【推荐1】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．
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

【推荐2】

Saturday, 17th March Today I got my dream job in New York! However, it’s far away from my home town and I’ve never visited New York before. Yesterday I took the train here and one of my workmates met me at the railway station. Then he showed me to the company. There they had a welcome party for me. Great! My company offered no living place, so I had to find somewhere to live. I stayed in a hotel while I looked for a new home.

Sunday, 1st April I’ve found the perfect flat! It’s small but very nice. It’s near my office, so I can walk to work. The only problem is that it’s $1,000 a month. That’s too much for a young man like me! I’ve soon got used to the life here. I love it! There’s a supermarket nearby and some restaurants I can go to when I do not want to cook. My workmates and new neighbours are friendly. It’s April Fool’s Day today and I even played a trick on my neighbors next door. Cool!

1. How did Daniel get to New York?

A．By train.

B．By plane.

C．By car.

D．By sea.

2. What is Daniel’s flat like?

A．It’s far away from his office.	B．It’s quite cheap
C．It’s very big.	D．It’s very nice.

3. What does Daniel NOT tell us?

A．Whether he has visited New York before.	B．Where he stayed before he found a flat.
C．Why he had a party on April Fool’s Day.	D．What his workmates and new neighbors are like.

4. What is the yearly price of Daniel’s perfect flat?

A．$11,000

B．$1,000

C．$3,000

D．$12,000

5. Which is the best title of the passage?

A．Daniel’s new life in New York.	B．Daniel’s travel plan.
C．Daniel’s perfect flat.	D．April Fool’s Day’s trick.

【推荐3】When it comes to green buildings, we tend to think of new ones – the kind of high-tech, solar-paneled masterpieces that make the covers of architecture magazines.     1    They are the witness of the country. And it would be incredibly wasteful to tear them all down and replace them with greener versions.     2    What’s     more, it would take an average of 65 years for the reduced carbon emissions from a new energy-efficient home to make up for the resources lost by destroying an old one.     3    

But there is an unavoidable fact that nearly half of U. S. carbon emissions come from heating, cooling and powering those aged houses. "You can't deal with climate change without dealing with existing buildings," says Richard Moe, the president of the National Trust. With some exceptions, the oldest homes tend to be the least energy- efficient.       4    Houses built before 1939 use about 50% more energy per square foot than those built after       2000.

    5    Historic ones like Lincoln's Cottage can be transformed through efficiency upgrades. They can not only help protect property owners from rising power costs; They can save the earth.

A．But how to change their conditions?

B．But the U.S. has more than 100 million existing homes.

C．Some effective measures should be taken by government.

D．So some people say that the greenest way is to maintain old ones.

E．Fortunately, some relatively simple changes can green older homes.

F．Vast energy and resources went into the construction of those houses.

G．The main cause is the cracks that expand over time and let outside air in.

【推荐2】We know that every person has its own words or expressions to express his ideas and feelings. Some of these words and expressions are commonly used for many years. Others are popular for just a short time. One such American expression is “Where's the beef?” It is used when something is not as good as it is said to be. In the early 1980s “Where's the beef?” was one of the most popular expressions in the United States. It seemed as if everyone using it at the time.

Beef, of course, is the meat from a cow, and food is more popular in America than a hamburger made from beef. In the 1960s a businessman named Ray began building small restaurants that sold hamburgers at a low price. Ray called this “McDonald's”. Ray became one of the richest businessmen at last in America.

Other business people watched his success. Some of them opened their own hamburger restaurants. One company called "Wendy's" said its hamburgers were bigger than those sold by McDonald's or anyone else. The Wendy's Company began to use the expression “Where's the beef?” to make people know that Wendy's hamburgers were the biggest. The Wendy's television advertisement showed three old women eating hamburgers. The bread that covered the meat was very big, but inside there was only a bit of meat. One of the women said she would not eat a hamburger with such a little piece of beef. “Where's the beef?” she shouted in a funny way. The advertisement for Wendy's hamburger restaurants was success. As we said, it seemed everyone began using the expression "Where's the beef?".

