[D] the hiking rents are making life tougher.

2． We learn from the second paragraph that _______.

  [A] Hong Kong and Singapore consider each other as competitors.

    [B] both the two cities should not import foreigners.

    [C] the two cities share no common problem.

    [D] Lee Kuan Yew’s comment shows that he’s optimistic.

3． According to the text, local people in the two cities _______.

  [A] do not welcome overseas talents.

    [B] are facing worse living conditions.

    [C] are unsatisfied with the government.

    [D] are in full employment.

4． Which of the following is NOT the reason of the region’s abundance of capital?

  [A] efficiency of business registration

    [B] China’s development

    [C] booming stock market

    [D] benefit from trade

5． We can draw a conclusion from the last paragraph that _______.

    [A] the conflict between population and rent in the two cities might be more serious.

    [B] most of the foreigners work in big multinational companies.

    [C] both cities will adopt measures to control population.

    [D] the influx of foreigners can damage local economy.

篇章剖析

    本文是一篇说明文，介绍了香港和新加坡这两个欣欣向荣的亚洲金融中心地价和房租飞涨的情况及其具体原因。文章第一段介绍了香港和新加坡令人乍舌的高房租给人们的工作生活带来的困难；第二、三段进一步地阐发问题所在及其严重性；第四、五段则分析了造成这种局面的根本原因在于两座城市的成功。

词汇注释

sizzle [sizl] vi.咝咝的响，烧灼       lure [ljuE] v. 引诱

blink [bliNk] v. 眨眼               squeeze [skwi:z] v. 压榨, 挤, 挤榨

pack [pAk] vi. 挤, 群集            boast [bEust] v.自夸, 以有...而自豪

bleak [bli:k] adj.荒凉的, 凄凉的      undergird [`Qnd`gE:d] v.加强, 巩固...的底部

debenture [di`bentFE] n. 债券        awash [E`wCF] adj. 被浪冲打的

duel [djuEl] v. 决斗，双方抗争      fertility [fE:`tiliti] n. 人口生产

hub [hQb] v. 中心                 influx [`inflQks] n.流入；汇集

woo [wu:] v. 追求，争取…支持      envision [in`viVEn] vt. 想象; 预见; 展望

bottleneck [bCtl`nek] n. 瓶颈         injection [in`dVekFEn] n. 注射，注入

lament [lE`ment] vi.悔恨, 悲叹       expatriate [eks`pAtrieit] n. 移居国外者

难句突破

Asia's dueling financial hubs invest a lot of capital—real and emotional—in what's often cast as a zero-sum contest for the affection of foreign companies.

主体句式  Asia’s financial hubs invest in…

结构分析  该句结构并不复杂，但是其中修饰成分较多，容易引起混淆。两个破折号中间的“real and emotional”用来补充修饰前面提到的“capital”。此外，invest in这个短语后面通常跟的都是sth, 而句中的sth就是what引导的主语从句。

句子译文  这两个竞争激烈的亚洲金融枢纽为了赢得外国公司的偏好，都在所谓的零和竞争(零和竞争原意指一种技术的应用带来的市场份额上的增加,必然会导致另一种技术在市场份额上的减少,双方加起来的总变化量为零)上投下了大笔资金—不论是实际的还是情感上的。