According to the passage, preferred stockholders are guaranteed ______.A．a voting rate per shareB．a promise to buy back the stocks made by the companyC．a withdrawal of investment principal in time of liquidationD．a fixed dividend receipt

(ii) Briefly discuss TWO factors which could reduce the rate of return earned by the investment as per the

results in part (a). (4 marks)

The preferred stockholders are deemed to have the priority ______.

A．to receive dividend payment

B．to elect board of directors

C．to vote on corporate policy

D．all of the above

According to the passage, underwriting simply means ______.

A．that the investor promises to buy the securities

B．that the investment banker promises to sell the securities

C．that the investment banker promises to buy the securities

D．that the investor promises to sell the securities

There have been changes in all sorts of different areas of British society.In recent years in the UK we have had a very large increase in the number of couples who get divorced

After 1969 and the Divorce Law Reform. Act we had a very rapid increase in the number of divorces.The rate increased steadily and in recent years has increased much more rapidly.But there are also quite a lot of people who do actually get married.At present the marriage rate in the UK is about 70 per cent, which has gone down since the number of people who marry has gone down qui te a lot in the last 20 years, but more significantly in the last 10 years.Quite high proportions of people now live together without marrying, and, for example, 40 per cent of children born in the UK are born to couples who aren't married or are born to lone parents.There are quite a large number of lone parent families, 90 per cent of these are headed by a woman rather than a man

The average family size now in the UK is 1.8 children per couple, which

Means that there’s been quite a decline in the birth rate in the UK along with other European countries.

21.What does the passage mainly discuss?()

A.The declining divorce rate in the UK.

B.Trends in marriage and divorce in the UK.

C.The increasing divorce rate in the UK.

22.During the last ten years,（）

A.the marriage rate has gone down more rapidly in the UK

B.the marriage rate has gone up a lot in the UK

C.40% of children were born to unwed couples in the UK

23.According to the passage, the cohabitation rate in the UK tends to ___

A.decline

B.soar

C.stay stable

24.According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A.The highest divorce rate was around 1969.

B.The marriage rate has gone down in recent years.

C.The marriage rate is currently 70 percent.

25.The last paragraph tells us（）

A.the birth rate in the UK is increasing at the moment

B.the birth rate in other European countries keeps increasing

C.the birth rate in the UK is decreasing rapidly now

According to the passage, which of the following statements is correct?

A．A "revocable credit" may be cancelled at any time.

B．The credits are usually in favor of the exporter.

C．An "irrevocable credit" may not be amended.

D．The credits are usually in favor of the importer.

Reading Comprehension

Directions:There are two passages in this part． Each passage js followed by some questions

or unfinished statements． For each of them there are four choices marked A,B,C and D． Youshould decide on the best choice．

Questions 56 - 60 are based on Passage One:

Passage One

How should one invest a sum of money in these days of inflation (通货膨胀) ? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate is．Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market．Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past．Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques．

I sometimes woncler wl:cat a being from another planet might report back about our wayof life． “The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound． It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands． Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control．This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves． ”

Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time． Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of day according to the beating of their own hearts． They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout the time． So it seems that the first clocks were human beings．

However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time．

They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun．They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour-glasses, and invented water-clocks．Indeed, any serious student of antiques should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past．

Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home． After all, if you are going to be ruled by the time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?

According to the passage, collecting antique clocks ( )．

A． can hardly keep the value of your savings

B． will cost much of your money

C． may increase your wealth

D． needs your bravery

A derivative is a security which "derives" its value from another underlying (61) instrument, index, or other investment. Derivatives are available based on the performance of stocks, interest rates, currency exchange rates, as well as (62) contracts and various indexes. Derivatives give the buyer greater leverage for a (63) cost than purchasing the actual underlying instrument to achieve the same position. For this reason, when used properly, they can serve to "hedge" a (64) of securities against losses. However, because derivatives have a date of (65) , the level of risk is greatly increased in relation to their term. One of the simplest forms of a derivative is a stock option. A stock option gives the holder the right to buy or sell the underlying stock at a fixed price for a specified period of time.

(46)

A．bank

B．financial

C．mathematic

D．securities

短文理解

听力原文： Spot transaction means the actual and variable amount of the currency of one country which at any given time, can be bought for a fixed sum in the currency of another country. It is a term meaning that these transactions are settled on the second working day from the date of the deal. For example, you buy $ 5,000.00 US dollars on October 10th( say Wednesday) , the purchased US dollars will value on October 12th.

21. What does spot transaction mean?

22.When are the spot transaction settled?

23.What's the value date for purchase of $ 5,000.00 US dollars in the passage?

(21)

A．It means that at any time you can buy currency of one country for another currency.

B．It means that the actual and variable amount of one currency can be bought for a fixed sum in another currency at any given time.

C．It means that any kind of currency can be bought at any time for another currency.

D．It means that the actual and fixed amount of the currency of one country at any time can be bought for a variable sum in the currency of another currency.

According to the passage, stock in general is probably referred to as ______.

A．common stock

B．preferred stock

C．voting stock

D．non-voting stock

听力原文：M: The rate on a personal loan is fixed according to the base rate at the time when the loan is made.

W: But it is always higher than the base rate, isn't it?

Q: What is determined when a personal loan is made?

(14)

A．Rate on the personal loan.

B．Base rate of the bank.

C．The amount of payment.

D．Personal loan's time period.

PV Co is evaluating an investment proposal to manufacture Product W33, which has performed well in test marketing trials conducted recently by the company’s research and development division. The following information relating to this investment proposal has now been prepared.

Initial investment $2 million

Selling price (current price terms) $20 per unit

Expected selling price inflation 3% per year

Variable operating costs (current price terms) $8 per unit

Fixed operating costs (current price terms) $170,000 per year

Expected operating cost inflation 4% per year

The research and development division has prepared the following demand forecast as a result of its test marketing trials. The forecast reflects expected technological change and its effect on the anticipated life-cycle of Product W33.

It is expected that all units of Product W33 produced will be sold, in line with the company’s policy of keeping no inventory of finished goods. No terminal value or machinery scrap value is expected at the end of four years, when production of Product W33 is planned to end. For investment appraisal purposes, PV Co uses a nominal (money) discount rate of 10% per year and a target return on capital employed of 30% per year. Ignore taxation.

Required:

(a) Identify and explain the key stages in the capital investment decision-making process, and the role of

investment appraisal in this process. (7 marks)

(b) Calculate the following values for the investment proposal:

(i) net present value;

(ii) internal rate of return;

(iii) return on capital employed (accounting rate of return) based on average investment; and

(iv) discounted payback period. (13 marks)

(c) Discuss your findings in each section of (b) above and advise whether the investment proposal is financially acceptable. (5 marks)