Question

If you boss asks you to work in Moscow this year, he’d better offer you more money to do so — or even double that depending on where you live now. That’s because Moscow has just been found to be the world’s most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

       Using the cost of living in New York as a base, Mercer determined Moscow is 34.4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment(娱乐).

       A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs $4,000 a month; a CD $24.83, and an international newspaper $6.30, according to Mercer. By comparison, a fast food meal with a hamburger(汉堡包) is a steal at $4.80.

       London takes the No.2 place, up from No.5 a year ago, thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar. Mercer estimates(估算) London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days. Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo, both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York, while No.5 Hong Kong is 19 percent more costly.

       Among North American cities, New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world’s most expensive cities. But both have fallen since last year’s study — New York came in 15^th, down from 10^th place, while Los Angeles fell to 42^nd from 29^th place a year ago. San Francisco came in a distant third at No. 54, down 20 places from a year earlier.

       Toronto, meanwhile, is Canada’s most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82^nd place worldwide. In Australia, Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No. 21 worldwide.

What do the underlined words “a steal” in Paragraph 3 mean?

   A. an act of stealing                      B. something delicious

   C. something very cheap                D. an act of buying

London has become the second most expensive city because of ______.

   A. the high cost of clothing            B. the stronger pound against the dollar

   C. its expensive transportation        D. the high prices of fast food meals

Which city is the third most expensive on the list?

   A. Tokyo.         B. Hong Kong.             C. Moscow.                  D. Sydney.

Which city has dropped most on the list in North America?

   A. New York.   B. Los Angeles.             C. San Francisco.   D. Toronto.

Answer 1

【小题1】C

【小题2】B

【小题3】A

【小题4】D

解析:

    随着经济的发展，全球的物价也在迅猛的上涨。本文讲述的是世界上的几个著名大城市消费情况的排名变化。

【小题1】猜测词义。由于文中讲到物价飞涨，即是最便宜的汉堡也得$4.8只有用最便宜来映衬物价高。

【小题2】细节理解题。第三段第一句开始。

【小题3】 细节理解题。第三段后两句可知。

【小题4】 细节理解题。New York 从第十降到第十五位，Los Angles从二十九降到第四十二。SanFrancisco从二十降到五十四。Turonto 从三十五降到第八十二，所以降得最多的是D。