Insurance companies provide a service to the community by protecting it against expected and unexpected disasters. Before an insurance company will agree to insure anything, it collects accurate figures about the risk. It knows, for example, that the risk of a man being killed in a plane accident is less than the risk he takes in crossing a busy road. This enables it to quote(報(bào)價(jià)) low figures for travel insurance. Sometimes the risk may be high, as in motor-racing or mountaineering. Then the company charges a much higher price. If too many climbers have accidents, the price rises further. If the majority of climbers fall off mountains, the company will refuse to insure them.

An ordinary householder may wish to protect his home against fire or his property against burglary(入室行竊). A shopkeeper may wish to insure against theft. In normal cases, the company will check its statistics and quote a premium(保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)). If it is suspicious(可疑的), it may refuse to quote. If it insures a shop and then receives a suspicious claim, it will investigate the claim as a means of protecting itself against false claims. It is not unknown for a businessman in debt to burn down his own premises so that he can claim much money from his insurance company. He can be sure that the fire will be investigated most carefully. Insurance companies also accept insurance against shipwreck or disaster in the air. Planes and ships are very expensive, so a large premium is charged, but a reduction is given to companies with an accident-free record.

Every week, insurance companies receive premium payments from customers. These payments can form a very large total running into millions of dollars. The company does not leave the money in the bank. It invests (投資) in property, shares (股票) ,farms and even paintings and stamps. Its aim is to obtain the best possible return on its investment. This is not as greedy as it may seem since this is one way by which it can keep its premiums down and continue to make a profit while being of service to the community.

The main idea of the first paragraph is that      .

   A. insurance companies protect the community against disasters

   B. insurance companies often collect accurate figures about the risk

   C. insurance companies base their decisions on the risk involved

   D. insurance companies charge different prices in the same cases

The insurance company will usually investigate a suspicious claim to    .

   A. refuse to quote the insurance fee          B. make sure that the claim is reasonable

   C. decide how much the company should pay D. find out when the accident happened

The underlined word "premises" in Paragraph 2 most probably means"     "

   A. land and buildings                   B. insurance contract

   C. debt papers                                            D. financial papers

The author’s attitude towards customers’ premium payments being used by insurance companies is __

    A. critical             B. doubtful              C. neutral            D. positive

The purpose of this passage is to __

    A. explain how insurance companies operate

    B. encourage people to invest in insurance companies

    C. persuade people to insure against unexpected disasters

    D. advise people how to insure their life and property

【小題1】C

【小題2】B

【小題3】A

【小題4】D

【小題5】A


解析:

【小題1】主旨大意題．根據(jù)文章第一段可知C為正確答案，其他幾項(xiàng)均在文中提到，但不是全段的大意，故選C。

【小題2】推理判斷題．根據(jù)文章第二段If it is suspicious(可疑的)，it may refuse to quote．If it  insures a shop and then receives a suspicious claim，it will investigate the claim as a means  of protecting itself against false claims，可推斷出目的是為了保證索賠是合理的，從而避免錯(cuò)誤賠償，因此選B．

【小題3】推測(cè)詞義題。Premise意為“房屋及其周圍的房基地”，根據(jù)常識(shí)也可推斷有些商人想燒毀房子從而獲得保險(xiǎn)公司的賠償，故選A．

【小題4】 觀點(diǎn)態(tài)度題．根據(jù)全文及文章最后一句可知作者對(duì)保險(xiǎn)公司利用客戶的保險(xiǎn)金從而最終提供更好的服務(wù)是持肯定態(tài)度的，故選D.

【小題5】 主旨大意題；綜觀全文可知，本文是介紹保險(xiǎn)公司如何操作的，故A為最佳選項(xiàng)．

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