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Stock prices tumbled on Wall Street and across much of the rest of the world yesterday. They were driven sharply lower by worries over slowing economic growth in the United States and worsening borrowing conditions that could make everything from huge corporate buyouts to buying a new home more difficult. Major stock market gauges—including the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poors 500-stock index—were down more than 2 percent.

It was the worst one-day decline on Wall Street since markets plunged worldwide in late February after an investing scare in Shanghai, and it occurred amid the biggest volume of trading on the New York Stock Exchange in five years. Losses were comparable throughout Europe, and larger in many developing countries. The preconditions for a shock are in place, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys Economy. com. Until very recently investors were very nonchalant about risks.

Stock markets have been volatile in recent weeks. Continued strong profits for many companies and an economic boom in Asia have helped push oil prices higher. Meanwhile, however, there are various signs of weakness in the American economy and new difficulties in borrowing for many homeowners and companies that are highly leveraged or have poor credit.

The plunge came a day after the private equity firm buying Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler said it would complete the transaction for the automaker despite an inability to borrow the money in credit markets, as had been planned. Banks will hold those loans, as they will for a similar deal involving Alliance Boots, a British pharmacy chain. Shares of DaimlerChrysler fell $4.11, to $88.91. There is fear, but not a fear of recession, said Bill Gross, chief investment officer of the Pacific Investment Management Company, known as Pimco, a large bond management firm. “The fear is directed toward the question of who will be willing to lend $200 billion to provide takeout financing for previously announced private equity deals.”

Yesterday, the Dow industrials plunged 311.50 points, or 2.3 percent, to 13,473.57, while the S. & P. 500 dropped 35.43 points, or 2.3 percent, to 1,482.66. The Nasdaq composite index was down 48.83 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,599.34. The S. & P. is still up 4.5 percent for the year, while the Dow is 8.1 percent higher. But the S. & P. has fallen 4.5 percent since reaching a record last week. In the last hour or so of trading, the major Wall Street indexes recovered about a third of their steepest losses for the day. Losses of more than 2 percent were recorded in Spain, France and Germany, while Britain, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil fell more than 3 percent. Asian markets fell less yesterday, closing before the worst selling began, but opened down sharply on Friday.

1. The passage is mainly_______.

A) a review of the current condition of the American and world stock market

B) an introduction of the development of the global stock market

C) a survey of the history and possible results of the stock deal of DaimlerChrysler

D) about the ups and downs of stock prices in world’s major stock markets

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A) Currently it is more difficult for Americans to borrow money from banks for house purchase.

B) The losses from stock markets are similar in U.S. and some developing countries.

C) Investors were worried about the potential risks in stock market before yesterday.

D) Economic boom in Asia prevents its stock market from falling.

3. If you were an investor, you might be able to earn money if _______.

A) you held the shares of DaimlerChrysler

B) you purchased new shares when the stock market opened yesterday

C) you bought and sold shares at the last one or two hours before closing

D) you didn’t trade any shares yesterday

4. We can infer from the text that _______.

A) the Chrysler transaction will turn to be a failure because of the vibration of stock market

B) the banks hold the loans because the Chrysler case is of exactly the same nature as that of Alliance Boots

C) Bill Gross thinks the fear is from the possibility that the huge amount of money involved in the Chrysler deal may worsen the situation of stock market

D) the difficulty of borrowing leads to the shrinking prices of shares of DaimlerChrysler

5. The writer’s attitude towards the current stock market is_______.

A) biased

B) objective

C) pessimistic

D) optimistic pL5yjrKogA5ZRTcleQ0oLPsKNZlKcVfVyLIUPgXt0vVMUwKfX5qfXeyp5mUKCVOU