A study involving 8,500 teenagers from all social backgrounds found thai most of them are ignorani when it comes to money. The findings, the first in a scries of reports from NatWesl that has started a five-year research project into teenagers and money, arc particularly worrying as this generation of young people is likely to be burdened with greater debts man any before.

University tuition fees (学费) are currently capped at ??3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.

In the research, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average ?? 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just ?? 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than ?? 10.000. Average debts for graduates are ?? 12,363.

Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they arc to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."

Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweathcr. aged 15. from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted thai she still had a lot to learn about money.

Which of the following can be found from the five-year research project?

A. Students understand personal finances differently. 

B. University tuition fees in England have been rising.

C. Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings.

D. The students' payback ability has become a major issue.

 The phrase "to raise the ceiling" in paragraph 2 probably means "______".

A. to raise the student loans                             

B. to improve the school facilities

C. to increase the upper limit of the tuition     

D. to lift the school building roofs

According to Stephen Moir, students_______.

A. are too young 10 be exposed 10 financial issues

B. should learn 10 manage their finances well

C- should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans

D. benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance

What can we learn from the passage?

A. Many British teenagers do not know money matters well

B. Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts.

C. Financial planning is a required course at college.

D. Young people should become responsible adults.


Terry Herbert, 55, of Staffordshire, the UK, has used a metal detector (探测器)for the past 18 years to look for treasure. He’d never found anything especially valuable. But on July 5, he made a very important discovery, which also changed the way the British look at history. In a field near his home, Herbert found a huge number of ancient artifacts. The finding was announced on September 24.
Archaeologists(考古学家) are surprised by the size of the discovery. There are more than 1,300 pieces. The discovery is much bigger than any other from the Anglo-saxon era(盎格鲁撒克逊时代),said Roger Bland of the British Museum. Bland said some experts think treasures of this kind must have belonged to a king but they couldn’t be certain.
The artifacts are thought to date from between AD 675 and AD 725, a time that is sometimes called the Dark Ages. The time was marked by frequent fighting. The gold in the collection weighs 5 kilograms. It suggests that England at the time was richer than historians thought.
Why were the gold and silver treasures buried? Archaeologists believe it could have been to hide them from enemies, a common practice at the time.
The findings could become one of Britain’s top archaeological finds. So far, experts have looked at 1,345 pieces and there are still more to come. It may take a year to look at the whole finding.
Herbert found the treasure while he was searching in a friend’s field over five days in July. He said his discovery was more fun than winning the lottery. “This is what treasure hunters dream of, finding stuff like this. The great amount there is just unbelievable,” he said.
1、Terry Herbert used a metal detector to search for treasure because     .
A、he had researched the area and was sure there was treasure there.
B、he was very interested in British history.
C、he wanted to be an archeologist
D、he enjoyed searching for treasure
2、Herbert’s discovery is very important because     .
A、the treasure he found belongs to an ancient English king.
B、the treasure has changed people’s understanding of early English history.
C、the treasure is proving a big help to the British economy.
D、it is the find that many British treasure hunters have been hoping for years.
3、On the basis of the article, which of the following is TRUE?
A、It might take three years for scientists to look through all of the treasure.
B、Ancient English people buried treasure in the fields for future use.
C、At the time England was a more violent and religious land than historians thought.
D、Herbert prefers the fun of treasure hunting over the money he will earn for his discovery.
4、Which of the following headlines best sums up the article?
A、British treasure hunter makes big find.        B、Scientists find out about the dark ages.
C、How to find treasures using a metal detector.  D、Archeologists win big lottery prize.

In Europe, many people make friends between their countries through town twinning. Town or city twinning means two towns in different countries agree and decide to become “twins” with a sister-city relationship.

The people find pen friends in the twin town. They exchange newspapers and stamps. The school teachers discuss teaching methods with the teachers in the twin town. Officials visit the twin town for celebrations. Ordinary people travel to the twin town, too, but not very often if it is far away.

Sometimes, schools even exchange their classes for two or three weeks! For example, German middle school students study for a while at the school in their twin town in Britain, staying with British families. A few months later, their British friends come to study in Germany.

Many British towns are so pleased with the results of the twinning that they set out to find more than one twin town!

Tonbridge, a small town in Kent, for example, has twin towns in both Germany and France. Richmond near London has relationships with Germany, France and even a town in a Balkan(巴尔干半岛的) country!

Town twinning can help make friends. It helps students improve their language skill, and also helps people to understand the differences between nations.

1.Which is the best title for the passage?

A.Town Twinning

B.Friendly Towns

C.Exchanging Teachers and Students

D.Peace and Understanding

2.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A.Twin towns exchange newspapers and stamps.

B.Twin towns exchange business skill.

C.Schools in twin towns exchange classes for a period of time.

D.Ordinary people travel to the twin town.

3.Twin towns develop ____________.

A.between European countries and China

B.in the English-speaking countries only

C.in the same country

D.between different countries

4.How many countries are mentioned in this passage?

A.7

B.6.

C.5

D.4

5.One of the advantages of town twinning is to ________.

A.earn more money

B.set up schools

C.improve students’ language skills

D.develop industry and agriculture

 

“Dinning out” and “eating out” are phrases people use in Britain when they eat in a restaurant or pub(小酒馆). Eating out is more popular in Britain today than it has ever been. In 2006, for the first time ever, British people spent more eating out than cooking for themselves and eating at home. It seems that many British people are becoming increasingly interested in how good their food tastes, and also how healthy it is.

However, eating out can also be expensive. As British people do not eat out every night of the week, eating in a restaurant is often seen as a special occasion. When going on a first date and wanting to impress him/ her , or if celebrating an anniversary or a birthday, many people like to go to a restaurant to eat, and people often also eat in a restaurant before going to the cinema or the theater.

As in all cultures, there are many rules of etiquette(礼仪) surrounding food and eating. The knife and fork should be used in the correct way! It is also impolite to have your elbows(肘部) on the dinning table when you are eating.

Almost all British cities have a vast range of food as well as traditional British food, and all from the very cheap to the very expensive---French, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Greek, Thai, Japan and many, many more. In fact, when asked which was their favorite food, more British people said an Indian curry(咖喱菜肴) than any other dish !

As well as dining in a restaurant, when people are too tired to cook after work they often get a “take-away”. This means that they order from a take-out restaurant by telephone, and then go to collect it and take it home to eat. Many take-out restaurants also deliver it your house. While you can normally find a take-out restaurant for almost any food, the most popular are Italian, Indian and Chinese and then all of you have to do is to open the door, pay and eat !

1.On which of the following occasions are British people likely to eat in a restaurant ?

   A. After watching a play.             B. Before watching a movie.

   C. When they’re too tired to work.      D. When they want to have natural food.

2.From the passage we can know that_______.

   A. eating out is not expensive in Britain

   B. eating at pubs doesn’t have so many rules in Britain

   C. British people are not aware of nutrition while eating out

   D. the British spent more eating at home more than eating out

3.We can learn from the last two paragraphs that________.

   A. French dishes are very expensive

   B. take-out restaurants only deliver pizza

   C. British people are fond of foreign food

   D. people can eat take-out food first and pay later

4.What is the passage mainly about ?

   A. Restaurant culture in Britain.      B. Table manners.

   C. Traditional British food.          D. Eating and health.

 

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