Learning to save money when you're young is an important lesson. All good lessons arid habits begin early, and saving is a skill that everyone needs. Many people—adults included—do not have a good sense of saving for the long run.     

I have been lucky to learn this lesson early because I have had a grass-cutting business since I was 10 years old. Of the money I make I spend about 10 percent and save the other 90.   

Making sure you save and don't spend too much is a good way to build up wealth. I have put my earnings in a bank. Many teens I know spend all the money they earn so it never has a chance to grow. Young people should realize that their teenage years are a great time to begin saving.   

At high school many parents pay for almost everything, so your expenses can be small. If you have a lob, you should have fun with some of the money. But you should also save some so that it will grow. Then you can begin planning for your future. When you spend money, you not only lose that money, but also lose the interest you could have earned by saving it.   

After high school, college is expensive and then "real" life begins, with expenses such as food and rent. If you can hold onto a good percentage of the money you earn as a teen, going to college and buying a house will be much easier.________________, the more time the money has to grow. If you are in your thirties without any savings, you will always have to struggle. The earlier you begin saving, the easier it is to create a nest egg.  

Later in life it can be hard to start saving because general costs of living are more expensive and you may only have enough to pay your bills. If you want to buy a house and have a family, you need money to start with, which comes from saving.   

Many say money cannot make you happy, and this is true. But money can help you to lead a secure life.     

Saving early will mean you will have to work for fewer years when you are older. It will also allow you to spend time doing the things that you want to do.

In addition to this, it will mean you can live the way you want to without worrying.

1.What’s the best title of the passage? 

                                                                                                        

2.Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?

 As long as you save early, you’ll do less work to live well at your old age.

                                                                                                        

3.Please fill in the blank in the passage with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence.(within 10 words)

                                                                                                        

4 According to the passage,.what do you think of saving ?(within 30 words)

                                                                                                        

5.Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.

                                                                                                         

 

Everybody in this world is different from one another. But do you know that understanding differences can help you better manage your money?

As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it's not easy to change later in life.

Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief of how to manage their finances. This is part of our value system and it has a great impact on the way we look after our money.

According to our different values, experts put us in three categories. They are: the ant, the cricket and the snail.

◆The ant — works first

Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don't care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.

◆The cricket — fun first

The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn't think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.

◆The snail — lives under pressure

The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure they can afford it. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully.

Our beliefs and values are affected by the following except _____.

       A.society     B.the family       C.the education   D.money

People with the character of the snail would like to _____.

       A.enjoy life at the moment without thinking much about the future

       B.put work before everything else

       C.live a luxury life at all costs

       D.take the risk of investing a large sum of money

Which of the following has the character that the author prefers?

       A.the ants    B.the cricket       C.the snail   D.none of the above

This passage mainly talks about _____.

       A.spending nature of people      B.the relation between man and insects

       C.the insects in nature D.the problems with dealing with money

Animals are more like us than we ever imagined.They feel pain, they experience stress, they show affection, excitement and love.All these findings have been made by scientists in recent years---and such results are beginning to change how we view animals.
Strangely enough, some of this research was sponsored by fast food companies like McDonald’s and KFC.Pressured by animal rights groups , these companies felt they had to fund scientists researching the emotional and mental states of animals.
McDonald’s, for instance, funded studies on pig behavior at Purdue University, Indiana.This research found that pigs seek affection and easily become depressed if left alone or prevented from playing with each other.If they become depressed, they soon become physically ill.Because of this, and other similar studies, the European Union has banned the use of isolating pig stalls from 2010.In Germany, the government is encouraging pig farmers to give each pig 20 seconds of human contact a day, and to provide them with toys to prevent them from fighting
Other scientists have shown that animals think and behave like humans.Koko, the 300-pound gorilla at the Gorilla Foundation in Northern California, for instance, has been taught sign language.Koko can now understand several thousand English words, more than many humans who speak English as a second language.On human IQ tests, she scores between 70 and 95.
Before such experiments, humans thought language skills were absent from the animal kingdom.Other myths are also being overturned, like the belief that animals lack self-awareness.Studies have also shown that animals mourn their dead, and that they play for pleasure.
These striking similarities between animal and human behavior have led some to ask a question: “If you believe in evolution, how can’t you believe that animals have feelings that human  beings have?”
Until recently, scientists believed that animals behaved by instinct and that what appeared to be learned behavior was merely genetically-programmed activity.But as Koko the Gorilla shows, this is not the case.In fact, learning is passed from parent to offspring far more often than not in the animal kingdom.
So what implications does this knowledge have for humans? Because of this, should we ban hunting and animal testing? Should we close zoos? Such questions are being raised by many academics and politicians.Harvard and 25 other American law schools have introduced courses on animal rights.Germany meanwhile, recently guaranteed animal rights in its constitution---the first country to do so.
【小题1】McDonald’s and KFC give money to support scientist to do research on animals, because_____

