Question

Starting a bank a child’s play? Absolutely, if you ask some enterprising youngsters in India, who have not only managed to establish one, but also, unlike many of the large International banks, run it successfully since 2001. What’s even more impressive is that the young bankers and their 90,004---clients(委托人) are all homeless!

The Children’s Development Khazana (treasure) opened its first branch in 2001 at a homeless shelter in New Deli as a way to help the street children protect their hard-earned money from thieves. Since then, the idea has caught on like wildfire.

Today, Khazana has 12 branches all across New Deli, with a total of Rupees 12lakh (about 22,000USD) in deposits. Not only that, there are now 77 branches in other parts of Asia, ranging from Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to the island of Sri Lanka, and even Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. While no deposit or balance is too small for the bank, they do have strict regulations about where the money is earned from. Funds obtained by begging or selling drugs are not welcomed at this bank !

Also, unlike the real banks, all employees are volunteers , which means that they go to school or a paying job during the day and work at the bank in the evening. To ensure that everybody gets a chance to participate in running the branch, two volunteer managers are elected from the clients base every six months.

Karan, the current manager is just 14-year-old. During the day he earns a living by helping out the cleaning workmates at wedding banquets and other big parties. In the evening, he handles the deposits（存款）and withdrawals（取款）in the bank. After the bank closes, he along with an adult volunteer from the shelter head over to a regular bank and deposit the funds collected into Khazana’s interest-bearing bank account and though it started with one single purpose. The Children’s Development Khazana is today a well-developed bank, one kids can not only deposit money which earns them 5% interest, but also, request loans for family emergencies, to start a business or even to pay for school.

1.The initial aim of starting the Children’s Development Khazana is to______.

A. provide for jobs for homeless children

B. help homeless families with emergencies

C. sponsor homeless children to go to school

D. safeguard homeless children’s hard-earned money

2.The children’s Development Khazana is different from regular banks in that_______.

A. all its workers are street children

B. it pays its customers no interest

C. customers can be made its managers

D. it opens in the evening six month a year

3.According to the passage, the Children’s Development Khazana________.

A. welcomes all money, however small it is

B. offers more and better service than before

C. is run by a 14-year-old boy, Karan alone

D. has more than 70 branches across India

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.B

【解析】

试题分析: 本文讲述在印度开办的儿童银行，开始的目的是保护那些无家可归的孩子所挣来的钱，由孩子自己管理，随着不断的发展，业务范围也在不断的扩大，助学，创业等等贷款也逐渐的开办。

1.D 细节理解题。根据第二段提到The Children’s Development Khazana (treasure) opened its first branch in 2001 at a homeless shelter in New Deli as a way to help the street children protect their hard-earned money from thieves.目的是帮助无家可归的孩子把自己挣来的免受偷盗，故选D项。

2.C 细节理解题。根据第四段提到To ensure that everybody gets a chance to participate in running the branch, two volunteer managers are elected from the clients base every six months它不同于其它的银行，由志愿者自己进行管理，故选C项。

3.B 推断题。根据最后一段提到The Children’s Development Khazana is today a well-developed bank, one kids can not only deposit money which earns them 5% interest, but also, request loans for family emergencies, to start a business or even to pay for school.可知已经发展为一个比较成熟的银行，不仅仅提供存款，还提供助学贷款，创业资金，支付学费，故选B项。

考点：社会现象类阅读。