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The housing market has been for two years propping up consumers’ spirits while the rest of the economy lies exhausted on the floor, still trying to struggle to its feet. According to the National Association of Realtors, the national median existing-home price ended the year at $ 164, 000, up 7.1 percent from 2001. That’s the strongest annual increase since 1980.Although residential real estate activity makes up less than 8% of total U. S. GDP, a housing market like this one can make the difference between positive and negative growth. Most significantly, consumer spending is 66% of GDP, and the purchase of a new home tends to have an "umbrella effect" on the homeowner’s spending as he has to stock it with a washer/dryer, a new big-screen TV, and maybe a swing set for the yard.The main factor in housing’s continued strength is a classic economic example of zero-sum boom: the persistent weakness everywhere else. As the 2003 recovery continues to be more forecast than reality. Falling stock prices raised investor appeal for U. S. Treasury Bonds, which in turn, allowed most interest rates to drift even lower. But there are not many signs that there’s a bubble ready to burst.December’s new record in housing starts, for example, was nicely matched by the new record in new home sales. If you build it, they will buy and even if an economic pickup starts to reduce housing’s relative attractiveness, there’s no reason why modest economic growth and improved consumer mood can’t help sustaining housing’s strength. "The momentum gained from low mortgage interest rates will carry strong home sales into 2003, with an improving economy offsetting modestly higher mortgage interest rates as the year progresses," said David Lereah, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.Just as housing has taken up much of the economic slack for the past two years, both as a comforting investment for fretting consumers and a driver of consumer spending itself, a big bump elsewhere in the economy in 2003 could be housing’s downfall. If stocks roar back this spring, capital inflows could steal from the bond market, pushing up long-term interest rates. or Alan Greenspan and the Fed could do the same to short-term rates, as a way to hit the brakes on a recovery that is heating up too fast. In other words, if everything possible goes wrong for housing, homeowners should have plenty to compensate them in terms of job security and income hikes. What is the writer’s attitude toward future housing market()

A. Carefree.
B. Optimistic.
Composed.
D. Gloomy.

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去年12月份的海啸掀开了印度一个古代港口城市的面纱,目前印度潜水员发现了更多实证。1.考古学家(archaeologists)表示,印度南部海岸附近海底发现的石头建筑明显是人工制造的。它们可能是传说中的马哈巴利普兰古城的一部分。2.神话中说这座城市太美丽以至于诸神唤来洪水,淹没了城内七座寺庙里的六座。当强大的海浪袭击了米尔纳德邦省的海岸,冲走了沙滩上的石子后,神庙遗迹露出厂海面。3.就在海啸(tsunami)发生前:有居民报告退潮时看到一座寺庙和其他建筑物,印度的考古学家调查组随后派出了潜水探察队。这些新发现位于马哈巴利普兰寺庙附近,马哈巴利普兰寺庙建于公元7世纪,有人说这些建筑侥幸逃过了诸神的惩罚。“我们发现了一些显然是人工修建的石头结构的建筑物。”探察队领队阿洛克·特里帕蒂对记者说。“它们是用完美的长方形石块按一定样式搭建而成的。”4.海啸带来的这件古代“礼物”将于下个月在印度德里举行的海上考古学国际研讨会上露面。二月份早些时候,在马哈巴利普兰还有其他一些发现,包括和这座寺庙年代相仿的一只花岗岩石狮,专家认为在海啸冲走浮沙之前,它已经在海底埋藏了数个世纪了。5.过去的3年中,考古学家们一直在这片遗址工作。在另一次潜水探测中,他们发现一座沉没水中的城市,里面至少有一座寺庙。有关马哈巴利普兰的种种传说最早是由英国旅行家戈丁汉姆记载的。1798年他访问印度时,听到了”七座宝塔”的神话传说。

17()

A. same
B. likely
C. similar
D. like

The housing market has been for two years propping up consumers’ spirits while the rest of the economy lies exhausted on the floor, still trying to struggle to its feet. According to the National Association of Realtors, the national median existing-home price ended the year at $ 164, 000, up 7.1 percent from 2001. That’s the strongest annual increase since 1980.Although residential real estate activity makes up less than 8% of total U. S. GDP, a housing market like this one can make the difference between positive and negative growth. Most significantly, consumer spending is 66% of GDP, and the purchase of a new home tends to have an "umbrella effect" on the homeowner’s spending as he has to stock it with a washer/dryer, a new big-screen TV, and maybe a swing set for the yard.The main factor in housing’s continued strength is a classic economic example of zero-sum boom: the persistent weakness everywhere else. As the 2003 recovery continues to be more forecast than reality. Falling stock prices raised investor appeal for U. S. Treasury Bonds, which in turn, allowed most interest rates to drift even lower. But there are not many signs that there’s a bubble ready to burst.December’s new record in housing starts, for example, was nicely matched by the new record in new home sales. If you build it, they will buy and even if an economic pickup starts to reduce housing’s relative attractiveness, there’s no reason why modest economic growth and improved consumer mood can’t help sustaining housing’s strength. "The momentum gained from low mortgage interest rates will carry strong home sales into 2003, with an improving economy offsetting modestly higher mortgage interest rates as the year progresses," said David Lereah, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.Just as housing has taken up much of the economic slack for the past two years, both as a comforting investment for fretting consumers and a driver of consumer spending itself, a big bump elsewhere in the economy in 2003 could be housing’s downfall. If stocks roar back this spring, capital inflows could steal from the bond market, pushing up long-term interest rates. or Alan Greenspan and the Fed could do the same to short-term rates, as a way to hit the brakes on a recovery that is heating up too fast. In other words, if everything possible goes wrong for housing, homeowners should have plenty to compensate them in terms of job security and income hikes. According to the writer, what may be chiefly responsible for the "umbrella effect" (Paragraph 2)()

A. Sustainable bond markets.
B. Robust housing market
C. Bubbly stock markets.
D. Ill-natured consumers.

4()

A. at
B. in
C. on
D. above

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