Question

Millions of Americans run to the bank or visit ATM when they need cash. They use credit cards when they want to buy clothes, VCRs, or television sets.

　 But there is an underclass—people with low incomes and no credit history—who visit their neighborhood pawnshops(当铺)when they need cash or a loan(贷款).

　 About 20 percent of the US population has no bank account. More than half of this group don’t have credit cards and cannot get bank loans.

　 “These people are borrowing an average of $50,” said John P. Caskey of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. “If you add up in terms of how much dollar value pawnshop provide, they don’t look very important. If you add up how much of the population they serve or the number of loans they make, they are important.”

　 Because they make loans, pawnshops are a type of bank, often calling themselves “the bank of the little people”.

　 Caskey and Swarthmore student Brian Zidmund in 1989 looked at the importance of pawnshops in the US economy—the first serious study of the subject since the 1930s.

　 Their conclusion: pawnshops are the consumer’s lender of last resort(最后一招).

　 Pawnshop customers typically cannot get credit at banks. They have poor credit records, low and unstable incomes, or cannot maintain positive bank account balances.

　 Typically, pawnshop customers borrow relatively small amounts that traditional lenders are unwilling or unable to provide on a secured basis.

　 “If you look at total consumer credit, the amounts provided by pawnshops remain small,” Caskey said. “They are lending mainly to low-income people. In terms of the population they serve, they’re really important.”

　 In 1988, there were about 6,900 pawnshops in the United States—one for every two commercial banks. They made about 35 million loans, providing 1 percent of the nation’s consumer credit.

1. The best title for the passage would be ____.

　 A. Credit Cards for the Poor　　　　　　　　 B. Banks for the Poor

　 C. Pawnshops VS Banks　　　　　　　　　　 D. Commercial Banks

2. What does the underclass people do when they need cash?

　 A. They go to local banks for help.

　 B. They apply for credit cards.

　 C. They ask for a loan from large banks.

　 D. They apply for a loan in pawnshops.

3. What can we learn about pawnshops?

　 A. Poor people come to pawnshops as their last resort.

　 B. Most people prefer pawnshops for their need of cash.

　 C. Pawnshops are an important part of the state economy.

　 D. Pawnshops are not important because they make up only 1 percent of the nation’s

　　　 consumer credit.

4. According to John P. Caskey, pawnshops are important because ____.

　 A. they provide great dollar value to the poor

　 B. they make big loans to a lot of people

　 C. they are serving the majority of the population

　 D. they make a large number of loans to the poor

 

Answer 1

1. 选【B】。这是一道主旨推断题。根据第二段可得知A项不对；根据全篇可知C项外延

　　　　　 太大；根据最后一段可知D项错误；所以正确答案应选B。

2. 选【D】。这是一道细节理解题。根据第二段“underclass—people with low incomes and no

　　　　　 credit history—who visit their neighborhood pawnshops when they need cash or a

　　　　　 loan.”可知。

3. 选【A】。这是一道细节理解题。根据文章第七段可知，选项A正确。

4. 选【D】。这是一道细节理解题。根据文章倒数第二段可知答案应是D。