It may not be news to parents of teenage girls, but researchers have confirmed that no one can stop their 16-year-old daughter from deciding how the family spends its money.
The willpower and determination of teenage girls give them a big say in how a family’s money is spent on everything from food and meals to mobile phones, and, of course, clothes. Teenage boys did not show up at all in the analysis, which was designed to find out the influence of young people on household spending.
The findings on the spending power of teenage girls were calculated from Office for National Statistics records of family spending during the 1980s and 1990s. Researchers examined how much money went on services and leisure goods in different kinds of homes. They checked spending on food, restaurant meals, alcohol, tobacco, services, heating, transport, clothes and sports in 2,745 British families.
They found that teenage girls in the UK typically played an active role in family decisions about the allocation（分配）of household resources. But older children— those over the age of 21 who are still living with their parents—appear to have no say in household decisions.
They also tried to calculate to what extent the bargaining power of a teenager affected family budgets. “Every parent knows that children, even at a very early age, have their own preferences with regard to consumption, researchers said. “But children are only interested in a limited range of goods—mainly sweets and toys—and parents are able to use punishment to reduce their children’s bargaining power or remove it.”  When they become teenagers, however, girls are much more independent and they are capable of earning their own money, which improves their bargaining power in family decisions.
The researchers could not explain why girls have more influence over spending while the evidence for boys is much less conclusive. However, this study could be of great significance to market research and how marketers target children.
【小题1】 From the passage we can learn that            .

It may not be news to parents of teenage girls, but researchers have confirmed that no one can stop their 16-year-old daughter from deciding how the family spends its money.

The willpower and determination of teenage girls give them a big say in how a family’s money is spent on everything from food and meals to mobile phones, and, of course, clothes. Teenage boys did not show up at all in the analysis, which was designed to find out the influence of young people on household spending.

The findings on the spending power of teenage girls were calculated from Office for National Statistics records of family spending during the 1980s and 1990s. Researchers examined how much money went on services and leisure goods in different kinds of homes. They checked spending on food, restaurant meals, alcohol, tobacco, services, heating, transport, clothes and sports in 2,745 British families.

They found that teenage girls in the UK typically played an active role in family decisions about the allocation（分配）of household resources. But older children— those over the age of 21 who are still living with their parents—appear to have no say in household decisions.

They also tried to calculate to what extent the bargaining power of a teenager affected family budgets. “Every parent knows that children, even at a very early age, have their own preferences with regard to consumption, researchers said. “But children are only interested in a limited range of goods—mainly sweets and toys—and parents are able to use punishment to reduce their children’s bargaining power or remove it.”  When they become teenagers, however, girls are much more independent and they are capable of earning their own money, which improves their bargaining power in family decisions.

The researchers could not explain why girls have more influence over spending while the evidence for boys is much less conclusive. However, this study could be of great significance to market research and how marketers target children.

1. From the passage we can learn that            .

2.What does the underlined part “give them a big say” in the second paragraph mean?

3.It appears that household decisions are NOT affected by        .

4.How can parents reduce children’s bargaining power?

II    语言知识及应用（共两节，满分35分）

第一节完形填空 (共10小题; 每小题2分, 满分20分)

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21-30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

“The pen is more powerful than the sword.” There have been many  21  who used their pens to fight things that were wrong．Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of them．

　　She was born in the U．S．A．in 1811．One of her books not only made her  22  but has been described as one that excited the world, and was helpful in  23   a civil war and freeing the  24  race．The civil war was the American Civil War of 1861, in which the Northern States fought the Southern States and finally   25   the victory.

　　This book that shook the world was called Uncle Tom's Cabin．There was a time when every English-speaking man, woman, and child read this   26   that did so much to stop slavery．Not many people read it today, but it is still very interesting．The book has shown us how a warm-hearted writer can   27   people's sympathies．The author herself had neither been to the Southern States nor been a slave．The Southern Americans were   28   by the book, which they said did not at all represent true   29   of affairs, but the Northern Americans were   30   excited over it and were so inspired by it that they were ready to go to war to set the slaves free．

21．A．writers                B．soldiers           C．fighters                  D．judges

22．A．successful              B．rich                        C．famous                   D．inspiring

23．A．declaring               B．winning          C．causing                  D．stopping

24．A．enslaved   B．uncivilized             C．immigrated            D．rejected 

25．A．defeated          B．beat                        C．received          D．won

26．A．cabin               B．novel               C．title                D．story

27．A．command               B．excite                     C．attract                    D．describe

28．A．interested         B．satisfied                  C．disappointed    D．annoyed

29．A．state                B．incident                  C．event                     D．situation

30．A．mildly                   B．wildly                    C．modestly          D．gradually

II    语言知识及应用（共两节，满分35分）
第一节完形填空 (共10小题; 每小题2分, 满分20分)
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21-30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
“The pen is more powerful than the sword.” There have been many  21  who used their pens to fight things that were wrong．Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of them．
　　She was born in the U．S．A．in 1811．One of her books not only made her  22  but has been described as one that excited the world, and was helpful in  23   a civil war and freeing the  24  race．The civil war was the American Civil War of 1861, in which the Northern States fought the Southern States and finally   25   the victory.
　　This book that shook the world was called Uncle Tom's Cabin．There was a time when every English-speaking man, woman, and child read this   26   that did so much to stop slavery．Not many people read it today, but it is still very interesting．The book has shown us how a warm-hearted writer can   27   people's sympathies．The author herself had neither been to the Southern States nor been a slave．The Southern Americans were   28   by the book, which they said did not at all represent true   29   of affairs, but the Northern Americans were   30   excited over it and were so inspired by it that they were ready to go to war to set the slaves free．
21．A．writers                B．soldiers           C．fighters                  D．judges
22．A．successful              B．rich                        C．famous                   D．inspiring
23．A．declaring               B．winning          C．causing                  D．stopping
24．A．enslaved   B．uncivilized             C．immigrated            D．rejected 
25．A．defeated          B．beat                        C．received          D．won
26．A．cabin               B．novel               C．title                D．story
27．A．command               B．excite                     C．attract                    D．describe
28．A．interested         B．satisfied                  C．disappointed    D．annoyed
29．A．state                B．incident                  C．event                     D．situation
30．A．mildly                   B．wildly                    C．modestly          D．gradually

    Most parents，I suppose，have had the experience of reading a bedtime story to their children．And they must have  16  how difficult it is to write a   17   children’s  book．Either the author has aimed too  18  ，so that the children fail to follow what is in his (or more often, her)story,  19   me story seems to be talking to the readers．

    The best children’s  books are  20   too difficult nor too simple，and satisfy both the  21     who hears the story and the adult who reads it．Unfortunately, there are in fact    22   books  like this，so the problem of finding the right bedtime story is not  23  to solve．  

    This maybe why many books regarded as  24   of children’s  literature were in fact written for   25  ．Alice's Adventure in Wonderland is perhaps the most   26   of this．

    Children，left for themselves，often   27   the worst possible interest in literature．Just  leave a child in a bookshop or  28  and he will   29  willingly choose the books written in an imaginative way ,or have a look  30  most children’s  comics, full of the stories and jokes，which are the  31  of teachers and right-thinking parents．

    Perhaps we parents should stop trying to brainwash children．into  32  our taste in literature. After all，children and adults are so  33  that we parents should not expect that they will enjoy the  34  books．So I suppose we’ll just have to compromise  35  that bedtime story．    ．