Passage 3HOW TO READ A BALANCE SHEET
　　A balance sheet is not like a Profit and Loss account, which is a record of the (0)______ transacted in a year and the profits (or losses) produced as a result. A balance sheet can be (21)______ of as a photograph, a moment (22)______ time, (usually the last day of the company’s financial year), which shows exactly what the business owns. These may be buildings, cash, stocks or debts, i. e. amounts of money (23)______ to the business by customers.
　　A balance sheet may change from one year to the next if, for example, a company sells one of its factories, if it (24)______ more money from its shareholders, if it repays some debt to the bank, or if it builds up its inventory of (25)______ goods.
　　But whatever happens to the composition of the assets of the business, any overall change in asset (26)______ is reflected in the balance sheet. There is one further (27)______ to be made. Although the principle of a balance sheet is to have assets on one side and liabilities on the other, the fact is that—especially for public companies—shareholders want to be able to see what their (28)______ in the company is worth.
　　So a tradition has (29)______ up which has meant that ‘Creditors’ is actually moved to the assets side as a negative amount. Structuring the balance sheet like this is simply a matter of (30)______ There is no commercial reason for presenting it in this way.
　　Example:
　　0. A. business　　　 B. activity　　　　C. work　　　　　 D. commerce
　　21. A. treated　　　 B. thought　　　　 C. imagined　　　 D. consider
　　22. A. to　　　　　　B. at　　　　　　　C. in　　　　　　 D. on
　　23. A. owed　　　　　B. given　　　　　 C. paid　　　　　 D. borrowed
　　24. A. earns　　　　 B. asks　　　　　　C. requires　 　　D. raises
　　25. A. perfected　　 B. controlled　　　C. completed　　　D. finished
　　26. A. rate　　　　　B. worth　　　　　 C. quality　　　　D. value
　　27. A. fact　　　　　B. point　　　　　 C. idea　　　　　 D. view
　　28. A. stake　　 　　B. part　　　　　　C. ownership　　　D. slice
　　29. A. arisen　　　　B. come　　　　　　C. grown　　　　　D. brought
　　30. A. importance　　B. force　　　　　 C. emphasis　　　 D. meaning