2. 外语
  3. America’s love affair with the credit card began in 1949. When businessman Frank McNamara finished a meal in a New York restaura

America’s love affair with the credit card began in 1949. When businessman Frank McNamara finished a meal in a New York restaura

admin2010-08-07  62
问题      America’s love affair with the credit card began in 1949. When businessman Frank McNamara finished a meal in a New York restaurant and then discovered he had no cash. In those days, gasoline and store charge cards were common, but cash was standard for almost everything else. McNamara called his wife, who rushed over to bail him out. His embarrassment gave him the idea for Diners Club.
     Within a year some 200 people carried the world’s first multi-use card. For an annual fee of $5, these card holders could charge meals at 27 restaurants in and around New York City. By the end of 1951 more than a million dollars had been charged on the growing number of cards, and the company was soon turning a profit.
     The problem was to persuade enough people to carry the cards. Diners Club turned to promotions. It gave away a round-the-world trip on a popular television show. The winners charged their expenses and made it "from New York to New York without a dime in their pocket". By 1955 the convenience of charging was catching on in a big way.
     The first to turn a profit was Bank of America’s Bank Americard. Bankers from all over the country descended on its California headquarters to learn the secret of its success—so many that in 1966 Bank Americard began forming alliances with banks outside the state.
     Five million holiday credit card shoppers would have created a bonanza for banks, but in the dash to market, the banks had been less than cautious in assembling their lists. Some families received 15 cards. Dead people and babies got cards. Hundreds of Chicagoans discovered they could use or sell a card they "found" and by law, the person whose name appeared on it was liable for the charges—even if he or she had never requested of received the card.
     The disaster sparked a movement to regulate the industry. Public Law 91-508, signed by President Nixon in October 1970, prohibited issuers from sending cards to people who hadn’t requested them at all but eliminated card-holder liability for charges on a card reported lost or stolen. Later, the Fair Credit Billing Act set standard procedures for resolving billing disputes.
     Of course, Credit cards have not only replaced cash for many purposes, but also in effect have created cash by making it instantly available virtually everywhere. Experts estimate there are from 15,000 to 19,000 different cards available in his country.
     So the revolution that began in 1949 with an embarrassed businessman who was out of cash now seems complete. What Alfred Bloomingdale, then president of Diners Club, predicted more than 30 years ago seems to have come true: an America where "there will be only two classes of people—those with credit and those who can’t get them."  
"Spark" in the sixth Paragraph means______.
选项 A、cause
B、flame
C、burn
D、reason
答案A
解析 语义题。这段讲了这场灾难后开始了一项运动，也就是这场运动由此造成。所以应选A。
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