单选题
A house is the most expensive thing most people will ever buy. Very few people have enough money of their own to buy a home, so they have to borrow money from a bank. Borrowing money from a bank to buy a house is called "take a mortgage". The bank usually lends money or gives a mortgage for twenty-five years. Houses are so expensive that many people nowadays have to borrow as much as ＄ 50000. In other words, they will have a ＄ 50000 mortgage.
How can you get a mortgage? When you find a house you like, you go to a bank. The bank will research your financial history and decide if they think you are a good risk. They will want to know what kind of job you have, what kind of salary you make, and how long you have had the job. They will also want to know how much money you have. In addition, the bank will require a down payment. Depending on which state you live in, the bank may require as much as 30% of the price of the house as a down payment. The bank will then lend you the rest of the money to buy the house. Many people are never able to buy a house because they cannot save enough money for the down payment.
单选题
What does a house mean in the United States?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨细节题。文章第一句话从购买房屋说起，“A house is the most expensive thing most people will ever buy”，房子是人们所要购置的最重要的财产。选项C最接近原文本意。
单选题
If American people borrow money from the bank for 25 years, this means that the person who borrows ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节判断题。文章第一段有这样的描述“The bank usually lends money or gives a mortgage for twenty-five years”，可以看出银行的借期是25年，四个选项中只有A是准确的数字。
单选题
What does "down payment" refer to in the passage?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 词语释义题。从“down payment”的后一句话The bank will then lend you the rest of the money to buy the house”可以推测出，down payment是在取得贷款之前自己先支付的那部分款项，即首付款。
单选题
Which is NOT one of the things researched by a bank?