【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 he mercial district, the bankers aided travelers who came to the town by exchanging foreign coins for local money.2. It wasn39。t long before the idea of attracting deposits and securing temporary loans from wealthy customers became an important source of bank funding. 3. The banking industry gradually spread outward from the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome into northern and western Europe. 4. The early banks in Europe were places for safekeeping of valuable items as people came to fear loss of their assets due to war, theft, or expropriation by government. 5. As the 19th century began, the development of large, professionally managed banking firms was centered in a few leading mercial centers, especially New York.C: Detailed Listening Directions: Listen to the passage and choose the best answer to each of the following questions. l. B 2. A 3. C 4. D 5. D 6. A 7. C 8. B D: Afterlistening Discussion Directions: Listen to the passage again and discuss the following questions. The early banks in Europe were places for safekeeping of valuable items (such as gold and silver bullion) as people came to fear loss of their assets due to war, theft, or expropriation by government. In England during the reigns of Henry VIII and Charles I, government efforts to seize private holdings of gold and silver resulted in people depositing their valuables in goldsmiths39。 shops, who, in turn, would issue tokens or certificates, indicating that the customer had made a deposit at these businesses. Soon, goldsmith tokens or certificates began to circulate as money because they were more convenient and less risky to carry around. The goldsmiths also offered certification of value services what we today might call property appraisals. Customers would bring in valuables to have an expert certify that these items were indeed real and not fakes a service many banks still provide their customers. Section Three NewsNews Item 1Greenland Ice SheetA US Space Agency study finds that Greenland is melting around the edges. The loss to the world39。s second largest ice sheet more than 50 cubic kilometers per year is enough to raise global sea level by millimeters. NASA scientist Bill Krabill says the data indicates a process of change that does not immediately threaten coastal regions. The more important thing is to consider it as a signal of global climate change and to monitor it in case it starts to accelerate. Eightyfive percent of Greenland is covered by ice and is more accessible for scientific study than Antarctica, which is under the world39。s largest ice sheet. Greenland, the way it39。s positioned much more north south, and the southern tip of Greenland protrudes into the more temperate* latitudes* it may react much quicker to global climate change than Antarctica does. A: Directions: Listen to the news item and plete the summary. This news item is about the rapid thinning of the ice sheet on Greenland. B: Directions: Listen to the news again and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). News Item 2Cooling AntarcticaA new study says Antarctica, the southernmost continent, has cooled measurably in recent years. The findings are a departure from global trends that show significant warming during the last century. University of Chicago Professor Pete~ Doran monitors the pulse* of Antarctica. He and other researchers have plotted* climate trends in the region. They are working with data from weather stations in Antarctica39。s Dry Valleys, a perpetually snowfree, mountainous zone, and from stations across the continent. Their records show a decrease by degrees Celsius per decade in the Dry Valleys since 1986 and a similar cooling trend across the continent since 1978. Doran said, Antarctica is somewhat isolated because there is a big ocean current* that constantly circles around the continent and actually sort of isolates it, and that39。s what makes it cold. And, that may be a factor in why we are seeing Antarctica cooling is that slight disconnect from the rest of the globe, and it39。s not behaving in the same way. A: Directions: Listen to the news item and plete the summary. This news item is about the result of a new study that suggests Antarctic cooling. B: Directions: Listen to the news again and answer the following questions. 1. A new study says Antarctica, the southernmost continent, has cooled measurably in recent years. 2. Professor Peter Doran and other researchers have plotted climate trends in the region.3. Antarctica39。s Dry Valleys is a perpetually snowfree, mountainous zone.4. The records show a decrease by degrees Celsius per decade in the Dry Valleys since 1986 and a similar cooling trend across the continent since 1978.5. There is a big ocean current that constantly circle