单选题
China"s Property Market: End of the Golden Era

After years of talking up China"s gravity-defying property markets, local land kings are now singing a darker tune. On May 26th 2014 Yu Liang, the president of Vanke, China"s biggest developer, declared that the "golden era" in which "everybody makes money out of property is gone". That came on the heels of comments by Pan Shiyi, the boss of Soho China, another property firm, likening the country"s real-estate (不动产) sector to the Titanic: "It will soon hit an iceberg."
Official data show the country"s property market is indeed coming down to earth. During the first four months of 2014, the value of residential sales fell by nearly 10% versus a year ago, and construction activity on new homes fell by a quarter. The decline on a month-to-month basis is even more striking.
Why is the market losing steam? One explanation is that there is too much building going on. Cooling demand is another reason. Despite a cultural strong liking for property—no bachelor can hope to win over a desirable bride if he does not own a home—it seems that customers may now be ready to put off their purchases. After years of double-digit (两位数的) growth, the economy is slowing. More importantly, recent price cuts of a third or more being offered by developers in some markets have started to worry would-be buyers. These bargains are now available in wealthy coastal cities and not just in smaller cities in remote areas.
Zhiwei Zhang of Nomura, an investment bank, acknowledges the problem of structural oversupply but still believes that recent policy shifts are the main factor. Pointing to a close correlation between property-market behaviour and money supply, he says the market correction was triggered mainly by the monetary-policy tightening that began in the middle of 2013.
Not everyone is worried. Some think the price cuts will lead to another market rebound (反弹). Others hope policy easing will do the trick. Many big cities still enforce policies to curb purchases, argue optimists, so there may yet be pent-up (被抑制的) demand. That is a theory that may soon come to be tested.
单选题 What do Pan Shiyi"s words mean?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的Pan Shiyi"s words定位到原文第一段。该段首句中指出，在谈论了多年中国房地产市场的强劲增长之后，本土地产大亨们逐渐唱起悲调。随后以万科集团的总裁和SOHO中国的总裁潘石屹所说的话进行了例证。由此可以推断，潘石屹所说的话要表达的意思即房地产行业正在走下坡路，发展不如以前那么好了，故选A。
单选题 Which of the following can explain the decline of the property market?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的explain the decline of the property market定位到原文第三段。该段首句以设问的方式寻问房地产市场失去动力的原因。随后在第二句和第三句中指出，其中一个解释是在建住房过多。需求冷却是另一个原因。由此可知，B项表述符合原文，故选B。
单选题 What made the would-be buyers start to worry?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的would-be buyers start to worry定位到原文第三段。该段第六句中指出，更重要的是，近期部分市场上开发商将房价下降三分之一甚至更多的举动开始使得潜在购房者感到担忧。由此可知，令潜在购房者感到担忧的是房价的不断下降，故选D。
单选题 What"s the main reason for the market correction according to Zhiwei Zhang?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的Zhiwei Zhang定位到原文第四段。该段最后一句中指出，张志伟认为房地产市场行为与货币供给之间存在很强的关联性，近期市场调整主要是由2013年年中开始收紧的货币政策引起的。由此可知，A项表述符合原文，故选A。
单选题 What can we know from the last paragraph?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干定位到原文最后一段。该段中指出，并不是每个人都在担忧。有人认为此番降价会引起新一轮的市场反弹。其他人则希望政策放宽能取得成功。乐观人士认为，由于许多大城市仍在推行抑制购买政策，所以仍存在潜在需求。这种理论也许很快将得到验证。由此可见，关于房地产的未来还没有一个定论，故选D。