【Supplementary Reading】
A.The following is the lyrics of the national anthem of the United States，“The Star⁃Spangled Banner.”It was written by Francis Scott Key（1779—1843），an American lawyer and poet，who witnessed the British bombardment of a fort in Baltimore during the War of 1812.The U.S.congress passed an act to make it the official national anthem of the United States on March 3，1831.
The Star⁃Spangled Banner
Oh，say can you see，by the dawn’s early light，
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars，through the perilous fight，
O’er the ramparts we watched，were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’red glare，the bombs bursting in air，
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say，does that star⁃spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore，dimly seen through the mists of the deep，
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes，
What is that which the breeze，o’er the towering steep，
As it fitfully blows，half conceals，half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam，
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream：
’Tis the star⁃spangled banner!O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight，or the gloom of the grave：
And the star⁃spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh!thus be it ever，when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace，may the heaven⁃rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must，when our cause it is just，
And this be our motto：“In God is our trust.”
And the star⁃spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
B.The Federal Reserve System，which serves as the nation’s central bank，was created by an act of Congress on December 23，1913.The System consists of a seven member Board of Governors with headquarters in Washington，D.C.，and twelve Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the United States.The following passage describes the responsibilities of the Board of Governors.
The primary responsibility of the Board members is the formulation of monetary policy.The seven Board members constitute a majority of the 12⁃member Federal Open Market Committee（FOMC），the group that makes the key decisions affecting the cost and availability of money and credit in the economy.The other five members of the FOMC are Reserve Bank presidents，one of whom is the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.The other Bank presidents serve one⁃year terms on a rotating basis.By statute the FOMC determines its own organization，and by tradition it elects the Chairman of the Board of Governors as its Chairman and the President of the New York Bank as its Vice Chairman.
The Board sets reserve requirements and shares the responsibility with the Reserve Banks for discount rate policy.These two functions plus open market operations constitute the monetary policy tools of the Federal Reserve System.
In addition to monetary policy responsibilities，the Federal Reserve Board has regulatory and supervisory responsibilities over banks that are members of the System，bank holding companies，international banking facilities in the United States，Edge Act and agreement corporations，foreign activities of member banks，and the U.S.activities of foreign⁃owned banks.The Board also sets margin requirements，which limit the use of credit for purchasing or carrying securities.
In addition，the Board plays a key role in assuring the smooth functioning and continued development of the nation’s vast payments system.
Another area of Board responsibility is the development and administration of regulations that implement major federal laws governing consumer credit such as the Truth in Lending Act，the Equal Credit Opportunity Act，the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the Truth in Savings Act.