閱讀高分測驗
The Wall Street Storm
While most people get wise to what a *credit rating* is and some even know their own scores, some people still know nothing about it and make common mistakes that affect their credit. To those who never borrow money, don't plan on purchasing a house or a car on credit, their credit rating really is not that important to them. However, most people will do at least one of these things in their lives, if not all three. Their credit rating will then make a *contribution* on whether or not a bank or other *merchants* will lend them money.
A credit rating is a ranking of how likely you are to be able to reimburse a lender on time. Strangely it is not directly linked to how much money you make, but rather to how well you have managed your *debt* in the past. Somewhat unexpectedly, most people who have no debt have poor credit ratings. This is mostly because the banks have no history to go on as to whether that person would pay back debt if they had one.
In order to get a good credit rating, here are a few tips.
Firstly, you need to have a few credit cards which you *constantly* make more than a minimum *contribution* to. Having too many credit cards counts against your rating, as does any where payments are not *consistent*. Having interest payments on your credit card is not good, but missing *overdue* payments is much worse. One missed payment results in a *lower* score for up to a couple years!
Secondly, you should have some loan from a bank that is paid off on time and in full. A line of credit is an option, but a mortgage with a bank is much better.
Last but not least, avoid bad debt. If you owe money and do not pay it off promptly or try to avoid it, the creditors can chase after you in court. If they do this, your credit history can *fall* very quickly, and will take years to *prosper* again.
雖然大部分的人都知道何謂信用評價，有人甚至知道自己的分數，還是有些人對此一無所知，並犯下會影響其信用的常見錯誤。對那些從來不借錢、不計畫貸款買房子或汽車的人來說，他們的信用評價對他們真的沒那麼重要。然而，大多數人就算不是以上三件全都做，一輩子至少也會做其中一件。那麼他們的信用評價就會是銀行或是商人是否願意借錢給他們的考慮憑據。
信用評價就是你是否能夠準時償還借款的評價。奇怪的是，這跟你賺多少錢沒有直接關係，而是跟你過去如何管理債務有關。有點出乎意料的是，那些大多數沒有負債的人的信用評價都很差。這主要是因為銀行無法從歷史紀錄中得知此人若是有債務的話，是否能夠償還所致。
首先，你需要有一些你持續有做最低消費的信用卡。擁有太多信用卡就跟沒有始終如一的支付欠款一樣不利於你的信用。信用卡使用循環利息是不好的，不過逾期未繳款更糟糕。一筆未繳的款項將會導致較低的信用評價長達數年的時間！
其次，你應該有一些準時繳付並繳足的銀行貸款。信貸貸款是一種選擇，不過向銀行做抵押貸款會要好得多。
最後但並非最不重要的一點是，避免呆帳。如果你欠錢又準時還款或甚至試圖賴帳，債權人可以追你追到法院去。如果他們這麼做了，你的信用紀錄會掉得很快，而且要好幾年時間才有可能再恢復。
For many years, the experts have argued backwards and forwards on where the best place to invest money is. Most people used to agree that property was the safest bet, however with the recent *downturn* of the world housing market, even that is uncertain.
For most people, buying many houses is impractical. So they need to put their *cash* savings somewhere *secure* that earns some interest. Many agree that putting them in mutual funds is a safe option. A mutual fund is a collection of shares from different companies with *diversification* which is administered by a *commercial* bank. You buy a portion of the fund, and the bank uses those funds to invest in a collection of stocks. Making the risk lower, they buy *quotas* of stocks from *representative* companies across the market, but the gains are not as great as they might be for a single stock.
That’s why many people like to *target* stocks directly. They can definitely make a lot more money if they have good luck. In some cases, a bit of background knowledge and research will *result* in smart decision. However, too many people rely simply on luck, or a tip. Some people try various theories to *project* what might happen in the future, and buy accordingly.
The stock market crash of late 2008 has proved that whatever research was done, much of investing in the stock market depends on luck, and sometimes that luck will be bad.
