Passage 2
Consumers went back to usingtheir credit cards in March to keep spending while student and new-car loansshot up as the value of outstanding consumer credit jumped at the fastest ratesince late 2001, data from the Federal Reserve showed on Monday.
Total consumer credit grew by$21.36 billion-more than twice the $9.8 billion rise that Wall Streeteconomists surveyed by Reuters had forecast. That followed a revised $9.27billion increase in outstanding credit in February.
Analysts expressed somereservations whether the date reliably signaled a real pickup in demand,something that would normally fuel stronger growth, or just a need to rely moreon credit in an economy generating anemic job growth.
"The optimistic read isthat consumers' improved outlook on the economy and employment prospects ledthem to feel comfortable spending on credit, while a more downbeatinterpretation is that credit is needed for consumers to keep up, Nomura GlobalEconomics said in a note afterward.
The March rise in consumercredit was the strongest for any month since November 2001 when it soared by$28billion. That was shortly after the September11,2001 attacks when bigautomakers were offering zero-percent financing and other incentives to lureconsumers back to their showrooms.
New-car sales and productionwere a key influence on the 2.2 percent annual rate of economic growth postedduring the first three months this year. The government estimated that abouthalf of that growth came from increased new car production.
How long had it been since the consumer credit numbers increased so much in one month?
A、A year
B、Two years
C、Over 10 years
D、About three years
【正确答案】：C
【名师解析】:根据文章中的信息，消费者信贷在2001年11月增长了280亿美元，这是自那时以来最高的单月增长，直到文章提到的3月份的增长。因此，自上一次消费者信贷如此大幅增长以来，已经过去了超过10年的时间。所以正确答案是选项C：Over 10 years。