Large companies need a way to reach the savings of the public at large. The same problem, on a smaller scale(小规模地), faces practically every company trying to develop new products and create new jobs. There can be little hope of raising the money needed from friends and people we know, and while banks may agree to provide short-term finance(资金), they are generally unwilling to provide money, for long-term projects. So companies turn to the public, inviting people to lend them money, or take a share(股份) in the business in exchange for a share in future interests. This they do by issuing(发行) stocks(股票) and shares in the business through the Stock Exchange. By doing so they can put into circulation(流通) the savings of single persons and institutions, both at home and abroad.
When the saver(储蓄者) needs his money back, he does not have to go to the company with whom he originally placed it. Instead he sells his shares through a stockbroker(证券经纪人) to some other saver who is seeking to invest his money.
Many of the services needed both by industry and by each of us are provided by the government or by local organizations. Without hospitals, roads, electricity, telephones and railways, this country could not work. All these require continuous spending on new equipment and new development if they are to serve us properly, requiring more money than it is raised through taxes alone. The government, local organizations and nationalized industries therefore frequently need to borrow money to finance(给…提供资金) major capital spending, and they, too, come to the Stock Exchange.
There is hardly a man or woman in this country whose standard of living does not depend on the ability of his or her employers to raise money to finance new development. In one way or another his new money must come from the savings of the country. The Stock Exchange exists to provide a channel through which these savings can reach those who need finance.
小题1:The money which enables these companies to go ahead with their projects is _______.
A．exchanged for part ownership in the Stock Exchange
B．raised by the selling of shares in the companies
C．repaid to its original owners as soon as possible
D．invested in different companies in the Stock Exchange小题2:All the basic services on which we depend are _______.
A．unable to provide for the needs of the population
B．financed wholly by rates and taxes
C．in constant need of financial support
D．run by the government or local organizations小题3: The Stock Exchange makes it possible for the government, local organizations and nationalized industries _______.
A．to make certain everybody saves money
B．to borrow as much money as they wish
C．to make certain everybody lends money to them
D．to raise money to finance new development小题4:The underlined word invest probably means _______.
A．give more money with
B．provide less money with
C．borrow less money with
D．make more money with
