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  3. For a large number of young adults in Britain, homeownership has become increasingly difficult to achieve, viewed as a distant g

For a large number of young adults in Britain, homeownership has become increasingly difficult to achieve, viewed as a distant g

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问题     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 easyroommate. 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.
Mrs. Thatcher’ s right-to-buy policy has lead to______.
选项 A、the homeownership bust
B、the economic recovery
C、the homeownership boom
D、the economic recession
答案C
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“购房权”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势，并不是撒切尔夫人那个年代，故[D]不正确。
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