Question

【题目】Directions:Read the passage carefully. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Every Little Bit Counts?

One of the weapons in the fight against poverty is microcredit also called microlending). Microcredit is the practice of giving very small, short-term loans to poor people.【1】 The loans help the borrowers start or upgrade small businesses. Microcredit organizations assume that poor people can lift themselves out of poverty if they only have access to standard financial services.

Grameen Bank, started as a project in 1976, is a pioneer of microcredit.【2】 Borrowers often have no steady job no other property, and no one to co-sign on the loan - common requirements for getting a loan elsewhere. Grameen Bank promotes credit as a human right, and with a 98% repayment rate, it seems to have helped its borrowers improve their lives and made a profit through interest in the meantime.

Successes like Grameen Bank and others caused governments and NGOs to rush to fund microcredit operations. How wonderful to imagine that the cure for poverty could be profitable! However, recent studies question how effective microcredit really is. Critics say that poor people with enoughentrepreneurial(创业的) drive to get a loan would have succeeded anyway. Those without the drive don't end up in better circumstances after paying back loans，which aren’t always used for businesses. 【3】 And though microcredit is described as a way to empower women，some say the loans aren’t causing any measurable improvement in women’s lives.

The ideas behind microcredit are uplifting: that all humans are filled with potentials and that one small bit of assistance can help a whole family live better. 【4】 Time and close study will tell if microcredit is really the miracle it appears to be.

A. They also say that without a basic education, poor borrowers aren't equipped to manage the businesses they create.

B. In general, the loans are 100 USD or less, usually paid back within six months.

C. Borrowers need to provide the credit history, which the lenders will use as the criteria when evaluating a loan.

D. They may, however, ignore systematic causes of large-scale poverty.

E. Most microcredit agencies are struggling as the vast majority of loans are not paid back.

F. It has given out more than eight billion dollars in loans to people who could never borrow money otherwise.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】F

【3】A

【4】D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了小额信贷的历史以及利与弊。

【1】空前说小额信贷是向穷人提供非常小的短期贷款的做法，接下来是对这一句的解释说明，故B项（一般来说，贷款额在100美元或以下，通常在六个月内还清）符合语境。

【2】空前说格拉明银行成立于1976年，是小额信贷的先驱，此处承接上文，讲的是格拉明银行为小额信贷所做的贡献，F项中的It指代的就是Grameen Bank，故F项（它已经向那些再也借不到钱的人发放了80多亿美元的贷款）符合语境。

【3】空前说那些没有动力的人在偿还贷款后的境况并不会更好，因为贷款并不总是用于企业，此处承接上文，讲的还是关于这些人的想法或做法，故A项（他们还说，没有基础教育，贫穷的借贷者就没有能力管理他们创建的企业）符合语境。

【4】空前说小额信贷背后的想法令人振奋：所有人都充满了潜力，一点小小的帮助就能帮助整个家庭生活得更好，空后又说时间和深入的研究将告诉我们，小额信贷是否真的是一个奇迹，这说明此处应该会体现出小额信贷存在的问题，故D项（然而，它们可能忽视大规模贫困的系统性原因）符合语境。

在六选四的解题过程中，被选选项中出现的代词与上文出现的某一名词之间的指代关系往往是重要线索，例如本篇第2题，根据空前的“Grameen Bank, started as a project in 1976, is a pioneer of microcredit”可知，格拉明银行成立于1976年，是小额信贷的先驱，此处承接上文，讲的是格拉明银行为小额信贷所做的贡献，F项中的It指代的就是前面出现的Grameen Bank，故F项（它已经向那些再也借不到钱的人发放了80多亿美元的贷款）符合语境。