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  3. New figures on business confidence suggest that the one place where the service sector boom is on the ebb is in the consumer sec

New figures on business confidence suggest that the one place where the service sector boom is on the ebb is in the consumer sec

admin2022-06-13  55
问题     New figures on business confidence suggest that the one place where the service sector boom is on the ebb is in the consumer sector—hotels and restaurants, gyms and hairdressers. The twin pressures of rising inflation and slowing pay rises are squeezing household incomes. The ratio of personal debt to household income, which fell steadily in the years after the financial crisis, has now again begun to rise. Last week, new figures were published showing February brought the highest increase in credit card debt in 11 years.
    The British economy’s failure to get rid of an addiction to growth fueled by an expanding consumer debt bubble is bad for consumers, and bad for the economy as a whole. It is no substitute for business investment, which the OECD has forecast will fall sharply in future years in a post-Brexit climate of uncertainty. It makes recession more likely, and, when it comes, deeper and longer. The human costs of getting into problematic debt are no less profound; people are a third more likely to develop mental health issues if they find themselves struggling with debt.
    Historically, financial regulators have lacked both the power and the will to ensure that unhealthy levels of consumer debt are held in check. Customers who get into persistent debt tend, after all, to be very profitable for credit card and loan companies. Rather than help people struggling with repayments, it is in their interests to offer products that encourage consumers to use credit cards as an expensive form of long-term borrowing. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimates there are 2 million people carrying persistent debt on their credit card, defined as paying more in fees and charges over an 18-month period than the amount they borrowed in the first place.
    The FCA is now consulting on a new set of rules for credit card companies. But this is too little, too late. The rules are vague and leave far too much room for the companies, which are unlikely to change their behavior without tougher action. There is too little emphasis on preventing consumers from getting into persistent debt in the first place—for example, by forcing companies to increase the very low minimum monthly payments they require from customers. It’s in the same vein as action the FCA has taken on excessive overdraft charges, leaving it up to banks to set their own maximum cap on charges, rather than enforcing a cap of its own making. None of this, however, will reduce the root causes of problematic debt.
Which of the following may be the best title for the text?
选项 A、Rising Personal Debt: More Prudence please
B、Increasing Personal Debt; Nothing Serious
C、Declining Personal Debt: Something Exciting
D、Falling Household Incomes; Something Sad
答案A
解析 主旨题。解答主旨题，关键是通过把握各段落的主旨来把握全文主旨。各段落的主旨往往在段落的首尾句。全文的主旨，往往在首段的首尾句和最后一段的首尾句。第一段最后一句提到credit，card debt“信用卡债务”，最后一段的最后一句提到problematic debt “问题债务”，再结合中间段落，不难判断debt：“债务”为全文主题词。故可排除D项，其中没有主题词；第一段最后一句指出该问题是increase“增加”的，C项中的falling “下降”与原文描述相悖，故排除。A项和B项的区别在于后续的描述部分。在作者看来，该债务问题是亟待解决的，因此A项正确，B项错误。故本题答案为A项。
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