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单选题Longevity risk, the chance that people will live longer than expected, is potentially very expensive. Never mind the dramatic impact of a cure for cancer: adding an extra year to the average lifespan increases the world"s pension bill by 4%, or around 1 trillion, according to the IMF.
Firms that have sold annuities are the most obvious victims of living longer, as they keep on writing cheques to oldies they expected would have passed on by now. But the most severe risk lies with defined-benefit pension schemes, in which participants are promised an annual payment throughout their retirement, however long it may last. Globally private defined-benefit schemes already have 23 trillion of liabilities—the amount they owe current and future pensioners. Many are grossly underfunded as it is.
Such statistics are enough to send a pension trustee to an early grave. Yet there is an apparent cure, in the form of "longevity swaps", which pension schemes can use to insure against the risk that their members will live longer than expected. In July, the pension scheme of BT, Britain"s former telecoms monopoly, which is wrestling with a deficit of 7 billion, offloaded the longevity risk on over a quarter of its liabilities to Prudential Financial, an American insurer. BT will pay Prudential a monthly fee and it in turn will pay the extra pension costs if the shuffle boarders in question live longer than forecast.
Such arrangements have become increasingly common, with 2014 already setting a record for liabilities offloaded in Britain, the centre of the market. BT"s deal, which covered pension debt worth 16 billion, was the biggest yet. Most of the 20-odd deals so far have been between big pension schemes and insurers such as Prudential and Swiss Re. The deals should help them hedge a risk they already have through their other businesses, which pay out if clients die unexpectedly early.
But the potential liabilities that need to beneutralised far exceed what insurers might want to take on. So new investors are being sought to take on risks associated with ever-older clients through "longevity" bonds, whereby outsiders take on the unwanted risks.
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单选题The word "carcass" ( Line 2, Para. 3) most probably means"______"
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While most armies in the world shun
their use, and military authorities exclude them from warfare, the technology to
produce biological and chemical weapons is widely available around the world.
{{U}}(67) {{/U}}, these weapons are cheap, easy to conceal, and very
{{U}}(68) {{/U}}. Since September 11, 2001, biological weapons
{{U}}(69) {{/U}} to have become the weapon of choice among the desperate
{{U}}(70) {{/U}} of the world. Some people are worried chemical
warfare may {{U}}(71) {{/U}}, which would bring an unbelievable disaster
to the whole world. Chemical weapons are {{U}}(72)
{{/U}}in variety. Their effectiveness can be{{U}} (73) {{/U}} by
several factors, including age, {{U}}(74) {{/U}}, weather conditions,
and choice of dissemination. They include nerve agents, blister agents,
and choking agents, all of {{U}}(75) {{/U}} can be ingested through the
eyes, lungs, or skin. Satin, a type of nerve gas, was used {{U}}(76)
{{/U}}the Aum Shinrikyo cult in March 1995, killing 12 people and
{{U}}(77) {{/U}} more than 5,500 on a Tokyo subway.
Biological weapons, by{{U}} (78) {{/U}}, are any infectious agent,
such as a bacterium or virus, used deliberately to {{U}}(79) {{/U}} harm
on soldiers and civilians alike. This {{U}}(80) {{/U}} can include toxin
and poison derived biologically. Biological weapons can be produced nearly
{{U}}(81) {{/U}}, from government labs to suburban kitchens.
Experts contend, however, that the {{U}}(82) {{/U}} of a deadly
virus or bacterium into an effective weapon is anything {{U}}(83) {{/U}}
straightforward: A conventional bomb would likely destroy the germ as it
{{U}}(84) {{/U}}. In contrast, dissemination {{U}}(85) {{/U}}
alternative methods, such as surface mail, has recently {{U}}(86)
{{/U}} quite effective.
单选题According to Tony Lantini, after the rising period many companies will ______.
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单选题The main theme of this passage is ______.
单选题The main message the author wishes to convey in the text is that.
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单选题Because of air pollution, more and more people ______ live in the country ______ in the city.
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单选题Mrs. Clarke belonged to a club for ______.
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单选题A．Recallingsomethingfromone'smemory.B．Thepreparatorymethodinexams.C．Conscience.D．Man'smind.
单选题A．TogoboatingontheSt.LawrenceRiver.B．TogosightseeinginQuebecProvince.C．TocallonafriendinQuebecCity.D．ToattendaweddinginMontreal.