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.
According to Lawrence Yun, the future of the house sales will________.

选项 A、remain in the same depressing situation
B、become worse because of the financial crisis
C、turn into a good situation in no time
D、be depressing for a short time and then be better

答案D

解析 本题关键词是人名Lawrence Yun,问题是:劳伦斯.云认为房屋销售的前景如何?答案可以定位到第八段。从第八段第一句话可知,劳伦斯.云表示,房价低迷可能就要到底(the bottom of the housing slump may be near),希望的曙光(glimmers of hope)在望,也就是说房价下跌可能在短时间之后就要停止,因此选项D与原文含义相同,为正确答案;选项A为正反混淆,选项C过分绝对。文中并没有提到劳伦斯.云认为房屋销售的前景会因为金融危机而恶化,因此选项B无中生有。第八段:房价暴跌可能就要到底,希望的曙光在望。
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