Housing Price in China has always aroused heated discussion among property developers and ordinary Chinese. To many property developers and local government officials, housing price in China is still low compared with many developed countries. However, the average housing price in the United States is only 8, 000 yuan per square metre, while in China, it is even higher than that in the United States. "This shows that there are some bubbles in Chinese real estate market," the International Finance News reported. Although the average price of residential houses in the United States, after changed to RMB, is about 8, 000 yuan per square metre, the houses in the US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses. If the US property developers sell their houses according to the building area, then the housing price will be even lower than 8, 000 yuan per square metre. In most big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, houses are sold at a price even higher than those in the US. The high housing price in large cities in China proves that Chinese real estate market does have some bubbles. Moreover, Chinese houses cannot be compared with houses in the US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities. Furthermore, it should be noted that American people's average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people. How can the Chinese afford to buy a house which is even more expensive than that sold in the US? At the beginning of 2007, Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public. Now in order to reduce the high housing prices, the government can regulate the real estate market by raising tax on property industry and controlling the release of loans and lands to property developers. Meanwhile, the government should allow people to build more houses through various fund-raising channels, such as funds collected from buyers or raised by working units. By applying these multiple... How does the writer feel about the problem of high housing price in China? A) Encouraged and confident. B) Satisfied. C) Hopeless. D) Concerned but optimistic.
D
You're in your office when you learn there's someone with a gun wandering outside. You can hear gunshots and screams. What do you do? That's the challenge for users of a new virtual reality program called SurviVR, designed to train employees how to deal with an active shooter situation in the workplace. The program works with HTC Vive, the virtual reality headset released earlier this year. An active shooter situation is when an armed person or people actively shoot in a small, populated area with the intention to kill. There were 20 such situations in the United States last year and 20 the year before, according to FBI statistics, resulting in a total of 231 deaths. This year saw the deadliest active shooter situation in US history , with 49 people killed in a nightclub in Orlando. In the training situation, users have four choices. They can lock themselves in the office. They can hide, perhaps in the office closet. They can run for an exit. Or they can use something in the office--a computer or a cup a pair of scissors-as a weapon to fight the shooter. This is an improvement on standard active shooter training. Gallo says, which typically teachers people to lock themselves in place and hide. The "lock down" method is often ineffective, he says, and has resulted in many deaths in recent years. In the training's basic level, no one gets killed. But as the trainings become more advanced, players who make a wrong choice be shot. There's no blood; the screen simply turns black slowly. If this sounds terrifying, that's the point, says Gallo. There are plenty of training programs to teach employees how to deal with workplace violence, sometimes involving role play with toy guns. But these trainings are basically games. Gallo says, with employees relaxed and even enjoying themselves. To teach people what they really need to know for an active shooter situation, they need to be scared. "SurviVR will take the fear and turn it into confidence." Gallo says. What's the author's purpose of describing a dangerous scene in Para. 1? A) To attract the readers' attention on the new virtual reality program. B) To show the challenge that the readers are required to face. C) To warn the readers of the possible dangers in the working place. D) To inform the readers of the correct response in such a situation
A
(Question)
I have heard having a good sense of humour often helps in breaking the ice. Also people remember you because of your humour. But I think I don't have a very good sense of humour. Could you suggest how to build on this? ----Radha Karnik This is a great question that is unfortunately difficult to answer. I can only give you my views on this topic, which may or may not be correct. I know that my sense of humour developed over time. When I was younger I was not funny at all, now I can easily make people laugh. At the same time, sometimes I say things that I think are very funny but others do not. Improving wit and humour, I believe, is an ongoing process. Now, there are various forms of humour and everyone has their individual style. Overall, I believe being fluent in a language is very important for being witty or funny. The way we play around with words adds the "funny" tag to an otherwise normal sentence. Also, seeing irony is very important. I think humour is often the link between two unrelated things. In my experience, laughing frequently and appreciating other people's jokes and wit are very important. Within these, finding humour in everyday normal situations is the key. I often notice what is going on around me and say funny things in my head and laugh to myself. That serves almost as practice for when I am in a group. I watch comedy shows and movies and I am sure that has some effect on helping me improve my sense of humour. And last, having confidence that you are witty is important. There will always be someone wittier or funnier than you, which is fine. Just work on building your own style. Remember, if you are trying to be funny and witty in order to break the ice at a business function, be careful. In those situations, humour has to be mild and politically correct. Yours, Brad Which of the following would Brad agree with? A) Everyone knows how to appreciate others' jokes. B) Everyone is as funny and witty as others. C) Everyone needs to laugh to themselves each day. D) Everyone has their individual style of humour.
(Answer)
D