The Value Survey on House Prices

题目与答案

1. 21 According to James and Anna,the Value Survey measured the cost of houses by calculating
   • the total price of building a new house.
   • the size of house a typical family can afford.
   • the price of houses compared to average income.

   答案：the price of houses compared to average income.

   原文定位：Well, it looked at all houses, didn't it? New and old. So it started with average incomes across the whole workforce and then worked out house prices in relation to that, I mean, to what people were earning;So it's about affordability, what people pay in real terms. There's no information about the size of a house a typical family can buy

   同义替换：「compared to average income」↔「in relation to average incomes across the whole workforce」，「measured the cost of houses」↔「worked out house prices」

2. 22 Anna says the Value Survey is unusual because
   • it compares prices in different cities.
   • it is the oldest survey of its kind.
   • it publishes its results annually.

   答案：it compares prices in different cities.

   原文定位：Yeah, there's lots of these surveys every year. Value is actually one of the newer ones, but it stands out because it gives figures for a range of the largest urban centers, which none of the others do

   同义替换：「compares prices in different cities」↔「gives figures for a range of the largest urban centers」，「unusual」↔「stands out」

3. 23 The students decide that New Zealand house prices are high because of
   • the cost of construction materials.
   • the shortage of builders.
   • the rules concerning land use.

   答案：the rules concerning land use.

   原文定位：Okay, good point. Then one finding was that New Zealand houses are relatively expensive. Why is that? Because most of them are built of wood, and that's quite cheap;Yeah, it is. But the problem is there are too many regulations and restrictions about where you can build;So if more building sites were created for housing, the costs would come down;That's it, isn't it? Because there are plenty of contractors ready to do the work;Exactly

   同义替换：「the rules concerning land use」↔「too many regulations and restrictions about where you can build」，「high」↔「relatively expensive」

4. 24 When the students talk about transport they are
   • concerned there is no plan.
   • worried about rising costs.
   • alarmed by increasing congestion.

   答案：concerned there is no plan.

   原文定位：Well, what about transport? I mean, it's all very well to talk about new housing, but how are people going to get there? Is the survey proposing new roads, new rail networks? It should be a coordinated approach;Yeah, but the survey didn't mention it. It's a missed opportunity because a commitment to funding public transport from the outset would improve air quality in our cities

   同义替换：「plan」↔「a coordinated approach」

5. 25 The students agree that the next Value Survey will
   • compare a wider number of locations.
   • indicate a future trend in house prices.
   • advise against regulation of house prices.

   答案：indicate a future trend in house prices.

   原文定位：Okay, then, the next survey, what can we expect? It'll look at all the same places, right;Exactly the same. But the next one will give an idea of the way prices are moving

   同义替换：「indicate a future trend in house prices」↔「give an idea of the way prices are moving」

6. Andrew Coleman
   • organization of final text
   • researchers' qualifications
   • period covered
   • level of funding
   • lack of public access to full information
   • old-fashioned systems of date analysis

   答案：period covered

   原文定位：So there's the economist Andrew Coleman. He actually questioned whether the survey was money well spent because it only looked at a single year in isolation;A year when it was difficult to borrow money to buy a house, pushing up costs. So he thought the survey should consider a longer time frame

   同义替换：「period covered」↔「only looked at a single year in isolation」

7. Professor Massey
   • organization of final text
   • researchers' qualifications
   • period covered
   • level of funding
   • lack of public access to full information
   • old-fashioned systems of date analysis

   答案：way of defining home-buyers' wealth

   原文定位：Did you get that article by Professor Messi? Because he's the leading authority on this topic;Yeah, interesting. He realized the method used to calculate how much money people had didn't take savings into account. So actually, people looking for a house were richer than the survey shows, making houses cheaper in real terms

   同义替换：「way of defining home-buyers' wealth」↔「the method used to calculate how much money people had」

8. Richard Bernard
   • organization of final text
   • researchers' qualifications
   • period covered
   • level of funding
   • lack of public access to full information
   • old-fashioned systems of date analysis

   答案：old-fashioned systems of date analysis

   原文定位：Then Richard Bernard, his criticism was original. He found out they were using quite outdated software to process all the information they gathered, which was crazy because they actually had the money available for an upgrade. So even though it was a highly regarded team of people, the way the statistics were interpreted was open to question

   同义替换：「old-fashioned systems of date analysis」↔「outdated software to process all the information」

9. Professor Lowndes
   • organization of final text
   • researchers' qualifications
   • period covered
   • level of funding
   • lack of public access to full information
   • old-fashioned systems of date analysis

   答案：organization of final text

   原文定位：Okay, then Professor Lowndes. He thought the report was just badly written;That's right. After all the work that went into gathering valid information, the finished report was just too long and weakly structured, and there was too much unnecessary detail

   同义替换：「final text」↔「the finished report」

10. Maria Darling
    • organization of final text
    • researchers' qualifications
    • period covered
    • level of funding
    • lack of public access to full information
    • old-fashioned systems of date analysis

    答案：lack of public access to full information

    原文定位：And the last one, Maria Darling. She made a point about the properties that were evaluated;There weren't enough of them, you mean;No, it wasn't that. But they were never identified for privacy reasons. But she thought the actual properties used should have been revealed, you know. The process should have been transparent if the people are going to have full confidence in the survey

    同义替换：「lack of public access to」↔「were never identified」，「full information」↔「the actual properties used」