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Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in September. But analysts cautioned against reading

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问题     Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in September. But analysts cautioned against reading too much into the gain, noting that it reflected conditions before the latest upheaval in financial markets increased the likelihood of a recession in the overall economy.
    The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose by 5. 5 percent from August to September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million units—far better than the flat results analysts had expected. On an unadjusted basis, sales were up 7. 8 percent from September last year.
    But even with the gain in sales, prices kept falling. The median sales price has dropped to $191,600, down by 9 percent from a year ago. In Richmond, Va. , Jack Jebo sold his three-bedroom house last month for $267,000, after lowering his price $18,000. He carried two mortgages for two months before the house was sold in the Richmond area. "In retrospect,(the experience)probably wasn’t too bad," said Jebo, 32, an attorney. "At the time, it probably felt pretty difficult because we didn’t get an offer before we lowered the price. "
    But analysts said that the current financial crisis, which has contributed to the biggest upheavals on Wall Street since the 1930s, was sending consumer confidence down, unemployment up and had greatly increased the prospects that the country was either in or about to enter a fullblown recession. All these factors were expected to add to the headwinds buffeting housing in the months ahead.
    "In October, mortgage applications sank to six-year lows," said Sal Guatieri, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. "This suggests house sales, like the rest of the economy, fell off a cliff because of the worsening credit crunch. "
    Many analysts are predicting that home prices—already down 18 percent nationally from their peak in mid-2006—could decline another 10 percent, as a continued glut of foreclosed homes being dumped on the market depresses prices further.
    The National Association of Realtors estimated that 35 percent to 40 percent of sales currently are distressed sales—either foreclosed homes or short sales in which the owner is selling the house for less than the value of the mortgage.
    Distressed sales are having a big impact in lowering prices in some formerly red-hot sales markets in such regions as the West, where sales prices fell in September by 18.5 percent from a year ago.
    Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, said there were some glimmers of hope that the bottom of the housing slump may be near. He said that a sales turnaround first seen in California was beginning to broaden to other regions of the country including Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Rhode Island.
What can be inferred from Sal Guatieri’s comments?
选项 A、House sales worsened other sections of the economy.
B、House sales resulted in the worsening credit crunch.
C、The credit crunch worsened the whole economy.
D、Mortgage applications have been falling for 6 years.
答案C
解析 推理判断题。根据题干关键词Sal Guatieri’s comments定位至第五段。解答本题的关键是理清本段的因果关系。根据该段第二句可知：信贷紧缩导致了两方面的后果——房屋销售和经济其他部分的恶化，所以[A]、[B]均不正确；根据该段第一句可知：抵押申请降至六年来新低，而非指六年来一直下降，故[D]不正确。所以正确答案是[C]。
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