单选题Debunking Negotiation Myths Before developing a more effective negotiation strategy, we need to dispel several faulty assumptions and myths about negotiation. These myths hamper people"s ability to learn effective negotiation skills and in some cases reinforce poor negotiation skills. A pervasive belief is that good negotiation skills are something that people are born with, not something that can be readily learned. This is false because most excellent negotiators are self-made. In fact, there are very few naturally gifted negotiators. We tend to hear their stories, but we must remember that their stories are selective, meaning that it is always possible for someone to have a lucky day or a fortunate experience. This myth is often perpetuated by the tendency of people to judge negotiation skills by their car-dealership experience. Whereas purchasing a car is certainly an important and common type of negotiation, it is not the best context by which your negotiation skills can be judged. The most important negotiations are those that we engage in every day with our colleagues, supervisors, coworkers and business associates. These relationships provide a much better index of one"s effectiveness in negotiation. In short, effective negotiation requires practice and feedback. The problem is that most of us do not get an opportunity to develop effective negotiation skills in a disciplined fashion, rather, most of us learn by doing. As the second myth reveals, experience is helpful, but not sufficient. We have all met that person at the cocktail party or on the airplane who boasts about his or her great negotiation feats and how he or she learned on the job. It is only partly true that experience can improve negotiation skills; in fact, native experience is largely ineffective in improving negotiation skills. There are three strikes against natural experience as an effective teacher. First, if a person does not know how well he or she has performed in the negotiation, it is nearly impossible to improve performance. For example, can you imagine trying to learn mathematics without ever doing homework or taking tests? The second problem is that our memories tend to be selective, meaning that people tend to remember their successes and forget their failures or shortcomings. This is, of course, comforting to our ego, but it does not improve our ability to negotiate. Finally, experience improves our confidence, but not necessarily our accuracy. People with more experience grow more and more confident, but the accuracy of their judgment and the effectiveness of their behaviour do not increase in a commensurate fashion. Overconfidence can be dangerous because it may lead people to take unwise risks. The third pervasive myth is that effective negotiation necessitates taking risks and gambles. In negotiation, this may mean saying things like "this is my final offer" or "take it or leave it" or using threats and bluffs. This is what we call a "tough" style of negotiation, Although these negotiators are rarely effective, we tend to be impressed by the tough negotiator. An interesting exercise is to ask mangers and anyone else who negotiates to describe their approach to negotiating. Many seasoned negotiators believe that their negotiation style involves a lot of "gut feeling", intuition, and "in-the-moment" responses. We believe that this type of intuition does not serve people well. Effective negotiation involves deliberate thought and preparation, and it is quite systematic.

单选题I will always remember my mother"s last few days in this world. On February 14th, 2000, my class went on a field trip to the beach. I had so much fun. When we returned to school, my teacher told me to go to the headmaster"s office. When I got into the office, I saw a police officer. Suddenly I realized something was wrong. The police officer told me what had happened and we went to pick my sister up. After that, we went to the hospital and waited. Time went slowly. Finally, we got to see our mother. It was terrible. On the next day, the headmaster came and told my two teachers what had happened. I was taking a rest that day. I knew it had something to do with my mother. I kept thinking that she either died or had gotten better. How I wished that she had gotten better. When my teacher took me outside, my sister ran up to me. She started crying, "She"s gone. Teresa, mommy"s gone. She"s dead." I couldn"t believe it. We jumped into the car and drove straight to the hospital. Most of my family were there. The silence was terrible. I knew I had to say goodbye. Today when I look back, I still miss my mother very much, but I know that I will live. My mother was a strong mother, who had the biggest heart. My mother was an angel walking on the earth. I will always remember her as living. When someone is asked who their hero (英雄) is, they usually say someone famous, like Michael Jordan or Britney Spears. When someone asks me who my hero is, I tell them, my mother. My mother lives every day. That is what makes her a true hero.

单选题Which of the following was NOT mentioned as a factor contributing to the spread of employment?

