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     Homebuyers nationwide are watching housing prices going up, up, and up. "How high can they go?''

is the question on everyone's lips?" As long as interest rates stay around 5 percent, nothing might be able

to prevent housing prices going up," said one house seller in Santa Monica, California.

     "It's crazy," said Tim, who is looking for a house near the beach. "In 1993, I bought my first place,

a two bedroom flat in Venice, for $70 000. My friends thought then that I was overpaying. Five years

later, I had to move. I sold it for $230 000, which was a nice profit. Last year, while visiting friends here, 

I saw in the local paper that the exact same flat was for sale for $510 000!"

     It is a seller's market. Homebuyers feel 1ike they have to offer at least 10 percent more than the asking

price.Donna, a new owner of a one-bedroom flat in Venice Beach, said, "That's what I did. I told the owner

that whatever anyone offers you, I'll give you $20 000 more, under the table, so you don't have to pay your

house seller any of it. I was tired of negotiating with the house sellers.

     Tim says he hopes he doesn't get that desperate. "Whether you decide to buy or decide not to buy, you

still feel like you made the wrong decision. If you buy, you feel like you overpaid. If you don't buy, you

want to kick yourself for passing up a great opportunity."

     Everyone says the bubble (泡沫) has to burst sometime, but everyone hopes it will burst the day after

they sell their house. Even goverment officials have no idea what the future will bring. "All we can say is

that, clearly, these things go in regular cycles," said the state director of housing. "What goes up must come

down. But, as we all know, housing prices always stay up a little higher than they go down. So you can't

lose over the long run. Twenty years down the road, your house is always worth more than you paid for it."

1. If Tim had sold his flat last year, he could have earned _____. [ ]

A. $510 000

B. $440 000

C. $280 000

D. $160 000

2. Donna paid another $20 000 to the owner secretly because _____.[ ]

A. she felt like offering 10% more

B. secret money made low price

C. the owner asked for the money

D. she was bored with bargaining

3. We can infer from Tim's words in paragraph 4 that _____. [ ]

A. homebuyers feel hesitate facing rising house prices

B. buying a house is always a great opportunity

C. homebuyers never make the right decision

D. both sellers and buyers become desperate

4. What is the author's opinion about the housing bubble?  [ ]

A. It is something everyone hates to see.

B. Only experts know when it will burst.

C. It is unavoidable in the regular circles.

D. It usually stays for about twenty years.