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

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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 Ukely 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 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.
【C10】

选项 A、appointed
B、worried
C、disappointed
D、surprised

答案C

解析 动词辨析题。A项appointed任命,委派;B项worried使担心;C项disappointed使失望;D项surprised使惊讶。文中enrolment rate表示“使用率”;下文提到just 1%和low等词,这些都是明显的负面词汇,故该空理应填入负面词汇,A、D项偏向中性,B、C项偏负面,故排除A项D项。而B项worried的主语一般都是人,故可以排除。文中enrolment rates have disappointed意思为“采纳率低到令人失望”。故本题答案为C项。
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