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The United States is already one year into a depression That was the news this week from the
Na-tional Bureau of Economic Research. The downturn is the longest since a depression that began in
1981and lasted sixteen months.
Economists generally wait for production to shrink for six months in a row before they declare a
re-cession. But the bureau, a private group, uses a wider set of information to measure the economy.
Thenews only confirmed what many people already knew: that the world's largest economy is weak and
maynot recover soon.
Worsening conclitions have led to a big drop in spending, especially on costly products like new cars.
Even Japanese automaker Toyota saw its sales fall thirty - four percent in the United States in November
from a year ago.
The heads of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors retumed to Congress this week to again ask for
federal aid.  Congressional leaders denounced (指责) them two weeks ago after they came in private
jets with no clear plans for saving their industry. This time, the chiefs drove to Washington in fuel- saving
hybrid vehicles. And their companies presented detailed restructuring plans. The reguest for aid has risen
from twenty-five billion dollars two weeks ago to thirty-four billion in loans and credit lines.
G.M. wants almost half of that, and says it needs four billion dollars this month. It warned that without
support it cannot continue to operate.
Ford is in a better position, But the sharing of suppliers means it could be affected if G.M. or
Chrysler fails. Ford is asking for a nine billion dollar credit line in case it needs it.
Chrysler is the smallest and most trouble of America's Big Three. It says it needs a seven billion dollar
loan by the end of the month.
Two days of congressional hearings began Thursday in the Senate Banking Committee. The chairman, Democrat Chris Dodd, said he would support helping the automakers for the good of the economy.
But the committee's top Republican, Richard Shelby, continued to express opposition to a bailout
(贿政援助).
A main root of the world financial crisis is the weak housing market in the United States. The
Trea-sury Department has been under pressure to help troubled homeowners. Now comes news that the
depart-ment is developing a plan aimed at reducing interest rates on mortgage loans (汽车贷款) for
some buyers of homes. That could be good for homeowners trying to sell.
1. From the first two paragraphs, we know        .
A. the United States is expected to recover soon
B. the depression has lasted more than 16 months
C. the depression is much more severe than expected
D. the depression will last no more than 6 months
2. Why were the automakers refused for federal aid two weeks ago?
A. Because the government had no extra money to help.
B. Because they didn't have a ciear plan to save their industry.
C. Because they had wasted too much on costly new cars.
D. Because they had enough money to save their industry.
3. Which of the following is asking for the largest federal aide
A. G.M.
B. Toyota.
C. Chrysler.
D. Ford.
4. From the passage we may know Richard Shelby         tile automakers' request for federal aid?
A. was for
B. was against
C. didn't care about
D. took no notice of
5. Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The hearings on Thursday agreed on a federal aid to the automakers.
B. The main cause of the crisis is weak housing market in the U.S..
C. The government is taking measures to save t he housing market.
D. The Treasury Department had to help the troubled homeowners.

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