单选题
Natural disasters strike rich countries as well as needy ones, but the trail of devastation they leave behind is usually far greater in poor places. Worse, insurance payouts cover a much larger chunk of the costs of recovery in rich countries than in poor ones, where few individuals or companies take out disaster cover. Most of the burden of financing reconstruction falls on foreign governments and multilateral agencies. It will be no different in Haiti after the earthquake that struck this month. Developing countries have some options to help them manage the fallout from natural disasters. The World Bank helped the Mexican government raise $290m in October by placing "catastrophe bonds", which pay investors generous yields against the loss of their principal in the event that disaster strikes. Until now such bonds have largely been the preserve of rich-country issuers: in 2009 Munich Re estimates that 80% of issuance was to cover risks in America. But Francis Ghesquiere of the World Bank doubts that a country as poor as Haiti, with no experience on international bond markets, will start issuing catastrophe bonds. Risk-sharing mechanisms can enable the poorest nations to pool their insurance-buying power. Haiti is getting a payout of around $8m from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility. (CCRIF), which came into being in 2007. The CCRIF has a fund made up of contributions from donors and member countries, which allows it to cover payouts of up to $10m itself and has additional capacity of $110m obtained through international reinsurance markets. Payouts are based simply on the severity of the disaster (in Haiti's case, the magnitude of the earthquake), and the amount of coverage purchased, and are paid out in two weeks. The money is intended to ensure that lack of cash does not hamper basic government functions. But Pamela Cox, the World Bank's vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean, points out that it is sometimes politically difficult for the government of a poor country to explain why it is spending scarce money on insurance premiums rather than things that may seem more pressing in normal times. Not every disaster triggers a payout. Haiti purchased significantly more hurricane insurance than earthquake insurance through the CCRIF. And purchasing enough cover to meet the need for funds after something like the Haitian quake would prove prohibitively expensive. Countries as poor as Haiti are far more likely to have their premiums paid by donors, who funded its CCRIF premium of $385,000.
单选题
The suffering of Haiti after the earthquake would be worse than that of rich countries because ______. A. the insurance money covers only a small part of its reconstruction costs B. the insurance payout might be kept by individuals or companies C. foreign governments can't offer enough help because of financial burden D. its government might transfer the burden of recovery of multilateral agencies
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[考点] 事实细节题 [解析] 第1段首句就提出灾后穷国遭遇要比富国惨，并在第2句解释了原因，而从本段最后一句“it will be no different, in Haiti”可以推断海地也是如此。解释的原因包括“insurance payouts cover...where few individuals or companies take out disaster cover”即穷国的赔付金支持重建是不够的，很少有公司或个人出钱来救灾。所以A为答案，“take out”是拿出的意思，故排除B，第3句“most 0f the burden...falls 0n foreign governments and multilateral agencies”是指灾后重建的钱要靠外国政府和多边机构，C、D不符合文意，故排除。
单选题
What does the author imply by " Until now such bonds have largely been the preserve of rich- country issuers"? A. The catastrophe bonds are mainly reserved by rich countries. B. Only rich countries have the ability to issue the catastrophe bonds. C. Rich countries seldom issue the catastrophe bonds. D. Most of the catastrophe bonds are raised in rich countries.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[考点] 推理判断题 [解析] 第2段第2句首先解释了灾难债券，通过“pay investors generous yields against the loss”可以得知赔付金额是很多的，所以“until now such bonds have largely been the preserve of rich-country issuers”，其中preserve的本意是“禁猎区，保护区”，在本句中是指因为赔付金额巨大，所以只有富国才有能力发行这种债券，所以灾难债券成了富国专有的领域，因此B是正确选项。
单选题
Which of the following statements is NOT true about the CCRIF? A. The sources of its fund are private donations and financing of member countries. B. Its supplemental payouts are attainable from international reinsurance markets. C. The amount of the insurance payout is decided by the seriousness of the natural disaster. D. The government can resume is overall operation with the insurance money after the strike.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[考点] 事实细节题 [解析] 第3段主要介绍了风险共享机制，第3句“a fund made up of contributions from donors and member countries”是说资金来源，所以A的表述是正确的，故排除。“has additional capacity of $110m obtained through international reinsurance markets”中的additional capacity就是B中所指的追加赔偿金，所以B排除。根据第4句“Payouts are based...on the severity of the disaster”可知，C符合原文意思，排除。只有最后一句中“The money is intended to...not hamper basic government functions”是指赔付金能确保政府的基本功能，而不是D所说的整体运转，所以D是符合题目要求的正确选项。
单选题
What is the obstacle that poor countries might experience in preparing their disaster insurance? A. It is not easy to explain the important items of insurance in normal times. B. The severity of the disaster is not big enough to trigger a payout. C. The insurance premiums are too expensive for poor countries to afford. D. The insurance payout can't meet the need for recovery.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[考点] 事实细节题 [解析] 最后一段的第1句中提到的困难是难以解释“why if is spending scarce money on insurance premiums rather than things that may seem more pressing in normal times”，即为何钱用在保险上而不是购买一些平时更急需的物品，可知A表述错误，排除。第2句“not every disaster triggers a payout”是指不是所有灾难都能有赔付，从下文的例子可以看出原因是买错了保险，而不是B所说的严重程度不够，故排除。第3句“purchasing enough cover to meet the need...prove prohibitively expensive”是指如果要使保险金完全满足救援重建所需，就需要巨额的保金，以至于像海地这样的国家“are far more likely to have their premiums paid by donors”，也就是说国家负担不起这笔钱，所以排除D。故正确的选项为C。
单选题
The author's attitude towards the insurance facility is ______. A. objective B. negative C. positive D. biased