If your boss asks you to work in Moscow this year, he’d better offer you more mo

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

Using the cost of living in New York as abase, Mercer determined Moscow is 34．4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing,transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment．

A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs $4,000a month; a CD $24．83, andan 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 strongerBritish 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 22percent more expensive than New York, while No．5 HongKong is 19 percent more costly．

Among North American cities, New York and LosAngeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of theworld’s most expensive cities．But both have fallen since last year’s study — New York came in15th, down from 10th place, while Los Angeles fell to 42nd from 29th place ayear ago．San Francisco came in a distant third at No．54, down 20 places from a year earlier．

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

1.What do the underlined words “a steal” inParagraph 3 mean?

A．an act of stealing   B．somethingdelicious

C．something very cheap                     D．an act of buying

2.London has become the second most expensivecity 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

3.Which city is the third most expensive onthe list?

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

4.Which city has dropped most on the list inNorth America?

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

试题答案

【答案】

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.D

【解析】文章讲述的是世界上几个日常生活费用最高的城市的情况，和他们消费水平名词的排名及其变化

1.猜测词义题，根据上文的物价比较可知，汉堡的价格非常便宜，所以选择C

2.事实细节题，根据第四段的thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British poundrelative to the dollar可知

3.事实细节题，根据第四段Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo可知，汉城和东京名列第三

4.推理判断题，根据前面几个城市的名词的变化和最后一段的Toronto, meanwhile, is Canada’s most expensive city but fell 35places to take 82nd place worldwide可知，多伦多的下降的最多。