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.
By using the word 'anemic', the article wants to say that the current job growth numbers are______.
A、average
B、poor
C、impressive
D、great
【正确答案】：B
【名师解析】:在文章中，使用单词'anemic'来描述当前的就业增长情况。'Anemic'一词通常用来形容某物非常弱或不足，这里指的是就业增长非常缓慢或不足。因此，根据这个描述，选项B（poor）是正确的答案，因为它与'anemic'的含义相符，表示就业增长是贫弱的。其他选项A（average）、C（impressive）和D（great）都不符合'anemic'所传达的负面含义。