1. ______ started McDonald's restaurant．

A．Ray

B．McDonald

C．Wendy

D．Three old women

2. Other people wanted to open hamburger restaurants because they thought ______ ．

A．they could sell hamburgers at a low price	B．hamburgers were easy to make
C．beef was very popular in America	D．they could make a lot of money

3. Wendy's made the expression known to everybody ______ ．

A．with many old women eating hamburgers	B．by a television advertisement
C．while selling bread with a bit of meat in it	D．at the McDonald's restaurant

4. We can learn from the passage that the expression "Where's the beef？" means ______ ．

A．The beef in hamburgers is not as much as it is said to be

B．The hamburgers are not as good as they are said to be

C．It is used when something is not as good as it is said to be

D．Wendy's is the biggest

【推荐1】       In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five fays off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I’d hitch a ride(搭便车).
       I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn’t give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured(使……放心) me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
       Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I’d been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
       After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven’t changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.” I couldn’t remember where I’d met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.
1. The author had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because        .

A．her work delayed her trip to Sydney

B．she was going home for her holidays

C．the town was far away from Sydney

D．she missed the only train back home

2. Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?

A．He helped the girl find a ride.

B．He gave the girl a ride back home.

C．He bought sandwiches for the girl.

D．He watched the girl for three hours.

3. The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that           .

A．she realized he was Gordon

B．she had known him for decades

C．she was going to the nearby town

D．she wanted to repay the favour she once got

4. What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?

A．Giving sometimes produces nice results.

B．Those who give rides will be rapid.

C．Good manners bring about happiness.

D．People should offer free rides to others.

【推荐2】I would never forget the time when we were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.
“Look down, Elsa，” Father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the criss­cross (纵横交错) of streets leading to the square. “See, my dear，” Father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can't get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”
Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she didn't believe the lunches were as bad as I said.
When I turned to Father for help, he would not interfere (干涉). Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.
At school the next day, I secretly poured my lunch soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I asked our cook to serve it to Mother at dinner. _____________She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered, “The cook must have gone bad！” Quickly I told what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would deal with the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the following years I often remembered the lesson Father taught me. I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago. I wouldn't stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal. Father's wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square.
1. The author's father took her to the top of a church tower to ________.

A．find out how many ways lead to the square

B．enjoy the beautiful scenery of the whole town

C．help her forget some unpleasant things earlier that day

D．inspire her to find out another way to solve her problem

2. What did the author want her mother to do earlier that day?

A．Do something delicious for lunch.

B．Speak to the school about lunch.

C．Taste her awful lunch.

D．Dismiss the cook.

3. The underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph means ________.

A．the cook agreed to serve the soup to Mother

B．the matter of lunch was successfully settled

C．her father persuaded her mother successfully

D．the method the author thought of was effective

【推荐3】The morning after an evening struggle to care for my three-year-old daughter, I couldn’t wait to send her to school. I, as a mother, was tired from the anger and her inability to communicate because of her slowed language development.

As I accompanied her into the car, I felt desperate. Nothing was right with our world. She’d been born around the same time when the nation was witnessing the birth of another Great Recession. My job and my house had been victims (牺牲品). Then this happened. My child’s language delay (语言发育迟缓) was identified, but doctors struggled to properly help her. I felt like we both needed to be rescued.

I returned that afternoon as disenchanted with my little girl as when I left. Walking slowly toward the school’s playground gate, I found her preschool teacher racing to greet me. “You should have seen her today!” His breathy words were supported by excitement. I didn’t interrupt. “See that climber.” He pointed to a wooden piece of playground equipment that looked like a rock wall. I nodded. “Well, every day since she started school, she’s tried and failed to make it to the top.” He took a breath. “And today she did it!”

He expressed his joy just as he’d witnessed her conquering Mount Everest! “She cheered and celebrated! I wish I’d recorded it!” His words comforted me. My daughter had conquered her mountain. As she ran toward me. I recognized something I hadn’t before. I saw her perseverance (毅力). I saw her strength. I saw a Hero.

Everyday greatness celebrates ordinary people who do unusual things in big and small ways, showing courage, kindness, love and selflessness. We encourage you to click these brief accounts and invite you to share your own story.

1. Why couldn’t the author wait to rush her daughter to school?

A．She was tired out when dealing with her daughter.

B．She had a fight with her daughter last night.

C．She was busy with her work as a doctor.

D．She had to sell their house due to Great Recession.

2. Which of the following best explains “disenchanted” underlined in Paragraph 3?

A．happy.	B．concerned.
C．careful.	D．disappointed.

3. Why did the little girl’s preschool teacher feel excited?

A．She succeeded in standing on Mount Everest.

B．She began to communicate with others normally.

C．She got the first place in the school sports meet.

D．She managed to climb up the wooden equipment.

4. From which is the text most probably taken?

A．The radio.	B．The Internet.
C．A newspaper.	D．A magazine.