题目内容
Attempt a guess at the following question: In the English-speaking world, which country has the least affordable homes? You are wrong if you guessed the US, even with the housing bubble (气泡) and main sadness. Nor is it the UK, where prices have risen because demand is far from supply. According to a recent survey of 227 cities around the globe, you must go south of the equator (赤道) to Australia to find the priciest homes.
The report measured a city’s housing market along the following guidelines. An “affordable” home required three times or less of the average family’s income to purchase. At four times earnings, a home fell into the “unaffordable” category. And a “seriously unaffordable” home needed five times a family’s income. In Australia, homes in the least affordable city cost just about 9.5 times the average income. Sydney, Perth, and Melbourne were only a little under this figure.
Australian officials offered little comment, apart from a general statement on the dismal findings. These prices make the possibility that many Australians will one day own a home largely unbelievable. Land rationing (配给制) and excessive development charges have raised prices, and the problem will only be solved through urgent action by the Rudd government.
Some American cities were also included on the least affordable list, four of which were in California. America is still involved in a mortgage（抵押）crisis, though, affecting the affordability of homes. Yet a number of US cities garnered “affordable” status, namely Dallas and Kansas. Australia had no cities listed in the top fifty places with affordable homes.
The survey suggests that you can find affordable homes in most places, just not if you’re Australian and choose to live down under.
To buy an affordable house, you should pay _____.
A. 3 times or less of the average family’s income
B. 4 times or less of the average family’s income
C. 5 times or less of the average family’s income
D. 9.5 times or less of the average family’s income
What caused the prices of houses to increase in Australia?
A. The rising family’s income.
B. The demand over supply.
C. The excessive development charges.
D. The decrease of land.
The underlined word “dismal” in Paragraph 3 may mean _____.
A. cheerful B. satisfactory C. difficult D. gloomy
What might be the most suitable title for the passage?
A. Affordable Houses
B. A House is a Dream First
C. Housing Bubble
D. Homes Too Expensive
【小题1】A
【小题1】C
【小题1】D
【小题1】D
解析:
略
An experimental solar-powered plane landed safely Thursday after completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft(在空中) all night.
Pilot Andre Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse onto the runway at Payerne airfield about 30 miles southwest of the Swiss capital Bern at exactly 9 a.m. (3 a.m. EDT) Thursday. Helpers rushed to stabilize the pioneering plane as it touched down, ensuring that its massive 207-foot wingspan didn't scrape the ground and topple(倾倒) the craft.
The record feat(壮举) completes seven years of planning and brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of circling the globe using only energy from the sun. ‘We achieved more than we wanted. Everybody is extremely happy,’ Borschberg told reporters after landing.
Previous flights included a brief ‘flea hop’ and a longer airborne test earlier this year, but this week's attempt was described as a ‘milestone’ by the team. The team said it had now demonstrated that the single-seat plane can theoretically stay in the air indefinitely, recharging its depleted batteries using 12,000 solar cells and nothing but the rays of the sun during the day. But while the team said this proves that emissions-free air travel is possible, it doesn't see solar technology replacing conventional jet propulsion(喷气推进) any time soon. Instead, the project's overarching purpose is to test and promote new energy-efficient technologies.
Project co-founder Bertrand Piccard, himself a record-breaking balloonist, said many people had been skeptical that renewable energy could ever be used to take a man into the air and keep him there. ‘It’s a matter of time that people come to believe and understand about renewable energies,’Piccard said, adding that the flight was proof that new technologies can help break society's dependence on fossil fuels.
The team will now set its sights on an Atlantic crossing, before attempting a round-the-world flight in 2013, making only five stops along the way. ‘It's absolutely not time to relax,’ said Piccard.
Title: A 1. __________ in solar-powered flight and its background information
|
A project on solar-powered flight |
Main purpose: To test and promote 2. __________ 3. __________: To make an Atlantic crossing; To attempt a round-the-world flight with only five stops in 2013. Long-term goal: To circle the globe using only 4. __________. |
|
5. __________ |
a brief ‘flea hop’; an airborne test. |
|
Record-setting test flight |
Name of the plane: 6. __________ Name of the pilot: Andre Borschberg Time: 7.__________ Length of Place: at Payerne airfield, Switzerland. Achievements: ●proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night, making 8. __________ possible; ●proving that new technologies can help rid society of 9.__________ fossil fuels; ●bringing the project 10. __________ to its long-term goal. |