1、考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 144 及答案与解析Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)0 The question of what to do about Fannie Mae and Freddie Macthe two government-created enterprises that have backed massive loans to the housing marketin
2、volves much more than finance or real estate. It marks the end of an era. The relentless promotion of homeownership as the embodiment of the American dream has outlived its usefulness.In some ways, owning a home contributes to neighborhood stability and encourages property improvement. Unfortunately
3、, we let a sensible goal become a foolish fetish. Not everyone can become a homeowner. Some are too young and footloose; some are too old and dependent; some are too poor or irresponsible. Even with these gaps, homeownership is virtually universal among the middle-aged middle class.Government subsid
4、izes homeownership in two ways: through tax and spending policies and through credit markets. Tax breaks for homeowners exceeded $120 billion in 2009. These benefits go heavily to higher-income borrowers, who are encouraged to buy bigger and more expensive homes that generate larger tax savings. Thi
5、s is both unfair and unnecessary. By contrast, government subsidies for lower-income renters are skimpier, totaling about 25 percent of the support for homeowners.The cheap credit subsidy operates mainly through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These government-sponsored enterprises(GSEs)were economic mo
6、ngrels: profit-making companies that were given goals of expanding homeownership among poorer buyers. The GSEs could borrow at interest rates barely above the U. S. Treasurys, because investors regarded Fannie and Freddie bonds as backed by the government.It seemed a perfect marriage: The GSEs would
7、 earn profits and pass along the benefits of cheaper credit by financing or guaranteeing mortgage loans. Congress could promote homeownership outside budget constraints. But the marriage between private profit and public purpose failed. In September 2008, the Bush administration took over Fannie and
8、 Freddie, which faced huge losses from bad mortgages.In an ideal world, we would throw away failed policies. We would change or end the mortgage-interest tax cut. We would tighten the GSEs loans and guarantees. The trouble is that the ideal solution may be temporarily undesirable. The housing market
9、, as everyone knows, has collapsed.Ironically, the GSEs have become more important than ever. Private lenders, which once regarded a mortgage secured by a home as a highly safe investment, now see it as highly risky. Few new mortgages are made without government guarantees.This means that sudden wit
10、hdrawals of support might deepen housings depression. Some economists have made sensible proposals to scale back Fannie and Freddie. But done too quickly, they could backfire.The single-minded promotion of homeownership failed and, paradoxically, undermined the American dream. It contributed to the
11、housing “bubble“ and favors housing investment over new industries and technologies. But to end it, we need to make haste slowly.1 According to the first paragraph, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac（A）are the government-sponsored real estate enterprises.（B） have lent huge loans to the housing market.（C） re
12、present the American dream.（D）mark the end of an era.2 The authors attitude towards promotion of homeownership is（A）positive.（B） objective.（C） negative.（D）sensitive.3 We can know from the two ways of government subsidizing homeownership that（A）tax breaks prefer higher-income borrowers to lower-incom
13、e renters.（B） the GSEs can make profits by selling properties to poorer buyers.（C） private profit and public purpose seemed a perfect marriage.（D）the GSEs would pass along all their profits to home buyers.4 The word “backfire“(Line 3, Para. 8)most probably means（A）to come to their senses.（B） to prod
14、uce helpful results.（C） to make little progress.（D）to get an outcome against the purpose.5 The failure of homeownership promotion resulted in（A）the American dream realistic.（B） housing “bubble“ broken.（C） more housing investment.（D）more new industries and technologies.5 Sales of existing homes rose
15、by the largest amount in more than five years in September. But analysts cautioned against reading too much into the gain, noting that it reflected conditions before the latest upheaval in financial markets increased the likelihood of a recession in the overall economy.The National Association of Re
16、altors reported that sales of existing homes rose by 5. 5 percent from August to September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million unitsfar better than the flat results analysts had expected. On an unadjusted basis, sales were up 7. 8 percent from September last year.But even with the g
17、ain in sales, prices kept falling. The median sales price has dropped to $191,600, down by 9 percent from a year ago. In Richmond, Va. , Jack Jebo sold his three-bedroom house last month for $267,000, after lowering his price $18,000. He carried two mortgages for two months before the house was sold
