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  3. The question of how Americans spent and, crucially, saved money over the past two years looms large over the economy today. In s

The question of how Americans spent and, crucially, saved money over the past two years looms large over the economy today. In s

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问题     The question of how Americans spent and, crucially, saved money over the past two years looms large over the economy today. In spring 2020, when millions lost their jobs overnight, a reasonable assumption was that personal finances would suffer. Instead, government handouts, from the stimmies to more generous unemployment benefits, propped up incomes. Moreover, as people stayed home, their spending fell well below normal levels. The result was a piggybank boom. Americans have accumulated some $2.5trn in extra savings compared with the pre-covid trend. Higher-than-expected incomes account for two-thirds of the stockpile, while lower-than-expected expenditures explain the other third, according to calculations.
    This stash of cash could, in theory, provide a pillar for the economy over the coming year as policymakers withdraw support. With annual consumer-price inflation running at a four-decade high—it hit 7％ in December—the Federal Reserve has signalled that it intends to raise interest rates soon. Some economists expect as many as four rate increases this year. Fiscal policies are also becoming more parsimonious.
    Will the extra savings blunt the impact of all this policy tightening? There are reasons to be skeptical. Were the $2.5trn shared equally across the country, it would amount to about $7,500 for every American—more than the combined total of the three rounds of stimulus cheques. In practice the distribution is far from equal. In the decade before COVID-19 the wealthiest 1％ of Americans had, in aggregate, about twice as much in cash and chequable bank deposits as the bottom 50％.
    Another dampener may be the nature of the economic recovery. In a paper last year Martin Beraja and Christian Wolf of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that recoveries from recessions where falls in spending are concentrated on goods tend to be stronger than those with cuts concentrated on services. Pent-up demand for, say, smartphones can be released in a flood. By contrast, demand for beach holidays returns more slowly: vacationers can only be in one place at a time. This suggests that as the pandemic fades, the flow of savings into services such as travel and entertainment may be sluggish.
    As a whole, Americans saved about 6.9％ of their incomes in November, less than the 7.4％ average in the five years before the pandemic. Yet this is exactly what should be seen if some people are dipping into their excess savings. It is also a key reason why most forecasters think the economy will grow by about 4％ this year, a robust pace in the face of headwinds.
It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that________.
选项 A、it is the minority that masters most of the social wealth
B、$2.5trn will be distributed equally to the poor and the rich
C、the bottom of people may receive more stimulus cheques
D、extra savings may reduce the influence of the fiscal policies
答案A
解析 推断题。根据题干可定位至第三段。最后一句说the wealthiest 1％ of Americans had, in aggregate, about twice as much in cash and chequable bank deposits as the bottom 50％(最富有的1％美国人拥有的现金和支票银行存款总额，大约是最贫穷的50％的人的两倍)，由此可知，A项是对该内容的总结概括，故正确。B项属于是非混淆，将原文的虚拟问句偷换为真实陈述句，故排除。C项中的receive more stimulus cheques属于主观臆断，文中并未涉及底层的人所获得刺激支票的多少，故排除。D项属于是非混淆，第一句就该问题进行设问：额外的储蓄会削弱所有这些紧缩政策的影响吗?第二句给出回答：There are reasons to be skeptical(我们有理由持怀疑态度)，也就是对该问题不确定，故排除。故本题答案为A项。
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