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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.
It can be inferred from the passage that______.
选项 A、the rental market and the buying market always develop in reverse direction
B、it is impossible for the first-time buyers to get a mortgage under current economic situation
C、Buying home is a more profitable investment than buying fund under current economic situation
D、Britain’ s real estate market is less volatile than that of other Continental European countries
答案A
解析 本题考查对全文内容的推理引申。[A]考查租房市场和购房市场的关系。撒切尔夫人时代，购房市场火爆，租房市场冷淡；现在正好相反，购房市场冷淡，而租房市场火爆。可见两者往往是成反向发展的态势。[B]提到了很多年轻人不能购房的原因之一，就是银行放款限制增多，但是[B]说第一次购房的人不可能申请到按揭，过于绝对。[C]提到购买房子和购买其他投资品的收益问题，文中两次提到这个问题。首先在第二段，英国人之所以买房子是因为他们认为购房比购买养老保险更划算；然后在第五段Ms．Ashton也说购房比把钱放在银行里更划算。由此可知购房确实是不错的投资手段，但是是否就比购买任何一种基金收益都更高，也无法判断，因此[C]错误。文中第二段提到了英国房价不像美国房价那样大跳水，可见英国房地产市场不像美国那样波动大，但是和其他几个欧洲国家的比较文中并未提及，故[D]提法不准确。
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