自去年10月达成交易以来，贝尔斯登的股价已从当时的大约120美元跌至约80美元。中信证券的股价已下滑40%，至大约71元人民币。

　　Bear’s shares have fallen from about 0 when the deal was signed in October to about now. Citic’s shares have dropped 40 per cent to about Rmb71.

学习啦在线学习网　　据知情人士介绍，去年11月，在贝尔斯登股价出现骤跌后，中信证券首先提出重新讨论它将在这家美国投行持有的股份。

　　Citic first broached the subject of renegotiating the stake it would take in Bear last November following a precipitous drop in the US bank’s shares, according to people familiar with the matter.

　　中信一位发言人表示，他不知道有任何谈判正在进行。记者无法联系上贝尔斯登驻日本的一位发言人置评。

　　A Citic spokesman said he had no knowledge of any ongoing negotiations and a Bear spokeswoman in Japan could not be reached for comment.

　　一名了解谈判情况的人士称，双方增持对方股份是“合理的”，反映了双方股价的下跌。 For the two sides to take larger shares in each other was “reasonable” and reflected their lower share prices, according to one person close to the negotiations.

　　另一位知情人士则持更为怀疑的态度。他表示：“这些都是猜测，是我们的竞争引起监管机构担忧造成的。双方的股价都下跌了，但这并不意味着需要重新谈判，除非这么做符合双方股东的利益。”

　　Another source familiar with the matter was more sceptical, saying: “It is all speculation driven by our competition which is causing the regulators to become concerned. The prices on both sides have come down but that doesn’t mean that the deal will be renegotiated unless it is in the interest of shareholders on both sides.”

　　BEC中级考试阅读素材2

　　Read the following text.

　　? Choose the best sentence from the list on page 52 to fill each of the gaps.

　　? For each gap 8 – 12 mark one letter A – I on your Answer Sheet.

学习啦在线学习网　　? Do not mark any letter twice.

　　The Cash-free Society

学习啦在线学习网　　Imagine a society in which cash no longer exists, Instead, “ cash ” is electronic, as in bank-card Systems. Currency and coin are abandoned.

学习啦在线学习网　　____ example ____ . Theft of cash would BECome impossible. Bank robberies and cash-register robberies would simply cease to occur ____ ( 8 ) ____ . Purse snatchings would become a thing of the past. Urban streets would become safer ____ ( 9 ) ____ . Security costs and insurance rates would fall. Property values would rise. Neighbourhoods would improve.

学习啦在线学习网　　Drug traffickers and their clients, burglars and receives of stolen property, arsonists for hire, and bribe-takers would no longer have the advantage of using untraceable currency. ____ ( 10 ) ____ These prosecutions, in turn, would inhibit further crimes.

　　In a society devoid of physical money, a change from cash to recorded electronic money would be accompanied by a flow of previously unpaid income-tax revenues running in the tens of billions of dollars. ____ (11) ____

学习啦在线学习网　　Cash has been the root of much social and economic evil. ____ (12)____ Eighty percent of Americans regularly use credit cards. The development of a federal system to handle the country’s 300 billion annual cash transactions in the United States electronically is within reach.

学习啦在线学习网　　Example: H.

学习啦在线学习网　　A. A national electronic-money system would operate as a debit-card system.

学习啦在线学习网　　B. Retail shops in once dangerous areas could operate in safety.

学习啦在线学习网　　C. As a result, income tax rates could be lowered or the national debt reduced.

　　D. The use of cash has diminished substantially since World War II.

学习啦在线学习网　　E. Attacks on shopkeepers, taxi drivers, and cashiers would all end.

学习啦在线学习网　　F. The emergence of electronic funds-transfer technology makes it possible to change the nature of money and to divorce it from evil.

学习啦在线学习网　　G. Almost every present-day cash transaction can be duplicated electronically.

　　H. The immediate benefits would be profound and fundamental.

学习啦在线学习网　　I. Electronic “money” would leave incriminating trails of data, resulting in more arrests and convictions.

学习啦在线学习网　　答案：Questions 8 – 12: E, B, I, C, F

　　BEC中级考试阅读素材3

　　Owning a cat can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by more than a third, researchers have found.

　　Scientists said that having a cat helped to relieve stress and anxiety, which is known to help protect against heart disease by lowering blood pressure and reducing the heart rate.

　　The 10-year study looked at 4,435 adults aged between 30 and 75, about half of whom owned a cat.

学习啦在线学习网　　The findings, presented at a stroke conference in America, showed that 3.4 per cent of the cat owners died from a heart attack over 10 years. Among the group who had never owned a cat the rate was 5.8 per cent.

　　Cat owners still had a much reduced chance of developing strokes or heart attacks when researchers took account of other factors known to trigger heart disease, including high cholesterol levels, smoking and diabetes.

　　Prof Adnan Qureshi, from the Minnesota University, who carried out the study, said he was surprised by the strength of the effect that owning a cat appeared to have.

　　"The logical explanation may be that cat ownership relieves stress and anxiety and subsequently reduces the risk of heart disease."

　　He believes one reason could be that stroking the pet could cut the level of stress-related hormones in the blood. Reducing stress is known to help protect against heart disease by lowering blood pressure and reducing the heart rate.

　　But Prof Qureshi added that the type of person who owned a cat was usually already fairly stress-free and at low risk of heart disease.

　　研究人员发现，养猫能使患心脏病和中风的风险降低三分之一以上。

　　科研人员称，养猫有助于缓解压力、减轻焦虑，而减轻压力可以降低血压和心律，因此有助于预防心脏病。

学习啦在线学习网　　研究人员对4435名年龄在30岁至75岁之间的成年人进行了为期十年的调查，其中有一半的人养猫。

　　研究结果显示，在这十年中，仅有3.4%的养猫人士死于心脏病，而从未养过猫的人死于心脏病的比例为5.8%。该结果在美国召开的一个中风研讨会上公布。

　　研究人员还综合考虑了高胆固醇、吸烟和糖尿病等可能引发心脏病的其它一些因素，结果发现，养猫人士患中风或心脏病的几率还是要小很多。

　　开展该研究的明尼苏达大学教授阿德南?库勒什说，他很惊讶养猫有这么大的好处。

　　“合理的解释应该是，养猫能够缓解压力和焦虑，从而降低患心脏病的风险。”

学习啦在线学习网　　他认为其中一个原因是，爱抚小猫能够降低血液中的应激激素水平。而减轻压力则能够降低血压和心率，从而有助于预防心脏病。

　　但库勒什教授说，喜欢养猫的人往往自身就没什么压力，患心脏病的几率也较小。

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