原創閱讀理解系列(二)

A

The ongoing rise in housing prices in 70 large-and medium-sized Chinese cities indicates we are yet to find effective policies for reining in runaway housing prices.

Prices rose by an average of 5.3 percent year-on-year in April， according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Although this rate may not seem overly high， it is part of a strong and continued rises in housing prices over the past months. What is alarming is that in some big cities， such as Beijing， Shenzhen and Nanjing， the monthly growth was as high as 10 percent.

Beijing， with a year-on-year growth rate of 10.7 percent， has been leading the nation since last June with price increases hovering around 10 percent.

The government， prompted by the worried public， has taken a series of measures since the market started warming up four or five years ago.

Admittedly， there are sound reasons for the continued strong price rise.

The soaring demand is a result of the country’s scrapping its traditional national housing program， which has driven people to the commercial market， and growing urbanization， which has seen millions of people move to cities. And with a booming economy and few investment options， housing continues to attract investment.

There are obvious signs of speculation in the market.

A large number of investors are believed to be hoarding housing to profit from future price increases. They have distorted market supply and demand to push up prices.

The failure to devise proper policies to control speculation is one of the crucial factors behind the ever-rising prices.

The government， in the long run， can stabilize the property market through balancing regional development. It can divert demand to other cities around regional centers.

In the short term， the speculative bubbles must be deflated so that supply and demand can reflect reality.

The Shanghai authorities reportedly decided over the weekend to levy a 20 percent tax on the sale of previously owned homes. Although the local tax authorities did not verify the news， it triggered an earthquake in the local market. People are rushing to sell their houses before tax measures are put in place.

Policy makers need to closely monitor the market reaction and study the pros and cons of a tax on the sale of previously-owned housing as a way to stabilize the red-hot market.

1. As for the year-on-year growth rate of housing prices， which city takes the lead?

A. Shanghai.B. Beijing.C. Shenzhen.D. Nanjing.

2. The underlined word in the passage can be replaced by _______.

A. causedB. struckC. inventedD. discovered

3. Which of the following is not the reason for housing prices rising?

A. Removing traditional national housing program.

B. Increasing urbanization.

C. Speculation.

D. Having lots of investment options.

4. According to the passage， which of the following is true?

A. The runaway housing prices have been controlled.

B. The housing market began warming up a year ago.

C. All people are satisfied with the government’s decision of a tax on the sale of previously-owned housing.

D. The government has taken some measures to solve the soaring housing prices.

答案與解析

1. B。由文中第四段可知。

2. A。依據上下文可知“triggered”意思為“引發”。

3. D。由“And with a booming economy and few investment options，housing continues to attract investment.”可知。

4. D。由文中第五段可知。

B

Babies might seem a bit dim in their first six months of life， but researchers are getting smarter about what babies know， and the results are surprising.

The word “infant” comes from the Latin， meaning “unable to speak，” but babies are building the foundations for babbling and language before they are born， responding to muffled sounds that travel through amniotic fluid.

Soon after birth， infants are keen and sophisticated observers， capable of seeing details in the world that are visible to some other animals but invisible to adults， older children and even slightly older infants.

Recently， scientists have learned the following:

At a few days old， infants can pick out their native tongue from a foreign one.

At 4 or 5 months， infants can lip read， matching faces on silent videos to “ee” and “ah” sounds.

Infants can recognize the consonants and vowels of all languages on earth， and they can hear the difference between foreign language sounds that elude most adults.

Infants in their first six months can tell the difference between two monkey faces that an older person would say are identical， and they can match calls that monkeys make with pictures of their faces.

Infants are rhythm experts， capable of differentiating between the beats of their culture and another.

The findings， presented in the latest issue of the journal Science， is that infants just 4 months old can tell whether someone is speaking in their native tongue or not without any sound， just by watching a silent movie of their speech. This ability disappeared by the age of 8 months， however， unless the child grows up in a bilingual environment and therefore needs to use the skill.

In fact， all the skills outlined above decline somewhere around the time infants pass the 6-month mark and learn to ignore information that bears little on their immediate environment.

The new study involved showing videos to 36 infants of three bilingual speakers reciting sentences.

After being trained to become comfortable with a speaker reciting a sentence in one language， babies aged 4 and 6 months spent more time looking at a speaker reciting a sentence in a different language， demonstrating that they could tell the difference.

1. From the text， we can see babies are better at _______.

A. speakingB. listeningC. readingD. writing

2. The word “infant” originated from ________.

A. EnglishB. GermanC. GreekD. Latin

3. Which of the following do you agree with according to the passage?

A. The findings were published in a newspaper.

B. Soon after birth， infants can see details in the world as well as adults.

C. Infants 6 months old are capable of telling the difference between two monkey faces， which is beyond an older person.

D. Infants can read the consonants and vowels of all languages on earth.

4. What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A. Supportive.B. Defensive.C. Objective.D. Persuasive.

答案與解析:

1. B。從文中的研究發現可知。

2. D。由第二段的第一行可知。

3. C。由“Infants in their first six months can tell the difference between two monkey faces that an older person would say are identical，”可知。

4. C。本文是一篇科普性文章，作者“客觀”地描述了研究發現的結果。 因此答案為C。

編輯/梁宇清