Passage4Insuranceisthesharingo-考网

Passage 4

Insurance is the sharing of risks.Nearly everyone is exposed to risk of some sort.The house-owner,for example,knows that his property can be damaged by fire;the ship-owner knows that his vessel may be lost at sea;the breadwinner knows that he may die at an early age and leave his family the poorer.On the other hand,not every house is damaged by fire nor every vessel lost at sea.If these persons each put a small sum into a pool,there will be enough to meet the needs of the few who do suffer loss.In other words,the losses of the few are met from the contributions of the many.This is the basis of insurance.Those who pay the contribution are known as"insured"and those who administer the pool of contributions as"insurers".

Not all risks lend themselves to being covered by insurance.Broadly speaking,the ordinary risks of business and speculation cannot be covered.The risk that buyers will not buy goods at the prices offered is not of a kind that can be statistically estimated—and risks can only be insured against if they can be so estimated.

The legal basis of all insurance is the"policy".This is the printed form of contract on paper of the best quality.It states that in return for the regular payment by the insured of a named sum of money,called the"premium",which is usually paid every year,the insurer will pay a sum of money or compensation for loss,if the risk or event insured against actually happens.The wording of policies,particularly in marine insurance,often seems very old-fashioned,but there is a sound reason for this.Over a large number of years many law cases have been brought to clear up the meaning of doubtful phrases in policies.The law courts,in their judgments,have given these phrases a definite and indisputable meaning,and to avoid future disputes the phrases have continued to be used in policies even when they have passed out of normal use in speech.

Old-fashioned wording is sometimes used in insurance policies because（　　）.

A.law courts have decided not to use fashionable words
B.it is widely accepted by all the insured
C.it enables ordinary people to understand it easily
D.the meaning of such wording has been agreed upon

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答案： D

本题解析：

根据题干关键词old-fashioned wording可以定位至末段The wording of policies…often seems very old-fashioned,but there is a sound reason for this…many law cases have been brought to clear up the meaning of doubtful phrases in policies.可知虽然措辞老式，但是它可以清楚的表达政策中有歧义的地方，以及通过末句可知为了避免未来的冲突，这种措辞在政策中还继续使用，故选项D表述正确。选项A与文中表述内容截然相反；选项B提到的原因并非文中给出的原因，并不是因为投保人广泛接受而继续存在，表述错误；选项C：让普通人更好理解，文中末句提到这种措辞在日常生活中已经不被使用，所以表述错误。故本题正确答案选D。