阅读理解 Airbnb, the popular platform that lets people rent out their homes and apartments, released the results of a volunteer survey this week containing the striking statistic that nearly one in ten of its hosts in the United States is an educator. In some states the trend appears to be even more pronounced—more than a quarter of all Airbnb hosts in Utah and Wisconsin, for example, work as teachers or in education (the company includes in that category administrators and college professors). This is especially noteworthy given that an analysis of census and National Center for Education Statistics figures suggests that just less than 2 percent of adults in the country work as full-time K-12 teachers.
Many of these 45,000-plus educators in the U. S. are presumably using Airbnb to supplement their regular income, as teachers struggle with stagnant, if not declining, pay. The average annual salary for K-12 public-school teachers is roughly $58,000, and they typically spend a sizable chunk of that on classroom supplies integral to their jobs. Teachers' frustration with the situation has become so acute that it drove educators en masse to the picket lines in certain parts of the country this past spring.
The typical teacher host earned $ 6,500 through Airbnb last year—hardly a negligible boost for financially strapped educators. And for many teachers, that boost is far more appealing than other means of supplementing their incomes. For one, the personality traits found in the quintessential teacher—socially adept and empathetic, responsive and adaptable, a passion for sharing knowledge—are also typical of good hosts. For another, teachers' schedules mean they often have more flexibility in the summer. Some economists who study the teaching force, like the University of Missouri's Michael Podgursky, argue that this flexibility, and not a need for supplemental income, is the key driver behind the trend. Still, according to the report, teachers last year earned roughly one-third of their total annual earnings from Airbnb through hosting during the summer months alone, suggesting that while they do host at a slightly higher rate during their " off season," they're still using the platform a fair amount during the school year.
单选题 36.What is the shocking statistic according to Paragraph 1 ?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干可以定位到第一段。第一段中shocking statistic的同义词是striking statistic,因此应该选择跟这个相关的选项[A]。[B],[C]和[D]都不是完全符合题意的选项,虽然也是令人吃惊的信息,但是不符合题干的意思。正确答案是[A]。
单选题 37.How much money can those educators get from school annually?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干和选项定位到第二段。需要选出具体的数字,要仔细阅读第二段的内容,关键句是“公立学校教师的平均年薪约为58 000美元,而且他们通常将相当大一部分薪水用在了工作中不可或缺的课堂用品上”。由此可见教师的实际收入其实不到58 000美元。所以应该选择[C]。
单选题 38.Which of the following is NOT the reason for teachers to choose Airbnb to make money?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】推理判断题。根据题干和选项可以定位到第三段。为什么老师会选择爱彼迎呢?第三段给出了很多理由,[B],[C]和[D]都是原文或者是对原文的同义改写,都是正确的,只有[A]不正确,因为本段第一句就提到了,爱彼迎给老师带来的收入并不高,因此应该选择[A]。
单选题 39.What's the author's attitude towards the teacher's extra earning through Airbnb?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】理解题。本题需要读者阅读文章的大部分之后揣摩作者的意思,作者对于教师群体从爱彼迎获得的额外收入到底是什么态度呢,最后一段的最后一句给出了提示“这表明虽然他们在‘淡季’期间所收取的房租较高,在一个学年中对于该平台的使用频率仍然是正常的。”可见作者并没有批判的意思,认为老师们赚的并不多,也不少,所以应该选择[C]。
单选题 40.What is the main idea of this passage?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】理解题。本题也是要考查对于整篇文章的理解。本文读下来之后哪一个选项可以总结全文的意思呢?[A],[C]和[D]这三个选项都太过片面,只是很小的细节,不能完成总结全文的任务。因此应该选择[B]。