【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[听力原文] The U.S. Federal Reserve announced yesterday it was raising interest rates for the first time since 2006. Known as the Fed, it's America's central bank. It's led by Janet Yellen. Its job is to help stabilize America's financial system. The Fed makes moves to try to lower unemployment and control inflation when the price of goods goes up too fast for people to afford them. Because the U.S. economy is growing, the Fed raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, not much. But gradual rate increases are likely in the New Year. That means you'll have to pay more interest if you borrow money, higher loan rates for home buyers, higher interest rates if you finance a car, higher student loan rates for people who enter colleges afterwards. Eventually, savings accounts could earn a little more interest. A decade since the last 'Star Wars', and nearly just as long, nine years, since the Fed last changed interest rates. But now, it's time for the Fed to awaken, because after three episodes of quantitative easing, Janet Yellen must now use her most powerful weapon to restore balance in the economy. What will happen to interest rates in the US?