题目内容
【题目】The First Rule of Finance is to live within your means by spending no more than 80% of your take-home pay.If you take home $ 100 per week, spend no more than $80.
But ever look at what people spend their money on? I have relatives and friends deeply in debt, spending $ 12 for every $ 10 they earn instead of the $ 8 you know they should be spending.When I see them, they're proud of their new whatever."What do you think of my new truck?" asked one from the driver's seat."Do you like my new shoes?" asked another on high heels."Check out my new big screen." said a third while holding the remote in his living room.We've all heard people fishing for compliments on their new toys.
Every one of them was proud of what they'd financed.They seem to have bought it for the purpose of being proud, of showing off, of keeping up with the Joneses."Look at my new …?"is everybody's favorite phrase, even when the object in question isn't theirs at all and won't be new when they've finally paid for it, if they ever do.
They're proud of being stupid.They think it's cool to drive the financed car, wear the financed shoes, and watch the financed TV, but to smart people, whose opinions are the only ones we should respect, these people look dumb as rocks.
The Joneses, nine times out of 10, are financially stupid.That's why they have all that stuff on borrowed money.Why try to copy them? Worse, why try to impress them? Copy and impress smart people, the ones who own their stuff.If you want to impress smart people, debt is the last way to go about it.Trying to impress a money-smart person by going into debt is like trying to impress Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps by drowning in a pool.Michael Phelps is impressed by good swimming and a money-smart person by good money management.
【1】According to the author, the "new toys" in Paragraph 2 are examples of______.
A. symbol of wealth B. unnecessary purchases
C. impressive stuff D. things available
【2】The underlined words "smart people" in Paragraph 4 refer to people ______.
A. having high IQs B. earning enough money
C. creating new ideas D. managing money well
【3】The author is trying to ______.
A. advise people to be money-smart
B. persuade people to keep off fashions
C. blame people for copying others
D. criticize people for over consumption
【4】According to the author, buying new objects on borrowed money is ________.
A. unwise B. shameful
C. understandable D. impressive
【答案】
【1】B
【2】D
【3】A
【4】A
【解析】本文是一篇议论文。主要告诉我们金融的第一条规矩就是量入为出的消费不超过80%的实得工资,也就是说如果你带回家每周100美元,花费不超过80美元。但是作者身边有很多人却负债累累,在经济上很愚蠢,作者认为没有必要打动他们并列举了这样做的原因。
【1】词义推断题。由“I have relatives and friends deeply in debt, spending $ 12 for every $ 10 they earn instead of the $ 8 you know they should be spending.”可以得知作者说他身边有很多人负债累累,超额支出。然后紧接着列出了他们将钱用在了什么地方,买了哪些东西,但是这些东西都是无用的。故选B
【2】词义推断题。由“They're proud of being stupid.They think it's cool to drive the financed car, wear the financed shoes, and watch the financed TV”可以得知,在作者看来,不会理财的人是十分愚蠢的,但是聪明的人则恰好反之。由此可以推断出,文章中的“smart people”是指善于理财的人。故选D
【3】细节理解题。文章开头的“The First Rule of Finance”告诉我们“量入为出的消费不超过80%的实得工资”,但是紧接着作者又列举了身边很多亲戚朋友不理智的消费现象,作者认为这是非常愚蠢的行为。从后面“Trying to impress a money-smart person by going into debt is like trying to impress Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps by drowning in a pool”可以看出,作者认为聪明的人是不会这样的,我们应该做一个聪明的人学会明智理财。故选A
【4】细节理解题。根据文章中的“even when the object in question isn't theirs at all and won't be new when they've finally paid for it, if they ever do”以及前文可以得知,人们借钱去买东西,用来攀比或炫耀,哪怕东西不是新的,也会支付。在作者看来,这样的行为是非常不明智的。故选A