First listen and then answer the following question.

听录音，然后回答以下问题。

Why is there no risk to the customer when a bank prints the customer's name on his cheques?

When anyone opens a current account at a bank, he is lending the bank money, repayment of which he may demand at any time, either in cash or by drawing a cheque in favour of another person．Primarily, the banker-customer relationship is that of debtor and creditor----who is which depending on whether the customer's account is in credit or is overdrawn．But, in addition to that basically simple concept, the bank and its customer owe a large number of obligations to one another．Many of these obligations can give rise to problems and complications but a bank customer, unlike, say, a buyer of goods, cannot complain that the law is loaded against him.

The bank must obey its customer's instructions, and not those of anyone else．When, for example, a customer first opens an account, he instructs the bank to debit his account only in respect of cheques drawn by himself．He gives the bank specimens of his signature, and there is a very firm rule that the bank has no right or authority to pay out a customer's money on a cheque on which its customer's signature has been forged．It makes no difference that the forgery may have been a very skilful one: the bank must recognize its customer's signature．For this reason there is no risk to the customer in the practice, adopted by banks, of printing the customer's name on his cheques．If this facilitates forgery, it is the bank which will lose, not the customer

CORDON BARRIE and AUBREY L．DIAMOND The Consumer Society and the Law

New words and expressions  生词和短语

current(1.1) /'k)r+nt/ adj．通用的，流行的

complication (1.6)/?k&mplI'ker+Mn/n.纠纷

account(1.1)/+'ka&nt/n.账户

debit(1.9)/'debrt/v.把……记入借方

cash(1.2) /k$M/ n.现金

specimen(1.10)/'spesImIn/ n．样本

cheque(1.2)/tMek/ n.支票

forge(1.12)/f&:DN/ v.伪造

debtor(1.3)/'det+/ n.借方

forgery(1.12) /'f&:DN+ri/ n.伪造（文件，签名等）

creditor (1.3)/'kredrt+/n．贷方

adopt (1.13)/+'d&pt/v.采用

obligation (1.5)/?&blI'geiM+n/ n．义务

facilitate(1.14)/ f+'srlrtert/v．使便利

Notes on the text  课文注释

1  open a current account, 开一个活期账号。

2  draw a cheque in favour of…, 开一张以……为收款人的支票。

3  who is which depending on …is overdrawn, 这是现在分词短语 depending on… is overdrawn 的独立主格结构。who is which 是分词短语意思上的主语， which代表 debtor or creditor。

4   give rise to, 引起。

5  be loaded against…, 与……不利。

参考译文

任何人在银行开一个活期账户，就等于把钱借给了银行。这笔钱他可以随时提取，提取的方式可以是取现金，也可以是开一张以他人为收款人的支票。银行与储户的关系主要是债务人和债权人的关系。究竟谁是债务人谁是债权人，要看储户的账户是有结余还是透支。除了这一基本的简单的概念外，银行和储户彼此还需承担大量义务。其中许多义务往往引起问题和纠纷。但是储户不能像货物的买主那样来抱怨法律对自己不利。