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  3. Now we seem to be starting to rediscover thrift．Debt levels are falling．Consumer spending is down．The savings rate is on the ris

Now we seem to be starting to rediscover thrift．Debt levels are falling．Consumer spending is down．The savings rate is on the ris

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问题     Now we seem to be starting to rediscover thrift．Debt levels are falling．Consumer spending is down．The savings rate is on the rise．Great，right?Not exactly．The sudden sobering up of the American consumer happens to be the No．1 force driving the U．S．and global economies downward．We’re saving more，yet we’re all getting poorer．
    This is what some economists call the paradox of thrift．Paul McCulley，an economist and portfolio manager at bond giant Pimco，defines it like this：“If we all individually cut our spending in an attempt to increase individual savings，then our collective savings will paradoxically fall because one person’s spending is another’s income—the fountain from which savings flow．”
    At present，while retailers and a few economists still make the case that more consumer spending would be a really great thing，our nation’s political leaders have concluded that it’s too soon to issue calls for more shopping．New York Times columnist David Leonhardt makes a clever pitch for spending now on things that will save your money later．
    Still，the approach remains paradoxical．Our profligacy has gotten us into trouble，and so the response is moreprofligacy?There is no shortage of critics who contend that today’s massive government spending is simply laying the foundation of another financial crisis，this one centering oil a loss of confidence in Treasuries and the dollar．
    For now，we’re betting that it won’t—and investors from around the world are letting us get away with it by continuing to buy U．S．-government debt．We will，however，eventually have to shape up．Consumers must pay down their credit cards，and the country must pay down at least part of its debt．“Some of the painful adjustments that are taking place are not avoidable，”says David Blankenhorn，
founder and president of the Institute for American Values．“Wringing debt out of our economy at every level is a painful and inevitable process，and it isn’t going to be solved by charging more things at the supermarket．”
    Blankenhorn isn’t opposed to using government stimulus to ease the transition，but he’s worried that it could obscure the need for big changes in behavior．“If the moral of today’s crisis is‘Let’s stimulate this and empty that，and as soon as things get back to normal，we can go back to a debt culture，’that’s just not a sustainable idea，”he says．
  He’s right，Virtually all economists agree that there is no paradox of thrift in the long run．Saving stimulates investment．Careful management of resources brings prosperity．Thrift is its own reward．Just not right this second．
The word“profligacy”(Para．4)probably means____________．
选项 A、luxury
B、debt
C、desire
D、waste
答案D
解析 含义题。第四段前两句指出，“购买有助于以后省钱的东西”这种做法是矛盾的：profligacy已经使我们陷入泥沼，而对此的回应却是更多的profligacy。由前文可知，造成目前经济困难的原因在于过度消费，而伦哈特的方法却是鼓励更多消费的。由此可见，profligacy的意思应与“浪费”相近，故D项正确。A、C两项误区在于过度消费的动机通常与“奢侈”“欲望”有关系，但文章并未对美国消费者行为动机进行探讨，两个选项属于过度推导。B项误区在于考生易受第五段Consumers must pay down their credit cards，and the country must pay down at least part of its debt影响而误选。但债务是困境本身，而不是造成困境的原因或者解决困境的回应。故本题选D。
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