Get Ready for Yet Another Cost When Buying a Home: Junk Fees

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the article’s principal purpose?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To compare national housing markets
   2. To explain a disputed fee and its implications for consumers
   3. To calculate the average cost of a home
   4. To defend agents against regulatory criticism
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To explain a disputed fee and its implications for consumers

   It frames a fee dispute while emphasizing consumer understanding and unresolved responsibility.

   The issue matters because additional housing costs should be visible and intelligible.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “that person” refer to in the second paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The real estate researcher
   2. The transaction’s lender
   3. The directly charged buyer or seller
   4. The person advertising the property
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The directly charged buyer or seller

   The phrase refers to whichever consumer receives the direct charge.

   If a charge is imposed directly on a buyer or seller, that person must absorb it as part of the transaction’s cost.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article mention multiple charges?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. They make property prices irrelevant
   2. They can make total expenses difficult to interpret
   3. They eliminate the need for disclosure
   4. They guarantee that every fee is excessive
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   They can make total expenses difficult to interpret

   Their accumulation can obscure the transaction’s overall financial demands.

   More broadly, multiple charges can make the overall expense harder to understand.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What inference follows from the agents’ and researchers’ position?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. All real estate fees are unlawful
   2. The fee’s legitimacy requires closer examination
   3. Sellers invariably impose hidden costs
   4. Researchers have settled the payment question
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The fee’s legitimacy requires closer examination

   Their stance implies that customary charges deserve scrutiny rather than automatic acceptance.

   The position expressed by the agents and researchers suggests that the fee should be examined rather than accepted automatically.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How does the final paragraph qualify the article’s claims?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. By presenting the fee as universally unavoidable
   2. By narrowing the evidence and preserving uncertainty
   3. By rejecting the agents’ criticism entirely
   4. By identifying a legally binding solution
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   By narrowing the evidence and preserving uncertainty

   It limits generalization and acknowledges that the dispute remains unresolved.

   The available coverage does not establish that every buyer or seller encounters the same charge, and it does not settle who should ultimately pay it.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What relationship does the article establish between transparency and consumer agency?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Transparency makes questioning costs possible
   2. Transparency shifts every cost to agents
   3. Consumer agency depends solely on income
   4. Clear information prevents all transaction fees
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Transparency makes questioning costs possible

   Clear information enables consumers to evaluate and challenge assigned costs.

   When consumers are asked to pay a fee directly, they should be able to understand its purpose and question whether the charge is appropriate.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why is the headline price insufficient according to the article?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It changes according to the weather
   2. It omits potentially payable additional amounts
   3. It includes taxes but excludes property value
   4. It applies only to commercial properties
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It omits potentially payable additional amounts

   It excludes additional amounts consumers may ultimately be expected to pay.

   The headline price does not, by itself, communicate every amount a person may be expected to pay.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How is the article organized rhetorically?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Historical overview followed by statistical proof
   2. Dispute, implications, practical advice, and qualification
   3. Personal anecdote followed by a legal ruling
   4. Market forecast followed by investment recommendations
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Dispute, implications, practical advice, and qualification

   It moves from the dispute’s context toward practical guidance and evidentiary limits.

   For prospective buyers and sellers, the dispute offers a practical reminder to review the financial details of a transaction closely.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.