Perhaps the best solution is to *merge* the two, The 60/30/10 *rating* is a good one. If you *load* 60% of your money in low risk mutual funds, 30 percent of your funds in low risk dividend paying stocks and gamble the rest like a Vegas roller, chances are you should at worst break even over time, and probably *prosper* well in the long run. Over the short term, you might be up 30% one week and down 40% the next. But as long as you see *sustainable* growth in your portfolio, you have the correct strategy.
多年來，專家來回地爭論投資資金最好的地方是什麼。過去大多數人會同意房地產是最安全的賭注，然而由於最近世界房地產市場陷入低潮，即使是房地產也靠不住了。
對大多數人來說，購買許多房子是不切實際的。因此，他們需要把現金儲蓄放在某個可以賺取一些利息的安全之地。許多人同意將錢放在共同基金是安全的選擇。共同基金是指一家商業銀行以多樣化的方式管理不同公司的大量股票。你購買一部分基金，然後銀行利用這些基金投資大量的股票。為了降低風險，他們會購買市場上具代表性的公司的配額股票，但獲利可能不會如單一股票那樣的好。
這就是為什麼許多人喜歡直接以股票為目標。如果運氣好的話，他們絕對能賺更多的錢。在某些情況下，一點點背景知識和研究就能做出明智的決策。然而，太多人只靠運氣或是內部情報。有些人會用各種理論來推斷未來可能發生的事情，並根據推測來購買股票。
2008年年底股票市場崩盤已經證明了不管做了什麼研究，股票市場的投資絕大多數還是靠運氣，而且有時候運氣會很差。
也許最好的解決辦法就是合併兩者，以60/30/10的比例來投資。如果你將你60 ％的資金放在低風險的共同基金、30%的資金放在低風險的配息股票，並把剩下的拿來像賭城玩家那樣做股票投機，這段時間最壞的可能情況就是不賺不賠，但是從長遠來看可能為有不錯的獲利。在短期內，你的錢可能會一週增加30 ％，並在下一週下降40 ％，但是只要你的投資組合獲利能維持在一定水準，就表示你的策略是正確的。
商業貿易篇單字
Aa
ac•com•plish v. 完成
o succeed in doing, to reach the end of, complete
This task is accomplished by great efforts.
這項任務是經過巨大努力才完成的。
ac•com•plish•ment n. 成就
the completion of an act or under-taking
Developing the space shuttle was quite an accomplishment.
開發太空梭是一項了不起的成就。
ac•cord•ing adv. 依據；按照
depending on
According to these figures, our company is running well.
根據這些數字，我們的公司經營得不錯。
ac•count n. 帳目；理由／v. 解釋說明
＠record for business dealings, a reason; to give or serve as an explanation＠
The sum of money has been transferred into your account.
那筆錢已轉到你的賬戶裡了。
ac•count•ing n. 會計
the bookkeeping methods involved in making a financial record of business transactions
Mike should go in for accounting, because he has a good head for figures.
麥克應從事會計工作，因為他具有計算的才能。
ac•cu•rate adj. 精確的
conforming exactly to fact; errorless
The manager impressed on his office staff the importance of keeping accurate records.
經理讓辦公室裡的員工深刻了解做精確記錄的重要性。
af•fair n. 事情；事務；業務
something done or to be done; business
同 business 業務
The manager is responsible for dealing with the affairs between foreign companies.
這位經理負責與國外公司之間的相關事務。
af•flu•ent adj. 豐富的；富裕的
having abundance; wealthy
A car and a house are considered as necessities in an affluent society.
在一個富裕的社會裡，汽車和房子都被當作是必需品。
Day 07 商葉貿易篇單字高分特訓
I. 選擇 Choice
請在題目下方的四個選項中，挑出「最適合」填入空格中的選項：
( ) 01. He took three months to ____ this task.
(A) accomplish (B) accomplishment
(C) accomplice (D) accompaniment
( ) 02. I don’t know how he will ____ his strange behavior this time.
