Of all the catastrophes that could befall America in coming years, a big terrorist attack, perhaps even bigger than those on September 11 th 2001, may be more likely than others. Who would pay for the millions in property damage, business losses and other claims from such an attack? This is the question with which America’s Congress is currently wrestling. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) was passed as a temporary measure after September 11th to provide a government back-stop for the insurance industry in the event of a catastrophic attack. It now says government can step in when insured losses from a terrorist event top $5m. TRIA has helped to stabilize the market, and enabled insurers to continue offering terrorism-risk cover even after swallowing the big losses imposed by September llth. But unless Congress acts last, TRIA will expire at the end of the year. One likely result is the loss of terrorism-risk cover for thousands of firms and property owners. This, in turn, could disrupt businesses and make some commercial activity impossible. With modifications, TRIA should be extended. The Bush administration has been opposed to extension. It has always seen TRIA as a short-term measure, and has argued that the private sector should assume sole responsibility for terrorism insurance. This is the right goal. A purely private solution would be best, lifting any future burden-from the taxpayer and relying on the industry to price and spread risks more accurately than any government can do. But relying entirely on the private sector immediately does not look feasible. With TRIA’s expiration looming, insurers and reinsurers have not, as the administration expected, rushed to write new contracts for next year offering to fall gaps in terrorism cover. Why the hesitation? Unlike other risks, the threat of terrorism cannot be forecast in time or scope, making a mocker’:“ of insurers’ underwriting models. A big chemical, biological or nuclear attack is a prospect few can price, or afford to cover. Insurers are already being threatened with downgrades by rating agencies for the terrorism cover they have sold. One reason is that insurance, far from being a free market, is already one of the most heavily regulated of industries. Operating in a highly distorted marketplace, with 50 state regulators, the insurance industry seems to be having trouble pricing the largest of terrorism risks in a way that is credible and can still offer insurers a profit. Letting TRIA expire, and abruptly withdrawing the government role in insuring the largest losses, would just exacerbate this problem. Any renewal of TRIA should, once again, be limited to two years, say. Its extension must also shift more of the burden, and the business, to the private sector. If an extension is agreed and TRIA’s threshold for government intervention is raised substantially, work should begin now to find better longer-term solutions. One place to look is abroad, where governments have dealt with terrorism risk for years. In Britain, for instance, insurers have created a pool of capital that is backed by the government and, over time, shifts a greater share of risk on to the private sector. Other options to consider include tax changes that reduce the cost of holding capital by insurers and reinsurers, and facilitating the use of catastrophe bonds. With fewer regulatory distortions of insurance markets, a solely private solution may be attainable in the long run. In the current environment, though, the same government that regularly warns of terrorist threats must still have a role to play in a solution that safeguards America’s financial security. It would be better to plan ahead than wait for a rushed, Katrina-style bail-out after a big attack. Amid all the uncertainties, one thing seems clear: any such bail-out would be more costly and lead to even greater market distortions without an extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act today.

TRIA ______.

A．provides insurance to properties in high-risk areas

B．should be extended as it is now

C．requires government support to risk insurance

D．has caused a substantial loss of revenue to the state

The private sector is hesitant in taking sole responsibility for terrorism insurance because ______.

A．their current pricing models cannot estimate terrorism attacks properly

B．they do not often insure things they cannot forecast

C．they are threatened by loss of other insurance takers

D．they do not have regulator-approved contracts that cover terrorism attacks

The extension of TRIA should aim at ______.

A．making government intervention more unacceptable

B．introducing foreign companies into terrorism insurance

C．setting up catastrophe bonds managed by insurers and reinsurers

D．pushing the private sector to take sole responsibility

If the government let TRIA expire, ______.

A．it should stop warning the public of terrorist attacks regularly

B．it will have to pay more money when large scale catastrophe occurs

C．regulatory distortions of insurance markets will be reduced

D．private insurance companies will stop insuring terrorism attacks

Carbon monoxide, funned by the incomplete combustion of some carbonaceous material, has been a ______ to humans since the domestication of fire. hazard dispute docile boost

The house by the sea had a mysterious air of ______ about it. melancholy serenity serioso retroject

A static technocratic order, by contrast, requires a very different sort of personality: a drone who does what he is told and shuns novelty, someone who avoids facing, or ______ challenges. composing proposing imposing posing

His story of rescuing ten drowning men totally by himself was ______. wonderful incredible indignant immense

The individual TV viewer invariably senses that he or she is ______ an anonymous, statistically insignificant part of a huge and diverse audience. everything except anything but no less than nothing more than

Even though formidable winters are the norm in the Dakotas, many people were unprepared for the ______ of the blizzard of 1888. inevitability ferocity probability mildness

The ______ of smoking among women, formerly negligible, has grown to such a degree that lung cancer has become the chief causer of cancer-related deaths among women. affluence ferociousness impudence incidence