A.they are international big companies.
B.they love animals.
C.they are pressured by animal right groups.
D.they earn a large amount of money and want to do some good deeds.
【小题2】The research on pigs at Purdue University shows that______
A.pigs love being alone.
B.pigs easily become physically ill.
C.pigs need affection.
D.pigs don’t like to play with each other.
【小题3】Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.Animals behave by instinct.
B.Animals have self-awareness.
C.Animals have feelings and love.
D.Animals do not have language skills.
【小题4】Should we ban hunting and animal testing?
A.Yes.
B.No
C.Not certain
D.Not mentioned


C
Why must we pay taxes? The answer is that the government needs money for many things, for example to pay its soldiers, sailors and airmen, to build roads, bridges, offices, schools, etc and to buy goods from abroad; and only the people of the country can supply the money.One of the most important taxes is income-tax which a person pays according to the amount of his income-tax.Whether he is a businessman, a doctor, a lawyer, a shopkeeper, a miner, or anything else.This is called a “direct” tax, because it is paid in money direct to the government.
Another tax is paid on goods such as watches, jewellery, new clothes, tobacco, wine, etc, when they are brought into a country, such a tax is paid as part of the price of these goods if they are later sold in shops.We call it “indirect” tax, because it is paid indirectly through the shopkeeper.
People usually complain about having to pay taxes, but they forget that the money is spent on the things that they and their families need.We need policemen to catch thieves, to see that men obey the laws, to direct traffic, etc, and they must be paid what they earn; children need education and there must be schools and teachers; we want our streets to be kept clean, and the wages of men who do this kind of work have to be paid.Above all, the country must always be ready to defend itself against attacking enemies, and we cannot have an army without paying for it.
Taxes, therefore, cannot be avoided.We buy our own food and clothes and pay for our own amusements, but there are several things that the State finds the money for, and that are necessary for us if our society is to continue.So we have no real cause to complain when we are asked to supply money to be spent for the good of ourselves and for our fellow-citizens.
64.Indirect tax means _______.
A.tax that one pays direct to the government
B.tax that is not paid directly to the government
C.tax that is paid as an extra amount added to the price of certain goods   
D.Both B and C
65.Which of the following is right?
A.Taxes are paid to the sellers.
B.Income-tax is an indirect tax.
C.The tax on new clothes is paid in money direct to the government.
D.Tax is amount of money that you have to pay to the government so that it can pay for public services.
66.People have no real reason to complain about having to pay taxes because _______.
A.some shopkeepers are very rich
B.they need money to buy goods from abroad
C.their children need education
D.the money is spent on the things that they and their families need
67.“Taxes cannot be avoided” means _______.
A.people have to pay taxes to the government
B.you do not have to pay tax on some goods
C.soldiers do not have to pay taxes
D.all goods have to be taxed

When I worked as a waitress in Chicago, US, my coworkers  and I would groan (叹息) whenever we heard someone with a foreign accent coming into our restaurant. We knew what it meant to serve a non–American: no tip. We would work just as hard as we always did, but we might not get paid

Americans have an unspoken rule about tipping: they give tips to almost everyone who offers them a service of some kind. Americans tip their waiters, barbers and taxi drivers. An appropriate (合适的) tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the amount charged for the service, but the charge for the tip doesn’t appear on the bill. The customer is expected to add it on himself/herself.

So if you order $100 worth of food, you are expected to pay your waiter at least $15, making your total payment $115. Tipping less than this sends a message to your waiter that you think they’ve done a bad job serving you. And to leave no tip at all is simply unacceptable.

It’s not that American waiters are greedy. In many countries, waiters are paid a salary for their work. They’ll earn money even if no one comes into the restaurant. This system offers much more safety for waiters than the American version. In the US, waiters know that a night without customers means a night without pay.

Some countries include a tip for waiters – a “service charge” – on the bill itself. Since the tip is included with the other charges, waiters don’t need to worry about people forgetting to tip. But in the US, waiters do not receive a salary, and service charges only appear on bills when there are six or more customers at the table.

Since almost all American customers are familiar with the system, they know to add a tip without being told. But visitors to the US may expect waiters to be paid a salary, or think that the tip is included on the bill. So as much as we waiters loved hearing stories about other places from our foreign customers, we were always nervous when they got ready to leave the restaurant. We were never sure what to expect.

55. Why would the author and her coworkers groan when they had to serve a non-American?

A. They would have difficulty understanding the customer.

B. They had to work harder to get tips from the customer.

C. They might not get any payment from the customer.

D. They thought a non-American customer would be hard to please.

56. If you order $550 worth of food, you are supposed to pay your waiter at least ______.

A. $55    B. $82.5     C. $100     D.$110

57. Why would it be thought unacceptable not to tip a waiter in the US?

A. They enjoy getting tips from their customers.

B. They work harder than waiters in other countries.

C. They are greedier than waiters in other countries.

D. They earn most of their money from diners’ tips.

 

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