2000年全国英语专业四级考试试题(12)

专四

and numbered accounts. Over the years, they had successfully w ithstood every challenge to this

system by their own government who, in turn, ha d been frequently urged by foreign governments

to reveal information about the f inancial affairs to certain account holders. The result of this

policy of secre cy was that a kind of mystique had grown up around Swiss banking. There was a

w idely-held belief that Switzerland was irresistible to wealthy foreigners, mainl y because of its

numbered accounts and bankers’ reluctance to ask awkward questi ons of depositors. Contributing

to the mystique was the view, carefully propagat ed by the banks themselves, that if this secrecy

was ever given up, foreigners w ould fall over themselves in the rush to withdraw money, and the

Swiss banking s ystem would virtually collapse overnight.

To many, therefore, it came like a bolt out of the blue, when, in 1977, the Swiss banks

announced they had signed a pact with the Swiss National Bank (the Central Bank). The aim of

the agreement was to prevent to improper use of the c ountry’s bank secrecy laws, and its effect

was to curb severely the system of se crecy.

The rules which the banks had agreed to observe made the opening of numbere d accounts

subject to much closer scrutiny than before. The banks would be requ ired, if necessary, to

identify the origin of foreign funds going into numbered and other accounts. The idea was to

stop such accounts being used for dubious p urposes. Also they agreed not to accept funds

resulting from tax evasion or from crime.

The pact represented essentially a tightening up of banking rules. Although the banks agreed

to end relations with clients whose identities were unclear or who were performing improper acts,

they were still not obliged to inform on a client to anyone, including the Swiss government. To

some extent, therefore, the princ iple of secrecy had been maintained.

74. Swiss banks took pride in___.

A. the number of their accounts

B. withholding client information

C. being mysterious to the outsiders

D. attracting wealthy foreign clients 

75. According to the passage, the widely-held belief that Switzerland w as irresistible to

wealthy foreigners was ___ by banks themselves.

A. denied B. criticized C. reviewed D. defended 

76. In the last paragraph, the writer thinks that___.

A. complete changes had been introduced into Swiss banks

B. Swiss banks could no longer keep client information

C. changes in the bank policies had been somewhat superficial

D. more changes need to be considered and made 

TEXT D