If you ______ your demand, then maybe you will have more chance of getting the job you want. lessen alleviate moderate degenerate

It so happened that Lucy, who found daily life rather chaotic, entered a more solid world when she opened the piano. She was then no longer either deferential or patronizing; no longer either a rebel or a slave. The kingdom of music is not the kingdom of this world; it will accept those whom breeding and intellect and culture have alike rejected. The commonplace person begins to play, and shoots into the empyrean without effort, whilst we look up, marveling how he has escaped us, and thinking how we could worship him and love him would he but translate his visions into human actions. Perhaps he cannot; certainly he does not, or does so very seldom. Lucy had done so never. She was no dazzling execultante; nor was she the passionate young lady, who performs so tragically on a summer’s evening with the window open. Passion was there, but it could not be easily labeled. And she was tragical only in the sense that she was great, for she loved to play on the side of Victory. Victory of what and over what-that is more than the words of daily life can tell us. But that some sonatas of Beethoven are written tragic no one can gainsay; yet they can triumph or despair as the player decides, and Lucy had decided that they should triumph. A very wet afternoon at the Pension Bertolini permitted her to do the thing she really liked, and after lunch she opened the little draped piano. A few people lingered round and praised her playing, but finding that she made no reply, dispersed to their rooms to write up their diaries or to sleep. She took no notice of Mr. Emerson looking for his son, nor of Miss Bartlett looking for Miss Lavish, nor Miss Lavish looking for her book. Like every true performer, she was intoxicated by the mere feel of the notes. Mr. Beebe, sitting unnoticed in the window, pondered over this illogical element in Lucy Honeychurch, and recalled the occasion at Tunbridge Wells when he had discovered it. It was at one of those entertainments where the upper classes entertain the lower. The seats were filled with a respectful audience, and the ladies and gentlemen of this parish, under the auspices of their vicar, sang, or recited, or imitated the drawings of a champagne cork. Among the promised items was ’Miss Honeychurch. Piano. Beethoven’, and Mr. Deebe was wondering whether it would be ’Adelaida’, or the march of ’The Ruins of Athens’, when his composure was disturbed by the opening bars of Opus III. He was in suspense all through the introduction for not until the pace quickens does one know what the performer intends. With the roar of the opening theme he knew that things were going extraordinarily; in the chords that herald the conclusion he heard the hammer strokes of victory. He was glad that she only played the first movement, for he could have paid no attention to the winding intricacies of the measure of nine-sixteen. The audience clapped, no less respectful. It was Mr Bebee who started the stamping; it was all that one could do. ’Who is she?’ He asked the vicar afterwards. Cousin of one of my parishioner. I do not consider her choice of a piece happy Beethoven is so usually simple and direct in his appeal that it is sheer perversity to choose a thing like that, which, if anything disturbs. When he was introduced, Mr. Beebe realized. that Miss Honeychurch, disjoined from her music-stool, was only a young lady with a very pretty, pale, underdeveloped face. She loved going to concerts, she loved stopping with her cousin, she loved iced coffee and meringues. But before he left Tunbridge Wells he made a remark to the vicar, which he now made to Lucy herself when she closed the little piano and moved dreamily towards him. If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting—both for us and for her.

There is only time to ______ the plan and we will discuss it in detail next week. decry eliminate expound adumbrate

While this healthy lifestyle approach to health worked for some (the wealthy members of society), people experiencing poverty, unemployment or little control ______ the conditions of their daily lives benefited little from this approach. to into on over

Research into the validity of selection methods has consistently shown that the unstructured interview, ______ the interviewer asks any questions he or she likes, is a poor predictor of future job performance. whomever when whenever where

What a sad sight, with all the shops ______ and the people gone. shuttled shuttered shuttles shutters

Although he suffered from discrimination, Martin Luther King is a man who believed in reconciliation and only rarely ______ a grudge during his Civil Rights movement. he carried did he carry when he carried that he carried

The committee members resented ______ them of the meeting. the president that he did not tell the president not to inform the president’s not informing the president that he failed informing

My tutor frequently reminds me to ______ myself of every chance to improve my English. avail inform assure notify

It’s a modern city, full of ______ tower block. rising heaving ascending soaring

The author took a ______ approach to the topic.He presented both sides of the issue evenhandedly and did not let his own feelings intrude. dispassionate passionate disputable contesting

The path follows the river closely, occasionally ______ round a clump of trees. diverting diverging deviating deflecting

They ______ so tired if they ______ for a whole day. wouldn’t feel, didn’t walk wouldn’t feel, weren’t walking wouldn’t be feeling, weren’t walking wouldn’t be feeling, hadn’t been walking

TRIA ______.

The private sector is hesitant in taking sole responsibility for terrorism insurance because ______.

The extension of TRIA should aim at ______.

If the government let TRIA expire, ______.

The writer is ______ in developing the argument in this passage.