Cleveland has won the distinction of being the worst city in the United States, according to a new survey. The city has high unemployment, terrible weather, heavy taxes, and ordinary sports teams, all of which have pushed it to the No. 1 position in the Forbes.com list.
"Cleveland was the only city that fell in the bottom half of rankings in all nine categories. And it has been entitled with a less than endearing nickname: the Mistake by the lake," Forbes said on its website,
The economic downturn hit cities across the United States last year particularly in the mid-west section of the country. Crime and unemployment secured the No. 2 spot for Stockton, which held the top position in last year's ranking. Memphis got third place thanks to its violent crime rate and the number of officials who are guilty, while the poor auto industry drove the Michigan cities of Detroit and Flint into the top five.
"A lot of the cities that showed up on our list are going through hard times fight now, dealing with high unemployment, with declining producing bases. Many have experienced strong movement out of the city over the last 20 and 30 years."
Despite (尽管) its fine weather, Miami scored in the bottom 10 percent in commuting (上下班往返) time, and violent crime which sent it into sixth place.
"One of the biggest surprises is Miami. The good weather and no state income taxes blur some of the severe problems that Miami has related to crime as well as long commutes," Badenhausen added.
Florida was followed in the poor ranking by St Louis, Buffalo, Canton, Ohio and Chicago, which has the country's highest sales tax at 10.25 percent. New York, the nation's biggest city, is rich in culture but its lengthy commuting time and high income taxes pushed it into 16th place.
小题1:From the text we can learn that ______.
A．Cleveland has been entitled a lovely nickname
B．the economic downturn hit cities in the mid-east section
C．Miami scored in the bottom 10 percent in all nine categories
D．commuting time in New York is too long小题2:What information can be inferred according to the text?
A．The number of officials who are guilty is large in Memphis.
B．Stockton got second place in last year's ranking.
C．High income taxes made New York get 16th place.
D．Ohio has the country's highest sales tax.小题3:The word "blur" underlined in the last paragraph but one probably means ______.
A．make it possible
B．make it unclear
C．make if obvious
D．make it important小题4:Which of the following is the correct ranking order?
A．Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Buffalo, Florida.
B．Stockton, Miami, Flint, Florida, Canton.
C．Cleveland, Stockton, Miami, Chicago, Florida.
D．Stockton, Detroit, Miami, Florida, St Louis.
小题1:D
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:D
题目分析：文章介绍美国排名靠后的一些城市，解释了排名的依据。
小题1:细节题：从最后一段的句子：New York, the nation's biggest city, is rich in culture but its lengthy commuting time and high income taxes pushed it into 16th place.可知纽约的上下班时间太长。选D
小题2:细节题：从第三段的句子：Memphis got third place thanks to its violent crime rate and the number of officials who are guilty, 可知在Memphis 官员有罪的人数比较多。选A
小题3:猜词题：从第六段的句子："One of the biggest surprises is Miami. 可知这件事是让人惊讶的，就是“不明确”的意思。选B
小题4:排序题; 第三段的句子：Crime and unemployment secured the No. 2 spot for Stockton, 和while the poor auto industry drove the Michigan cities of Detroit and Flint into the top five.还有最后一段的句子： Florida was followed in the poor ranking by St Louis, Buffalo, Canton, Ohio and Chicago,可知D是对的。
点评：本文考查细节题为主，细节题可以在文章中直接找到与答案有关的信息或是其变体。搜查信息在阅读中非常重要它包括理解作者在叙述某事时使用的具体事实、数据、图表等细节信息。在一篇短文里大部分篇幅都属于这类围绕主体展开的细节。做这类题一般采用寻读法即先读题，然后带着问题快速阅读短文，找出与问题有关的词语或句子，再对相关部分进行分析对比，找出答案。