单选题
The news from America's housing market is getting no better. As sales declines and defaults and foreclosures climb, pessimists fear that over a million Americans could be driven out of their homes as adjustable-rate mortgages are reset. What should policymakers do? Congress is eager to do more: hence the calls to expand the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant government-sponsored enterprises (GSES) that tower over America's mortgage market. Fannie's and Freddie's political allies want two things. The first is the raising of the $417,000 limit on the size of loans that the pair may handle. The second demand is the lifting of caps on the amount of mortgages they may buy and hold for themselves. Fannie and Freddie could then ride to the rescue of struggling borrowers, injecting liquidity into parts of the market that have seized up. Their arguments are winning support, and opposition from the Bush administration and the GSES' regulator is softening. Unfortunately, the ideas are likely to do more for Fannie and Freddie than for the mortgage market. Start with the $417,000 limit. Lifting this could help if Fannie and Freddie scoured the upper bracket for borrowers who were struggling but viable. But their history suggests that they would cherry-pick those who could get refinanced elsewhere. And the huge-mortgage market may be correcting itself anyway: spreads over GSE-backed loans, though still unusually high, are falling. It is also riskier. When they hold a mortgage, they take on not only credit risk but also interest-rate and prepayment risk. The loans they guarantee, in contrast, carry only credit risk. So as well as being just as effective, the guarantee business is also safer—and thus better for the taxpayer who unwittingly stands behind the GSES. Moreover, even if they grow no more, the mortgage giants pose a clear systemic threat. Their portfolios of retained mortgages and mortgage-backed securities add up to no less than $1.4 trillion. It is bad enough that this is concentrated in two institutions. No matter how much risk they take or how they manage it, they can borrow at rock-bottom interest rates. If they got into trouble, banks as well as taxpayers would be on the hook. Banks may hold as much GSE debt as they want. Many have amounts that exceed their regulatory capital. The giants were set up decades ago to help banks pool concentrated regional mortgage risk and to make housing more affordable. But as the market has grown deeper and more sophisticated, history has left them behind—hence their desire to get into any bit of the business that will turn a profit. The eventual aim should be to turn them into normal private-sector companies, by stripping them of the charters that give rise to the implicit government guarantees, and break them into smaller pieces.
单选题
According to the text, policy makers solve the problems in the housing market in the US by ______ [A] Driving millions of people out of their houses. [B] Calling on the expansion of GSES roles. [C] Planning to stop resetting adjustable-interest mortgage. [D] Doing nothing.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】本题为细节理解题。选项A是悲观主义者对于房地产市场不景气所做出的前景预测，选项C在文章中并没有提到。根据“Congress is eager to do more: hence the calls to expand the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant government-sponsored enterprises (GSES) that tower over America's mortgage market．可以判断B正确。
单选题
What can be inferred about the Fannie and Freddie from Paragraph 2 and 3? [A] They are companies of normal size for mortgage and loan. [B] They are companies supported by the government. [C] They are companies functioning as banks. [D] They are companies that have no help to the housing market.
单选题
If the giant GSES collapse, the most possible result would be ______ [A] Borrowers can get their mortgage back. [B] Banks may face a debt which they cannot afford. [C] Taxpayers would have to borrow money at rock-bottom interest rates. [D] The housing market will become deeper and more sophisticated.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】本题为推理判断题。很明显，选项A在文中并未提及。文中提到“If they got into trouble, banks as well as taxpayers would be on the hook. Banks may hold as much GSE debt as they want. Many have amounts that exceed their regulatory capital.”，由此可见这两家公司同银行之间的利益联系相当密切，而且数额相当巨大，超出一般银行能够支付的范围。选项C中所提到的最低利率是指这两家公司所能够享有的利率，而非纳税人的。选项D是目前房地产市场的发展趋势而非可能的后果。因此选B。
单选题
According to the author, the proposal of the Congress most probably ______ [A] break the giants into small pieces in case of safety. [B] endow more power to the two giants for their development. [C] rescue those who cannot pay back their loan in the housing market. [D] promote the development of the part of market that has been seized up.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】本题为推理判断题。文中指出“Unfortunately, the ideas are likely to do more for Fannie and Freddie than for the mortgage market．”，因此这项提案如果得以通过的话，最大的受益者应当是房利美和房地美公司，而非房地产市场。选项A是作者提出的规避风险的方法。选项C和D都是对于房地产市插的帮助。因此选项B最符合题意。
单选题
Which of the following is unlikely to be the risk that the two giants are facing? [A] They were established for historical purposes which no longer fit the situation. [B] The sizes of them are too big to handle. [C] The development of housing market is fast and profound: [D] They are sponsored by the government and money from taxpayers.