China news, Beijing, Feb. 9 – Housing price in China has always aroused heated discussions among property developers and ordinary Chinese. T
o many property developers and local government officials, housing price in China is still low compared with many developed countries. However, the average housing price in the United States is only 8,000 yuan per square meter, while in China, it is even higher than in the United States. This shows that there are some bubbles(泡沫) in Chinese real estate market
, the International Finance News reported.
Although the average price of residential houses in the United States, after converted to Renminbi, is about 8,000 yuan per square meter, the houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses. If US property developers sell their houses according to the building area, then the housing price will be even lower than 8,000 yuan per square meter. In most big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, houses are sold at a price even higher than those in the US.
The high housing sales price in large cities in China proves that Chinese real estate market does have some bubbles. Moreover, Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities. Furthermore, it should be noted that American people’s average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people. How can the Chinese afford to buy a house which is even more expensive than that sold in US?
At the beginning of 2007, Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public. Now in order to reduce the high housing prices, the government can regulate(控制) the real estate market by raising tax on property industry and controlling the release of loans and lands to property developers. At the same time, the government should allow people to build more houses through various fund-raising channels, such as funds collected from buyers or raised by working units. By applying these multiple means, it is expected that the high housing prices can be lowered. What is the average housing price per square meter in China?
| A．8000 yuan | B．10000 yuan | C．7000 yuan | D．It’s not mentioned here |
Which of the following does NOT support the idea that the average housing price in China is even higher than in the United States?
| A．Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality,environment and supporting facilities. |
| B．American people’s average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people. |
| C．The houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses. |
| D．There are more people who need houses in China. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
A．The hous ing price in China is so high that the government should do something useful to prevent it. |
| B．There are some bubbles in Chinese real estate market |
| C．The average housing price in China is even higher than in the United States |
D．Chinese governmen t issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public. |
How many measures are mentioned in the last paragraph in order to reduce the high housing prices?
| A．Four | B．Three | C．Five | D．Two |
What’s On Stage
An acrobatic show: To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe(剧团) will present “The Soul of China”, where the seemingly impossible is made real. Chills will run down your spine(脊柱) as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge.
Time: 7:30 p.m., September 13-19
Place: Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District
Exhibitions
Joint Show: A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing. About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display.
Time: 9:00 a. m.—5:00 p.m. until September 10
Place: Huangshicheng Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Oil paintings: The Wanfung Art Gallery will host a joint show of oil painting by 10 young and middle-aged artists. On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture the wondrous variety of life in unique styles.
Time: 9:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m. until September 15
Place: 136 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District
Literature museum: The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an in-depth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949.
Time: 9:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m., daily
Place: 45 Anyuan Donglu, Chaoyang District(Shaoyaoju area)
Concerts
Beijing rocks: “The Fashion Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month. Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm.
Time: September 16
Place: The Olympic Center
Belgium Orchestra：La Petite Bande, the Baroque Orehestra of Belgium, will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world in memory of the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death.
Time: 7:30 p.m. September 11—14
Place: Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities What do you think of the acrobatic show mentioned here?
| A．When you watch it, you will certainly feel cold. |
| B．Something strange will puzzle everyone, including scientists. |
| C．Unexpected things will make you excited and surprised. |
| D．Even the bravest ones will be too frightened to go on watching |
The most characteristic thing about the Fashion Night of Chinese Rock is that .
| A．it will let the audience choose the performers and the music |
| B．it is to bring thousands of rock fans out of their homes |
| C．it will certainly cause a rock storm throughout China |
| D．it is to be held in memory of one of the greatest musicians |
Suppose it is September 14 today, how many activities can people choose to attend?
| A．2. | B．3. | C．4. | D．5. |
On the whole, we can conclude .
| A．people in Beijing prefer modern culture to something traditional |
| B．there are usually more cultural activities in September than in any other month |
| C．most of the cultural activities in Beijing are for foreign visitors only |
| D．we can enjoy a large variety of cultural activities in Beijing |
The teaching hospital is one associated with a medical school. Teaching hospitals are large, with a range of from 300 to 200 beds. These hospitals always have interns(实习医师) and residents(住院医师) and additionally have medical students on the hospital wards. They have superb technical resources, and it is here that the most extraordinary events of medicine take place. Open-heart surgery, transplantation of kidneys, elaborate(精致的) nurseries for the newborn, support for management of rare blood diseases, and other wonderful achievements are all available here. Dozens of people may be concerned with the well-being of a particular patient. Important medical decisions are thoroughly discussed, presented at conferences, and reviewed by many personnel.
