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. <早期美國(guó)的保險(xiǎn)公司發(fā)現(xiàn)，獲得可靠信息對(duì)它們來說是一個(gè)大問題，因?yàn)樗鼈冃枰揽可暾?qǐng)人自己提供一系列問題的準(zhǔn)確且完整的答案>

　　In an attempt to personalize the relationship between insurers and their individual applicants, firms selected highly respected local citizens to act as their agents. <為了私人化保險(xiǎn)公司和申請(qǐng)人之間的關(guān)系，公司選取了一些當(dāng)?shù)馗叨仁茏鹁吹墓褡鳛樗鼈兊拇砣?gt;

　　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. <這些代理人被希望去評(píng)估候選人的外貌，挖掘出他們不健康的家族史和生活習(xí)慣的證據(jù)，以及去證實(shí)那些為申請(qǐng)者寫推薦信的人的信譽(yù)>

　　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.<簡(jiǎn)而言之，代理人起初的目的不是去招生客戶，而是去重現(xiàn)出小鎮(zhèn)或城市居民之間“透明”>

　　1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　該篇文章整體都是圍繞保險(xiǎn)公司代理人一開始的作用展開的，因此正確答案為A選項(xiàng)。

　　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?”

　　該題可定位至文中最后一句話，它說明代理人起初的目的不是去招生客戶，而是去重現(xiàn)出小鎮(zhèn)或城市居民之間“透明”，即社會(huì)中的人們彼此了解、彼此熟悉，強(qiáng)調(diào)個(gè)人信息的透明，因此該題的正確答案為D選項(xiàng)。

　　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.