WHITE--COLLAR CRIME

1 A variety of illegal acts committed by people in the course of their employment, for their own personal gain, are collectively known as white-collar crime. Embezzlement, theft, and trading securities on the basis of insider information are common forms of white-collar crime. The majority of cases involve low-level employees who steal because they are under temporary financial stress. Many plan to put the money back as soon as possible but may never do so. Their crimes are usually never discovered because the amounts of money are small, no one notices the loss, and law enforcement agencies have few resources for investigating this type of crime.
2 However, there are some very large cases of white-collar crime, such as multimillion- dollar stock market or banking scams that take years to discover and are extremely difficult and expensive to prosecute. In the 1980s, hundreds of executives of American savings and loan associations took advantage of a change in the law that allowed them to make unsecured loans to friends and relatives--which they then did, in the amount of $500 billion in unpaid debt. Only a few of those executives were prosecuted, and little of the money was recovered. American taxpayers ultimately covered the amount at a cost of about $4,000 per person.
3 White-collar crime is not confined to the business sector. Government employment, especially at the city level, also provides opportunities to line one's pockets. For example, building inspectors accept bribes and kickbacks, auctioneers rig sales of seized property, and full-time employees receive welfare payments.
4 Although white-collar crime is less violent than street crime, it involves far more money and harm to the public than crimes committed by street criminals. It is likely that there are more criminals in the office suites than in the streets, yet the nature of white- collar crime makes it difficult to uncover the offenses and pursue the offenders. As the economy shifts from manufacturing to services and electronic commerce, opportunities for white-collar crime will multiply, while the technology needed to stop such crimes will lag behind.

单选题 Why does the author mention savings and loan associations in paragraph 2?
A. To compare stock market scams with savings and loan scams
B. To give an example of a very large case of white-collar crime
C. To argue in favor of changing the law to restrict unsecured loans
D. To explain why American taxpayers do not trust the government

单选题 The phrase line one's pockets in paragraph 3 means
A. bribe officials
B. advance one's career
C. take money illegally
D. hide one's crimes

单选题 Which sentence below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 4?
A. White-collar criminals may be more numerous than street criminals but are difficult to catch because the crimes often go unnoticed.
B. It is easier to solve crimes that take place in the office than to solve crimes that occur in the streets, but street crimes are more serious.
C. White-collar crime is very similar to street crime, although street crime gets more attention because it is more offensive.
D. It takes a very long time to discover white- collar crime and identify the criminals, but street crimes are solved relatively quickly.

多选题 An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

A. Most white-collar crime involves low-level employees who take small amounts of money and are never found out.
B. Examples of white-collar crime are embezzlement and trading securities on the basis of insider information.
C. White-collar crime occurs in both business and government, causing great harm to the public.
D. Some employees commit white-collar crime by destroying documents and making false statements.
E. In the 1980s, a change in the law allowed executives to make unsecured loans to friends and relatives.
F. The nature of white--collar crime makes it difficult to discover and expensive to prosecute.