On the other hand, the quality of personal relationships at teaching hospitals is variable. Many patients feel that they are treated in an impersonal way, and that their laboratory tests receive more attention that their human and social problems. Since these institutions are on the frontier of medicine, there is a tendency to emphasize the new and elaborate procedures, when older and more modest ones might have served as well. With the inexperience of some members of the care team, there is a tendency to order more laboratory tests than what would have been ordered for the same condition in a private hospital. The sick patients are sometimes confused by having to relate to a large number of doctors and students. Medical educators are concerned with such criticisms and have to correct some of the problems. However, some excesses(超额) of technological medicine still occur in these institutions.One of the advantages of a teaching hospital is that .
| A．its first-class personnel are a guarantee of excellent medical care |
| B．its first-class medical facilities and skills make medical breakthroughs possible |
| C．the interns, residents and medical students all offer satisfactory services |
| D．its laboratory staff provide high-class professional aids for the doctors |
The passage implies that .
| A．private hospitals usually give personalized care of high quality |
| B．private hospitals have more experienced laboratory staff |
| C．teaching hospitals use patients as subjects for their experiments |
| D．teaching hospitals usually give patients improper treatment |
Treatments of some difficult and complicated cases in teaching hospital are decided .
| A．by specialists in charge of the case |
| B．by doctors and students together |
| C．on some special and important occasions |
| D．through collective efforts and serious review |
The problem that still bothers teaching hospitals frequently is .
| A．the inadequate patient care caused by irresponsible nurses. |
| B．the wrong decisions made by inexperienced doctors |
| C．improper dependence on technological medicine |
| D．the inconvenience caused by the presence of medical students |
As motorways become more and more blocked up with traffic, a new generation on flying cars will be needed to ferry people along skyways. That is the conclusion of engineers from the US space agency and aeronautical firms, who envision future commuters traveling by “skycar”.
These could look much like the concept skycar shown in the picture, designed by Boeing research and development. However, such vehicles could be some 25 years from appearing on the market. Efforts to build flying vehicles in the past have not been very successful. Such vehicles would not only be expensive and require the skills of a trained pilot to fly, but there are significant engineering challenges involved in developing them. “When you try to combine them you get the worst of both worlds: a very heavy, slow, expensive vehicle that’s hard to use,” said Mark Moore, head of the personal air vehicle(PAV) division of the vehicle systems program at Nasa’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, US. But Boeing is also considering how to police the airways-and prevent total pandemonium(吵杂狂乱的喧闹)-if thousands of flying cars enter the skies.
“The neat, gee-whiz part is thinking about what the vehicle itself would look like,” said Dick Paul, a vice president with Phantom Works, Boeing’s research and development arm. “But we’re trying to think through all the consequences of what it would take to deploy(散开) a fleet of these.”
Past proposals to solve this problem have included artificial intelligence systems to prevent collisions between air traffic. Nasa is working on flying vehicles with the initial goal of transforming small plane travel. Small planes are generally costly, loud, and require months of training and lots of money to operate, making flying to work impractical for most people. But within five years, Nasa researchers hope to develop technology for a small plane that can fly out of regional airports, costs less than $100,000(£55,725), is as quiet as a motorcycle and as simple to operate as a car.
Although it would not have any road-driving capabilities, it would bring this form of travel within the grasp of a wider section of people. The new technology would automate many of the pilot’s functions. This Small Aircraft Transportation System(Sats) would divert pressure away from the “hub-and-spoke(中心辐射型)” model of air travel. Hub-and-spoke refers to the typically US model of passengers being processed through large “hub” airports and then on to secondary flights to “spoke” airports near their final destinations.The best title for this text would be .
| A．Developing Skycars | B．The Traffic Jams in the Sky |
| C．How to Guide Flying Cars in the Sky | D．What Flying Cars Will Look Like |
The underlined word “envision” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “ ”.
| A．see | B．expect | C．think | D．announce |
When engineers develop the skycars, they have to deal with the following difficulties except .
| A．how to fly out of regional airports |
| B．how to prevent the disorder of the airways |
| C．how to reduce expenses and the vehicle’s weight |
| D．how to fly the skycars to enter skies |
Now Nasa researchers’ aim is to .
| A．make big flying cars |
| B．work out the plan——how to transform small plane travel |
| C．develop a new kind of small plane different from the traditional one |
| D．build a new kind of small plane with road-driving abilities |
Why not an island get-away?