单选题·Read the following letter.·Choose the best word to fill each gap.·For each question (19 -33), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.·One answer has been given as an example. Most managers make decisions under conditions of risk. and the managers at Super Drinks are no exception. With 10 percent of the domestic soft-drink market under its {{U}}(19) {{/U}} the company has now {{U}}(20) {{/U}} its horizons and moved into the wine industry. Having {{U}}(21) {{/U}} ＄110 million buying the Taste Wine corporation. Super Drinks are currently in the process of {{U}}(22) {{/U}} to the wine business the same tools that have made coke a popular soft drink in the world -- money, muscle and marketing. The firm is trying to {{U}}(23) {{/U}} its newly acquired wine business to the soft-drink mold that has proved {{U}}(24) {{/U}}. Can Super Drinks make this {{U}}(25) {{/U}} pay off? The company is optimistic. For example. while Taste grossed only ＄65 million the year it was {{U}}(26) {{/U}}, Super Drinks' executives believe it will gross over ＄1 billion by the end of the 2010s. nearly 15 times Taste's current {{U}}(27) {{/U}}. On the other hand. there are several things that Taste has going for. One is the Super Drinks' money and management expertise that are available for this wine {{U}}(28) {{/U}} The other is that while Taste, in the past, {{U}}(29) {{/U}} only the New York table wine business and produced sweeter wines that {{U}}(30) {{/U}} less than 10 percent of the domestic market, the Taste wine brand was the most commonly {{U}}(31) {{/U}} of all. Building on these {{U}}(32) {{/U}}, the management hopes to. via effective decision making, make Taste wine almost as {{U}}(33) {{/U}}as Super Drinks.

单选题Charlie Has a Chance to Get AheadCharlie is employed known an accountant in a small assembly plant in the Midwest. In his seven years at Astro-Technology, he has become (19) with most of the 200 employees and enjoys the (20) of his office and the company attitude toward him. However, in the past three years, he has not received a promotion, and there is little chance for one in the near future. The raises he has (21) have not kept up with inflation. He has discussed the situation frequently with his wife, Rita, who is. working as a personnel officer at a research firm in town.Although Rita has never told Charlie, she feels that her job has more status than his (22) Charlie earns slightly more than income, she has more flexible hours, more holidays with pay, better company fringe benefits, and apparently more status when the two companies' organizational charters are (23) Rita enjoys her present position and the salary she receives.The two daughters are doing well in grammar school and are active in girl scouts and the 4H Club.A month ago Charlie (24) a new position for an accountant in their home office in Dallas. He knows that his company has a (25) of promoting from within, and his supervisor feels that he would have a good chance of getting the position. It would mean an immediate 15 percent (26) in pay; more prestige, because he would have a private officer and more (27) for promotions. He applied for the position, but was afraid to tell his wife. When the interview was (28) he informed Rita that he had to go to Dallas for a seminar.Charlie was (29) with Dallas and the possible neighbourhoods his family could select to make their home. The home office was impressive! Dark walnut and chrome were everywhere, and the personnel in the office were very friendly. After a tour of the facility he had an interview with five managers.A week later he was (30) that he was one of the three finalists. He was excited and eager to accept the position if it was offered him. That night, when he told Rita, she Was (31) The move would mean they would have to leave their lovely home that they had been remodeling over the last seven years. The girls would have to find new friends.Finally and most (32) could Rita find a job as good as the one she has? It seemed unfair to force her to move and give up a good job, just so Charlie could satisfy his own (33) It turned into a real argument. Charlie wanted to move and Rita did not. Charlie was saying that he is a striver and Rita was saying she is happy with their status in life.

单选题Office Angels Employment Agency 14-16 Lockhart Road Wan Chai Hong Kong Tel 532 4365 Fax 532 4111 Dear Client, Office Angels is advising businesses at as far ahead as possible to ensure guaranteed staff cover during holiday periods. There is now a (19) shortage of skilled secretarial and administrative staff and this is (20) to get worse in the next twelve months. Businesses which require staff with experience of specialist computer applications are the most at (21) . You are advised to (22) our agency well before the staff are actually needed to be certain of filling gaps with adequately (23) personnel. If you don't, it's almost (24) that you will be left without the skills needed to (25) your office running smoothly. The (26) for the shortage of secretarial staff appears to be a combination of two (27) There has been an (28) in demand for secretarial services over the last few years, and at the same time there has been a (29) of students deciding to choose secretarial studies. Office Angels Agency would (30) to emphasize that businesses should not underestimate the difficulty of (31) experienced temporary staff. It is also necessary to make the (32) that businesses should be prepared for the fact that they may have to pay more for this kind of (33) in the future.

