1.The 2008 financial crisis was caused largely by:

A/a bursting of the housing market bubble.

B/a run on banks and other financial institutions.

C/by the inability of the government to issue Treasury bonds.

D/a bursting of the automobile market bubble.

2.A company borrows money to supplement its current funds and uses it to buy more financial assets. This is what referred to as:

A/diversification

B/quantitative easing

C/leverage

D/herding

3.This is for the Russia article.

Russia

MOSCOWRussia's central bank cut its key interest rate on Friday, but its unusually transparent governor promised there would be no more cuts this year as longer-term inflation risks remain.

The Bank of Russia cut the rate to 10% from 10.5%, resisting calls from investors and lawmakers to move more aggressively. Central Bank Gov. Elvira Nabiullina said the cut was aimed at propping up lending activity in the economy, which is on track to shrink 0.5% this year after falling 3.7% in 2015.

Friday's move was priced in, but most analysts had predicted further moderate rate cuts this year, as inflationnow at 6.6% annuallyhas slowed significantly.

Cutting rates forthe second time this year(Links to an external site.)

, Ms. Nabiullina said inflation was slowing in line with expectations, and the bank would maintain a moderately tight policy to hit its target of 4% inflation by the end of 2017.

"With this objective in mind it is necessary to keep the key rate at 10% at least until the end of the year," Ms. Nabiullina said. "We will review the possibility of lowering (the rate) no earlier than in the first and second quarter of 2017."

Ms. Nabiullina said that real interest rates, or the difference between inflation and the main central bank rate, should remain between 2.5% and 3% in the long run. For now, while inflationary risks and expectations are still strong, Russia's real rate should be even higher, she added.

"This is a measured response from a cautious central bank," said Victor Szabo,Aberdeen Asset Management(Links to an external site.)

senior fixed income investment manager. "This effectively fired a shot across the bows of anyone hoping for a series of aggressive cuts."

The cut brought the main rate closer to precrisis levels of early 2014, beforeRussia annexed Crimea(Links to an external site.)

and was targeted with broad Western sanctions. Later that year, Russia's economy took a battering as the price of oil, its major export, plummeted and the central bank was forced to raise the rate to 17% to save the tanking ruble.

The ruble showed only muted reaction to Friday's rate cut, hovering close to 65 against the dollar, and Ms. Nabiullina said there were no reasons for the ruble to weaken this year.

Ms. Nabiullina said that while inflation readings are lower now, expectations for higher inflation played a role in the central bank's decision to put rate cutting on hold, as did uncertainty about fiscal spending.

This year, the government failed to adjustpensions(Links to an external site.)

in line with the previous year's inflation rate as usual, raising them by 4% instead the 2015 inflation rate of nearly 13%. The government promised a one-time payment of 5,000 rubles ($77) in January and has pledged to continue indexing pensions beginning next year.

"Going forward, we consider the budget policy will be the main watch factor in forecasting policy rate pattern," said Natalia Orlova, chief economist at Alfa Bank. "The seasonality of the budget payments thus suggests that in the base case, the rate cut could be expected only in March 2017."

Per the article, the Russian currency (called the ruble) was losing value. To help prevent the currency from losing more value the central bank _______________ to make it more attractive.

A/Increased the interest rate

B/Increased the required reserve

C/Decreased the interest rate

D/Decreased the required reserve