For years, life went something like this: We’d grow up in one place, head off to college, then find a city to live in for a few years to pursue a job or higher education. The end goal was to find somewhere to settle down, buy a house, start a family, and begin the whole cycle all over again. But a new model for living is emerging: Some people are increasingly opting to move from city to city throughout their entire lives, sometimes as frequently as every month.
Just ask Alex Chatzielefteriou, who has had a front-row seat watching this evolution unfold. Six years ago, he launched a startup called Blueground that rents out beautifully designed, fully furnished apartments for a month at a time, at rents that are cheaper than hotels. Today, the company has 3,000 properties in six U.S. cities, along with Dubai, Istanbul, London, Paris, and Chatzielefteriou’s native Athens, and a staff of 400.
The company just landed $ 50 million in Series B funding, bringing its total investment to $ 78 million, to continue its rapid expansion. It hopes to have 50,000 properties in 50 cities over the next three years, and the goal is to make each one feel unique and cozy, rather than standardized, like what you might find in a traditional hotel.
Chatzielefteriou first came up with the idea for Blueground while he was working as a management consultant for McKinsey. “The accommodation of choice for consultants is the hotel,” he says. “I had to spend five years in a hotel room, living in 12 different cities. I loved seeing the world, but I didn’t love feeling like I didn’t have a home.”
As he spoke to his friends and coworkers, he realized that many people were dejected with this lifestyle that meant living out of a suitcase in the same few hotel chains that all began to blend together. And what’s more, hotels aren’t a particularly cost-effective solution for companies either. In Chatzielefteriou’s case, McKinsey sometimes paid $10,000 or more for him to stay in a major city for a month, which was far more expensive than local rents.
【小题1】Chatzielefteriou launched the company Blueground for the following reasons except ________.| A．he wants to feel like home when exploring the world |
| B．many people around him are tired of hotels |
| C．hotels are comparatively more expensive |
| D．he doesn’t have a real home |
| A．An apartment that costs dearly but is fully furnished. |
| B．An apartment that is standardized and commonly seen. |
| C．An apartment that has its own style and is comfortable to live in. |
| D．An apartment that is simply designed with only necessary furniture. |
| A．frustrated | B．confused | C．inspired | D．satisfied |
| A．An introduction of a new hotel for consultants. |
| B．An introduction of a creative company founder. |
| C．An introduction of new accommodation for travelers. |
| D．An introduction of the history of a promising company. |
Choosing artwork can feel like an exhausting task if you have no idea where to start and you can end up staring at a blank wall waiting for that enlightening moment. From traditional landscapes to family photos, the options are endless.
Look for inspiration in interiors magazines, as well as online, and visit independent stores to figure out what styles appeal to you. There are no set rules when it comes to artwork preferences.
Depending on your budget, there are different places you can begin your search for artwork.
Once you’ve chosen your artwork, it’s time to think about how best to showcase it around your home. Gallery walls are a popular way if you want to create a central point.
| A．So, how to choose artwork for your home? |
| B．Don’t be afraid of mixing together different styles. |
| C．Picture ledges, or small shelves, are also an ideal choice. |
| D．Trust your feeling if something makes you stop, smile or think. |
| E．Art fairs are a great place to dive in, even if just for inspiration. |
| F．Apart from the style of your chosen artwork, the size of it also needs to be considered. |
| G．The type of artwork you choose can set the tone of a room and greatly impact the mood. |
You spend a lot of time at home, so your furniture and other home decoration play a big role in how you feel.
How the furniture in your room is laid out is one of the most important factors affecting your mood. When shopping for a new home, many people focus on picking out paint colors.
If you plan to entertain a lot of guests in your living room, you will want to plan for seating that encourages conversation. A line of chairs or couches against one wall won’t offer the chance for your guests to talk with each other.
When choosing furniture for your room, keep in mind the size of the room as well as the ceiling height.
| A．They seldom consider a room’s layout. |
| B．You should bring nature to your home. |
| C．Furniture needs to fit the size of the room. |
| D．A room’s layout of furniture can affect your mood. |
| E．Decorate your room with special scenes for your children. |
| F．Color and seating are important factors in home decoration. |
| G．Instead, choosing a small group of chairs or a 1arge sofa will be better. |
In the eras before air-conditioning, southern China’s skywells played a key role in keeping people’s homes cool. Could they do it again today?
Ru Ling loves spending time in skywells. To her, these courtyards of old Chinese houses are the perfect place to be on a hot and humid day. “
From 2014 to 2021, Ru lived in a century-old home in the village of Guanlu in eastern China’s Anhui Province. She moved there for a change of life after living and working in air-conditioned buildings for many years. Ru says that the house’s skywell helped to create this cooling effect.
In today’s China, fewer and fewer people live in houses with skywells.
A skywell is a typical feature of a traditional home in southern and eastern China. Different from a northern Chinese courtyard, a skywell is smaller and less exposed to the outdoor environment.
| A．Skywells can help keep the houses cool. |
| B．Air-conditioned flats are the main form of homes. |
| C．Meanwhile, some architects are drawing inspiration from skywells and other traditional Chinese architectural features to help keep new buildings cooler. |
| D．Although a skywell’s size and design vary from region to region, it is almost always located in the core of a house. |
| E．While skywells are common in many regions, only the rich can afford to build houses with them. |
| F．And she’s not alone in praising the benefits of skywells, in hot weather. |
| G．They are airy, cool, and well-shaded. |
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