题目
题型：不详难度：来源：
But the dark side of homeownership is now all too apparent: Indeed, easy lending stimulated（刺激）by the cult of homeownership may have triggered（引起）the financial crisis. Housing remains a drag on the economy. Existing-home sales in April dropped 27% from the previous month, worsening fears of a double-dip. And all that is just the obvious tale of a housing bubble and what happened when it popped. The real story is deeper and darker still.
For the better part of a century, politics, industry and culture lined up to create a fetish of the idea of buying a house. Homeownership has done plenty of good over the decades; it has provided stability to tens of millions of families. Yet by idealizing the act of buying a home, we have ignored the downsides. In the bubble years, lending standards slipped dramatically, allowing many Americans to put far too much of their income into paying for their housing. And we ignored longer-term phenomena too. Homeownership contributed to the hollowing out of cities and kept renters out of the best neighborhoods. It fed America’s overuse of energy and oil. It made it more difficult for those who had lost a job to find another. Perhaps worst of all, it helped us become casually self-deceiving: By telling ourselves that homeownership was a pathway to wealth and stable communities and better test scores, we avoided dealing with these frightening issues head-on.
Now, as the U.S. recovers from the biggest housing bust（***）since the Great Depression, it is time to rethink how realistic our expectations of homeownership are—and how much money we want to spend chasing them. Many argue that homeownership should not be a goal pursued at all costs.
小题1:Political leaders wanted to spend money encouraging people to buy houses because______.
| A．owning a home was undoubtedly good |
| B．homeownership could shape a country |
| C．houses could save families and America |
| D．homeownership was unconquerable |
| A．homeownership has quite a lot of bad effects |
| B．there might be another housing breakdown in the U.S. |
| C．the existing-home sales will keep decreasing in the U.S. |
| D．the result of homeownership is much worse than it appears |
| A．Americans choose to live out of urban areas |
| B．it is the way to wealth to have one’s own house |
| C．it is hard for Americans to get a home loan |
| D．homeownership has made many people out of work |
| A．Cautious. | B．Ambiguous. | C．Favorable. | D．Optimistic. |
答案
小题1:B
小题2:D
小题3:A
小题4:A
解析
试题分析：
小题1:B 细节题。根据第一段后三行it was a way to shape a nation. No wonder leaders of all political types wanted to spend more than $100 billion a year on subsidies（补助）and tax breaks to encourage people to buy.说明homeownership是如此的重要，甚至能够塑造一个国家，故B正确。
小题2:D 推理题。根据本段后4行Existing-home sales in April dropped 27% from the previous month, worsening fears of a double-dip. And all that is just the obvious tale of a housing bubble and what happened when it popped. The real story is deeper and darker still.说明现在的homeownership已经给社会经济带来了很多负面的影响，引起了经济危机，所引起的问题要比表面上更加严重，故D正确。
小题3:A 推断题。根据第三段7,8行Homeownership contributed to the hollowing out of cities and kept renters out of the best neighborhoods.说明很多美国人都走出了城市，住到了乡下去。故A说法正确。
小题4:A 推理题。作者在文章中客观的讲述了homeownership的好处以及给我们的社会带来的不好的地方，使用他对于homeownership的态度是很谨慎小心的。故A说法正确。
点评：本文客观地讲述了homeownership给我们带来的好处与坏处，讲述了homeownership的重要性。本文的难点在于考生对于话题内容的不熟悉，不容易完全理解整个文章。对于推理题的考查较多，在审题的时候要抓住题目的关键所在，结合各选项中的信息词做适当地比对，再从文章上下文的含义出发，做出准确细致的判断。
核心考点
试题【Homeownership has let us down. For generations, Americans believed that owning a】；主要考察你对题材分类等知识点的理解。[详细]
举一反三
A big difference between formal and informal English is the use of contractions. A contraction is where we make a word shorter or where we put two words together and take away some of the letters. For example, instead of saying “do not”, many people say “don’t”. Using contractions in our speech is fine because it sounds natural, especially when we speak to our friends. In formal writing, however, contractions are usually avoided because people might think that you have made a mistake, or that you do not know proper grammar.
In the same way we might make words shorter, in informal English we often make sentences shorter as well. For example, if someone asks you your name, you will likely answer with one word: your first name. However, in formal English we usually use complete sentences. For example, we might write “My name is John”. In most speaking, we may not need to use every word in a sentence because the person we are speaking to will probably still understand us. In most writing, however, every word in a sentence must be written out in order to make sure that we can be understood.
小题1:When we use formal English, _______.
| A．we will offend others |
| B．we will appear educated on important occasions |
| C．we needn’t pay more attention to grammar rules |
| D．we can express ourselves more directly and more quickly |
| A．clear | B．direct | C．puzzling | D．simple |
| A．speaking at a formal meeting | B．speaking in public |
| C．speaking to our friends | D．writing an application (申请) letter |
| A．we do not care about grammar | B．we do not want to sound stupid |
| C．we can still be understood | D．we don’t want to waste time |
Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.
Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.
In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to how well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.
Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe(转换) “those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot(发现) spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct then over time.
