单选题 European regulators have contributed to their banks' decline, in two ways. First, they are specifying how much banks can pay in bonuses relative to base pay. Second, they are trying to force banks to hold more capital and to make it easier to allow them to fail by, for instance, separating their retail deposits from their wholesale businesses.
The first approach is foolish. It will drive up the fixed costs of Europe's banks and reduce their flexibility to cut expenses in downturns (低迷时期). They will therefore struggle to compete in America or fast-growing Asian markets with foreign rivals that have the freedom to pay the going rate. The second approach is sensible. Switzerland and Britain are making progress in ending the implicit taxpayer subsidy that supports banks that are too big to fail. The collapse of Ireland's economy is warning enough of what happens when governments feel compelled to help out banks that weaken their economies.
Some European bankers argue that the continent needs investment-banking champions. Yet it is not obvious that European firms or taxpayers gain from having national banks that are good at packaging and selling American subprime loans (次级贷款). Indeed, it is American taxpayers and investors who should worry about the dominance of a few Wall Street firms. They bear the main risk of future bail-outs (紧急援助). They would benefit from greater competition in investment banking. IPO fees are much higher in America than elsewhere, mainly because the market is dominated by a few big investment banks.
Wall Street's new titans say they are already penalised by new international rules that insist they have somewhat bigger capital buffers (缓冲) than smaller banks because they pose a greater risk to economies if they fail. Yet the huge economies of scale and implicit subsidies from being too big to fail more than offset (抵消) the cost of the buffers. Increasing the capital surcharges for big banks would do more for the stability of the financial system than the thicket of Dodd-Frank rules ever will.
Five years on from the frightening summer of 2008, America's big banks are back, and that is a good thing. But there are still things that could make Wall Street safer.

单选题 The first approach is foolish because ______.

A.it will do harm to Europe's economy
B.it will increase the costs of banks in Europe
C.it will cut down the pay of European bankers
D.Europe's banks have to compete in global markets

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。选项与原文对比。根据the first approach is foolish定位到第二段首句。第二句即是答案：It will drive up the fixed costs of Europe's banks，该句与选项B最接近，故B为答案。A、C均属于无中生有。选项D对应原文为：they will therefore struggle to compete in America or fast-growing Asian markets(可见他们是与美国和亚洲市场竞争)，而不是D选项说的global markets，故选项D是错误的。

单选题 Switzerland and Britain are making progress in ______.

A.introducing more foreign capital
B.competing with American and Asian banks
C.helping out banks that have gone bankrupt
D.ending the taxpayer subsidy that supports large banks

单选题 Who should worry about the dominance of few Wall Street corporations?

A.European bankers.
B.Small companies.
C.American investors.
D.European taxpayers.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据dominance of few Wall Street corporations定位到第三段中间部分：Indeed, it is American taxpayers and investors who should worry about the dominance of a few Wall Street firms.该句中间有个it is sb. Who...的强调句式，答案即在此处，即American taxpayers and investors，而备选项中唯有C是合适的，虽然不完整，但是在四个选项中是最佳答案。

单选题 Compared with small banks, larger ones have bigger capital buffers because ______.

A.they will threaten the economies if they go bankrupt
B.the government pays more attention to larger banks
C.larger banks have more fund than smaller ones
D.they can do more for the country's economy

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。选项与原文对比。根据small banks，capital buffers等词定位到第四段首句：they have somewhat bigger capital buffers (缓冲) than smaller banks because they pose a greater risk to economies if they fail，答案就在because后面，they pose a greater risk to economies if they fail=A，其中pose a greater risk to economies=threaten the economies, fail=go bankrupt，综上，A为正确答案。

单选题 In Paragraph 4, Wall Street's new titans refer to ______.

A.small banks
B.big investment banks
C.large European firms
D.American taxpayers and investors

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 语义题。选项与原文对比。我们来看本句背景：Wall Street's new titans say they are already penalised by new international rules that insist they have somewhat bigger capital buffers (缓冲) than smaller banks...本句中关键词they...than smaller banks，既然和小银行形成比较，they应该指的是大银行。而they在本句中指代的是Wall Street's new titans，因此我们可以推测出这里的new titans指的是大银行，即上文提到的a few big investment banks，故答案为B。