Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than 5 years in September. But analysts cautioned against reading too

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问题     Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than 5 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 depressed 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. 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 full-blown recession. All these factors were expected to add to the headwinds hitting 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 poured into 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 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.
As for "distressed sales", which of the following statements is true?

选项 A、It is made up of both the foreclosed homes and short sales.
B、It occupies 35% to 40% of the whole house sales in the history.
C、It prevents people from selling their houses too cheaply.
D、It has little influence on the formerly prosperous housing market.

答案A

解析 本题关键词是distressed sales,问题是:关于廉价急售的说法哪一项是正确的?答案可以定位到第六段和第七段。第六段指出,廉价急售(distressed sales)要么是取消赎回权的房屋(foreclosed homes),要么是短售屋(short sales),所以选项A与原文含义相同,为正确答案。第六段说的是目前(currently)35%到40%的房屋出售都是廉价急售,并不是售房历史上,因此选项B为偷换概念。原文破折号之后是解释说明distressed sales,即房屋的拥有者都以低于按揭贷款的价值出售房屋(less than the value of the mortgage),所以选项C属于正反混淆。根据第七段第一句话,廉价急售对于像西部这些曾经红火的销售市场(some formerly red-hot sales markets)的价格下跌有很大影响(a big impact),因此选项D为正反混淆。第六段:目前35%到40%的房屋出售都是廉价急售。第七段:廉价急售对于像西部这些曾经红火的销售市场的价格下跌有很大影响。
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