“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”
小题1:What makes writing by hand a thing of the past?
| A．The absence of blackboard in classroom. |
| B．The use of new technologies in teaching. |
| C．The lack of practice in handwriting. |
| D．The popular use of smartphones. |
| A．focused on the difference between writing by hand and on a computer |
| B．indicated that students prefer to write with a pen and paper |
| C．found that good essays are made up of long sentences |
| D．discussed the importance of writing speed |
| A．Spelling improves one’s memory of words. |
| B．Spelling ability is closely related to writing ability. |
| C．Spelling benefits the translation from words into ideas. |
| D．Spelling slows down finding exact words to express ideas. |
| A．Window. | B．Soul | C．Picture | D．Imagination. |
| A．Computers can help people with their choice of words. |
| B．Spell checks can take the place of spelling teaching. |
| C．Handwriting still has a place in today’s classrooms. |
| D．Functional spelling ability develops fast in the fifth grade. |
Buy Nothing Day is November 29. It’s 25 days before Christmas. It’s after Thanksgiving Day and often the first day of Christmas shopping. At this time, we see ads in Newspapers and on TV telling us to “buy, buy, buy!”
The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day. In California, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs, and paint pictures. The children talk about why they don’t need a lot of toys. This year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up in costumes(统一服装) to tell people that we buy too much.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day. They asked restaurants in the neighborhood to donate（捐赠） the food. They made posters and talked to other students about it. The dinner was a big success, and many students agreed not to buy anything on November 29. The students at high schools liked the idea of this new tradition. Next year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day!
小题1:Which of the following is NOT the day for people to celebrate Buy Nothing Day?
| A．November 29. | B．25 days before Christmas. |
| C．After Thanksgiving. | D．The first day after Christmas. |
| A．before Thanksgiving | B．on Christmas |
| C．before Christmas | D．anytime |
| A．In California, parents and children get together to play games. |
| B．In England, people celebrate by performing plays. |
| C．In Mexico, high school students dress up. |
| D．They buy nothing and persuade others not to buy things. |
| A．They donated the food of their own. |
| B．They talked to others about it. |
| C．They made some slogans（标语口号） for it. |
| D．They organized a luxurious（奢华的） dinner. |
In the 1880s, “little theatre’’ was started in Europe so that poor people could see theatrical productions without having to travel far or pay a lot. In 1910, this idea traveled to the United States. In the early years, community theatres were even funded by the government, but when shows became too political, government funding was stopped.
Community theatres of today are a little different from the old “little theatres”, as mist simply want to infuse(注入)little culture into the lives of the local citizens. In many cases, these theatres are run by colleges and their theatre departments. These productions are often free of charge, or charge very little money to pay for costumes and other incidental expenses. Many also encourage the participation of children and other young people to let them develop theatrical skills, as well as to keep them busy so that they do not do choose to get into trouble. Additionally, for those who desire strongly to become professional actors and to one day get a chance to act in a national theatre production, it is an exciting place to learn and develop theatrical skills.
小题1:Why was “little theatre” started in Europe?
| A．To put on shows for children. |
| B．To collect money for poor people. |
| C．To entertain poor people. |
| D．To get people interested in theatrical productions. |
| A．help young people ,make more money |
| B．prevent young people getting into trouble |
| C．help young people enter the colleges |
| D．encourage young people to become more responsible |
| A．It is usually funded by the government. |
| B．It is intended to train professional actors. |
| C．It benefits the community in many ways. |
| D．It is quite different from the old “little theatres”. |
| A．some professional actors may come from the community theatres |
| B．community theatres only charge for incidental expenses |
| C．community theatres have lost their attraction today |
| D．people can live by acting in the community theatres |
One of the biggest obstacles to making money is not understanding it: Thousands of us avoid investing because we just don’t get it. But to make money, you must be financially literate. “It bothered me that I didn’t understand this stuff,” says Steve, “so I read books and magazines about money management and investing, and I asked every financial whiz (能手) I knew to explain things to me.”
He and his wife started applying the lessons: They made a point to live below their means. They never bought on impulse, always negotiated better deals (on their cars，cable bills, furniture) and stayed in their home long after they went for an expensive vacation. They also put 20 percent of their annual salary into investments.
Within ten years, they were millionaires, and people were coming to Steve for advice. “Someone would say, ‘I need to refinance my house — what should I do? ‘A lot of times, I wouldn’t know the answer, but I’d go to find it and learn something in the process,” he says.
In 2003, Steve quit his job to become part owner of a company that holds personal finance seminars for employees of corporations like Wal Mart. He also started going to real estate investment seminars, and it’s paid off: He now owns $ 30 million worth of investment properties, including apartment complexes, a shopping mall and a quarry.
“I was an engineer who never thought this life was possible, but all it truly takes is a little self education,” says Steve. “You can do anything once you understand the basics.”
小题1:The underlined part “live below their means” (in Paragraph 3) probably means “______”.
| A．take effective measures | B．live a miserable life |
| C．spend more money than they had | D．spend less money than they had |
| A．has been unwilling to help others |
| B．hasn’t stopped learning from practice |
| C．has been willing to follow others’ advice |
| D．has stopped to invest in houses |
| A．A self made engineer |
| B．How to balance your checkbook |
| C．Don’t avoid investing |
| D．Educate yourself to become a millionaire |
| A．self education is very important to one’s life |
| B．everyone should learn how to invest in their life |
| C．Steve Maxwell was quite interested in finance classes in college |
| D．Steve became rich because he saved every penny he had earned |
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