听力原文:Which of the following can be categorized as a lagging index?
(32)
A. Unemployment rates.
B. Manufacturing rates,
C. Interest rates,
D. People's expectations of the economy.
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听力原文:W: I just read a curious fact. Did you know that people who spend less than ten minutes in a drugstore are five times more likely to make a purchase than those who spend half an hour there?
M: I saw that article, too. But think, if someone runs into a drugstore for ten minutes, it's usually to make a specific purchase.
W: And someone who spends more time they may be just looking.
M: Exactly. Haven't you ever gone into a store thinking that you'd like to buy something, and then talk yourself out of it?
W: Yes, I have, especially when I thought I would get it for less elsewhere, or I really didn't need it after all.
M: Exactly. But if you run into buying something specific and have very little time. You pick it up, pay for it immediately and then leave.
W: That's true. Maybe we should learn a lesson from that. Take your time and you'll spend less money.
M: I doubt if that would be true in all stores, though. In a department store, for instance, you may see a sweater or something you never intended to buy, and buy it be cause you have time to look around.
(23)
A. The relationship of purchases to time spent in shopping.
B. The length of time required for drugstore shopping.
C. The increases in the size and stock of drugstores.
D. The buying of clothing from department stores.
An index is a way to measure changes in a group of numbers over time. In financial markets, for example, an index of stocks will rise or fall with changes in the wider market. The changes measured by an index can be represented with a single percentage. The index may start at a base period of time with a value of one hundred. Now say that a month later the value is recorded as one hundred one. That means it gained one percent. If the index lost one percent, however, the value would be ninety nine.
The leading economic indicators are really ten indexes. Four deal with manufacturing activity. One deals with unemployment claims, Another measures people's expectations of the economy. Still others involve financial information like the money supply and interest rates. The index of leading indicators is just one of the tools used to measure the business cycle. A measure called the coincident index provides information about current conditions. Employment rates are an important part of it. There is also a lagging index. It helps confirm economic changes that currently appear to be taking place. Interest rates are an important lagging indicator.
Why is economics comparable to weather according to the passage?
(30)
A. Because economics is as irregular as weather.
Because economics is as important as weather to our daily life.
C. Because economics condition can be judged according to weather.
D. Because it is not easy to predict the future condition of economics.