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Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:
Time was—and not so many years ago, either—when the average citizen to ok a pretty dim view of banks and banking. That this was so, it should be said, was to no small extent the fault of banks and bankers themselves. Banks used to be—and a few still are—forbidding (令人生畏的) structures. Behind the little barred windows were, more often than not, elderly gentlemen w hose expression of friendliness reflected the size of the customer’s account, and nothing less than a few hundred thousand in the bank could have inspired the suggestion of a smile.
And yet the average bank for many years was, to the average citizen, a fearful, if necessary, instrument for dealing with business—usually big business. But somewhere in the 1930’s banks started to grow human, even pleasant, and started to attract the little man. It is possible that this movement beg an in medium-sized towns, or in small towns where people know each other by their first names, and spread to big towns. At any rate, the results have be en remarkable.
The movement to “humanize” banks, of course, received a new push during the war, when more and more women were employed to do work previously performed by men. Also more and more “little” people found themselves in need of personal loans, as taxes became heavier and as the practice of installment (分期付款) buying broke down the previously long-held concept that there was something almost morally wrong about being in debt. All sorts of people began to discover that the intelligent use of credit (信贷) could be extremely helpful.
36. The author believes that the unfriendly atmosphere in banks many years a go was chiefly due to ________.
A) the attitude of bankers
B) unfriendliness of customers toward banks
C) economic pressure of the time
D) the outer appearance of bank buildings
37. The banks of many years ago showed interest only in ________.
A) rich customers
C) friendly businessmen
B) regular visitors
D) elderly gentlemen
38. When did banks begin to grow human?
A) In the last century.
C) Sometime before the war.
B) A few years ago.
D) During the war.
39. What helped the “humanization” of banks?
A) The elderly gentlemen in banks were replaced by younger men.
B) More and more “little” people became customers of banks.
C) More banks were set up in small and medium-sized towns.
D) The size of the customer’s account was greatly increased.
40. Ordinary people seldom borrowed money from banks in the past because ________.
A) the bank buildings looked forbidding
B) they were comparatively rich before the war
C) they thought it was not proper to be in debt
D) they rarely spent more than they could earn
