单选题 When the government talks about infrastructure contributing to the economy the focus is usually on roads, railways, broadband and energy. Housing is seldom mentioned.
Why is that? To some extent the housing sector must shoulder the blame. We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth. Then there is the scale of the typical housing project. It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure project, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere. But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged.
Nevertheless, the affordable housing situation is desperate. Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new homes.
The comprehensive spending review offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this. It needs to put historical prejudices to one side and take some steps to address our urgent housing need.
There are some indications that it is preparing to do just that. The communities minister, Don Foster, has hinted that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt. Evidence shows that 60,000 extra new homes could be built over the next five years if the cap were lifted, increasing GDP by 0.6%.
Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment, which would have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments from revenues.
But it is not just down to the government. While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to the fact that the existing ￡4.5bn program of grants to fund new affordable housing, set to expire in 2015, is unlikely to be extended beyond then. The Labor Party has recently announced that it will retain a large part of the coalition"s spending plans if returns to power. The housing sector needs to accept that we are very unlikely to ever return to era of large-scale public grants. We need to adjust to this changing climate.

单选题 The author believes that the housing sector ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。从题干中的关键词housing sector可以找到对应的第二段。此段的最后一句：But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged. 由此可知住房问题与政治有关，故B项正确。A项“吸引注意”，原文没有提及；C项“承担太多责任”与原文的“shoulder the blame”不符，D项“丧失价值”与第二段所述的“We have not been good at communicating the real value”不一致，故排除。

单选题 It can be learned that affordable housing has ______.

单选题 According to Paragraph 5, George Osborne may ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。从题干可知答案在第五段，结合关键词George Osborne找到对应原文：...may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt. 此人将会提高地方政府借款数量的上限，贷款建房，cap意为“(可用或可借资金的)最高限额”。A项“给予更多的政府建房借贷”符合原文。B、C两项均与原文不符；D项“发布国内生产总值增长的预报”与原文所述的“increasing GDP by 0.6%”不符。

单选题 It can be inferred that a stable rental environment would ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。本题考查的是对稳定的租赁环境的理解。从关键词stable rental environment可找到对应的第六段：...which would have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments from revenues. 由此可知C项“有助于为新发展提供资金支持”符合此意，选项中的contribute to是原文中的have a significant impact的同义替换。A项“减少注册供应者的成本”并未提及；B项“减少政府介入的影响”并未提及；D项“减轻部长的责任”也未提及。