阅读理解。
Spending beyond one's means is becoming a national problem for Americans. Borrowing has become so
easy that it takes great willpower for people to refuse it. "I received a number of gold MasterCard and gold
Visa card offers in the mail during the past two months," said one computer engineer at AT&T Bell
Laboratories in Chicago. "I got three of them in one day last week."
Lenders are providing easy credit (信贷) for borrowers. Many banks now offer every borrower a great
variety of credit, a service once offered almost only to big companies. Norwest Bank Minneapolis offers
lending programs for cars and boats that can cut monthly payments nearly in half. Carmakers, too, are
lengthening easier terms. Ford Motor Credit states that 45% of its recent lending has been for sixty months,
rather than the thirty-six-month period that was usual before.
The total consumer debt (债务) in the United States rose 173 percent between 1974 and 1984, as the
debt for each man, woman, and child increased from $10, 264 to $26, 566. Huge debt now is present in our
economy (经济) at all levels. As a nation, we are more than $7 trillion in debt, and the total keeps increasing
astonishingly.
As we have over-borrowed, so have we overspent. In late 1986, the share of after-tax income that
Americans saved sank below 2 percent for a short time, less than half the figure at which we saved only
10 years ago. Americans now are buying from foreigners between about $50 and $100 billion more Mercedes
and Toyotas, Paris fashions, and tours to Europe than the Boeing 747s, agriculture machinery, or Kansas
wheat that the foreigners bought from America The country could not produce and pay for all the things it
wanted.
To make a long story short, we Americans have serious problems in keeping down spending and keeping
up personal savings. It is high time for us American people to learn the basics of long-term money
management.
1. According to the author, what is a main reason for Americans to overspend?
A. Americans buy a lot of foreign products.
B. It is easy for Americans to manage their debts.
C. Borrowing money has become a simple matter.
D. Americans have more extra money than before.
2. Ford Motor Credit lengthens 45% of its lending to 60 months in order to _____.
A. help more Americans to settle their debts
B. encourage people to buy foreign cars
C. make better use of its money
D. attract more customers
3. What does the author suggest as a way to deal with over-borrowing?
A. Teaching people how to manage money.
B. Advising people on what to buy.
C. Limiting the use of credit cards.
D. Reducing average incomes.
4. Which of the following points does the author wish to make?
A. America should sell more of its products abroad.
B. A healthy society has to learn to live within its means.
C. People's income determines their money management.
D. Government should prevent people from over-borrowing.
