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  3. Now that the economy is at last growing again, the burning issue in Britain is the cost of living. Prices have exceeded wages fo

Now that the economy is at last growing again, the burning issue in Britain is the cost of living. Prices have exceeded wages fo

admin2018-03-01  65
问题     Now that the economy is at last growing again, the burning issue in Britain is the cost of living. Prices have exceeded wages for the past six years. But the thing that is really out of control is the cost of housing. In the past year wages have risen by 1%; property prices are up by 8.4%. This is merely the latest in a long surge. If since 1971 the price of groceries had risen as steeply as the cost of housing, a chicken would cost ￡51 ($83).
    By subsidising mortgages, and thus boosting demand, the government is aggravating the problem. But that is not the main reason for rising prices. Driven by a baby-boom, immigration and longer lives, Britain’s population is growing by around 0.8% per year, faster than in most rich countries. Foreign wealth, in the meantime, is pouring into London.
    If supply were rising fast too, increasing demand would not matter; but it is not. Though some 221,000 additional households are formed in England annually, just 108,000 homes were built in the year to September 2013.
    The lack of housing is an economic drag. About three-quarters of English job growth last year was in London and its inland, but high prices make it hard for people to move there from less favoured spots. It also damages lives. New British homes are smaller than those anywhere else in Europe, household size is rising in London and slums are spreading as immigrants squash into shared houses (and, sometimes, garden sheds). Inequality is growing, because the higher property prices are, the greater the advantage that belongs to those whose parents own their homes.
    This is all the result of deliberate policymaking. Since the 1940s house-building in Britain has been regulated by a system designed to prevent urban sprawl, something it has achieved well. It is almost impossible to construct any new building anywhere without permission from the local council. In the places where people most want to live—suburbs at the edge of big cities—councils tend not to give it.
The population in Britain is growing because all EXCEPT ______.
选项 A、more babies were born than any time in history
B、people live longer than before due to several reasons
C、a large number of foreigners have swarmed into the country
D、the government encourages families to have more than one baby
答案D
解析 根据题干中．的“population”，“Britain”等词定位到第二段第三行。该句提到Britain’s population is growing (英国人口正在增长)，而题目所问的人口增长的原因出现在上句：Driven by a baby-boom, immigration and longer lives…; 其中“baby-boom(婴儿潮)”对应选项A, more babies were born than any time in history(更多婴儿出生了)；“immigration(移民)”对应选项C，a large number of foreigners have swarmed into the country (大量外国人涌进英国)；“longer lives(更长的寿命)”对应选项B，people live longer than before due to several reasons (由于诸多因素，人们活得比以前长久)。故原文未提到的原因是D，故选项D为答案。
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