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Questions 13 to 18 are based on the following passage.【1】Homeownership has let us down. For generations, Americans believed that owning a home was undoubtedly good. Our political leaders hammered home the point. Franklin Roosevelt held that a country of homeowners was “unconquerable.” Homeownership could even save babies, save children, save families and save America. A house with a lawn and a fence wasn’t just a nice place to live in or a risk-free investment; 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.【2】But the dark side of homeownership is now all too apparent: Indeed, easy lending stimulated by the cult of homeownership may have triggered 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.【3】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.【4】Now, as the U.S. recovers from the biggest housing bust(破产) 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.Why does the author say they are disappointed at homeownership()?
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Questions 25 to 30 are based on the following passage.【1】Variety is the spice of language. The words listed in this book are not intended to replace those that most people use most of the time. Rather, they are variations on the theme. We tend to use the same old words over and over again, to limit our powers of expression by limiting our vocabulary. There is nothing wrong with the “old words”, but why not enhance your speech and writing by learning to use new ones from time to time as alternatives?【2】How often have you spoke of having an accident? Why not use the alternative mishap (小事故) once in a while? Everyone talks of the usual thing to do or expect. Might not one, to enrich his speech, speak of the customary thing? Or why not occasionally describe a situation as aggravated instead of worsened?【3】Don’t throw away the “old words”. Vary them with the “new words”. English is an especially rich language, and often there are delicate shades of difference between two words that are generally regarded as equivalent or synonymous. Thus, a mishap is not merely an accident; it is an unfortunate accident. (There can be fortunate accidents, like bumping into an old friend you haven’t seen for years and whose address you’ve lost.) So, in using mishap instead of accident, you must be sure of the distinction. Again, you’d never say “as customary” rather than “as usual”, because the latter phrase has become art of the language. But wouldn’t it sometimes be pleasant and perhaps more interesting to describe a kind act by someone as having been done with his customary rather than his usual thoughtfulness.【4】No doubt a good many words in the list will be familiar to you, but do you use them, or do they remain the “property” of others? They are included to introduce variety, and, more often than not, subtle shades of meaning into your speech and writing. Try to make these words your own, as companions or friendly rivals of the ones you have managed with in the past. Let them compete, and make your language all the richer.【5】Many words have more than one meaning. In such cases, I have given the meaning or meanings most likely to be used in everyday speech, omitting the rest. As an example, the word docile means not only “easily led” or “manageable”, but also “easily taught” or “teachable”. (Docile comes from the Latin docilis, whose first meaning is “teachable”) In this book, only the meaning “easy to manage or lead” is given, because the other use “teachable” is very rare in everyday English usage. Or take ghastly, which means “ghostlike” as well as “horrible, dreadful” (as in a ghastly accident or a ghastly mistake). The first meaning is sufficiently rare, for the purposes of this book, to warrant omission.Most people are most likely to confine themselves to the words they always use, which will _______().
Questions 7 to 12 are based on the following passage.【1】Reaching new peaks of popularity in North America is Iceberg Water, which is harvested from icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.【2】Arthur von Wiesenberger, who carries the title Water Master, is one of the few water critics in North America. As a boy, he spent time in the larger cities of Italy, France and Switzerland, where bottled water is consumed daily. Even then, he kept a water journal, noting the brands he liked best. "My dog could tell the difference between bottled and tap water," he says.【3】But is plain tap water all that bad? Not at all. In fact, New York's municipal water for more than a century was called the champagne of tap water and until recently considered among the best in the world in terms of both taste and purity. Similarly, a magazine in England found that tap water from the Thames River tasted better than several leading brands of bottled water that were 400 times more expensive.【4】Nevertheless, soft-drink companies view bottled water as the next battle–ground for market share - this despite the fact that over 25 percent of bottled water comes from tap water: PepsiCo's Aquafina and Coca-Cola's Dasani are both purified tap water rather than spring water.【5】As diners thirst for leading brands, bottlers and restaurateurs salivate(垂涎)over the profits. A restaurant's typical mark-up on wine is 100 to 150 percent, whereas on bottled water it's often 300 to 500 percent. But since water is much cheaper than wine, and many of the fancier brands aren't available in stores, most diners don't notice or care.【6】As a result, some restaurants are turning up the pressure to sell bottled water. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, some of the more shameless tactics include placing attractive bottles on the table for a visual sell, listing brands on the menu without prices, and pouring bottled water without even asking the diners if they want it.【7】Regardless of how it's sold, the popularity of bottled water taps into our desire for better health, our wish to appear cultivated, and even a longing for lost purity.As a Water Master, Arthur von Wiesenberger _______().
Questions 13 to 18 are based on this passage.【1】The question of whether our government should promote science and technology or the liberal arts in higher education isn’t an either/or proposition(命题),although the current emphasis on preparing young Americans for STEM(science, technology, engineering, maths)-related fields can make it seem that way.【2】The latest congressional report acknowledges the critical importance of technical training, but also asserts that the study of the humanities(人文学科)and social sciences must remain central components of America’s educational system at all levels. Both are critical to producing citizens who can participate effectively in our democratic society, become innovative(创新的)leaders, and benefit from the spiritual enrichment that the reflection on the great ideas of mankind over time provides.【3】Parents and students who have invested heavily in higher education worry about graduates’ job prospects as technological advances and changes in domestic and global markets transform professions in ways that reduce wages and cut jobs. Under these circumstances, it’s natural to look for what may appear to be the most “practical” way out of the problem “Major in a subject designed to get you a job” seems the obvious answer to some, though this ignores the fact that many disciplines in the humanities characterized as “soft” often, in fact, lead to employment and success in the long run. Indeed, according to surveys, employers have expressed a preference for students who have received a broadly-based education that has taught them to write well, think critically, research creatively, and communicate easily.【4】Moreover, students should be prepared not just for their first job, but for their 4th and 5th jobs, as there’s little reason to doubt that people entering the workforce today will be called upon to play many different roles over the course of their careers. The ones who will do the best in this new environment will be those whose educations have prepared them to be flexible. The ability to draw upon every available tool and insight—picked up from science, arts, and technology—to solve the problems of the future, and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves, will be helpful to them and the United States.What does the latest congressional report suggest____?
Which of the following is true？
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