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.

　　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 project, 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.

　　Nevertheless, the affordable housing situation is desperate. Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new homes.

　　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.

　　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 new homes could be built over the next five years if the cap were lifted, increasing GDP by 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.

　　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 returns to power. The housing sector needs to accept that we are very unlikely to ever return to era of large-scale public grants. We need to adjust to this changing climate.

36. The author believes that the housing sector __________.

　[A] has attracted much attention 含义不符，原文的 “hard to shove for attention”是指很难获得关注

　[B] involves certain political factors符合原文的 “… most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged（最重要的原因是在于这个问题与政治有很大的关系）”。其中，factors具有概况性概况charged，charged的本意表示“充满…情绪/气氛的”，此处可弈城“与..有关”。

　[C] shoulders too much responsibility 划线信息来源有误,导致不符合原文“shoulder the blame”

　[D] has lost its real value in economy含义不符，原文的“We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth（一直以来我们都没有很好地说清楚住房在经济发展中能起到的积极作用）”

37. It can be learned that affordable housing has __________.

　[A] increased its home supply 信息来源有误，属于针对“we are simply not building enough new homes”过度推理，题干为完成时态，而原文只是对未来的期待。

　[B] offered spending opportunities信息来源有误，属于针对“offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this（给政府一个纠正问题的机会）”过度推理

　[C] suffered government biases 符合原文“It needs to put historical prejudices to one side…（我们需要把以往的偏见放到一边）”，suffered的时态对应historical，biases对应prejudices。

　[D] disappointed the government 同B， 信息来源有误，属于针对“offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this”的过度推理。

38. According to Paragraph 5, George Osborne may __________.

　[A] allow greater government debt for housing 符合“introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt.（针对现在实行的地方政府房屋借贷数额上限，采用更灵活的方法）”，此处的原文的上下文都提到了政府要多盖房子（如上文：address our urgent housing need；再如下文：..extra new homes）, 所以可以判断目标原文中“greater flexibility to the current the cap”的含义是将会提高上限。

　[B] stop local authorities from building homes含义相反，根据A选项的分析课得出政府要鼓励地方多盖房子

　[C] prepare to reduce housing stock debt 含义相反，根据A选项的分析可知，C选项的含义与原文相反。

　[D] release a lifted GDP growth forecast 强干扰项 — 含义夸大，原文“increasing GDP by 0.6%”只提到住房对GDP的贡献率，而选项中GDP growth forecast则是由多种因素所决定的。

39. It can be inferred that a stable rental environment would __________. 推断题 – 变相语义题

　[A] lower the costs of registered providers划线信息来源有误，导致不符合原文 “…registered providers to fund new developments from revenues.（注册在案的住房供应商们凭借稳定的营业收入为新住房建设提供资金）”，此处原文的含义是供应商们的收入稳定而不是成本下降，因此A选项与原文含义不符。

　[B] lessen the impact of government interference 不符合原文，“Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment (部长们应当看到增加住房会提高房屋租赁市场的稳定性)”，其实租赁市场稳定性提高的预期会刺激了政府采取措施支持建造住房，从而增加了政府干预的影响力

　[C] contribute to funding new developments 对应原文“have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments”，其中contribute to 对应have a significant impact on…

　[D] relieve the ministers of responsibilities 划线信息来源有误，导致不符合原文“Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment (部长们应当看到增加住房会提高房屋租赁市场的稳定性)”。

40. The author believes that after 2015, the government may __________. 段落推断题 – 难题

　[A] implement more policies to support housing 强干扰项 – 信息来源有误 – 过度推理，是针对原文“While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to … （虽然这些措施在短期内将会受到欢迎，但是我们也要面对这样的事实…）”，此处的含义是这些方法从长期来看将会失效。此外，上文“But it is not just down to the government (解决住房问题不仅仅是政府的责任)”也说明了该段的主要信息是：解决住房问题还需要政府之外的其它方面的努力，所以该选项是错误的推理。

　[B] review the need for large-scale public grants含义不符原文“we are very unlikely to ever return to era of large-scale public grants （英国不可能回到政府提供大规模住房拨款的时代）”，既然无法提供补贴，有何来审核需求（review the need）。

　[C] renew the affordable housing grants programme 含义相反，对应“… programme of grants to fund new affordable housing, set to expire in 2015, is unlikely to be extended beyond then.（经济适用房的拨款计划将在2015年到期，且不可能在此后得到延期）”，选项中renew (延期)与此正相反。

[D] stop generous funding to the housing sector 根据A选项和C选项的分析，政府在2015年后不会延期拨款计划，不会回到大规模拨款的时代，所以看似“绝对（由stop所体现）”的D选项其实符合原文的含义，文章最后提到“We need to adjust to this changing climate（我们需要适应这个正在变化的情形）”，this climate指的也是政府将不会提供大规模拨款，选项generous对应£4.5bn, 也对应large-scale, stop对应 “…unlikely to be extended”,也对应 “unlikely to return …”，所以D为正确选项，是2014年阅读题中最难的一道。