teetering (蹒跚) on a cliff, the compensation arrangements for executives of the big banks and other financial firms are coming under close examination again.
Bankers’ excessive risk-taking is a significant cause of this financial crisis and has contributed to others in the past. In this case, it was fueled by low interest rates and kept going by a false sense of security created by a debt-fueled bubble in the economy.
Mortgage lenders gladly lent enormous sums to those who could not afford to pay them back, dividing the loans and selling them off to the next financial institution along the chain, which took advantage of the same high-tech securitization (证券化) to load on more risky mortgage-based assets.
Financial regulation will have to catch up with the most irresponsible practices that led banks down this road, in hopes of averting the next crisis, which is likely to involve different financial techniques and different sorts of assets.

[简答题]With the nation’s financial system teetering (蹒跚) on a cliff, the compensation arrangements for executives of the big banks and other financial firms are coming under close examination again. Bankers’ excessive risk-taking is a significant cause of this financial crisis and has contributed to others in the past. In this case, it was fueled by low interest rates and kept going by a false sense of security created by a debt-fueled bubble in the economy. Mortgage lenders gladly lent enormous sums to those who could not afford to pay them back, dividing the loans and selling them off to the next financial institution along the chain, which took advantage of the same high-tech securitization (证券化) to load on more risky mortgage-based assets. Financial regulation will have to catch up with the most irresponsible practices that led banks down this road, in hopes of averting the next crisis, which is likely to involve different financial techniques and different sorts of assets. But it i

[填空题]On Sept. 11, the nation’s aviation system quickly and safely landed almost 4,500 planes that were in the air when the terrorist attacks took place. How was this (S1)_________ What was it tike inside air traffic control centers and at airline (S2)___________ How was the decision made to land all the planes And how did controllers execute it Some USA TODAY reporters spent seven months (S3)______________more than 100 people involved in key decisions that day. The reporters traveled to New York, Washington, Chicago, Texas and Atlanta. The (S4)________, thoughts and quotes in the stories are based on interviews with (S5) _____________or with sources who had (S6)__________to tape recordings. Accounts of the day’s events were (S7)___________. Reporters and editors also scrutinized hundreds of pages of records, including (S8)_________of radio calls with the four hijacked jets and a log kept by the Federal Aviation Administration. (S9)_____________________. A key source was the

[单项选择]A Nation That’s Losing Its Toolbox The scene inside the Home Depot on Weyman Avenue here would give the old-time American craftsman pause. In Aisle 34 is precut plastic flooring, the glue already in place. In Aisle 26 are prefabricated windows. Stacked near the checkout counters, and as colorful as a Fisher-Price toy, is a not-so-serious-looking power tool: a battery-operated saw-and-drill combination. And if you don’t want to do it yourself, head to Aisle 23 or Aisle 35, where a help desk will arrange for an installer. It’s all very handy stuff, I guess, a convenient way to be a do-it-yourselfer without being all that good with tools. But at a time when the American factory seems to be a shrinking presence, and when good manufacturing jobs have vanished, perhaps never to return, there is something deeply troubling about this dilution of American craftsmanship. This isn’t a lament (伤感) - or not merely a lament - for bygone times. It’s a social and cultural issue, as well as an econ
A. He felt proud that he was a do-it-youselfer himself.
B. He was inspired by the way the wares were displayed.
C. He felt troubled about the weakening of American craftsmanship.
D. He was happy to see the return of the do-it-yourself spirit in America.

[单项选择] Throughout the nation’’s more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged. Though there can be strength in diversity, a new international analysis suggests that this variability has instead contributed to lackluster (平淡的) achievement scores by U.S. children relative to their peers in other developed countries. Indeed, concludes William H. Schmidt of Michigan State University, who led the new analysis, "no single intellectually coherent vision dominates U.S. educational practice in math or science. " The reason, he said, "is because the system is deeply and fundamentally flawed." The new analysis, released this week by the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va. , is based on data collected from about 50 nations as part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Not only do approaches to teaching science and math vary among individual U.S. communities, the report finds, but there appears to b
A. there is always controversy in educational circles
B. not enough educators have realized the necessity for doing so
C. school districts are responsible for making their own decisions
D. many schoolteachers challenge the acceptability of these standards