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
考研
In 1929 John D. Rockefeller decided it was time to sell shares when even a shoe-shine boy offered him a share tip. During the pa
In 1929 John D. Rockefeller decided it was time to sell shares when even a shoe-shine boy offered him a share tip. During the pa
admin
2013-06-10
17
问题
In 1929 John D. Rockefeller decided it was time to sell shares when even a shoe-shine boy offered him a share tip. During the past week The Economist’s economics editor has been-advised by a taxi driver, a plumber and a hairdresser that "you can’t go wrong" investing in housing—the more you own the better. Is this a sign that it is time to get out? At the very least, as house prices around the world climb to ever loftier heights, and more and more people jump on to the buy-to-let ladder, it is time to expose some of the fallacies regularly trotted out by so many self-appointed housing experts.
One common error is that house prices must continue to rise because of a limited supply of land. For instance, it is argued that "house prices will always rise in London because lots of people want to live here". But this confuses the level of prices with their rate of change. Home prices are bound to be higher in big cities because of land scarcity, but this does not guarantee that urban house prices will keep rising indefinitely—just look at Tokyo’s huge price-drops since 1990. And, though it is true that a fixed supply of homes may push up house prices if the population is rising, this would imply a steady rise in prices, not the 20% annual jumps of recent years.
A second flawed argument is that low interest rates make buying a home cheaper, and so push up demand and prices. Lower interest rates may have allowed some people, who otherwise could not have afforded a mortgage, to buy a home. But many borrowers who think mortgages are cheaper are suffering from money illusion.
Interest rates are not very low in real, inflation-adjusted terms. Initial interest payments may seem low in relation to income, but because inflation is also low it will not erode the real burden of debt as swiftly as it once did. So in later years mortgage payments will be much larger in real terms. To argue that low nominal interest rates make buying a home cheaper is like arguing that a car loan paid off over four years is cheaper than one repaid over two years.
Fallacy number three is a favourite claim of Alan Greenspan, chairman of America’s Federal Reserve. This is that price bubbles are less likely in housing than in the stockmarket because higher transaction costs discourage speculation. In fact, several studies have shown that both in theory and in practice bubbles are more likely in housing than in shares. A study by the IMF finds that a sharp rise in house prices is far more likely to be followed by a bust than is a share-price boom.
The term "fallacies" (Line 6, Paragraph 1) most probably means______.
选项
A、ridiculous strategies
B、obsolete methodologies
C、mistaken beliefs
D、far-fetched assertions
答案
C
解析
这是一道词汇题,测试考生准确理解原文中重要词语的能力。原文首段尾句 中的“fallacies”一词的含义是“谬论,谬见;谬误”,故本题的正确选项是C“mistaken beliefs”(错误的认识)。考生在阅读时如果遇到生词,应该把握上下文和全文中心主旨进行推断。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/n0d4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Accordingtothefirsttwoparagraphs,ifpresenttrendscontinue,whichoneofthefollowingsituationswillnotoccur?Theau
Shakespeare’screationisusedinthetexttointroduceWhichofthefollowingcanbestdescribetheauthor’scommentsonStone
Inaperfectlyfreeandopenmarketeconomy,thetypeofemployer—governmentorprivate-shouldhavelittleornoimpactonthee
Moreandmoreresidences,businesses,andevengovernmentagenciesareusingtelephoneansweringmachinestotakemessagesorgi
Japanesefirmshaveachievedthehighestlevelsofmanufacturingefficiencyintheworldautomobileindustry.(46)Someobservers
Youaregoingtoreadalistofheadingsandatextaboutthedevelopmentofmaritimelaws.Choosethemostsuitableheadingfro
Mostplantscanmaketheirownfoodfromsunlight,(1)_____somehavediscoveredthatstealingisaneasierwaytolive,Thousan
Weassumedethicsneededthesealofcertainty,elseitwasnon-rational.Andcertaintywastobeproducedbyadeductivemodel:
Placingahumanbeingbehindthewheelofanautomobileoftenhasthesamecuriouseffectascuttingcertainfibresinthebrain
Title:ChildrenfromOne-ChildFamiliesWordlimit:160~200words.YourcompositionshouldbebasedontheOUTLINEgiveninChin
随机试题
论述国际市场营销学与市场营销学的联系与区别。
干燥环境中,()不得使用。
裸机是指刚刚装好了操作系统,其他软件都没有安装的计算机。()
会计档案的保管期限分为永久和定期两类,保管期限从会计年度终了后的第一天算起。()
假设资本资产定价模型成立,表中的数字是相互关联的。要求:计算表中A~E代表的数字。
在任何情况下,弹性预算都可以持续使用,不必每月重复编制。()
阅读下面图文资料,回答问题。材料一:近50年来由于全球气候变暖引起的我国部分地区降水变率图材料二:降水变率是指各年降水量的距平数(当年降水量与多年平均降水量之差)与多年平均降水量之比的百分数,即:CV=距平数/平均数×100%,降
《长亭送别》选自《西厢记》:碧云天,黄花地,西风紧,北雁南飞。晓来谁染霜林醉,总是离人泪。下面是一位教师鉴赏这一内容的课堂实录。师:我们如果把[端正好]改写成一段描写性的文字,该如何来描写呢?(学生5分钟准备)生:暮秋时节的一天,碧蓝的天空飘着几朵白
运用方差分析原理估计信度的方法是()
A、Moodsofpeople.B、Sleepanddreams.C、Effectofsleepanddreams.D、Howtomanipulatedreams.C
最新回复
(
0
)