首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Sky-high gasoline prices aren’t just raising the cost of Eugene Marino’s 120-mile(193-kilometer)round-trip to his job in the Was
Sky-high gasoline prices aren’t just raising the cost of Eugene Marino’s 120-mile(193-kilometer)round-trip to his job in the Was
admin
2014-01-07
26
问题
Sky-high gasoline prices aren’t just raising the cost of Eugene Marino’s 120-mile(193-kilometer)round-trip to his job in the Washington area. They’re reducing his wealth, too.
House prices in his rural subdivision beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains in Charles Town, West Virginia, have plunged as commuting expenses have soared. A four-bedroom home down the street from his is listed for $239,000, after selling new for $360,000 five years ago.
Homeowners in the exurbs aren’t the only ones whose assets have taken a hit because of the surge in energy costs. Companies such as General Motors Corp. are writing off billions of dollars in plants and equipment that are no longer viable in an age of dearer oil. The destruction of wealth and capital will weigh on U.S. growth for years to come.
"Our whole economy reflects the relative costs of energy: the cars we drive, the houses we occupy, the kinds of factories we have and the equipment in them," says Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica Bank in Dallas. "I’m expecting relatively large changes in all of these things."
The loss of wealth could be a double whammy for the U.S. economy. In the short run, it depresses demand as homeowners save more and spend less, and companies fire workers. Longer run, it curbs productivity growth, as firms shift their focus from increasing worker efficiency to reducing energy costs.
"At $4 per gallon gas, $125 per barrel oil and $10 per million Btu natural gas, a lot of activity becomes uneconomical," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
The lifestyle of the exurban commuter may be one casualty.
Emerging suburbs and exurbs—commuter towns that lie beyond cities and their traditional suburbs—grew about 15 percent from 2000 to 2006, nearly three times as fast as the U.S. population, as Americans moved further out in search of more affordable houses or the bigger ones that are sometimes derided as McMansions.
"It was drive until you qualify for a mortgage," says Robert Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, Virginia. "You can’t do that anymore. Your cost of transportation will spike too much."
Compared with the present, the loss of wealth will bring about
选项
A、a shrinking market.
B、shortage of labor force.
C、weakening productivity.
D、a lower working efficiency.
答案
A
解析
第5段第2句中的depresses demand,spend less等表明需求减少,购买力降低,这些都暗示市场萎缩,由此可见,本题应选A。C、D很具干扰性,C中的productivity和D中的efficiency在第5段第3句提及,要注意的是,it curbs productivity growth表明生产力的发展速度会减缓,这并不意味着生产力会下降,因此C是不正确的;同样道理,即使“公司关注的焦点不再是如何提高员工工作效率”,也不意味着工作效率会降低,D也不正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/fkFK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Inthepast,hip-hopwasaplaceforpeopletosingabout______.
Thisyear,likelotsofotherpeople,I’mgoingtotrytomakemyownChristmaspresents.It’snotthefirsttimethatI’veprom
Ihaveknownveryfewwriters,butthoseIhaveknown,andwhomIrespected,confessatoncethattheyhavelittleideawhereth
Whatdidspacesatellitescapturerecently?
Inalittlemorethan200years,Australiahas______somedrasticsocialandeconomicchanges.
ProfessorSmithrecentlypersuaded35people,23ofthemwomen,tokeepadiaryofalltheirabsentmindedactionsforafortnigh
Whatcomestomindwhenyouheartheword—diversity?Issuesofraceorgendermayspringtomind.Equalrights?Orminorityissu
Allflights______becauseofthestorm,theydecidedtotakethetrain.
SharepricesontheStockExchangeplungedsharplyinthemorningbut______slightlyintheafternoon.
Asa_____ofourthanks,wewillofferyoutwofreeround-tripticketsinfirstclasstoHawaii.
随机试题
吴某是某大学后勤处处长,李某是个体运输专业户且与吴某是同乡。2012年5月,李某找到吴某,要吴某设法给自己弄辆卡车跑运输。吴某收下了李某送给他的两条玉溪香烟、四瓶茅台酒和3000元现金,答应为他想办法。后吴某把学校新配备的一辆东风牌大卡车以后勤处的名义从车
A、黄柏B、厚朴C、杜仲D、肉桂E、牡丹皮粉末中可见石细胞、油细胞和黏液细胞的药材为
报告单位根据原始记录和台账核算有关资料,并以统计报表的形式逐级上报的调查方法称为()。
在双代号网络计划中,如果其计划工期等于计算工期,且工作i-j的完成节点i在关键线路上,则工作i-j的自由时差()。
建筑面积在10万m2以上且定位于家庭式消费的零售商业物业是()。
社会工作实践过程中的伦理困境涉及个人信息处理、专业关系、价值观冲突、实践原则之间的矛盾等。在实践中,社会工作者面临的主要伦理困境是()。
某研究表明,如果中子星的质量超过3.2倍太阳的质量,中子就无法与自身引力相抗衡,从而发生中子塌陷。下列观点能有力支持以上推断的是()。
2014年全国农民工总量为27395万人,比上年增加501万人,增长1.9%。其中,外出农民工16821万人,比上年增加211万人,增长1.3%;本地农民工10574万人,增加290万人,增长2-8%。2013年外出农民工比2012年增加了()万
Inademocraticsocietycitizensareencouragedtoformtheirownopinionsoncandidatesforpublicoffice,taxes,constitutiona
SettledbyEnglishPuritansin1630,Bostonbecame________.
最新回复
(
0
)