Early life insurers in the United States found themselves facing the problem of obtaining reliable information, as they needed to rely on applicants themselves to provide truthful, complete answers to a standard set of questions. <早期美国的保险公司发现，获得可靠信息对它们来说是一个大问题，因为它们需要依靠申请人自己提供一系列问题的准确且完整的答案>
In an attempt to personalize the relationship between insurers and their individual applicants, firms selected highly respected local citizens to act as their agents. <为了私人化保险公司和申请人之间的关系，公司选取了一些当地高度受尊敬的公民作为它们的代理人>
These agents were expected to evaluate the appearance of candidates, unearth evidence of unhealthy family histories or questionable habits, and attest to the respectability of the people writing testimonial letters on an applicant’s behalf. <这些代理人被希望去评估候选人的外貌，挖掘出他们不健康的家族史和生活习惯的证据，以及去证实那些为申请者写推荐信的人的信誉>
In short, the initial purpose of the agency system was not to actively solicit customers, but, rather, to recreate the glass-bowl mentality associated with small towns or city neighborhoods.<简而言之，代理人起初的目的不是去招生客户，而是去重现出小镇或城市居民之间“透明”>
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
该篇文章整体都是围绕保险公司代理人一开始的作用展开的，因此正确答案为A选项。
A. explain the original function of life insurance agents
B. evaluate the effectiveness of early life insurance agents
C. describe how life insurance was first introduced
D. illustrate how the life insurance agency system changed over time
E. compare the strategies used by life insurance in cities and in small towns
2. The author suggests which of the following about “city neighborhoods?”
该题可定位至文中最后一句话，它说明代理人起初的目的不是去招生客户，而是去重现出小镇或城市居民之间“透明”，即社会中的人们彼此了解、彼此熟悉，强调个人信息的透明，因此该题的正确答案为D选项。
A. They were places where family histories were difficult to establish
B. They were places where unhealthy behaviors had been successfully addressed
C. They were locations that were well suited for recruiting insurance agents
D. They offered a high degree of transparency about a resident’s personal history and character
E. They offered potentially fruitful markets for the life insurance industry. |
