What’sthemostexpensiveplacetostationanemployeeoverseas...

問題詳情：

  What’s the most expensive place to station an employee overseas? London? Tokyo? São Paulo? Try Luanda, Angola.

  That’s the finding of a survey by Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting firm, headquartered in New York City. Two African cities (Luanda, N’Djamena) were in the top 10, along with four (Moscow, Geneva, Zurich, Bern) in Europe, three (Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong) in Asia and one (Sydney) in Australia. Switzerland alone has three cities in the top 10.

  Mercer’s 2013 Cost of Living Survey examined data from 214 cities worldwide, comparing a market basket of over 200 goods and services, including unfurnished luxury two-bedroom apartments or three-bedroom houses, movie tickets, blue jeans, international newspapers, coffee, fast food restaurant meals, gasoline, milk and soda.

If it sounds odd that Angola would be the most expensive, Mercer’s Barb Marder explains that"Despite being one of Africa’s major oil producers, Angola is a ly poor country yet expensive for expatriates (居住國外的人) since imported goods can be dear. In addition, finding secure living accommodations that meet the standards of expatriates can be challenging and quite costly."The survey found similar supply issues in N’Djamena, Chad, the other top 10 city in Africa.

  Mercer measured locations worldwide against New York, on a U.S. dollar basis, meaning that exchange rate shifts could impact the rankings. For example, although Tokyo is Asia’s most expensive city for people who live in a foreign country, the weakening of the Japanese yen against the dollar makes it seem cheaper than it was a year ago. Canada, too, has become a bargain as the U.S. dollar strengthens against the Canadian dollar.

  Measurements were taken in March, 2013.

  What’s the trend in the United States?"Overall, U.S. cities either remain stable in the ranking or have slightly decreased due to the movement of the U.S. dollar against the majority of currencies worldwide,"explains Mercer’s Steven Nurney. However, that may change as real estate(房地產) prices rise nationwide. New York is the nation’s most expensive place to station expatriates.

  While housing is generally the most important factor in the survey rankings, the survey revealed some other significant differences in prices. For example, you may need a vodka chaser after paying $ 8.29 for a cup of coffee in Moscow, but the same coffee in Managua, Nicaragua would cost only $ 1.54. Expect to pay $ 20.10 for a movie ticket in London, versus $ 5.91 in Johannesburg.[學優高考網gkstk]

32．The questions asked in the first paragraph are used to    .[學優高考網gkstk]

ess the author’s puzzlement at them

on readers to provide their answers

nd readers of the existing issue

oduce the topic to be discussed

33．Which of the following cities may be the cheapest for employees overseas?

va.         ey.          o.           York.

34．One reason why the cost of living for employees overseas in Angola is high is that    .

quality of life there is superior

imported goods cost a lot of money

rent for an apartment is really high

living environment is human-friendly

35．The key factor that impacts the ranking is    .

general standard of income

es of daily necessities

exchange rate against U.S. dollars

housing prices

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