(A) account of (B) account for
(C) account to (D) account with
( ) 03. The police required him to give an ____ account of the accident.
(A) accrue (B) accrual
(C) accurate (D) accuse
( ) 04. She is so poor that she can’t even ____ to buy a dress.
(A) affront (B) afford
(C) affect (D) afloat
( ) 05. It’s much easier to get into ____ than to get out of ____.
(A) debt, debt (B) debt, doubt
(C) doubt, double (D) debate, date
( ) 06. We can give you 20% ____ if you buy two of them.
(A) discord (B) discount
(C) discoid (D) discontent
( ) 07. He was late for work ____ the very heavy traffic in the morning.
(A) due in (B) due at
(C) due from (D) due to
( ) 08. I am afraid that your passport has ____ already.
(A) aspired (B) expiated
(C) expired (D) inspired
( ) 09. I don’t know why the house owner refused to renew his ____.
(A) leash (B) lease
(C) leaves (D) least
( ) 10. Many things ____ her mind and she didn’t know to whom she could pour out these things.
(A) occupied (B) occurred
(C) occluded (D) cooperated
( ) 11. You will infringe upon others’ rights if you use the book for ____ purposes.
(A) commerce (B) commentary
(C) commercial (D) commence
II. 改錯 Error Correction
在改錯題中，如果你認為A、B、C、D四處橫線中，C選項是錯誤的，那麼就把C標出來，然後找到要更改的單子或片語，再把正確的答案寫出來。
答題範例：
例如：One of the ＊essential＊A features of the modern ＊skyscraper＊B ＊is being＊C the ＊elevator＊D.
此題就可以這樣作答：
Answer C．is being 應改成 is。
01. Their ＊views＊A are not in ＊according＊B with us ＊yet＊C, so we must have a ＊meeting＊D this afternoon.
Answer ________________________________________________________
02. These ＊commodities＊A are not ＊on＊B the free list. That’s to say, at ＊least＊C for now, they are not ＊exempted＊D taxes.
Answer _________________________________________________________
03. A colleague ＊in＊A another department will be ＊transferred＊B to our department and ＊assistance＊C you ＊with＊D the task.
Answer _________________________________________________________
04. It is ＊said＊A that he will be ＊assign＊B to a new ＊post＊C soon because of his ＊outstanding＊D work.
Answer _________________________________________________________
05. The firm went ＊bankruptcy＊A with ＊mountains＊B of debt before the ＊project＊C was ＊completed＊D.
Answer _________________________________________________________
III. 高分提示
建議學習者可以利用，把答錯的單字標示在書籍最後的「高分索引」，如此一來，在真正上場考試前，可以利用高分索引快速地複習自己比較不熟悉的單字，讓複習的效果真正達到高效率！
I. 選擇 Choice
01 (A) 題目中譯 他用了三個月的時間完成任務。
02 (B) 題目中譯 我不知道他會如何解釋他這次的奇怪行為。
★account for有「說明原因，解釋的意思」，正好切合題意。其他三個選項的短語都不是很完整。比如：account of。只有give an account of才有「報告，敍述，說明」的意思，account of意思結構不完整，導致其在搭配和意思上都行不通。因此，其他三項均排除。
03 (C) 題目中譯 員警要求他對這次事故做出準確的描述。
04 (B) 題目中譯 她是如此的窮，以致她甚至連洋裝都買不起。
05 (A) 題目中譯 借錢容易還錢難。
06 (B) 題目中譯 如果你買兩件的話，我們可以給你20％的折扣。
07 (D) 題目中譯 由於早上交通十分容易塞車，所以他上班遲到了。
我們可以從句子意思來判斷句子前後成分的關係。上班遲到和交通擁堵，應該是一對因果關係。所以，選擇的短語也應表示因果關係才對。四個選項中只有due to的意思是「由於，起因於」，因此，應選擇該選項。
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