Insurance companies provide a service to the community by protecting it against expected a

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(报价) 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(入室行窃). A shopkeeper may wish to insure against theft. In normal cases, the company will check its statistics and quote a premium(保险费). 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 (投资) 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.
【小题1】 The main idea of the first paragraph is that .A．insurance companies protect the community against disastersB．insurance companies often collect accurate figures about the riskC．insurance companies base their decisions on the risk involvedD．insurance companies charge different prices in the same cases【小题2】The insurance company will usually investigate a suspicious claim to .A．refuse to quote the insurance feeB．make sure that the claim is reasonableC．decide how much the company should payD．find out when the accident happened【小题3】The underlined word premises in Paragraph 2 most probably means A．land and buildingsB．insurance contractC．debt papers D．financial papers【小题4】The author’s attitude towards customers’ premium payments being used by insurance companies is A．critical B．doubtfulC．neutralD．positive【小题5】The purpose of this passage is to A．explain how insurance companies operateB．encourage people to invest in insurance companiesC．persuade people to insure against unexpected disastersD．advise people how to insure their life and propertyC

(答案→)C 解析：【小题1】主旨大意题．根据文章第一段可知C为正确答案，其他几项均在文中提到，但不是全段的大意，故选C。【小题2】推理判断题．根据文章第二段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，可推断出目的是为了保证索赔是合理的，从而避免错误赔偿，因此选B．【小题3】推测词义题。Premise意为“房屋及其周围的房基地”，根据常识也可推断有些商人想烧毁房子从而获得保险公司的赔偿，故选A．【小题4】观点态度题．根据全文及文章最后一句可知作者对保险公司利用客户的保险金从而最终提供更好的服务是持肯定态度的，故选D.【小题5】主旨大意题；综观全文可知，本文是介绍保险公司如何操作的，故A为最佳选项．

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