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

Credit cards let people buy things now and pay for them over months or even years.But some people get deep into debtSome banks have terms and charges that can make it harder for people to pay off that debt.In the United Statesthere are calls for stronger government supervision of the credit card industry.They_offer_economic_power_at_a_price.In 2004Americans had about $800 billion in credit card debt.Now they own about $968 billion.

Critics say banks made it too easy to get credit cards.But that may be changing.The crisis in the housing and credit they call markets is beginning to affect the credit card industry.More payments are late.Charges for late payments are a growing source of profit for banks.But late payments can also signal bad debts.

The central bankthe Federal Reservesays two?thirds of American banks have recently reported tighter lending requirements.Many people report having their credit limits reduced without warning.

Some lawmakers are concerned that cardholders do not have enough protections from what abusive policies.These include actions like raising interest rates because of an unrelated event.Alsobanks may raise the chances of a late payment by changing monthly payment dates for credit cards.

According to a survey,82% of Americans think credit cards provide a valuable service.But a majority,58%say they do not trust credit card companies.And three out of four think the government should regulate the industry more closely.Three out of four people feel there is always some condition that makes a card less appealing than the company made in scared.And a little more than half say they have had a card that was not as good as they expected.But close to 80% say no one really reads the terms and conditions when they sign up for a credit card.

1. What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph probably mean?

AWe can enjoy more convenience using credit cards.

BCredit cards can improve our buying power.

CWe can buy things at lower prices using credit cards.

DCredit cards bring more card debt as well as convenience.

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text?

ABanks are making it harder for people to get credit cards.

BSome people’s credit limits have been reduced.

CIt is more difficult to borrow money from some banks.

DBanks are receiving more charges from late payments.

3. What can we know from the text?

ABanks actually prefer to see more late payment.

BPeople should be more careful when applying for a credit card.

CThe US government provides better protection for cardholders.

DThe majority of Americans don’t think much of credit cards.

4.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

ACredit cards are still very well received in America.

BCredit cards don’t live up to some people’s expectations.

CMany people don’t believe in credit card companies.

DThe results of a survey about credit cards in Americans.

 

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement gained more support on Wednesday as unions and students joined in. With the protests developing from a group of young people's camping out near the New York Stock Exchange on September 17 to large-scale (大规模的) movements across the country and around the world, people can't help asking: What has led to "Occupy Wall Street?"

Three years after the severe economic crisis, the U.S. economy now is stuck again. Protesters are not satisfied with the present economic situation since unemployment rate is above 9 percent and economic growth has slowed. The housing market is still struggling for a recovery three years after the bubble (泡沫) burst. People are losing their houses even after they have paid a large amount of mortgage(抵押). It is getting difficult for young people to find jobs. People feared that a similar crisis like the one in 2008 may be already on its way.

It is Wall Street that possessed the most riches. It is Wall Street greed that, at least partly, led to the financial crisis in 2008. It was Wall Street's "fat cats" who take taxpayers' aid money as their own big bonus (奖金). With the growing economic crisis around the world, people realize that Wall Street is responsible for it. So they try to target people who created the crisis.

The majority of the protesters are young people under 30. Many of them are unemployed. Some are students with mountains of loans (贷款). Some are hard-working people about to lose their houses even if they have paid a large amount of mortgage. They are complaining that the hard-working middle class is getting poor, yet Wall Street stays wealthy.

William Cohan, author of Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the world, wrote recently that Wall Street not only learned nothing from the 2008 crisis, they are also trying to kill all reforms that might "break this dangerous cycle in which bankers get very rich while the rest of working people suffer from their mistakes."

1.. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The cause of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.

B. The demand of the protesters of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.

C. The popularity of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.

D. The development of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.

2.. According to the second paragraph, what set off the “Occupy Wall Street” movement?

A. The housing market.                                              B. The bad economic situation.

C. The mortgage                                     D. The high unemployment rate.

3.. We can learn from the passage that Wall Street is the symbol of          in the USA.

A. civilization          B. power                         C. wealth             D. fashion

4. We can infer that William Cohan         .

A. is the organizer of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement

B. lives on Wall Street

C. is against the “Occupy Wall Street” movement

D. approves of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement

 

“My kids really understand solar and earth-heat energy,” says a second-grade teacher in Saugus, California. “Some of them are building solar collectors for their energy course.” These young scientists are part of City Building Educational Program (CBEP), a particular program for kindergarten through twelfth grade that uses the stages of city planning to teach basic reading, writing and math skills and more.

The children don’t just plan any city. They map and analyze (分析) the housing, energy, and transportation requirements of their own district and foretell its needs in 100 years. With the aid of an architect (建筑师) who visits the classroom once a week, they invent new ways to meet these needs and build models of their creations. “Designing buildings of the future gives children a lot of freedom,’’ says the teacher who developed this program. “They are able to use their own rich imagination and inventions without fear of blame, because there are no wrong answers in a future context. In fact, as the class enters the final model-building stage of the program, an elected ‘official’ and ‘planning group’ make all the design decisions for the model city and the teacher steps back and becomes an adviser.

CBEP is a set of activities, games and imitations that teach the basic steps necessary for problem-solving: observing, analyzing, working out possible answers, and judging them based on the children’s own standards.

1.The program is designed to_________.

A.       direct kids to build solar collectors

B.       train young scientists for city planning

C.       develop children’s problem-solving abilities

D.       help young architects know more about designing.

2.An architect pays a weekly visit to the classroom to ________.

A.       find out kids’ creative ideas       B.  help kids with their program

C.  discuss with the teacher          D.  give children a lecture

3.Who is the designer of the program?

A.       An official.     B. An architect.     C. A teacher.      D. A scientist

4.The children feel free in the program because __________.

A.       they can design future buildings themselves

B.       they have new ideas and rich imagination

C.       they are given enough time to design models

D.     they need not worry about making mistakes

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网