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．

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

書面表達(dá) (滿分20分)

研究表明，笑對(duì)身體有利。請(qǐng)根據(jù)以下要點(diǎn)，用英語(yǔ)寫一篇以Laughing is good for health為題的短文。笑的好處：1. 忘卻煩惱和憂愁, 減輕痛苦 2. 保持良好的心情, 對(duì)生活保持積極的態(tài)度； 3.易交友；4. 活得更長(zhǎng)久和更有活力。

注意：可根據(jù)要點(diǎn)適當(dāng)發(fā)揮，或增加其他觀點(diǎn)，使文章自然流暢。

詞數(shù)：120左右。

第一句已經(jīng)給出

Laughing is good for health

Many studies show that laughing is good for our health.

You can go out, _________you promise to be back before 11 o'clock.

    A. as far as            B. so far as        C. when         D. so long as

You         your turn so you’ll have to wait.

A. will miss         B. have missed       C. are missing       D. had missed

She said that I could use her car while mine _________________.

   A. was repaired    B. repaired     C. was being repaired    D. would be repaired

All the neighbors think highly of this family, _________ the parents are treating their child like a friend.

A. why          B. where        C. which         D. that

--- It was not until she had arrived home _________ her appointment with the doctor.

A. when she remembered                  B. that she remembered 

C. did she remember                      D. and she remembered

手機(jī)給人們的日常生活提供了許多方便。 如：便于與父母和朋友聯(lián)系；能增加樂趣。但是手機(jī)的使用也存在著一些弊端。如：上課時(shí)使用手機(jī)不利于教師教學(xué)和學(xué)生聽課；課間用過后會(huì)分散上課注意力；用手機(jī)聊天、發(fā)短信費(fèi)時(shí)費(fèi)錢費(fèi)精力。作為一名中學(xué)生.你對(duì)中學(xué)生的持有手機(jī)有何看法?最好能提出些合理建議。

提示詞語(yǔ): mobile phone. Offer a lot of convenience（便利）. send short messages（短信）. bring come trouble. necessary. in a proper way（以合適的方式）

請(qǐng)根據(jù)上述內(nèi)容請(qǐng)一篇120個(gè)字左右的短文，短文的開頭已給出(不計(jì)入詞數(shù)中)：

Nowadays mobile phones are very common around us. __________________________________

--- What did he say?   ---- He said he ________ the sentence in his own words.

A. was considering to explain         B. considered how to explaining

C. would consider to explain          D. was considering explaining

Human Capital - How what you know shapes your life

       Version: Print （Paperback） Publication date: 20 Feb 2007

       Language: English ISBN: 9789264029088  Price: ?15  ￡19  1$10

       This book explores the influence of education and learning on our societies and lives and examines what countries are doing to provide education and training to support people throughout their lives．

       Economic Policy Reforms -- Going/or Growth, 2007 Edition

       Version: Print （Paperback） Publication date: 15 Feb 2007

       Language: English ISBN: 9789264030473  Price: ?60| ￡75 |$41

       Based on a broad set of indicators of structural policies and performance, Going for Growth 2007 takes stock of the recent progress made in implementing policy reforms and identifies, for each OECD country, five policy priorities to lift growth．

       Climate Change in the European Alps -- Adapting Winter Tourism and Natural Hazards Management

       Version: Print （Paperback） Publication date: 22 Jan 2007

       Language: English ISBN: 9789264031685  Price: ?24 ￡32$ 17

       The first systematic cross-country analysis of snow-reliability of Alpine ski areas under climate change for five countries in the region: France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Germany．

       OECD in Figures 2006--2007--Statistics on the Member Countries -- OECD Observer

       -- Volume 2006 Supplement 1

       Version: Print （Paperback） Publication date: 05 Jan 2007

       Language: English ISBN: 9789264022638 Price．; ?15 |￡20 |$10

       A handy pocket reference containing key data covering the entire range of OECD

       work including the economy, employment, health, education, migration, the environment, science and technolog y, public finances, agriculture, trade, and development aid．

       OECD Economic Outlook -- December No, 80 -- Volume 2006 Issue 2

       Version: Print （Paperback） Publication date: 26 Jan 2007

       language-English ISBN: 9789264030954 Price: ?80 | ￡97|$55

       OECD's twice yearly assessment and projections for the economies of the OECD area and selected non-members．This edition also looks at the rise in household debt．

Which of the following books was published most lately?

       A．OECD in Figures 2006-2007．

       B．OECD Economic Outlook．

       C．Human Capital．

       D．Climate Change in the European Alps．

We can learn from the passage that Alps is _______ ．

       A．a(chǎn)n Austrian interesting place most attractive in summer seasons

       B．a(chǎn)n European mountain belonging to three countries

       C．a(chǎn) stadium for skiing lovers from five European countries

       D．a(chǎn)n European mountain famous for its winter skiing

From the book with ISBN ____ you can get a wider range of information about OEC  D．

       A．9789264029088                  B．9789264022638

       C．9789264030954                 D．9789264030473

You should afford _______ Euro dollars for a book to know about the recent progress in economic policies in the OECD countries．

       A．60             B．15                  C．55              D．80

All the five books are ______．

       A．written in English

       B．concerned about OECD countries

       C．involved with education and economy

       D．published by the same print