Well before the winter holidays of charity and good cheer, much of the world is now in a spirit of generosity and forbearance to

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问题     Well before the winter holidays of charity and good cheer, much of the world is now in a spirit of generosity and forbearance toward debt—all in response to the unprecedented impact of the pandemic on vulnerable people and countries.
    Twenty of the world’s richest nations agreed, on April 22, to freeze the debt obligations of about a quarter of humanity that lives in the poorest 76 countries. The Group of 20 encouraged private creditors to also provide short-term relief. A couple of days earlier, the International Monetary Fund announced an immediate freeze for debt owed by 25 developing countries. The IMF will rely on a special $500 million fund for "catastrophe containment and relief.
    Within countries, both elected leaders and private lenders are stepping up to ease the financial obligations of such groups as small businesses, renters, and people saddled with student loans. In the United States, for example, many car companies are letting borrowers defer payments on auto loans. Under a program from Freddie Mac, landlords with multifamily housing are allowed to defer loan payments for 90 days.
    Because of the magnitude of the COVID-19 emergency, perhaps never before has the world had to come to grips with the nuanced difficulties of debt relief on such a large scale. By one estimate, 1 in 5 emerging market countries will default on debt obligations because of the financial damage from the coronavirus. "No region can win the battle against COVID-19 alone," stated European countries in a joint appeal to provide debt relief for poor nations.
The necessity of mass debt relief is not new to global leaders. After World War II, Germany was granted generous relief on old debts which resulted in a strong economy today, an anchor for Europe’s stability and prosperity. Starting in the 1980s, one debt crisis after another forced fresh thinking about the benefits and hazards of forgiving or deferring the debt of financially troubled countries.
    Will debt tolerance only encourage risky behavior in the future? As commerce has become more global, so too has understanding of the need to sometimes go easy on debt enforcement while still ensuring repayment at some point in the future. In a more closely-knit world, the benefits of debt relief can easily flow both ways.
    "Forgiveness is truly the grace by which we enable another person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew," says South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu. With those less well-off in the world hit hard by the pandemic, debt relief is on the global agenda, demanding a renewed focus on patience and forbearance as necessary tools to defeat COVID-19.
The underlined word "defer" (Line 3 ,Para. 3) is closest in meaning to_________.

选项 A、postpone
B、charge
C、withhold
D、refuse

答案A

解析 词汇题。根据题干提示可定位到第三段第二句。根据本段第一句的内容:“民选领导人和私人贷方都在加紧努力,以减轻小型企业、租房者和背负学生贷款的人们的财务压力”,接着就举了美国的例子,例子的内容应该跟前文一致,即许多汽车公司允许借款人推迟汽车贷款的还款,故defer在这里的意思是“推迟”,答案选[A]。
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