Venture capital has now become a global phenomenon. Here is the (1) status of each major region that has venture capital activity. (2) , the definition of venture capital, (3) coined 50 years ago at Harvard Business School, meant (4) capital for new or very young ventures. Over time, (5) , and especially outside the US and Canada, it has become a coverall name for any type of equity related financing for privately held companies. To make matters even more (6) , some US venture capital firms have begun delving into "transactional" finance more (7) to the investment banking community. This is, however, a limited phenomenon.
Indeed, the influx of (8) fund money into the venture capital market has been both a curse and a blessing. Firms found themselves battling to place their newly (9) funds with a (10) number of specialized hitech firms. The result was a series of losses in the early 1990s.
Venture capitalists then became immersed in transactional financing as a result of their (11) in business acquisitions. Historically, the venture capitalists had sat at the end of the table representing the company being (12) . At some point, they began to see opportunities in financing such (13) and in other investment banking type activities.
In the long (14) , however, venture capitalists will back out of investment banking type activities and focus on what they are best at, risking capital investments in (15) companies. What is required to place their capital and still realize their (16) is a ramp up in staff. In the 1980s, many of the firms were quite small and (17) on specific areas of technology where they had in (18) knowledge. In the 1990s the successful firms have (19) management staff, (20) into more than one area of technology, and outsourced more of their technological analysis to very specialized experts.

A:therefore B:indeed C:hence D:however

What does it mean to say that we live in a world of persuasionIt means that we live (1) competing interests. Your roommate’s need to study for an exam may take (2) over pizza. Your instructor may have good reasons not to change your grade. And the (3) of your romantic interest may have other options.
In such a world, persuasion is the art of getting others to give fair and (4) consideration to our point of view. When we persuade, we want to influence (5) others believe and behave. We may not always prevail-other points of view may be more persuasive, (6) on the listener, the situation, and the merits of the case. But when we practice the art of persuasion, we try to (7) that our position receives the attention it deserves.
Some people, however, (8) to the very idea of persuasion. They may regard it as an unwelcome intrusion (9) their lives or as a manipulation or domination. (10) , we believe that persuasion is (11) -to live is to persuade. Persuasion may be ethical or unethical, selfless or selfish, (12) or degrading. Persuaders may enlighten our minds or (13) on our vulnerability. Ethical persuasion, however, calls (14) sound reasoning and is sensitive to the feelings and needs of listeners. Such persuasion can help us (15) the wisdom of the past to the decisions we now must make. (16) , an essential part of education is learning to (17) the one kind of persuasion and to encourage and practice the other.
(18) its personal importance to us, persuasion is essential to society. The (19) to persuade and be persuaded is the foundation of the American political system, guaranteed by the First Amendment (20) the Constitution.

A:However B:Conversely C:Furthermore D:Therefore

In 1998 consumers could purchase virtually anything over the Internet. Books, compact discs, and even stocks were (1) from World Wide Websites that seemed to (2) almost daily a few years earlier, some people had predicted that consuners accustomed to shopping in stores would be (3) to buy things that they could not see or touch (4) . For a growing number of time-starved consumers, however, shopping from their home computer was proving to be a convenient (5) to driving to the store.
A research estimated that in 1998 US consumers could purchase $ 7.3 billion of goods over the Internet, double the 1997 total. Finding a bargain was getting easier, (6) the rise of online auctions and Websites that did comparison shopping on the Internet for the best (7) .
For all the consumer interest, (8) in eyberspaee was still a largely (9) business, however. Internet pioneer Amazon. eom, which began selling books in 1995 and later (10) into recorded music and videos, posted (11) of $ 153.7 million in the third quarter, up from $ 37.9 million in the same period of 1997. Overall, (12) , the company’ s loss widened to $ 45.2 million from $9.6 million, and analysts did not expect the company to turn a profit (13) 2001. (14) the great loss, Amazon. tom had a stock market value of many billions, reflecting investors’ (15) about the future of the industry.
Internet retailing appealed (16) investors because it provided an efficient means for reaching millions of consumers without having the cost of operating (17) stores with their armies of salespeople. Selling online carried its own risks, however, (18) so many companies competing tor consumers’ attention, price competition was (19) and profit (20) thin or nonexistent.

A:consequently B:though C:however D:yet

(However good) (are my paintings), I am (conscious) that they may (leave) much to be desired.

A:However good B:are my paintings C:conscious D:leave

I don' t think physics (is) hard (to learn). (However), my physics (are) very poor.

A:is B:to learn C:However D:are

(However good) (are my paintings), I am (conscious) that they may (leave) much to be desired.

A:However good B:are my paintings C:conscious D:leave

One of the most important features that distinguishes reading from listening is the nature of the audience. (51) the writer often does not know who will read what he writes, he must attempt to be as clear as possible. Time can be taken to plan the piece of writing so that it is eventually organized into some sort of (52) sequence of events or ideas. When we speak, however, we normally have very little time to plan what we intend to say. (53) , we may begin speaking before we have decided what to say. Our thoughts then tumble out in anything but a logical sequence. Since we are actually (54) our audience face to face we may omit some of the information we believe our audience shares. (55) the more familiar we are with our audience, the more information we are likely to leave out. In any (56) they can always stop and ask a question or ask for clarification if we have left out too much. A reader, however, cannot do (57) but can at least attempt comprehension at his own speed ; (58) , he can stop and go backwards or forwards, (59) to a dictionary or just stop and rest. when we listen we may have to work hard to sort out the speaker’s (60) by referring backwards and forwards while the speaker continues. As the speaker struggles to organize his thoughts, he will use filler phrases to give him time to plan. (61) these fillers, he will still make mistakes and repeat what he has already said. His speech will be characterized (62) a limited range of grammatical patterns and vocabulary and the use of idioms to (63) some general meaning quickly. It should be clear, then, that the listener has to take an active part in the process by ignoring the speaker’s repetitions and mistakes, and by seeking out the main idea through recall and prediction. To keep the process going (64) he also has to inform the speaker that he has understood (65) actually interrupting.

A:However B:Since C:Although D:Unless