单选题·Read the text bel6w about a successful company.·Choose the correct word A, B, C or D on the opposite page to fill each gap.·For each question (19-33), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. Since HBC Leather Goods was formed in 2000. the company has reported one success story alter another. The company, which has become known for its top{{U}} (19) {{/U}}leather goods,{{U}} (20) {{/U}}its new collection last month at the May Hotel in London. It was{{U}} (21) {{/U}}by more than 300 people. For the first time the collection included smaller{{U}} (22) {{/U}}such as purses, wallets arm gift sets. The{{U}} (23) {{/U}}of HBC' success is the strength of the sales team, and it is{{U}} (24) {{/U}}that by the end of this year there could be well over three thousand salespeople world-wide selling HBC products. To{{U}} (25) {{/U}}the top sellers, HBC is offering them an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas in America in July. Managing director Peter White says that the five-day holiday will{{U}} (26) {{/U}}all flights as well as meals and hotel accommodation. Trips to the top shows and the Grand Canyon will also be{{U}} (27) {{/U}}. Mr. White says that the{{U}} (28) {{/U}}has had an enthusiastic{{U}} (29) {{/U}}. from the sales force, and will{{U}} (30) {{/U}}a continued increase in sales. The restructuring of the company's price range, which has{{U}} (31) {{/U}}in 70% of their goods now being priced under ￡ 30. will also{{U}} (32) {{/U}}sales. The new price range is{{U}} (33) {{/U}}at customers with a few spare pounds in their pockets making an impulse purchase.

单选题· Read the article below about losing an accent to achieve success, and the questions on the opposite page.· For each question 18--18, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose. {{B}} LOSING AN ACCENT TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS{{/B}} It was painful for Irwin Layton to warn one of his recently promoted managers that he had to correct his speech--or it could cost him his career. The word "voltage" came out of Edwin's mouth sounding like "woltage", and "this" sounded like "dis". This often resulted in mistakes being made in the shipments he ordered. "I was really forced into submission. They said, 'Either you improve your accent or your chances of getting promoted to senior management won't be good,'" said Edwin. Edwin is a junior manager making $ 51,000 a year at a manufacturing company in Mountain View. Despite of mixed feelings, he hired a speech coach to help him out. He is not alone. Accent reduction is rapidly turning into a major business for speech coaches in the Bay Area and other large cities. Young, first-generation foreign professionals in America hoping to improve their careers appear to make up the majority of those paying to get rid of their accents. "I have people whose command of English is good--they've gone to universities here in the United States, but when they go into the workplace, they are held back," said Arthur Compton, founder of the Institute of Language & Phonology in San Francisco. Edwin said he was embarrassed and tried to ignore incidents throughout his career when colleagues would point out his accent and do imitations of his pronunciations for fun. Edwin's experiences early in his career made him very sensitive to the problems he faced with his accent, and, like many others, he compensated by pushing himself to great extremes in education. "I felt that just because I had an accent, some people thought I was stupid," Edwin said. "They lost patience. They did not want to wait to listen for what I was trying to say. It made me feel so bad. I knew I had so much to offer--my primary motive for working there was to do what I could to improve the company. Yet, none of that seemed to matter to them because they didn't have patience." Speech coaches and many other professionals say that some Americans have a prejudice against those who speak with an accent. Losing an accent is hard work. Each language has certain sounds, as we can tell from the many different alphabets, that are just not found in other languages. We learn as babies to make these sounds by moving the lips, mouth, and tongue muscles in set patterns. So a speech coach tries and resets these patterns for people who speak other languages. For 13 weeks, and at a cost of $ 795, Edwin spent an hour each week with a speech instructor, pronouncing, over and over again, compound words such as "zookeeper", preposition phrases such as "in regard to", as well as words such as "this" and "voltage", all the while looking into a mirror at his mouth. Seeing himself allowed him to have a visual image to go along with the sounds he was making. "When class was over, I was exhausted," he said. But following the long procession of lessons, he improved by 78 percent, received a healthy injection of confidence, and admitted that he should have done it sooner. His boss, Layton, called it a "win-win" situation, and is so enthusiastic that he is sponsoring a second employee in the program.

