Marketplace or peer-to-peer (P2P) lending matches borrowers on low-cost online platforms. By skirting banks, P2P lending allows borrower and lender alike to achieve better rates of interest. Essentially, P2P lending is a way of capitalizing on the network effect of social media and the volumes of data generated therein to allow cheaper access to capital.
According to Liberum, P2P lending in the U.K. will grow at 98 percent year-on-year in 2015, with ￡3.5 billion presently lent out. Worldwide in 2015, it’s estimated that $77 billion will be lent via P2P platforms—$60 billion China, $12 billion U.S.A. and $5 billion U.K. Morgan Stanley’s Huw Steenis says, “While marketplace lending is still about 1 percent of unsecured consumer and SME lending in the U.S., we think it can reach approximately 10 percent by 2020. We forecast the global market to grow to $150-$490 billion by 2020.” As Liberum Cormac Leech says, “We are witnessing the biggest changes to the banking sector for 400 years.”
P2P lending offers huge opportunities, mainly at the expense of banks, whose biggest margins are traditionally in unsecured lending. Herein is the layer of fat P2P platforms are guzzling, picking off the banks’ best customers. P2P platforms have also proved superior at harvesting and managing big data, and have lower cost bases than banks.
A significant development is that institutional money is now alighting. The largest quoted institutional P2P lender, P2P Global Investment PLC, floated in London last year. It has raised nearly 500m and aims to double that this year. As a reward for lofting “transformational” amounts of cash on to various platforms, P2P Global has been accumulating warrants and options on their equity, notably Ratesetter, Zopa, Direct Money and Lending Works.
In a twist to this development, Neil Woodford, Britain’s most famous fund manager, recently upped his stake in P2P Global. Last August Woodford sold out of HSBC, fearing “fine inflation”. This seems a ringing endorsement of this disruptive but nascent sector.
Perhaps most significantly, in May this year, Zopa, the P2P platform, announced its debut in secured (most P2P lending is unsecured) lending by collaborating with Uber. Uber drivers in U.K. will be able to borrow via Zopa to buy their cars, with loans secured against the cars themselves.
Of course, the sector presents risks. The credit dry up when interest rates rise. A P2P platform may go bust. But some investors, refugees from the banking sector perhaps, will simply like the idea of being on the right side of regulatory and technological upheaval. And when the banks finally understand, how will they react? Who knows? So far, none of them have.
1. Liberum’s data quoted in Paragraph 2 indicates that ______.
2. What can we learn about P2P Global Investment PLC?
3. The cooperation between Zopa and Uber has ______.
4. What is the author’s attitude towards the future of P2P lending?
5. What’s the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
问题1选项
A.P2P platform offers huge opportunities for banks
B.P2P lending attracts the old customers of banks
C.P2P has seized most share of the financial market
D.P2P lending has been experiencing fast booming
问题2选项
A.It is the largest investment company in London.
B.It has been raising huge funds for P2P lending.
C.It has combined with a few famous companies.
D.It has a well-known economist as its manager.
问题3选项
A.created a new way of P2P lending
B.helped drivers to buy their new cars
C.raised the P2P lending interest rates
D.posed risks for other P2P companies
问题4选项
A.Pessimistic.
B.Optimistic.
C.Wait-and-see.
D.Indifferent.
问题5选项
A.To introduce some recent changes in lending market.
B.To analyze the risks of investing with P2P platforms.
C.To call for banks’ attention to the development of P2P.
D.To forecast the possible difficulties P2P lending may face.
