Text 2

Every country with a monetary system of its own has to have some kind of market in which dealers in bills, notes, and other forms of short term credit can buy and sell. The“money market” is a set of institutions or arrangements for handling what might be called wholesale transactions in money and short term credit. The need for such facilities arises in much the same way that a similar need does in connection with the distribution of any of the products of a diversified economy to their final users at the retail level. If the retailer is to provide reasonably adequate service to his customers, he must have active contacts with others who specialize in making or handling bulk quantities of whatever is his stock in trade. The money market is made up of specialized facilities of exactly this kind. It exists for the purpose of improving the ability of the retailers of financial services—commercial banks, savings institutions, investment houses, lending agencies, and even governments—to do their job. It has little if any contact with the individuals or firms who maintain accounts with these various retailers or purchase their securities or borrow from them.

The elemental functions of a money market must be performed in any kind of modern economy, even one that is largely planned or socialist, but the arrangements in socialist countries do not ordinarily take the form of a market. Money markets exist in countries that use market processes rather than planned allocations to distribute most of their primary resources among alternative uses. The general distinguishing feature of a money market is that it relies upon open competition among those who are bulk suppliers of funds at any particular time and among those seeking bulk funds, to work out the best practicable distribution of the existing total volume of such funds.

In their market transactions, those with bulk supplies of funds or demands for them, rely on groups of intermediaries who act as brokers or dealers. The characteristics of these middlemen, the services they perform, and their relationship to other parts of the financial vary widely from country to country. In many countries there is no single meeting place where the middlemen get together, yet in most countries the contacts among all participants are sufficiently open and free to assure each supplier or user of funds that he will get or pay a price that fairly reflects all of the influences (including his own) that are currently affecting the whole supply and the whole demand. In nearly all cases, moreover, the unifying force of competition is reflected at any given moment in a common price (that is, rate of interest) for similar transactions. Continuous fluctuations in the money market rates of interest result from changes in the pressure of available supplies of funds upon the market and in the pull of current demands upon the market.

26. The first paragraph is mainly about .

A. the definition of money market

B. the constitution of a money market

C. the basic functions of a money market

D. the general feature of a money market

27. According to this passage, the money market .

A. provides convenient services to its customers

B. has close contact with the individuals or firms seeking funds

C. maintains accounts with various retailers of financial services

D. is made up of institutions who specialize in handling wholesale monetary transactions

28. Which of the following statements concerning money market is not true according to this passage?

A. Money market does not exist in planned economies.

B. Money market has been established in some socialist countries.

C. Money market encourages open competition among bulk suppliers of funds.

D. Money market relies upon market processes to distribute funds to final users.

29. The author uses the example of middleman to show .

A. market transactions are important in different countries

B. dealers are needed in doing business

C. middlemen can play great role in different transactions and different countries.

D. middlemen in different countries have different actions in business.

30. According to this passage, .

A. brokers usually perform the same kinds of services to their customers

B. brokers have little contact with each other

C. open competition tends to result in a common price for similar transactions at any given moment

D. changes in the pressure of available supplies of funds upon market tends to maintain a common price for similar transactions

Text 3

Environmental issues raise a host of difficult ethical questions, including the ancient one of the nature of intrinsic value. Whereas many philosophers in the past have agreed that human experiences have intrinsic value and the utilitarians at least have always accepted that the pleasures and pains of nonhuman animals are of some intrinsic significance, this does not show why it is so bad if dodos become extinct or a rain forest is cut down. Are these things to be regretted only because of the loss to humans or other sentient creatures? Or is there more to it than that? Some philosophers are now prepared to defend the view that trees, rivers, species (considered apart from the individual animals of which they consist), and perhaps ecological systems as a whole have a value independent of the instrumental value they may have for humans or other sentient creatures.

Our concern for the environment also raises the question of our obligations to future generations. How much do we owe to the future? From a social contract view of ethics or for the ethical egoist, the answer would seem to be: nothing. For we can benefit them, but they are unable to reciprocate. Most other ethical theories, however, do give weight to the interests of coming generations. Utilitarians, for one, would not think that the fact that members of future generations do not exist yet is any reason for giving less consideration to their interests than we give to our own, provided only that we are certain that they will exist and will have interests that will be affected by what we do. In the case of, say, the storage of radioactive wastes, it seems clear that what we do will indeed affect the interests of generations to come.

The question becomes much more complex, however, when we consider that we can affect the size of future generations by the population policies we choose and the extent to which we encourage large or small families. Most environmentalists believe that the world is already dangerously overcrowded. This may well be so, but the notion of overpopulation conceals a philosophical issue that is ingeniously explored by Derek Parfit in Reasons and Persons (1984). What is optimum population? Is it that population size at which the average level of welfare will be as high as possible? Or is it the size at which the total amount of welfare—the average multiplied by the number of people—is as great as possible? Both answers lead to counterintuitive outcomes, and the question remains one of the most baffling mysteries in applied ethics.

31. The first paragraph is mainly about .

［A］ the intrinsic value of human experiences

［B］ the intrinsic value of the experiences of nonhuman animals

［C］ the intrinsic value of ecological system as a whole

［D］ an ancient ethical question about the nature of intrinsic value

32. , we owe nothing to the future generations.

［A］ In the author’s opinion

［B］ From a social contrast view of ethics

［C］ For a utilitarian

［D］ For most environmentalists

33. Population policy we take should be considered .

［A］ positive ［B］ negative ［C］ complex ［D］ reasonable

34. According to this passage, optimum population .

［A］ refers to the population size at which the average level of welfare will be as high as possible

［B］ refers to the population size at which the total amount of welfare will be as great as possible

［C］ is a difficult philosophical issue which remains to be resolved in the future

［D］ is a difficult philosophical issue which Derek Parfit has successfully settled in Reasons and Persons

35. The proper title for this passage should be .

［A］ A Mystery in Applied Ethics

［B］ Our Obligations to Future Generations

［C］ Environmental Ethics

［D］ Environmental issues