单选题 For a large number of young adults in Britain, homeownership has become increasingly difficult to achieve, viewed as a distant goal attainable only later in life, if at all.
That is a significant shift for Britain. For years owners occupy a higher percentage of homes in Britain than in the United States, France or Germany. One reason homeownership is so attractive in Britain is because property values dropped less drastically than in the United States, in part because of a shortage in housing. Prices in some large cities, including London, have even increased recently. People still perceive a home to be a better and safer investment than a pension fund, said Andrew Hull, research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research. "Homeownership is also culturally entrenched, " he said. "Owning a home is the main way of showing you made it. "
The big shift toward homeownership came in the 1980s when Mrs. Thatcher issued right-to-buy policy, which allowed many in rented government housing to buy their homes. About two million homes were sold, earning the government tens of billions of pounds. At the same time, the rental market became increasingly unattractive. Unlike Germany and other Continental European countries, Britain's private rental market is highly fragmented, with many landlords and laws that generally favor the property owner. Most leases are for six months only, with landlords rarely agreeing to commit to longer terms; this makes renting highly insecure.
But as the pain of government-imposed austerity sinks in, disposable income has shrunk and loan requirements have toughened , forcing more and more Britons into renting rather than buying. Over the last 10 years the number of people who owned homes here dropped to 67 percent from 70 percent. Meanwhile, the number of people in private rented housing rose to 16 percent from 10 percent over the same period, according to the Office for National Statistics. Rising demand has pushed up rents by an average of 4.4 percent over the last year, according to LSL Property Services. In London rents increased 7.8 percent.
"A growing number of young would-be buyers are preparing for lifelong renting—by necessity rather than choice, " said Jonathan Moore, director of easy roommate, co. uk, a property Web site. Charlotte Ashton, 30, has lived in rented accommodations ever since she left her parent's home to attend university. She said she was saving for a down payment to buy her own home. "I do believe in the fundamentals of owning bricks and mortar as security for the future, more than leaving my money in the banks at a low interest rate, " said Ms. Ashton, who works in public relations. "But now it seems unless you have a very well paid job and are willing to save every penny, it's unfeasible to buy without the help of the bank of Mum and Dad. "
Some economists are concerned that as more people are forced to wait to buy a home, it could open up a widening of the wealth gap that already exists between homeowners and non homeowners, endangering the retirement prospects for a swelling group of young adults they call "generation rent. " It could also have implications for the cohesion of neighborhoods, Alison Blackwell, a research director at the National Center for Social Research and author of the Halifax report said. Renters tend to be less involved in local communities because they are forced to move more often. And the economy as a whole may suffer because renters tend to curb spending to save for a deposit.

单选题 For British people, buying home is ______.
A. a distant goal B. a symbol of success
C. a compulsory choice D. nothing but an investment

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】具体细节题
[解析] 本题考查文中关于英国人购房理念的细节。第一段是主题段，开篇即提出，对于英国的年轻人来说，购房已经变成了一个越来越遥远的目标。这里特别注意论述对象是“英国年轻人”，而非“全体英国人”，[A]正是利用这一细小差别，偷换概念，制造干扰项。第二段是作者具体论述英国人购房理念的段落，其中提到英国人之所以如此重视买房，第一是因为他们将购房看做很好的投资。但是不可就此选择[D]，因为除了投资功能外，房产还承载着一定的文化含义。第二段最后一句话就通过引用别人的语言指出，“购房也是英国文化中根深蒂固的一部分，人们将买得起房子看做是成功的象征”，因此[B]正确，a symbol of success是对the main way of showing you made it的同义改写。[C]属于无中生有。

单选题 Mrs. Thatcher's right-to-buy policy has lead to ______.
A. the homeownership bust B. the economic recovery
C. the homeownership boom D. the economic recession

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】具体细节题
[解析] 根据关键词撒切尔夫人锁定文章的第三段。这一段作者回顾了英国房地产腾飞的黄金时期。撒切尔夫人提出的“购买权利”政策使得很多原先租住政府廉租房的人拥有了自己的房屋，也给政府创造了大量的财政收入，也正是在这个时期英国人对房屋拥有的概念开始形成并深化。据此判断，这一政策引发了英国的“购房热潮”，[C]正确。[A]利用形近字bust设置干扰，bust是“破裂”的意思。大量的人购买是否就一定形成了英国的房地产泡沫，这点文中并未提及，我们也无从知道。撒切尔夫人的计划一定是刺激了经济的发展，但是是否带动经济复苏我们也不得而知，故[B]不能入选。经济衰退指的是当下的经济形式，并不是撒切尔夫人那个年代，故[D]不正确。

单选题 Which of the following statements about Generation Rent is true?
A. They consider renting as a lifelong plan rather than a temporary choice.
B. They are in face of economic downturn and a risk of early retirement.
C. They despise the idea of asking parents for money to buy house.
D. They still believe in the blessing of house just like their previous generation.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】判断题
[解析] 本题考查对文中出现的“租房一代”的观点的理解。文中第五段第一句话就引用专家的话告诉读者，“很多年轻人都准备终身租房——但这并不是他们自愿的选择而是无奈之选”。因此[A]说他们将租房看成一种终身计划而不是权宜之计是不正确的，他们并不是计划这么做，而是无奈只能这样做。[B]利用文章最后一段中出现的endangering the retirement prospects设置干扰项，这里提到租房的人越来越多会拉大拥有房产者和无房产者之间的财富差距，并且会危及“租房一代”将来退休之后的境遇。之所以这么讲是因为“租房一代”将本应该用来买养老保险的钱用来存款买房以及支付高额房租，他们获得高额退休金的前景因此而暗淡。并不是说这些人会提前退休，这是对原文关键短语的曲解。[C]选项关于英国年轻人是否愿意做啃老族的观点，要参见文章第五段Ms. Ashton发表的一番言论。她说如果没有高额的薪水，也不会拼命的存钱的话，那么年轻人根本就不可能不依靠父母的力量就单独买房。她作为“租房一代”的代表，言语间并没有透露出对啃老族的鄙视，相反他认为啃老也是无奈之选。因此[C]是对人物观点的错误诠释。[D]正确，文中多次提到，虽然沦为“租房一代”，但是这一代人还是很希望购房的，第五段中Ms. Ashtoil也说，她相信房屋能给人带来安全感，可见在房子的问题上，年轻人和老一辈并没有多少区别。

单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A. the rental market and the buying market always develop in reverse direction
B. it is impossible for the first-time buyers to get a mortgage under current economic situation
C. buying home is a more profitable investment than buying fund under current economic situation
D. britain's real estate market is less volatile than that of other Continental European countries

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】推理引申题
[解析] 本题考查对全文内容的推理引申。[A]考查租房市场和购房市场的关系。撒切尔夫人时代，购房市场火爆，相应地租房市场冷淡；现在正好相反，购房市场冷淡，而租房市场火爆。可见两者往往是成反向发展的态势。[B]提到了很多年轻人不能购房的原因之一，就是银行放款限制增多，但是[B]说第一次购房的人不可能申请到按揭，过于绝对。[C]提到购买房子和购买其他投资品的收益问题，文中两次提到这个问题。首先在第二段，英国人之所以买房子是因为他们认为购房比购买养老保险更划算；然后在第五段Ms. Ashton也说购房比把钱放在银行里更划算。由此可知购房确实是不错的投资手段，但是是否就比购买任何一种基金收益都更高，也无法判断，因此[C]错误。文中第二段提到了英国房价不像美国房价那样大跳水，可见英国房地产市场不像美国那样波动大，但是和其他几个欧洲国家的比较文中并未提及，故[D]提法不准确。