第1题:D
第2题:B
第3题:A
第4题:C
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
Liberum’s data quoted in Paragraph 2 indicates that ______. Liberum在第2段引用的数据表明______。
A. P2P platform offers huge opportunities for banks A. P2P平台为银行提供了巨大的机会
B. P2P lending attracts the old customers of banks B. P2P借贷吸引了银行的老客户
C. P2P has seized most share of the financial market C. P2P已经占据了金融市场的大部分份额
D. P2P lending has been experiencing fast booming D. P2P网贷一直在快速发展
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到原文第二段第一、二句“据Liberum称，2015年英国的P2P贷款将以98%的同比增长率增长，其中￡目前有35亿美元被借出。据估计，2015年全球将通过P2P平台借贷770亿美元——中国600亿美元、美国120亿美元和英国50亿美元。”（According to Liberum, P2P lending in the U.K. will grow at 98 percent year-on-year in 2015, with ￡3.5 billion presently lent out. Worldwide in 2015, it’s estimated that $77 billion will be lent via P2P platforms—$60 billion China, $12 billion U.S.A. and $5 billion U.K.）以及本段最后一句“我们正在见证400年来银行界最大的变化”（We are witnessing the biggest changes to the banking sector for 400 years.），可见，这些数据是在显示“人人贷”（P2P）这个新兴金融板块的快速发展，所以正确答案为D选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项这些数据并没有提到“人人贷”与银行的关系，而从后文第三段第二句“抢走银行最好的客户”（picking off the banks’ best customers）我们也可了解到这两者之间为竞争关系，属于反向干扰；
B选项本段的数据中并没有表明“人人贷”与银行之间进行竞争，属于无中生有；
C选项数据只显示了“人人贷”自身的发展，并没有比较它和传统银行业的市场份额，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
What can we learn about P2P Global Investment PLC? 关于P2P全球投资PLC，我们能了解到什么？
A. It is the largest investment company in London. A. 它是伦敦最大的投资公司。
B. It has been raising huge funds for P2P lending. B. 它一直在为P2P借贷筹集巨额资金。
C. It has combined with a few famous companies. C. 它已与几家著名公司合并。
D. It has a well-known economist as its manager. D. 它的经理是一位著名的经济学家。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】 根据题干信息可定位到原文第四段第三句“它已经筹集了5亿英镑，并且打算今年翻一番（It has raised nearly￡500m and aims to double that this year），说明PLC一直在筹集资金，所以正确答案为B选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项说的是最大的投资公司，但是原文提到的是上市公司，两者不能等同；
C选项对应原文第四段最后“P2P Global一直在积累其股权的认股权证和期权”（P2P Global has been accumulating warrants and options on their equity），并没有说它已与几家著名公司合并，属于过度推测；
D选项原文未提及，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The cooperation between Zopa and Uber has ______. Zopa和Uber的合作______。
A. created a new way of P2P lending A. 创造了一种新的P2P借贷方式
B. helped drivers to buy their new cars B. 帮助了司机购买新车
C. raised the P2P lending interest rates C. 提高了P2P贷款利率
D. posed risks for other P2P companies D. 给其他P2P公司带来了风险
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】 根据题干信息可定位到原文第六段“也许最重要的是，今年5月，P2P平台Zopa宣布通过与优步合作，首次推出有担保（大多数P2P贷款是无担保的）贷款。优步在英国的司机将可以通过Zopa借款购买他们的汽车，并以汽车本身作为贷款担保。”（Perhaps most significantly, in May this year, Zopa, the P2P platform, announced its debut in secured (most P2P lending is unsecured) lending by collaborating with Uber. Uber drivers in U.K. will be able to borrow via Zopa to buy their cars, with loans secured against the cars themselves.），说明这是一种新模式，所以正确答案为A选项。
【干扰项排除】
B选项只是表象，并不是两者合作的最终目的；
C选项对应原文最后一段第二句“利率上升时信贷枯竭。”（The credit dry up when interest rates rise.），并没有说提高P2P贷款利率，属于无中生有；
D选项对应原文最后一段第三句“P2P平台可能会破产。”（A P2P platform may go bust.），属于张冠李戴。
第4题:
【选项释义】
What is the author’s attitude towards the future of P2P lending? 作者对P2P网贷的未来持什么态度？
A. Pessimistic. A. 悲观的。
B. Optimistic. B. 乐观的。
C. Wait-and-see. C. 观望的。
D. Indifferent. D. 冷漠的。
【考查点】观点态度题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到原文最后一段“当然，该行业存在风险。利率上升时信贷枯竭。P2P平台可能会破产。但一些投资者，也许是来自银行业的难民，只会喜欢站在监管和技术动荡的正确一边。当银行终于明白了，他们会如何反应？谁知道？到目前为止，他们都没有。”（Of course, the sector presents risks…none of them have.），所以正确答案为C选项。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项均不属于作者的态度。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What’s the purpose of the author in writing this passage? 作者写这篇文章的目的是什么？
A. To introduce some recent changes in lending market. A. 介绍借贷市场近期的一些变化。
B. To analyze the risks of investing with P2P platforms. B. 分析P2P平台投资的风险。
C. To call for banks’ attention to the development of P2P. C. 呼吁银行重视P2P的发展。
D. To forecast the possible difficulties P2P lending may face. D. 预测P2P网贷可能面临的困难。
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】根据文章第一段“市场或点对点（P2P）贷款与低成本在线平台上的借款人相匹配。通过避开银行，P2P贷款允许借款人和贷款人获得更好的利率。从本质上讲，P2P贷款是一种利用社交媒体的网络效应和其中产生的大量数据的方式，以允许更廉价地获得资本。”（Marketplace or peer-to-peer…to capital.）并通读全文可知作者写这篇文章主要是为了介绍借贷市场近期的一些变化，所以正确答案为A选项。
【干扰项排除】
B选项原文最后一段第一句提到“当然，该行业存在风险。”，但是并没有对此进行分析，属于无中生有；
C选项原文未提及，属于无中生有；
D选项原文并没有对P2P网贷可能面临的困难进行预测，属于无中生有。
