Question

【題目】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 （氣泡） 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 （配給制） 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．

【1】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

【2】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．

【3】The underlined word “dismal” in Paragraph 3 may mean _____．

A． cheerful B． satisfactory

C． difficult D．sad

【4】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

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】C

【3】D

【4】D

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述了說英語的國家中哪個國家最實惠。通過調(diào)查報告表明：澳大利亞南部找到最昂貴的家園。美國有幾個城市被列入了實惠的名單。

【1】A細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段An “affordable” home required three times or less of the average family’s income to purchase.“可知，買一個經(jīng)濟房需要三倍或者低于平均家庭收入。所以選A。

【2】C細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“Land rationing （配給制） and excessive development charges have raised prices”可知土地配給（配給制）和過度開發(fā)成本使價格上升。所以選C。

【3】D猜測詞義題。A快樂的；B滿意的；C困難的；D悲傷的、慘淡的。句意為澳大利亞官員除了在慘淡的結(jié)果方面的一般性發(fā)言外還提供一點意見。根據(jù)句意選D。

【4】D主旨大意題。本文通過一系列的調(diào)查，通過說明美國、澳大利亞一些房價問題，說明房子太貴這一主題。所以選D。