单选题 · Read the article below about cheap frills in flying. · Choose the best word to fill each gap from A, B, C or D. · For each question (19-33), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. When is a low-cost airline not a 'no-frills' airline? When it adds frills, business travellers who have taken enthusiastically to value-for-money air{{U}} (19) {{/U}}are now being offered packages more commonly associated with mainstream airlines. To date, the attraction of no-frills airlines has been based on price; forget the more convenient departure points, creature comforts or ease of{{U}} (20) {{/U}}. Easyjet, Ryanair and Debonair have all undercut leading carriers by as{{U}} (21) {{/U}}as 70 per cent on high volume routes. However, in the wake of increased competition and aggressive price-cutting from mainstream airlines such as KLM UK, three no-frills airlines are changing tack. Virgin Express is{{U}} (22) {{/U}}legroom and is contemplating the{{U}} (23) {{/U}}of a frequent-flyer programme; Go, owned by British Airways, is wooing the business traveller; and Debonair is introducing a business class section next week. Debonair, based at Luton Airport, north of London, was launched just over two years ago and went into{{U}} (24) {{/U}}for the first time this summer. Even when it started, it{{U}} (25) {{/U}}itself slightly apart from its low-cost competitors by offering more seat comfort, a drink in-flight and a{{U}} (20) {{/U}}frequent-flyer scheme. Debonair's business class, called ABC, will give{{U}} (27) {{/U}}more privacy during the flight, a fully-refundable, flexible ticket, a free bar, a snack and a dedicated check in desk. Yet the{{U}} (28) {{/U}}will remain as much as 40 per cent below the average business class ticket price. Other low-cost airlines, however, are standing{{U}} (29) {{/U}}Even so, Easyjet, which markets itself on lowest price, no catering and direct sell, has now introduced a ￡10{{U}} (30) {{/U}}to allow its passengers to{{U}} (31) {{/U}}from one Easyjet flight to another. This is effectively a concession to the business traveller, who needs more flexibility. Attempts by Virgin Express, Go and Debonair to move upmarket are being{{U}} (32) {{/U}}by some as the beginning of a consolidation in the sector. With so much{{U}} (33) {{/U}}on price, it seems likely that some players in the low-cost airline business will fail to survive.

单选题There Are No Products—Only Services Take a step beyond "total quality" and "customer satisfaction". There's a new view of the relationship between suppliers and customers. The idea, as put by Rosabeth Moss Katner of the Harvard Business School: Think of every product you buy or sell as a service. In other words, look at what it does not what it is. That way, selling a product becomes only one of your opportunities to do something for your customers. Many companies are now offering additional services, particularly after-sales services, to increase the value of their products. This practice, often referred to as "bundling, "is an effective way to keep in contact with customers. Look at Toyota's Lexus. Thanks to a partnership with IBM, Lexus tracks every car on a national computer—your sedan's complete maintenance history is available to every dealer from Miami to Seattle. Why? Because Lexus doesn't want its relationship with you to end at the showroom door. At packaging Corp. of America, employees say they offer packaging solutions, not just packaging. Monte Hayman, a CEO, says: "It used to be that we made a product and looked for people to buy it. Then we started doing research to learn what the market wanted, and developed product for that. Today we're working with individual customers." Then there's unbundling, When you want to offer more products and services, but it isn't within your means to produce them yourself, you might decide to contract out stuff that you would never have let out of your sight before. IBM no longer handles its own warehousing. Two years ago it junked 21 parts warehouses in favour of half-a-dozen outside vendors. Commodore Business Machines goes further: In November it unbundled virtually all of its after-sales services for consumer products. Its partner is a new division of Federal Express called Business Logistics Services, Fed Ex mans a 24-hour help line for Commodore. If your computer needs to go to the shop, Fed Ex will pick it up the morning after you call, drop off a replacement, and often do the repairs at its Memphis hub. Customers never know they're dealing with Fed Ex employees, except for the delivery man. After a six-month trial, says Jim Reeder, Commodore's vice president for customer satisfaction, his company is offering better service at half the previous cost. This kind of collaboration is replacing competition in relationships with suppliers. Experts at the Cresap consulting firm call it "supplier integration". It elevates outsourcing from a mere cost-cutting measure to the level of strategy. The new goal is a win-win alliance, where suppliers get the security of a long-term relationship and customers get more say over their upstream processes. Companies that think of the products,they buy and sell as services can also discover new ways to market existing products. as Xerox did when it redefined its copier machine business as document processing. They study such questions as whether to share a single system to track purchase orders. There is a new slogan: "Suppliers and customers—one system, not two systems./

