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  3. The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For Questions 41-45, you are required to reorganize these paragraphs into a

The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For Questions 41-45, you are required to reorganize these paragraphs into a

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问题 The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For Questions 41-45, you are required to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent article by choosing from the list A-G. Some of the paragraphs have been placed for you. (10 points)

A. "It is always better to buy a house; paying rent is like pouring money down the drain." For years, such advice has encouraged people to borrow heavily to get on the property ladder as soon as possible. But is it still sound advice? House prices are currently at record levels in relation to rents in many parts of the world and it now often makes more financial sense—especially for first-time buyers—to rent instead.
B. "If I don’t buy now, I’ll never get on the property ladder" is a common cry from first-time buyers. If house prices continue to outpace wages, that is true. But it now looks unlikely. When prices get out of line with what first-timers can afford, as they are today, they always eventually fall in real terms. The myth that buying is always better than renting grew out of the high inflation era of the 1970s and 1950s. First-time buyers then always ended up better off than renters, because inflation eroded the real value of mortgages even while it pushed up rents. Mortgage-interest tax relief was also worth more when inflation, and hence nominal interest rates, was high. With inflation now tamed, home ownership is far less attractive.
C. Homebuyers tend to underestimate their costs. Once maintenance costs, insurance and property taxes are added to mortgage payments, total annual outgoings now easily exceed the cost of renting an equivalent property, even after taking account of tax breaks. Ah, but capital gains will more than make up for that, it is popularly argued. Over the past seven years, average house prices in America have risen by 65%, those in Britain, Spain, Australia and Ireland have more than doubled. But it is unrealistic to expect such gains to continue. Making the (optimistic) assumption that house prices instead rise in line with inflation, and including buying and selling costs, then over a period of seven years,—the average time American owners stay in one house—our calculations show that you would generally be better off renting.
D. Be warned, if you make such a bold claim at a dinner party, you will immediately be set upon. Paying rent is throwing money away, it will be argued. Much better to spend the money on a mortgage, and by so doing build up equity. The snag is that the typical first-time buyer keeps a house for less than five years, and during that time most mortgage payments go on interest, not on repaying the loan. And if prices fall, it could wipe out your equity.
E. In any case, a renter can accumulate wealth by putting the money saved each year from the lower cost of renting into shares. These have, historically, yielded a higher return than housing. Putting all your money into a house also breaks the basic rule of prudent investing: diversify. And yes, it is true that a mortgage leverages the gains on your initial deposit on a house, but it also amplifies your losses if house prices fall.
F. The divergence between rents and house prices is, of course, evidence of a housing bubble. Someday prices will fall relative to rents and wages. After they do, it will make sense to buy a home. Until they do, the smart money is on renting.
G. "I want to have a place to call home" is a popular retort. Renting provides less long-term security and you cannot paint all the walls orange if you want to. Home ownership is an excellent personal goal, but it may not always make financial sense. The pride of "owning" your own home may quickly fade if you are saddled with a mortgage that costs much more than renting. Also, renting does have some advantages. Renters find it easier to move for job or family reasons.

Order: A is the 1st paragraph and F is the last.
选项
答案C
解析 哪一段能够与A段形成连贯的连接关系呢?这就需要我们试着将B到G各段中的第1句话与首段末句进行初步匹配。这里需要注意两方面的问题：一是语篇连贯，二是上下文参照。从语篇连贯考虑，作者在A段对购房划算的观点旗帜鲜明地提出了不同看法，指出：更有经济头脑的做法是租房而不是购房，尤其是对于首次购房者来说。为什么租房优于购房呢?下一段应当有个交代。从上下文考虑，通过仔细阅读，我们不难发现A段末的first-time buyers，也就是下文提到的homebuyers(购房者)。C段的头两句提出：购房者往往低估了(underestimate)他们的费用。一旦将住房维修、保险和财产税与按揭付款(mortgage payments)加在一起，整个开支很容易超过租用相同住房的费用，即便是考虑到税赋减免(tax breaks)也不划算。这无论从逻辑分析还是语句衔接上都与首段形成了连贯，因此，我们可以认定选项C为正确答案。
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