18、 in the Richmond area. “In retrospect,(the experience)probably wasnt too bad,“ said Jebo, 32, an attorney. “At the time, it probably felt pretty difficult because we didnt get an offer before we lowered the price. “But analysts said that the current financial crisis, which has contributed to the big
19、gest upheavals on Wall Street since the 1930s, was sending consumer confidence down, unemployment up and had greatly increased the prospects that the country was either in or about to enter a fullblown recession. All these factors were expected to add to the headwinds buffeting housing in the months
20、 ahead.“In October, mortgage applications sank to six-year lows,“ said Sal Guatieri, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. “This suggests house sales, like the rest of the economy, fell off a cliff because of the worsening credit crunch. “Many analysts are predicting that home pricesalready down 18 p
21、ercent nationally from their peak in mid-2006could decline another 10 percent, as a continued glut of foreclosed homes being dumped on the market depresses prices further.The National Association of Realtors estimated that 35 percent to 40 percent of sales currently are distressed saleseither forecl
22、osed homes or short sales in which the owner is selling the house for less than the value of the mortgage.Distressed sales are having a big impact in lowering prices in some formerly red-hot sales markets in such regions as the West, where sales prices fell in September by 18.5 percent from a year a
23、go.Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, said there were some glimmers of hope that the bottom of the housing slump may be near. He said that a sales turnaround first seen in California was beginning to broaden to other regions of the country including Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri
24、 and Rhode Island.6 Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 1?（A）Sales of existing homes rose by the most in the recent five years in September.（B） Analysts warn people against reading too much report about the increasing sale.（C） Increasing existing home sales reflect the past upheava
25、l in financial markets.（D）Increasing existing home sales increase peoples preference of the recession.7 What can be inferred from Sal Guatieris comments?（A）House sales worsened other sections of the economy.（B） House sales resulted in the worsening credit crunch.（C） The credit crunch worsened the wh
26、ole economy.（D）Mortgage applications have been falling for 6 years.8 We can infer from Paragraph 6 that（A）home prices has fallen down 28% compared with whats in mid-2006.（B） many foreclosed homes have been abandoned by their former owners.（C） home prices might fall down 28% from their peak in mid-20
27、06 in the future.（D）more foreclosed homes have been abandoned because of the falling price.9 As for “distressed sales“ , which of the following statements is true?（A）It occupies 35% to 40% of the whole house sales in the history.（B） It is made up of both the foreclosed homes and short sales.（C） It p
28、revents people from selling their houses too cheaply.（D）It has little influence on the formerly prosperous housing market.10 According to Lawrence Yun, the future of the house sales will（A）remain in the same depressing situation.（B） become worse because of the financial crisis.（C） turn into a good s
29、ituation in no time.（D）be depressing for a short time and then be better.10 Understandably, Margo Parisi wanted to take every possible step to reduce the risk that her newborn son, Luca, would die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS). So the mom followed the “Back to Sleep“ guidelines from the Nati
30、onal Institute of Child Health and Human Development(NICHD), putting Luca to sleep on his back, shunning blankets and pillows and keeping the temperature cool. She also turned on the ceiling fan; she had read a newspaper article that said researchers were investigating whether that might help. After
31、 all, she and her husband already had the fan. “Its cheap and easy; not going to harm the baby,“ she says. “Its one more thing you can do as a parent that can prevent something horrible from happening. “ So far all the precautions have paid off: at 14 weeks, Luca is happy and healthy.Parisi is one o
32、f a growing number of parents taking measures to reduce the risk of SIDS defined as “the sudden death of an infant under 1 year of age, which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinic
33、al history. “ In fact, the campaign to educate people about the syndrome has been so successful that infant deaths due to SIDS have been cut in half since the NICHD introduced its Back to Sleep campaign in 1994. Nonetheless, each year SIDS kills about 2,300 U.S. babies, about one infant out of every