Newfoundland
Price
From £1080 per person in June 2005
We went with:
Frontier Canada frontier-travel. Co. uk/Canada
About this trip
John Cabot had set sail looking for a new trade route for Asia, when he landed in Cape Bonavista. Clearly he felt this barren desolate landscape could provide this, so he claimed it for its potential and so began the rise of the British Empire.
Newfoundland is the most easterly point in North America and was Britain’s first overseas colony until 1949, when it became part of Canada. It’s roughly the size of England and Craig’s journey by camper van or RV (recreational vehicle) took in just a small part of the island called the Bonavista Peninsula.
First stop was the tiny fishing port of Keels to stock up for the journey ahead. There’s a long standing love affair between Newfoundlanders and cod. The seas off the Newfoundland coast were once the richest cod fishing grounds in the world, attracting fishermen from all over Europe. Many settled, establishing these coastal villages known locally as outports.
An hour’s drive down the coast is the town of Bonavista, where Craig met up with retired fisherman, Wilson Hayward. He told Craig how the landscape used to lie, and described the peculiarities of the language and accents in the area. There’s a different language in every bay.The title “Why not an island get-away?” _________.
| A．invites people to take a holiday trip to Newfoundland |
| B．informs people that the island is moving away from where it used to be |
| C．tells people that they can buy the island at the price of £1080. |
| D．asks people to visit the website frontier-travel. co.uk/Canada |
From the context we can conclude that “Frontier Canada” is the name of _________.
| A．a tourist guide |
| B．a kind of fish found around the island |
| C．a tourist agency |
| D．someone who has already booked the trip |
When John Cabot first discovered Cape Bonavista he was actually on a voyage to find ____.
| A．North America | B．Asia |
| C．South America | D．the British Empire |
According to the passage Newfoundland is now part of _________.
| A．UK | B．Canada | C．Europe | D．Bonavista |
In the past the Newfoundlanders mainly lived by _________.
| A．teaching languages | B．making camper vans |
| C．looking after retired fishermen | D．fishing cod |
At Yale University, enrollment in basic Chinese in 2005 grew rapidly, and for the first time professors can remember, large numbers of freshmen were arriving with enough knowledge of the Chinese language to start in second- or third-year Chinese language class, rather than basic Chinese.
The American interest in China is not just at the university level. In the 2006 school year, high-school students will be offered an Advanced Placement test, which is one of the national exams American students take for university admission, in Chinese. This is the first time Chinese is offered in the Advanced Placement test, which is usually limited to the most important subjects that high school students take.
What is surprising is that earlier last year, an organization that tracks university students surveyed high schools throughout America, asking if they planned to offer the language courses that prepare students for the language Advanced Placement test. They expected that only a hundred high schools, mostly in California, New York, and a few other places with large immigrant populations, would show interest in each of the new language programs. Although that was true for the courses in Italian, Russian and Japanese, it was not true for the Chinese language course. There were thousands of American high schools that indicated that they planned to build their Chinese programs to levels where students could take the Advanced Placement exam for Chinese language. The demand for courses in Chinese is rising so rapidly that it is rapidly overtaking all other foreign languages except Spanish. According to the passage many freshmen at Yale University today .
| A．know enough basic Chinese |
| B．needn’t learn Chinese any more |
| C．take courses in the Chinese language |
| D．go to university to study Chinese |
For university entrance, the American high-school students .
| A．have to learn Chinese | B．learn more than one foreign language. |
| C．take the Advanced Placement Test | D．used to have a test in Chinese |
We can learn from the passage that .
| A．Chinese will overtake all foreign languages in American high schools |
| B．Americans will know more about China and its people |
| C．the U.S. government pays much attention to language studies |
| D．Chinese may take the place of English in American universities |