Money is stressful. For the seventh year in a row, the APA’s annual Stress in America survey found that money is the top source of stress for American adults. More than a quarter of Americans say they feel stressed about money most or all of the time. Only 30 percent rate their financial security as high, and more than two-thirds believe that more money would make them happier.People commonly deal with anxiety by avoiding whatever it is that makes them anxious. Unfortunately, if you avoid dealing with your finances, you’ll likely create more financial problems, and more anxiety, in the long term.

Money matters are too important to ignore. Financial inability is linked to money mismanagement and to debt. Debt, in turn, is associated with lower self-confidence, lower productivity and greater stress. Unsurprisingly, research has also linked financial pressure to desperation (绝望).

We develop our beliefs and attitudes about money early in life. Often, we aren’t even consciously aware of what our beliefs are, let alone where we learned them. If you’re dealing with financial avoidance or financial rejection, it can help to think critically about the money beliefs you learned in childhood. Think about what your parents taught you about money. Talk to family members about their money beliefs. Then try to challenge your existing beliefs about money.

Many people feel embarrassed about their debt, ashamed that they let bank statements pile up unread. But that shame keeps you stuck. Try to move past the self-blame so you can take some concrete steps toward financial health.

1.What do we learn about American adults from the text?

A. Money causes them the main stress.

B. They care about money most.

C. They need money very much.

D. Their financial security is high.

2.What does the author think of avoiding financial stress?

A. It’s understandable. B. It’s harmful.

C. It’s helpful. D. It’s useless.

3.According to the text, our money beliefs are developed from .

A. examples of family members B. attitudes of neighborhood

C. experiences of childhood D. influences of parents

4.What can people do to get financial health according to the author?

A. Repay their debt. B. Read their bank statements.

C. Overcome their self-blame. D. Challenge existing money beliefs.

Last year I went to America and stayed there with an American family for two months.

As is said, “the best house is in America, the best wife is in Japan, and the best food is in China.” So I ______ pride and felt pleased to ______ “the best food” for my American family. Each day, regardless of my poor skill of cooking, I would do something in ______ way: changing the dishes’ color, the meat’s type or the soup’s style. Thus, my American friends could discover the ______ of eating Chinese food. Because of my “______” job, I was often rewarded by their ______ of thanks such as “very delicious”, “excellent”, etc.

But something funny happened yesterday when I cooked Sichuan style ______ for dinner. I was ______ with my work.

When the whole family sat round the table, they first looked ______ at the fish, then looked at me. “______ do all the fishes have their heads?” they asked, “It’s terrible!”

Beautiful or terrible? I can’t understand. But I ______ know that fish heads are delicious. The ______ is the best part of fish; in ______ only the important guest can have the ______ of enjoying it.

Another ______ thing is: the American friends often said to me “______” as they brought home fruits or other things. ______ Chinese tradition I would simply smile in answer to their kindness ______ actually helping myself to any of the food. ______ , I said “help yourself” to them whenever I brought home fruits. Dear me! No matter how much or how often I brought home food, as long as it was nice to their taste, they ______ hesitated (犹豫) to use their hands to “help themselves” until all was finished.

1.A. took B. shared C. held D. had

2.A. leave B. fetch C. cook D. buy

3.A. a simple B. a new C. the same D. their

4.A. importance B. joy C. trouble D. way

5.A. new B. daily C. good D. hard

6.A. smile B. flowers C. expressions D. talk

7.A. egg B. fish C. soup D. meat

8.A. surprised B. pleased C. good D. praised

9.A. worriedly B. excitedly C. surprisedly D. happily

10.A. Why B. When C. How D. Where

11.A. should B. will C. can D. do

12.A. flesh B. head C. soup D. tail

13.A. the West B. China C. USA D. fact

14.A. honor B. mood C. belief D. permit

15.A. easy B. exciting C. interesting D. alternative

16.A. eat them please B. please help us C. help yourself D. excuse me

17.A. According to B. Instead of C. More than D. In spite of

18.A. nor B. but not C. without D. not

19.A. In return B. Above all C. After all D. At last

20.A. had B. often C. never D. usual

On 29 May last year, I was doing my swim training for a half Ironman race in the bay near my home.

I was finishing my first loop (圈) when I felt jaws coming around my body and a sharp pain. The water was dark, so I couldn’t see anything. It just came out of nowhere and then it was gone in a flash. I knew it was something really big and assumed it was a shark. I panicked, but knew I needed to get out of the water. I was kicking wildly in case it came back. There was a lifeguard boat close by, so I waved my arms in the air and screamed for help. It got to me within 20 seconds. At that point I didn’t feel anything; adrenaline (肾上腺素) had taken over. The lifeguards held me under the arms and pulled me up out of the water. Then the pain kicked in and it was pretty hard to bear. Some muscle had been bitten off my right arm. I felt a lot of warm, gushing blood.

My chest felt heavy, as if someone had put their foot on it, and I was having trouble breathing. It was extremely painful. When I got to the hospital, I told the nurses to put me to sleep because of the pain. I just wanted them to fix me.

I woke up after surgery four hours later. My doctor was amazed when I managed to move my fingers: the bite just missed a major nerve. My right lung had been damaged; I had several broken bones and a nerve in my leg was cut, so I have reduced feeling at the top of my leg. The shark also bit through my upper back muscle.

Local experts determined that the shark was probably 9-10 feet long. It was young, about seven years old. It just attacked me, left and didn’t come back because it figured I wasn’t food.

1.The writer mentions Adrenaline in Paragraph 2 to ________.

A. explain why she didn’t feel pain at that time

B. offer a possible reason the shark attacked her

C. show how dangerous the situation was then

D. describe the suffering a shark bite could cause

2.The writer of the text can be best described as ________.

A. grateful B. confident

C. tough D. aggressive

3.Which of the following might be the best title for the text?

A. A Shark from Nowhere

B. Surviving a Shark Attack

C. A Race against Time

D. No Panic over Sharks at Sea

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