34、 2,000 live births, according to the American SIDS Institute. Three new studies published today look at how that number might be further reduced.In the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric the four species examined by the team are all likely to decline to varying degrees.By running several cli
35、mate models and plugging in data on habitat characteristics and fish present at 9,890 locations in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin, the team of scientists created predictions for trout habitat across more than 1 million square kilometers of the western United States. They factored physical aspec
36、ts of habitatwater temperature, patterns of floodingas well as competition among species. Heres what the study concludes about the future of trout:Introduced beginning in the 1800s for fishing, rainbow trout live in larger rivers than do the other species. They typically grow up to 110 centimeters l
37、ong and are relatively easy to catch. Increases in water temperature will restrict their range, but rainbow trout dodge a bullet. Climate change will mean more frequent and intense winter floods, which can scour away eggs laid in the fall, but rainbow trout spawn in the spring. The size of their hab
38、itat is predicted to decline by 35%.Smaller than rainbow trout, Brown trout are the most temperature tolerant among the four species and like warmer temperatures. They have the ill fortune to spawn in the fall, so the increased flooding will make many streams inhospitable. Their habitat is predicted
39、 to decline by 48%.As to Cutthroat trout, the range of these native fish has already shrunk by more than 85% due to competition from introduced species. Two subspecies have already gone extinct. Warming temperatures and continued competition primarily from rainbow trout are predicted to reduce suita
40、ble habitat by a further 58%.Compared with the other species, brook trout are the biggest losers in 2080. Because they spawn in the fall, the increase in winter flooding is expected to reduce their suitable habitat by 77%a surprising amount given their success at invading new habitat. “I did not exp
41、ect brook trout to decline so much,“ says co-author Seth Wenger, a biologist with Trout Unlimited, a conservation organization in Boise.Frank Rahel, a fish ecologist at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, who was not involved with the study, says the findings help paint the big picture for trout t
42、his century. “Theyre very sobering results that will catch peoples attention,“ he says. Not much can be done to reduce the impact of winter floods, but managers already try to keep streams cooler by planting trees and shrubs.21 The prediction on the habitat of trout is based on（A）a scientific simula
43、tion including various factors.（B） the field work of a team of scientists.（C） the characteristics of the west part of America.（D）the presence of fish in different habitats of trout.22 The phrase “dodge a bullet“(Line 3, Para.3)most probably means（A）escaping successfully from a hunters shooting.（B） b
44、eing lucky and escaping the fate of destruction.（C） having the ability to run away from a bullet.（D）dying in a large number due to shooting.23 Compared with Cutthroat trout, rainbow trout（A）can better adapt to warm temperatures.（B） has to retreat further to a restricted habitat.（C） has shown stronge
45、r survival ability.（D）lays more eggs when winter floods come.24 Although brook trout adapts to new environments well, it（A）cannot compete with rainbow trout in the skill of invasion.（B） has to face the worst situation in the future since it lays eggs in the fall.（C） cannot adjust well to warmer temp
46、eratures as well as winter flooding.（D）has to face the most serious problem arising from its overpopulation.25 What measures do people use to deal with the consequence of warm temperatures?（A）Fish managers build up an organization to persuade people to plant trees.（B） Scientists from universities in
47、vent advanced methods to cool down the habitats.（C） Experts have come up with good ideas to change the routes of winter floods.（D）People make their efforts to make the temperature down within trouts habitats.考研英语（阅读）模拟试卷 144 答案与解析Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions
48、below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)【知识模块】 阅读1 【正确答案】 B【试题解析】 事实细节题。根据题干提示可以定位至第一段。根据该段首句：这两家政府发起类公司为房地产市场提供了巨额贷款可以得知B正确。房利美和房地美的确是政府发起类公司，但不是房地产公司，因此排除A；根据第一段第三句：宣扬拥有房子就是美国梦的象征，可知C错误；第一段第二句中的 it 指的是房利美和房地美面临的问题，而不是指这两家公司，因此D错误。【知识模块】 阅读2 【正确答案】 C【试题解析】 观点态度题。根据题干关键词 homeownership 分
49、别定位至第一、二段和最后一段。根据第一段最后一句中的修饰 promotion of homeownership 的形容词 relentless 和最后一段第一句的形容词 single-minded、动词 failed 等可以看出，作者对鼓吹拥有房子持否定的态度，因此选C。【知识模块】 阅读3 【正确答案】 A【试题解析】 推理判断题。根据题干关键词 the two ways 和 government subsidizing homeownership 定位至第三段。该段第三句和第五句指出：这些优惠在很大比例上都到了高收人借款人的手中，而政府给低收入租房者的补贴是非常吝啬的，综合起来可推知A正确。第四段第二句指出：这些政府支持的企业是个盈利的公司，其目标让贫穷买者买得起房，B是对这句话的误解；第五段第三句指出：私营利润和公共目的之间的联姻失败了，因此排除C；第五段第一句指出：这些 GSE 可以将低价的信贷优惠传递开来，但并不是说将所有的盈利都传递出去，因此D错误。【知识模块】 阅读4 【正确答案】 D【试题解析】 词义理解题。根据题干提示可以定位至第八段。该段最后一句指出：如果动作太快可能就会 backfire，而该段首句就指出：突然撤离支持可能会加深房地产市场的衰退，这应该和最后一句
