阅读理解
Recently housing is recognized as a "socially determinant variable". In France, housing is the main item of expenditure in the family budget ( accounting for an average of 29 percent), and many families would be unable to find decent housing without help from the State. For a long time, the main problem was the housing shortage but in recent years the deterioration of housing conditions has been giving even greater cause for concern.
Despite extensive construction programs, the problem of housing for the most underprivileged population groups has not been solved. According to the so-called Petrequin Report, between 2 and 3 million families had serious difficulties meeting their housing costs and were living in precarious and uncomfortable conditions.
Policies designed to address the housing problem have shifted over the past few decades from a macroeconomic approach promoting construction to housing subsidies. The reasons for this shift agree with the determination to limit public spending and to avoid some of the perverse effects of macroeconomic policies. The State has to some extent ceased to finance housing, especially the construction of new projects, with the result that the cost is now chiefly and directly borne by the family budget. Many underprivileged families, which were excluded from low-rent housing for various reasons (selection of tenants, saturation of existing capacity, insolvency), had no alternative but to purchase their own home and were encouraged to do so without restraint by the easy terms of housing loans. The housing sector thus contributed to the development of the "economy of indebtedness". It should indeed be emphasized that "widespread home ownership through resource to borrowing could only be to the detriment of low-income families".
In Belgium, the quality of housing, considered the prime indicator of housing deprivation, heaves much to be desired. Low-rent housing projects have been cut back as part of the austerity policy pursued by the national and regional governments, and low-income households are finding it increasingly difficult to find somewhere to live. The number of homeless has also taken on alarming proportions. An estimated 3,000 persons spend the night in refuges, but the figure is probably much higher. Moreover, the number of homeless women and young persons is increasing.
单选题
In the author''s opinions, housing is _________.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】文章的首句开篇点题。Housing is recognized as a “socially determinant variable”.(住房问题是一个由社会所决定的变量。)此处正确理解 variable 非常重要。这样可以选出D,而排除B、C。通读全文可以发现A项作者并没有提到。
单选题
Recently, people more concern about _________.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】A选项是个迷惑性较大的选项。第一段第三句为 For a long time,the main problem was the housing shortage but in recent years the deterioration of housing conditions has been giving even greater cause for concern.(长期以来,主要问题是住房短缺,但是近几年住房条件恶化引起了更大的关注。)读完整句话,可以选B而排除A。C、D文中并没有提到是人们关心的问题。
单选题
Why has the government shifted its policies from a macroeconomic approach promoting construction to housing subsidies?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】该题的答案在第三段的第二句,即 The reasons for this shift agree with the determination to limit public spending and to avoid some of the perverse effects of macroeconomic policies.这样我们可以选出B。A、D文中并没有提到。C选项迷惑性较大,但通过前后文比较容易排除。
单选题
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】该题的答案在最后一段尤其是第二、三句,即 In Belgium,...,...and low income are finding it increasingly difficult to find somewhere to live.The number of homeless has also taken on alarming proportions.这样我们发现B是正确的选项。A选项中的in most countries是不符文意的。第三段第三句为:The State has to some extent ceased to finance housing,especially the construction of new projects.这样我们可以排除C。通过最后一段第一句可以排除D。