2. 考研
  3. Retrofitting houses to use less energy should be a no-brainer for homeowners.【C1】______time, money spent on ways to reduce heat

Retrofitting houses to use less energy should be a no-brainer for homeowners.【C1】______time, money spent on ways to reduce heat

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问题    Retrofitting houses to use less energy should be a no-brainer for homeowners.【C1】______time, money spent on ways to reduce heat loss from draughty houses should produce a【C2】______return in lower fuel bills. In practice, many are cautious. Some improvements, such as solid-wall insulation and solar panels, can take over 25 years to【C3】______their initial cost. Few owners are willing to wait that long; by then many are likely to have【C4】______and moved on.
   Several governments have started finance schemes designed to【C5】______this problem. Since 2008 PACE programmes have offered American homeowners loans to【C6】______improvements, repaid through higher local taxes on the property,【C7】______it belongs to. In Britain, the Green Deal offers loans over a 25-year period, with repayments added to energy bills. Countries including France and Canada have similar【C8】______.
   In theory, these schemes should boost investment in common energy-saving measures, such as extra insulation and new boilers,【C9】______the first owner does not have to pay all the costs in advance. But enrolment rates have【C10】______, according to Sean Kidney at the Climate Bonds Initiative, a think-tank. In Britain, just 1% of those assessed for the Green Deal have signed up. In Berkeley, California , home of the first PACE scheme, the【C11】______rate is similarly low.
   Homeowners are【C12】______chiefly because the interest rates on the loans look high. The Green Deal charges 7%; some PACE schemes a hefty 8%. As these rates are fixed for decades, they will【C13】______look unattractive when (as now) short-term interest rates are low.
   Many people also【C14】______they will save enough on their energy bills to cover the repayments. For instance,【C15】______in Britain that installing loft insulation can cut energy bills by 20% have been dented by a government study that found it【C16】______gas consumption by only 1.7% on average. Others fear that green loans may reduce the value of their home. In America, firms that underwrite mortgages are【C17】______PACE loans.
   Green loans have not been a failure everywhere. Around 250,000 households in Germany【C18】______for them each year. They do so【C19】______they need pay only 1% interest on them each year, thanks to an annual public subsidy of 1.5 billion. Whether that is a (an)【C20】______use of taxpayers’ money is another question.
【C3】
选项 A、estimate
B、spend
C、evaluate
D、cover
答案D
解析 动词辨析题。该句大意为“像换上绝缘墙、太阳能电池板这样的翻新措施往往要花上超过25年的时间才能______成本”。首先，[A]estimate估计和[C]evaluate估价意思接近，可以排除；其次[B]spend花费(费用／成本)代入句中不合语义；故考虑[D]cover。cover the cost表示“支付费用，涵盖成本”，上文说“一些房屋翻新措施可以节约燃料费用”；该句说“一些措施需要25年才能“覆盖／收回成本”，根据上下文语义，[D]项正确。
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