UNIT TWELVE
TEXT ONE
The idea that mobile phones bring economic benefits is now widely accepted. In places with bad roads, few trains and parlous land lines, they substitute for travel, allow price data to be distributed more quickly and easily, enable traders to reach wider markets and generally ease the business of doing business. Leonard Waverman of the London Business School has estimated that an extra ten mobile phones per 100 people in a typical developing country leads to an extra half a percentage point of growth in GDP per person. To realise the economic benefits of mobile phones, governments in such countries need to do away with state monopolies, issue new licences to allow rival operators to enter the market and slash taxes on handsets. With few exceptions (hallo, Ethiopia), they have done so, and mobile phones are now spreading fast, even in the poorest parts of the world.
As mobile phones have spread, a new economic benefit is coming into view: using them for banking, and so improving access to financial services, not just telecoms networks. Pioneering m-banking projects in the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa show the way. These “branchless” schemes typically allow customers to deposit and withdraw cash through a mobile operator's airtime-resale agents, and send money to other people via text messages that can be exchanged for cash by visiting an agent. Workers can then be paid by phone; taxi-drivers and delivery-drivers can accept
payments without carrying cash around; money can be easily sent to friends and family. A popular use is to deposit money before making a long journey and then withdraw it at the other end, which is safer than carrying lots of cash.
There is no need to set up a national network of branches or cash machines. M-banking schemes can be combined with microfinance loans, extending access to credit and enabling users to establish a credit history. Some schemes issue customers with debit cards linked to their m-banking accounts. All this has the potential to give the “unbanked” masses access to financial services, and bring them into the formal economy.
What can governments do to foster m-banking? As with the spread of mobile phones themselves, a lot depends on putting the right regulations in place. They need to be tight enough to protect users and discourage money laundering, but open enough to allow new services to emerge. The existing banking model is both over- and
under-protective, says Tim Lyman of the World Bank, because “it did not foresee the convergence of telecommunications and financial services.”
In many countries only licensed banks are allowed to collect deposits. Even if a mobile operator forms a partnership with a bank, its agents may have to comply with banking rules covering everything from the height of the counter to the installation of alarms. Financial institutions may have to provide detailed statements to the central bank every week, which is tricky for organisations with agents in remote areas. Some countries have rigid rules on the documents demanded of anybody opening an account, which excludes many.
1. The following are advantages of economic services through mobile phones except that_____
[A] price data can be distributed quicky and easily.
[B] traders can extend their market. [C] doing business is more convenient. [D] the growth of GDP per person can be greatly promoted.
2.Which one of the following statements is TURE of the m-banking schemes? [A] They can prevent safer services than the traditional banking.
[B] They could provide the customers with credit services
[C] They have been experimented in some developing countrie.
[D] They could encourage people to use fiancial services
3. The word “convergence” (Line 5,
Paragraph 4) most probably means_____
文章剖析：
[A] conversation. [B] combination. [C] similarity. [D] exchange.
4.Towards m-banking, the governments’ attitudes can be said to be_____ [A] supportive. [B] opposing. [C] indifferent. [D] unclear.
5. The best title of this passage can be_____
[A] Economic Benefits Brought by Mobile Phone.
[B] M-banking—Marriage of Mobile Phone and Banking.
[C] Mobile Phone Used for Banking. [D] The Pioneering M-banking Schemes.
这篇文章介绍了移动电话的新型银行业务。第一段讲述移动电话带来的经济利益；第二、三段讲述利用移动电话的一种新的银行业务；第四、五段讲述目前的银行法令法规对这种移动银行新业务的限制。 词汇注释:
parlous n. 危险的 debit n. 借方 convergence n. 汇聚，会合
难句突破：
（1） These “branchless” schemes typically allow customers to deposit and withdraw
cash through a mobile operator's airtime-resale agents, and send money to other people via text messages that can be exchanged for cash by visiting an agent. [主体句式]These schemes allow customers to…, and send money to…
[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，谓语是并列的两个动词结构，后面的结构中that引导的定语从句用来修饰前面的text messages。
[句子译文] 这些“无行”方案允许顾客通过移动运营商的空中转售代理商来存取现金，也可以通过文本信息把钱支付给对方，对方只需找到代理商就可以换成现金。
（2） Even if a mobile operator forms a partnership with a bank, its agents may have
to comply with banking rules covering everything from the height of the counter to the installation of alarms. [主体句式] Even if…, its agents may…
[结构分析] 这是一个复合句, 主句中covering…现在分词短语做前面banking rules的定语。
[句子译
文]即使是移动运营商和银行建立了合作关系，其职员也必须服从银行的规则，这些规则包罗万象，从柜台的高度到报警器的安装都有说明。 题目分析：
1. The following are advantages of 1．以下除了_____外是移动电话经economic services through mobile phones 济服务的优点。 except that_____ [A] price data can be distributed quicky and easily. [B] traders can extend their market. [C] doing business is more convenient. [D] the growth of GDP per person can be greatly promoted. [答案]D
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[A] 价格数据可以快速、方便地传递 [B] 商人可以扩展自己的市场 [C] 做生意更为方便 [D] 人均GDP的增长会得到巨大的推动 [分析] 细节题。文章第一段讲述了移动电话经济服务的一些情况，选项A第一段有提及；选项B，文章也提到了上人们可以拥有更为广阔的市场；选项C， 第一段也提到了可以使得做生意更为简单；选项D，虽然文中第一段提到“伦敦商业学校的Leonard
Waverman预计在典型的发展中国家，每百人再多10部移动电话就可以使人均GDP多增加0.5个百分点”，但是实际情况是否如此并没有说明。因此，D选项为正确答案。
2.Which one of the following statements is TURE of the m-banking shemes? [A] They can prevent safer services than the traditional banking. [B] They could provide the customers with credit services [C] They have been experimented in some developing countries. [D] They could encourage people to use fiancial services. [答案]C
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 细节题。选项A，根据第三段， 项目可以让顾客免于携带现金，这样更为安全一些，但是这并不是和传统的银行业相比较的，是否比其安全有待今后观察；选项B，第四段可以看出，该项目可以和信用卡连接上，提供相关服务；选项C，第三段指出在菲律宾、南非等国家的有一些开拓性项目，这些都是发展中国家，该陈述正确；选项D，第四段指出，项目可以使那些不用银行的人开始使用银行服务。选项C为正确答案。 3. The word “convergence” (Line 5, Paragraph 4) most probably means_____ [A] conversation. [B] combination. 3. “convergence” （第四段第五行）最有可能的意思是_____ [A] 对话。 [B] 结合。 2. 关于移动银行项目, 下列哪个陈述是正确的? [A] 项目相对传统的银行来说更加安全。 [B] 项目可以为顾客提供信用卡服务。 [C] 项目已经在一些发展中国家进行了试验。 [D] 项目可以鼓励人们使用金融服务。
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