Early life insurers in the United States found themselves facing the problem of obtaining reliable information, as they needed to rely on applicants themselves to provide truthful, complete answers to a standard set of questions. In an attempt to personalize the relationship between insurers and their individual applicants, firms selected highly respected local citizens to act as their agents. These agents were expected to evaluate the appearance of candidates, unearth evidence of unhealthy family histories or questionable habits, and attest to the respectability of the people writing testimonial letters on an applicant's behalf. In short, the initial purpose of the agency system was not to actively solicit customers, but, rather, to recreate the glass-bowl mentality associated with small towns or city neighborhoods.
The author suggests which of the following about “city neighborhoods”?
A. They were places where family histories where difficult to establish.
B. They were places where unhealthy behaviors had been successfully addressed.
C. They were locations that were well suited for recruiting insurance agents.
D. They offered a high degree of transparency about a resident's personal history and character.
E. They offered potentially fruitful markets for the life insurance industry.
解析
答案：D
根據(jù)題干關(guān)鍵詞“city neighborhoods”定位到文章后：“In short, the initial purpose of the agency system was not to activelysolicit customers, but, rather, to recreate the glass-bowl mentality associated with small towns or city neighborhoods. ”由“glass-bowl mentality” 就能大致猜測(cè)city neighborhoods的特征啦!什么?這個(gè)短語(yǔ)不認(rèn)識(shí)?不認(rèn)識(shí)怎么辦?努力猜測(cè)呀!“透明的碗”能象征什么?大家的碗是相互透明的，你吃什么，我吃什么，你吃幾兩干飯，我吃幾兩干飯，彼此沒(méi)有秘密可言呀，說(shuō)的就是熟人社會(huì)的彼此了解熟悉。答案D躍然紙上呀!