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．sad |
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 |
Nothing could stop Dad. After he was put on disability for a bad back, he bought a small farm in the country, just enough to grow food for the family. He planted vegetables, fruit trees and even kept bees for honey.
And every week he cleaned Old Man McColgin's chicken house in exchange for manure(肥料). The smell really burned the inside of your nose. When we complained about the terrible smell, Dad said the stronger the manure, the healthier the crops, and he was right.
For example, just one of his cantaloupes filled the entire house with its sweet smell, and the taste was even sweeter.
As the vegetables started coming in, Dad threw himself into cooking. One day, armed with a basket of vegetables, he announced he was going to make stew(炖菜).Dad pulled out a pressure cooker and filled it up with cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, corns, onions and carrots. For about half an hour. The pressure built and the vegetables cooked. Finally, Dad turned off the stove, the pot began to cool and the pressure relief valve sprayed out a cloud of steam. If we thought Dad's pile of chicken manure was bad, this was 10 times worse. When Dad took off the lid, the smell nearly knocked us out.
Dad carried the pot out and we opened doors and windows to air out the house. Just how bad was it? The neighbors came out of their houses to see if we had a gas leak!
Determined, Dad filled our plates with steaming stew and passed them around. It didn’t look that bad, and after the first wave had shut down my ability to smell, it didn’t offend the nose so much, either. I took a taste. It would never win a prize in a cooking competition, but it was surprisingly edible, and we drank up every last drop of soup.Why did Dad clean Old Man MoColgin’s chicken house regularly?
| A．To earn some money for the family. |
| B．To collect manure for his crops. |
| C．To get rid of the terrible smell. |
| D．To set a good example to us. |
What can we infer about Dad’s stew?
| A．It is popular among the neighbors. |
| B．It contains honey and vegetables. |
| C．It looks very wonderful. |
| D．It tastes quite delicious. |
What does the underlined word “offend” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．To attract. |
| B．To upset. |
| C．To air. |
| D．To shut |
What can we learn about Dad form the text?
| A．He is an experienced cook. |
| B．He is a troublesome father. |
| C．He has a positive attitude to life. |
| D．He suffers a lot from his disability. |
A Korean wave is sweeping across China, with many Chinese women worshiping South Korean actors Kin Soo-hyun and Lee Min-ho as demigods(偶像). Chinese netizens（网民）always have different opinions. Over South Korean TV dramas, but there is no doubt that programs from the neighboring country are now enjoying a new round of popularity in China, And a big part of the credit for that goes to You Who Came From The Star, the South Korean TV series which is on the air now.
You Who Came From The Star and The Heirs (继承者们) have been subjects of hot online discussions throughout Asia. Besides, the book, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, read by the hero You Who Came From The Star was a hard-to-get item on Amazon for a while.
The two TV programs have several common elements：a tall, handsome, and rich hero who loves the heroine blindly and always protects her, and an equally handsome man madly in love with the same woman. Both programs describe the purity of love, which is expressed through a kiss or a warm hug. Perhaps that’s the secret of their success; perhaps people still like Cinderella-type stories.
The widening wealth gap is a matter of social concern both in South Korea and China, and the challenges that young people face in their hope for a better life might have caused many ordinary girls to dream of marrying rich, caring men. This is precisely what the popular South Korean TV drams describe. In fact, South Korean TV dramas are tailored to meet the market’s demands.
Many netizens even said at an earlier time that South Korean TV dramas had become popular because of their stereotyped (模式化的) themes: traffic accidents, cancer and other incurable diseases. But all that has changed with the success of You Who Came From The Star and The Heirs, which Chinese directors can use as examples, as well as inspiration, to improve their productions.What is the main reason for a new round of popularity in China?
| A．It is because of You Who Came From The Star. |
| B．Most of the Chinese netizens have voted for them. |
| C．The actors in the dramas are all gods. |
| D．The dramas are from the neighboring country North Korea. |
Which is NOT included in the elements for the success of South Korean dramas?
| A．Charming pure love stories. |
| B．A tender kiss and a warm hug. |
| C．Handsome and rich heroes. |
| D．The heroine’s blind love with the rich. |
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 means that they are designed to _______.
| A．develop in a large scale |
| B．be measured to a certain size |
| C．meet popular taste purposely |
| D．be shown in a big market |
The main purpose of stereotyped themes in South Korean dramas is to________.
| A．present an idea | B．attract TV viewers |
| C．make them colorful | D．arouse some challenges |
While astronauts in space get to do many exciting things, they miss out on ordinary things that we all take for granted-being able to walk on firm ground, hanging out with family and digging into a slice of hot steaming pizza. Though not much can be done about the first two things, there may soon be a solution to the third one, thanks to this cool 3-D pizza printer!
About a year ago, NASA offered $125,000 to Anjan Contractor, a 3-D technology expert, to build a device（设备）that would allow astronauts to make pizza on demand. The mechanical engineer promised that his invention would produce pies in large quantities that looked, tasted and even smelled like pizza made in common ovens.
Late last year, the engineer presented a video of his first prototype（原型）that begins by creating a single slice of dough（面团）that is cooked and printed at the same time. Then comes the tomato “sauce” —a mix of tomato powder, oil and water and finally, a protein slice that resembles cheese. While the video doesn’t show the baking process, the inventor says that once the pizza is printed, it can be ready to be consumed in 7 seconds.
While the pie in the video looks delicious enough to attract any pizza lover, Anjan Contractor is far from ready for astronauts. That’s because he still has to find a solution to make the food container in the printer last for 30 years. Though that may sound unrealistic, actually it is not.