单选题·Choose the best work to fill each gap, from A, B, C or D.·For each question 19-33, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. {{B}}Making computers work for you{{/B}} It is a typical day at the office--a senior manager is away when an urgent letter arrives from one of her clients. Meanwhile someone has discovered that the wrong price list has been sent out and half of the last{{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}has been returned because the addresses are out of date. after a lot of time and effort has been{{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}sorting out all these problems, someone asks{{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}the new computer system didn't{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}all of this from happening. Unfortunately, such problems are{{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}. One firm which used to have serious computer problems is Brinkman Lewis, a professionals ervices firm. David Callaghan, a partner at the firm,{{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}. 'The initial problem for us was that we had all this information on computers around the office but didn't know what to{{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}} {{/U}}with it. Finally, Brinkman Lewis decided to{{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}a network linking all the machines in the office.{{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}than simply asking one of the senior managers to{{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}responsibility for information technology, the firm brought in{{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}Zoe Edlington to plan the development of its network. She began by upgrading the{{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}telephone system so it could be integrated with the computers to provide closer links between the{{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}} {{/U}}of the firm. She then began finding other ways in which the information already on the network could be{{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}more effectively. The strategy worked. The company soon realized that there could be a market for such a{{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}, and before long Zoe Edlington was head of the firm's new network consultancy business.

单选题It is only through innovation that large companies will be able to survive, according to Ron Mitsch, vice-chairman of UK-owned industrial giant 3M. However, says Mitsch, it remains difficult to run a truly innovative company. Innovation involves speculation, unproven technologies and unpredictable costs. It takes a lot of managing, because managers really have to be on top of what's happening. In addition, innovation does not fit easily into the orderly kind of organization that company accountants like. Despite this, Mitsch claims it is an essential policy to pursue. The 3M group's record of growth aiding profitability indicates that it manages the orderly part of the business pretty well. The statistics are big. operations in more than 60 countries, sales in more than 200, around 60,000 products and 70,000 employees. But what makes 3M different is its innovative approach to innovation itself. Although it is a massive multinational with a turnover of $15 billion, the whole company is broken down into tiny groups which work together and help each other and are then encouraged to consult internally with the other groups. This positively encourages individual and collaborative research. A further encouragement is that all research staff worldwide are expected to work on 3M projects for only 85% of their time; for the remaining 15% of time they are free to pursue ideas of their own, using company facilities. In this time they can work on their own or in a group. One hugely successful project that has come out of this 15% rule is the Post-it note. The idea came from an individual inventor and then, using the business skills of a large organization, was rapidly developed into a major product. The success of the Post-it note proves how profitable the innovative 15 % rule can be. Ron Mitsch says innovation is at the heart of 3M. In 1996, more than 30% of sales were generated by products less than four years old. He says; "We almost always get into new markets through innovation. We're very good at adapting these innovations to lots of different markets so we have a high success rate. We take an idea and see how many applications it's got. Then we try to establish market dominance. We have a tremendous variety of technologies so we can adapt anything but we still need the original ideas to develop. " In the past year 3M has introduced a group-wide program called Pacing Plus. This means that they are still actively seeking new ideas, but with the difference that they hope many of them will eventually lead to the establishment of completely new business. In this way, 3M will be able to invest in a wide range of markets and even create some new ones. This emphasis on innovation creates unusual stresses and strains and makes a company like 3M a difficult business to manage. Technical people at 3M are given a large degree of intellectual freedom, and the company appears to specifically try to recruit people who think for themselves and who don't necessarily solve things by the traditional routes. The management encourages people to step outside of the security that comes from working in a big, stable group, and then to handle the consequences. So far the mixture of freedom and heavy responsibility seems to work; the 25 research schemes at present under review could generate business worth $ 6 billion a year.

单选题· Read the article below about a bank with a reputation for excellence.· Choose the best word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page.· For each question (19-33), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. {{B}}The bank with ideas{{/B}} with several hundred years of history behind it, the APL Bank has few problems in convincing businesses that it is a reputable and secure{{U}} (19) {{/U}}of a range of banking services. Now, it is demonstrating to business customers that it is flexible and responsive enough to{{U}} (20) {{/U}}their changing needs in the 21st century. Based in London, APL offers banking services to businesses throughout the UK via its branch{{U}} (21) {{/U}}. Most customer service provision is{{U}} (22) {{/U}}out by personal account managers based in local branches, together with{{U}} (23) {{/U}}staff at company headquarters. An important{{U}} (24) {{/U}}for APL has been to make it easy for customers to{{U}} (25) {{/U}}business with the bank. They can contact their account manager by direct line or email; if the manager is on holiday, a carefully chosen colleague becomes the 'account contact' and{{U}} (26) {{/U}}with the customer during the manager's{{U}} (27) {{/U}}. In addition, for those who want{{U}} (28) {{/U}}to their bank at any time of day or night there is now a 24-h0ur phone-based service. In order to remain competitive and build customer loyalty, the bank guarantees to turn around urgent loan{{U}} (29) {{/U}}within 24 hours. This focus on the customer has also been a driving{{U}} (30) {{/U}}in APL's recruitment and development policy. For example, newly inducted staff{{U}} (31) {{/U}}a 'customer service review' to find out what it is like to be on the other side of the desk, asking to borrow money. Together, these{{U}} (32) {{/U}}in banking have achieved excellent results. The customer{{U}} (33) {{/U}}is growing fast, and last year the bank gained 36,000 new business accounts.

