题目内容：

How Interest Rates Affect Spending

With every loan, there is a possibility that the borrower will not repay the money. To compensate lenders for that risk, there must be a reward: interest. Interest is the amount of money that lenders earn when they make a loan that the borrower repays, and the interest rate is the percentage of the loan amount that the lender charges to lend money.

The existence of interest allows borrowers to spend money immediately, instead of waiting to save the money to make a purchase. The lower the interest rate, the more willing people are to borrow money to make big purchases，such as houses or cars. When consumers pay less in interest，this gives them more money to spend, which can create a chain effect of increased spending throughout the economy. Businesses and farmers also benefit from lower interest rates, as it encourages them to make large equipment purchases due to the low cost of borrowing. This creates a situation where output and productivity increase.

Conversely, higher interest rates mean that consumers don’t have as much disposable (可支配的) income and must cut back on spending. When higher interest rates are coupled with increased lending standards, banks make fewer loans. This affects not only consumers, but also businesses and farmers, who cut back on spending for new equipment, thus slowing productivity or reducing the number of employees. The tighter lending standards mean that consumers will cut back on spending, and this will affect many businesses1 bottom lines. This will cause the businesses to reduce the number of employees that they have and to hold off on any major equipment purchases.

1.What is interest?

A. The amount of money the borrowers earn.

B. The percentage of the loan amount.

C. A sum of money repaid by lenders.

D. A charge made for borrowing money.

2.What will happen when the interest is low?

A. Houses and cars will be more expensive.

B. People will make purchases by saving money.

C. Big purchases will cost more money.

D. Spending will be encouraged.

3.Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “conversely” in Paragraph 3?

A. Above all.    B. Most importantly.

C. On the contrary.    D. In fact.

4.What will be a possible result of the higher interest rate?

A. More new equipment will be purchased.    B. Productivity will be increased.

C. Banks will make more loans.    D. Some people will lose their jobs.