Anjan Contractor believes that the only way that is possible is that the water is removed from all the ingredients（配料）and then they are reduced to the powder form. This, as you can imagine, will not be so easy. But, while the printer may not be ready for space, it certainly looks ready enough for people on earth. Hopefully, NASA and Contractor will consider selling it to those not fortunate enough to go to Mars!Why does the author mention the things that astronauts in space cannot do?
| A．To ask us not to take common things for granted. |
| B．To show they live a difficult life there. |
| C．To show their life is boring in space. |
| D．To introduce the topic of the text. |
NASA offered $125,000 to Anjan Contractor mainly to __________.
| A．create some new type of 3-D printer |
| B．attract more companies to work for NASA |
| C．help astronauts in space enjoy fresh pizza one day |
| D．produce pizza in large quantities to earn great profits |
The biggest challenge that Anjan Contractor is faced with now is probably that __________.
| A．he has no money left to go on with his research |
| B．the pizza doesn’t seem appetizing to pizza lovers |
| C．he has no way to make pizza that can last for thirty years |
| D．he cannot make the food container last for decades |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．NASA is trying its best to help astronauts eat better |
| B．Astronauts may soon be able to enjoy steaming hot pizza |
| C．NASA is working on making pizza for common people |
| D．A 3-D pizza printer has been used to make pizza |
A very close friend phoned me this weekend and asked a specific question about earning a few extra dollars each month online. For the benefit of keeping her name and details secret, I will call her Annie in this article. You see Annie suffers from a severe form of inaction syndrome(综合症); she is full of great ideas that never materialize into cash and she is having a problem finding the link that will achieve this.
Somebody once said that knowledge is power, yet we constantly find from readers of our website that they have knowledge to burn and still do not have power. Just look at the academics in universities all around the world; they have so much knowledge that they should control the wealth of the world. In truth they work for peanuts and very few of them ever achieve the power of independence. So knowledge certainly isn’t power. Therefore, we should change that “wise” statement to: “Power is the ability to use knowledge to your own benefit.”
That paragraph was inserted because Annie is a typical academic—strong on talk and plans but a little weaker on actions. In the period of a twenty-minute conversation, she expounded（阐述）a whole list of plans and ideas to make the extra few hundred dollars each month she was seeking. Any one of her many ideas was a potential money maker, but she had taken action on none of them. At one time she said, “I’m lost as to what to do next.”
That was my cue（提示）to get involved. “Take action,” I advised.
All that is wrong is that Annie was inactive without knowing it. In five minutes we drew up a plan of action and agreed to talk again in a month to review progress. When we finished the conversation, she sounded much happier and more motivated than when we started. Annie just needs a little nudge into beneficial action.What’s the problem with Annie?
| A．She has too many great ideas. |
| B．She never puts her ideas into practice. |
| C．She suffers from a strange illness. |
| D．She knows little about making money online. |
What is the most important according to the author?
| A．The ability to use one’s knowledge. |
| B．The ability to acquire knowledge. |
| C．A great deal of knowledge. |
| D．A good understanding of oneself. |
What can we know from the last paragraph?
| A．Annie will succeed in later life. |
| B．Annie is going towards success. |
| C．Annie doesn’t realize her problems. |
| D．Annie talks too much in daily life. |
The underlined word “nudge” in the last paragraph probably means________.
| A．push | B．advice | C．training | D．Power |
Every Wednesday, I go to Cantata Adult Life Services, a local retirement community in Brookfield, Illinois, US, with my classmates to do community service.
After my very first visit to Cantata, my life changed forever. That may sound a bit dramatic, but volunteering with the elderly has changed my views on life.
Our visits last about an hour, and we bring 25-30 students every time. We play board games and cards with the residents while we’re there.
You can watch all the movies and TV shows you want about “life back then”, but nothing compares to talking to the people who were actually there. Just hearing their stories has touched me in a way I never thought possible.
Whether it was talking to 98-year-old “Hurricane Hilda” about her glory days as a roller skater or chatting with Lou about the times she danced with a famous actor, I was completely attracted by every single memory the residents wanted to share with me.
Even the residents who don’t have amazing memories make the experience satisfying . I remember visiting Mrs Robinson. She couldn’t recall much about her past, but she told me she’d never forget how kind I was just to listen to her “rambling (漫谈)”. It made me realize that it’s the little things that make life worth living. That’s something I won’t forget anytime soon.
If there’s one thing I’ve realized in my three years of visiting Cantata, it’s that presence – just being there – means more than anything to many of the residents. And despite how busy our lives are, there’s always time to make someone’s day.
For me, it feels great to be a source of happiness, a smile on a bad day or a listening ear for old memories. And at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
It’s easy to feel like you don’t have anything in common with the elderly – especially when you’re a teenager. But that’s not true at all.
I hate to be overly clichéd (陈词滥调的) here, but age really is just a number. As young adults, it’s important for us to realize this sooner rather than later. We can learn a lot from the elderly, and they can often benefit from teenagers too.What do the volunteers do according to the passage?
| A．They share everything with the residents. |
| B．They play board games and cards with the residents. |
| C．They watch the residents play games. |
| D．They buy gifts for the residents. |
According to the writer, what is the most important thing that volunteers can do for the elderly?
| A．Playing with them. | B．Benefiting from them. |
| C．Helping them. | D．Being there with them. |
What does the writer want to tell us by writing this passage ?
| A．Young adults and the elderly can benefit from each other. |
| B．Age is just a number. |
| C．It is important to help the elderly. |
| D．We don’t have anything in common with the elderly. |