单选题Why do some small companies stay small ? It is often assumed that if a small company fails to (0)..., it is because of external factors. So it may come as something of a surprise to discover that many small companies have only themselves to (19)... for their lack of growth. In fact, if you run a small business, you shouldn't waste much time wondering whether you have (20)... to investment capital; still less, analysing fluctuations in (21)... exchange rates. You are more likely to (22)... the main barrier to greater success by looking in the mirror.This is a conclusion that can be (23) ... from a recent study based on interviews with the owner-managers of 40 small businesses. The research makes the reason (24) ... : management behaviour, however well intentioned, is often the (25) ... of the problem. This was the overwhelming view (26) ... by the managers surveyed: the main barrier to growth was the fact that day-to-day issues (27) ... all their time. The problems that many larger businesses face - lack of funds and insufficient government support - were of relatively minor (28) ... for these small companies.The survey shows that while owner-managers often work very hard running their business, many never take it on to the next (29) .... The reason is that they are too busy (30) ... their sales, marketing and finance functions. Limited resources may (31) ... to this, but many owner-managers are unwilling to delegate even insignificant decisions. As a result, without realising it, they create a style of working that (32) ... them from moving forward. One of the most important lessons for managers is learning to let go - very few people can do everything themselves. Instead they need to hire staff able to take (33) ... some of their responsibilities.

单选题· Read the article below about American consumers' borrowing styles, and the questions on the opposite page.· For each question 13--18, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose. {{B}} HOW DO AMERICAN CONSUMERS BORROW?{{/B}} Young consumers often have not established their credit ratings. Many do not have steady incomes. They might have difficulty borrowing money from an agency in business to make loan. Parents or relatives are usually their best source of loans. Of course, the parents or relatives would have money available and be willing to lend it. You might even get an interest-free loan. For most consumers the cheapest place to borrow is at the commercial bank. Banks are a good source of installment loan which may run for 12 months up to 30. Most of banks also make single-payment loans to consumers for short periods--30, 60, or 90 days. The newest type of bank loan is one that a depositor can get simply by writing a check. It works like this. A depositor is given a limited amount of credit, usually between $ 500 and $1, 000. He or she may write checks up to the amount allowed. Once a check has been written, the amount of the check becomes a loan. Usually no charge is made for interest until the loan is made. A typical interest rate is 3 cents per $100 per day, or just under 1% a month. Suppose that you used $100 of your credit and repaid it in 30 days. The cost would be 90 cents. If you repaid it in 10 days, the cost would be only 30 cents. There is another source of consumer loans that may be even cheaper than a bank. It is a credit union. But you have to be a member to borrow from one. A credit union is a cooperative. You remember that a cooperative is a business organized to provide its owners, or members, with goods or services at a saving. Like a bank, a credit union is both a savings and a lending organization. Its members deposit their savings in the credit union and are paid interest in return. These savings are used to make loans to members at low rates. Members of a credit union are people with a common bond. They may work for the same firm or belong to the same church, lodge, or labor union. Consumer loans are small in amount compared to those made to business firms. Companies that specialize in making loans to consumers, therefore, are sometimes called small-loan companies. These companies operate under state laws which regulate both the maximum amount that can be loaned and the rates charged. Regulations vary from one state to another. In general, however, the rates charged by small-loan companies are higher than those of other legal lenders except pawnbrokers. The following facts should tell you why. Half or more of the loans made by small-loan companies are signature of character loans. Practically all loans are paid in installments. In some states, small-loan companies will lend as little as $ 25 or $ 50. Many of their customers are persons whose credit ratings are so poor that they cannot borrow elsewhere. Another possible source of loans is a life insurance policy. Life insurance loans are easy to obtain. The rate charged is less than that for almost any other type of loan available to consumers. This is because the lender takes no risk. Also, borrowers may take as long as they want to repay their loans. Although that may seem like an advantage, it can also be a disadvantage. When a borrower is not required to repay a loan within a certain time, it is easy to let it run on and on. This increases the dollar cost of the loan because interest must be paid for as long as the loan continues.