2014考研阅读真题英语二 Text 4
When the government talks about infrastructure contributing to the economy the focus is usually on roads, railways, broadband and energy. Housing is seldom mentioned.
当政府谈论助力经济发展的基础设施时，关注点往往集中在公路、铁路、宽带和能源领域，住房问题却鲜少被提及。
Why is that? To some extent the housing sector must shoulder the blame. We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth. Then there is the scale of the typical housing project. It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure projects, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere. But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged.
为何会出现这种情况？在某种程度上，住房行业自身难辞其咎。我们一直未能有效宣传住房对经济增长的实际价值。此外，普通住房项目体量偏小。在数十亿英镑规模的基建项目面前，它很难博得关注，因此人们的视线自然转向其他领域。但最关键的原因或许是，住房问题向来极具政治敏感性。
Nevertheless, the affordable housing situation is desperate. Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new homes.
尽管如此，保障性住房的现状依旧严峻。排队等候房源的人越来越多，而新房的建造数量却严重不足。
The comprehensive spending review offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this. It needs to put historical prejudices to one side and take some steps to address our urgent housing need.
综合支出审查为政府扭转这一局面提供了契机。政府应当抛开过往的偏见，采取举措解决民众迫切的住房需求。
There are some indications that it is preparing to do just that. The communities minister, Don Foster, has hinted that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt. Evidence shows that 60,000 extra homes could be built over the next five years if the cap were lifted, increasing GDP by 0.6%.
已有迹象表明政府正准备付诸行动。社区大臣唐·福斯特暗示，财政大臣乔治·奥斯本或将放宽地方政府住房存量债务的借贷上限。有数据显示，若取消该上限，未来五年可多建造6万套住房，推动国内生产总值提升0.6%。
Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment, which would have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments from revenues.
各位大臣还应着力稳定租赁市场环境，这会极大影响正规住房供应商用营收资金开展新项目建设的能力。
But it is not just down to the government. While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to the fact that the existing £4.5bn programme of grants to fund new affordable housing, set to expire in 2015, is unlikely to be extended beyond then. The Labour party has recently announced that it will retain a large part of the coalition’s spending plans if it returns to power. The housing sector needs to accept that we are very unlikely to ever return to the era of large-scale public grants. We need to adjust to this changing climate.
但这件事不能只依靠政府。虽说这些举措在短期内值得肯定，可我们必须认清现实：现行用于建设保障性住房的45亿英镑拨款计划将于2015年到期，且大概率不会续期。工党近日表态，若重新执政，会保留联合政府的大部分支出方案。住房行业必须接受一个事实：我们几乎再也回不到大规模公共拨款的时代，要学会适应当下的新局面。
While the government’s commitment to long-term funding may have changed, the very pressing need for more affordable housing is real and will not go away.
即便政府长期资金支持的政策已然改变，但民众对更多保障性住房的迫切需求真实存在，且不会消失。
真题题目、选项及答案
36. The author believes that the housing sector __
作者认为住房行业____。
[A] has attracted much attention 获得了大量关注
[B] involves certain political factors 涉及一定的政治因素
[C] shoulders too much responsibility 承担了过多责任
[D] has lost its real value in economy 在经济中失去了实际价值
答案：B
37. It can be learned that affordable housing has __
从文中可得知，保障性住房____。
[A] increased its home supply 增加了房源供给
[B] offered spending opportunities 创造了支出机会
[C] suffered government biases 遭到了政府的偏见对待
[D] disappointed the government 令政府感到失望
答案：C
38. According to Paragraph 5, George Osborne may __
根据第五段内容，乔治·奥斯本可能会____。
[A] allow greater government debt for housing 放宽住房相关的政府借贷额度
[B] stop local authorities from building homes 禁止地方政府建造住房
[C] prepare to reduce housing stock debt 准备削减住房存量债务
[D] release a lifted GDP growth forecast 发布上调后的GDP增长预期
答案：A
39. It can be inferred that a stable rental environment would __
由此可推断，稳定的租赁市场环境将会____。
[A] lower the costs of registered providers 降低正规住房供应商的成本
[B] lessen the impact of government interference 减少政府干预带来的影响
[C] contribute to funding new developments 助力新项目的资金筹措
[D] relieve the ministers of responsibilities 减轻官员们的工作责任
答案：C
40. The author believes that after 2015, the government may __
作者认为，2015年之后政府或许会____。
[A] implement more policies to support housing 出台更多政策扶持住房行业
[B] review the need for large-scale public grants 重新考量大规模公共拨款的必要性
[C] renew the affordable housing grants programme 延续保障性住房拨款计划
[D] stop generous funding to the housing sector 停止对住房行业的大额资金扶持
答案：D
重难点词汇
infrastructure /ˈɪnfrəstrʌktʃə(r)/ n. 基础设施
sector /ˈsektə(r)/ n. 行业，部门
shoulder /ˈʃəʊldə(r)/ v. 承担（责任、过失）
inevitable /ɪnˈevɪtəbl/ adj. 不可避免的
politically charged 政治敏感的
affordable housing 保障性住房，经济适用房
desperate /ˈdespərət/ adj. 严峻的；迫切的
rectify /ˈrektɪfaɪ/ v. 纠正，整改
prejudice /ˈpredʒudɪs/ n. 偏见，成见
hint /hɪnt/ v. 暗示
flexibility /ˌfleksəˈbɪləti/ n. 灵活性
cap /kæp/ n. 上限，限额
rental /ˈrentl/ adj. 租赁的
revenue /ˈrevənjuː/ n. 收入，收益
grant /ɡrɑːnt/ n. 拨款，补助金
expire /ɪkˈspaɪə(r)/ v. （合同、计划）到期，失效
coalition /ˌkəʊəˈlɪʃn/ n. 联盟，联合政府
era /ˈɪərə/ n. 时代，年代
Chancellor of the Exchequer /ˌtʃɑːnsələr əv ði ɪksˈtʃekə(r)/ （英国）财政大臣
Exchequer /ɪksˈtʃekə(r)/ n. 国库；财政部
长难句翻译
It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure projects, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere.
在数十亿英镑规模的基建项目中，住房项目很难吸引关注，因此人们的注意力难免转向其他领域。
The communities minister, Don Foster, has hinted that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt.
社区大臣唐·福斯特暗示，财政大臣乔治·奥斯本可能会放宽地方政府住房存量债务的现有借贷上限。
While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to the fact that the existing £4.5bn programme of grants to fund new affordable housing, set to expire in 2015, is unlikely to be extended beyond then.
尽管这些措施在短期内会受到认可，但我们必须面对现实：现行用于建设保障性住房的45亿英镑拨款计划将于2015年到期，且届时基本不会续期。