VI. Blank-filling (10%) (AB) juncture (AC) under duress (AD) fallible (AE) stash(BC) vitiated (BD) outweighed (BE) matter (CD) garnered(CE) quandary (DE) resilient (ABC) grail (ABD) by extension        It is an idea so seemingly obvious as to need little elaboration: people’s feelings influence theirbehavior. In the economic realm this truism helps explain why surveys of consumer sentiment have__31__ attention. They are seen as predictive of spending trends and, __32__ , the state ofthe economy. But pause for a moment to examine how exactly sentiment affects the economy, andthe causal chain starts to look sketchier. At the current __33__ , when many think America is onthe brink of recession, this oft-cited but __34__ leading indicator merits closer inspection.       Understanding consumer spending is a holy __35__ for forecasters, since it accounts forabout two-thirds of American GDP. Get it right, and the rest of the economy becomes much clearer.But the past couple of years have not been kind to those who focus on sentiment as a guide to futurespending. The most closely watched index of consumer sentiment, published monthly by theUniversity of Michigan, plunged to its lowest reading in more than four decades in 2022, and yetconsumer spending remained __36__ , even after accounting for inflation. This year, by contrast,the Michigan gauge has gained ground, and yet other indicators, including bond yields and lendingflows, are flashing warning signs.        The main explanation for why sentiment has been more of a misleading than a leadingeconomic indicator is that inflation has __37__much else in consumers’ minds. To generatetheir measures, interviewers ask people questions such as whether they think the economy is headingin a good direction and whether they are planning to make big purchases. Consumers tend to begloomy when prices soar, as happened last year. They give short shrift to slightly more complexfactors, such as the big __38__ of savings many accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic.       But the gap between subjective pessimism and objective reasons for greater optimism highlightsa __39__ . The claim is that people’s feelings, whether justified or not, __40__ . Whengloomy, they ought to spend less. If they contradict their own feelings and keep spending, then whatexactly is the value of sentiment data?
【題組】31 (AB) juncture (AC) under duress (AD) fallible (AE) stash (BC) vitiated (BD) outweighed (BE) matter (CD) garnered (CE) quandary (DE) resilient (ABC) grail (ABD) by extension