TEXTC

IwasstandinginmykitchenwonderingwhattohaveforlunchwhenmyfriendTajcalled.

“Sitdown,” shesaid.

Ithoughtshewasgoingtotellmeshehadjustgottenthehaircutfromhell. Ilaughedandsaid, “Itcan'tbethatbad.”

Butitwas. Beforethephonecall, Ihad30 yearsofretirementsavingina“safe” fundwithabrilliantfinancialguru（金融大亨）.WhenIputdownthephone, mysavingsweregone. IfeltasifIhaddiedand, forsomeunknownreason, wasstillbreathing.

SinceBernieMadoff'sarrestonchargesofrunninga$65 millionPonzischeme, I'vereadmanyarticlesabouthowweinvestorsshouldhaveknownwhatwasgoingon. IwishIcouldsayIhadreservationsaboutMadoffbefore“theCall”, butIdidnot.

OnNewYear'sEve, threeweeksafterwelostoursavings, sixofusMadoffpeoplegatheredatTaj'shousefordinner. Asweweresittingaroundthetable, someoneasked, “Ifyoucouldhaveyourmoneybackrightnow, butitwouldmeangivingupwhatyouhavelearnedbylosingit, wouldyoutakethemoneyorwouldyoutakewhatlosingthemoneyhasgivenyou?”

Myhusbandwasstillinfinancialshock. Hesaid, “Ijustwantthemoneyback.” Iwasn'tcertainwhereIstood. Iknewthatlosingourmoneyhadcrackedmewideopen. I'dbeenwalkingaroundlikewhattheBuddhistscallahungryghost: alwaysfocusedonthebitethatwasyettocome, nottheoneinmymouth. NomatterhowmuchIateorhadorexperienced, itdidn'tsatisfyme, becauseIwasn'treallytakingitin, wasn'tabsorbingit. NowIwasforcedtopayattention. Still, Icouldn'thonestlysaythatifsomeonehadofferedmethemoneyback, Iwouldturnitdown.

Buttheotherfourallsaidthatwhattheywereseeingaboutthemselveswasincalculable, andtheydidn'tthinkitwouldhavebecomeapparentwithoutthegroundoffinancialstabilitybeingrippedoutfromunderneaththem.

MyfriendMichaelsaid, “I'dstartedtogetcomplacent. It'sasifthemusclesofmyheartstartedtoatrophy（萎缩）. Nowthey'reawake, alive—andIdon'twanttogoback.”

Theseweren'tjustemptywords. Michaelandhiswifeneededtotakeinboarderstomeettheirexpenses. Tajwassobrokethatshewasmovingintosomeone'sgarageapartmentinthreeweeks. Threefriendshaddeclaredbankruptcyandweren'tsurewhereorhowtheyweregoingtolive.

91. WhatdidtheauthorlearnfromTaj'scall?
A. hadgotanawfulhaircut.
B. Theyhadlosttheirretirementsavings.
C. Tajhadjustretiredfromwork.
D. Theyweregoingtomeetforlunch.

92. Howdidtheauthorfeelinthefollowingweeks?
A. Angry.
B. Disappointed.
C. Indifferent.
D. Desperate.

93. Accordingtothepassage, towhichwasshe“forcedtopayattention”?
A. Herfriends.
B. Herhusband.
C. Herlostsavings.
D. Herexperience.

94. WhichofthefollowingstatementsisCORRECTaboutherfriends?
A. Herfriendsvaluedtheirexperiencemore.
B. Herfriendsfeltthesameasshedid.
C. Herfriendswereinabetterfinancialsituation.
DHerfriendsweremoreoptimisticthanshe.

95. Whatisthemessageofthepassage?
A. Desireformoneyishumannature.
B. Onehastobedecisiveduringcrises.
C. Understandinggainedismoreimportantthanmoneylost.
D. Itisnaturaltoseevariedresponsestofinancialcrises.