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

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.
【C3】
选项 A、estimate
B、spend
C、evaluate
D、cover
答案D
解析 动词辨析题。A项 estimate估计；B项spend花费；C项evaluate评估，估计；D项 cover支付，覆盖，报道。该句大意是：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。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”，故本题答案为D。
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