If you live in the United States, you can’t have a full-time job until you are 16 years old. At 14 or 15, you work part-time after school or on weekends, and during summer vacation you can work 40 hours each week. Does all that mean that if you are younger than 14, you can’t make your own money? Of course not! Kids from 10-13 years of age can make money by doing lots of things.

Valerie, 11, told us that she made money by cleaning up other people’s yards. Lena, 13, makes money by knitting(织) dog sweaters and selling them to her neighbors. Reisa said she had started taking art classes and showing her works to people. People ask her to draw pictures for them and they pay her for them. Jasmine. 13, writes articles for different magazines!

Kids can learn lots of things from making money. By working to make your own money, you are learning the skills you will need in life. These skills can include things like how to get along with others, how to use technology and how to use your time wisely. Some people think that asking for money is a lot easier than making it; however, if you can make your own money, you don’t have to depend on anyone else. The five dollars that you make will probably make you feel a lot better than the twenty dollars you ask for.

1. Kids can have full-time jobs at the age of______ in the USA.

A. 17        B.15           C. 14           D. 13

2. If you are 15 years old, you can’t work part-time______.

    A. after school             B. on weekends

    C. during school time       D. during summer vacation

3. Riesa makes money by_______.

   A. cleaning up other people’s yard               B. drawing pictures for others

   C. writing articles for different magazines        D. knitting dog sweaters.

4.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

   A. The writer thinks kids from 10-13 years of age can make money too.

   B. Kids can learn how to use their time wisely by making money.

   C. Kids don’t need to get along with others when making money.

   D. Kids can learn skills if they try to make money on their own.

He's an old cobbler （修鞋匠）  with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris．When I took him my shoes, he at first told me: “I haven't time．Take them to the other fellow on the main street ; he'll fix them for you right away．”

But I'd had my eye on his shop for a long time．Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman． “No,” I replied, “the other fellow can't do it well．”

“The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys “while-U-wait” ­­­— without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys．They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap （鞋带） you might as well just throw away the pair．

My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled．He wiped his hands on his blue apron （围裙）, looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week．”

I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf．

“See what I can do?” he said with pride． “Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work．”

When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me．He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty felt hat, his funny accent from who-knows-where and, above all, his pride in his craft．

These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption （消费） rather than a way to realize their own abilities．In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done．

1.Which of the following is true about the old cobbler?

2.The sentence “He was something out of an ancient legend．” （ paragraph 7 ） implies that______

3.According to the author, many people work just to__________．

4.This story wants to tell us that__________．

He's an old cobbler （修鞋匠） with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris．When I took him my shoes, he at first told me: "I haven't time．Take them to the other fellow on the main street; he'll fix them for you right away．"

But I'd had my eye on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman (手艺人). "No," I replied, "The other fellow can't do it well."

"The other fellow" was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys "while-U-wait" -- without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap (鞋带) ,you might as well just throw away the pair.

My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled. He wiped his hands on his blue apron (围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, "Come back in a week."

    I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boot off a shelf.

    "See what I can do " he said with pride. "Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work."

When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me. He was something out of an ancient legend, an old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his pride in his craft.

These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old way as long as it "pays", when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption (消费) rather than a way to realize their own abilities. In such a period,it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done.

Which of the following is true about the old cobbler?

    A．He was equipped with the best repairing tools.

    B．He was the only cobbler in the Marais.

    C．He was proud of his skills.

    D．He was a native Parisian.

The sentence "He was something out of an ancient legend." ( paragraph 7 ) implies that         .

    A．nowadays you can hardly find anyone like him

        B． it was difficult to communicate with this man

    C．the man was very strange

    D．the man was too old

According to the author, many people work just to         .

    A．realize their abilities B．gain happiness

    C．make money           D．gain respect

This story wants to tell us that       .

    A．craftsmen make a lot of money    B．whatever you do, do it well

    C．craftsmen need self-respect D．people are born equal

Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to electronic products that are no longer usable. This can include TVs, cell phones and computers and other office electronics, electronic toys and videos machines. Today, the average turnover（更换）rate for a computer in the United States is every two years, according to the environmental group, Greenpeace.

The group's Dai Yun says e-waste is a global problem. "The electronic industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The high speed of growth in this industry means more and more electronic products are being wasted and thrown away. If no one decides to retrieve the old products and process them properly, the electronic waste will sweep over the earth like the huge wave behind me and pollute the Earth seriously."

Greenpeace works out that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally each year. The components（部件）in many electronic products contain harmful chemicals that pollute ground water and the environment.

At present , the U.S. has no federal law for the disposal (处理) of e-waste although a few states have e-waste recycling programs in place, but there is no law. The U.S. exports much of its e-waste to third world countries, such as India and China, where workers took apart computers for valuable parts, hoping to sell them for money. But harmful wastes expert, Dr. Bakul Rao, says that's a dangerous practice. "From now on, the recyclers are not very educated. All they know is they can retrieve copper or gold out of it. So, the easiest way to do that is leach (过滤) it out in an acid or burn it off to retrieve it. So, that's where they don't know how to deal with it, neither do they have any health systems in place. So, their exposure is more."

1.What does the underlined word "retrieve" (paragraph 2) probably mean?

2.What of the following statements is true according to the passage？

3. What is the purpose of writing the passage?

4.The next paragraph probably concerns ___.

Jack London is a famous American writer. His most widely known book is the Call of the Wild, the story of the adventure of a large dog in the frozen north.

Jack London was born on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco, California. His family was very poor, and Jack had to leave school to make money. He worked hard at many different jobs.

Later, Jack returned to school, but he didn’t stay. He wrote, “Life and pocket book were both too short.” In 1897, he went to Alaska to find gold. Instead, he found ideas there for his book stories. He returned home and started to write. His writings were successful, and he became rich and famous in his twenties.

Jack London was not a happy man, however. In poor health, he took his own life in 1916. He was then only 40 years old.

1. Jack London went to Alaska to __________________.

A. find ideas for his books   B. find gold    C. write his books and stories    D. find jobs

2. Jack London left school because __________________.

A. he had to work to help his family           B. he had completed his education

C. he wanted to become a writer              D. he wanted to find gold.

3. From what did Jack London get ideas for his books and stories?

A. His life in Alaska.                       B. His childhood friend.

C. A large dog in the north.                  D. His pocket book.

4. What do we know about Jack London?

A. He became famous but remained poor all his life.

B. Though he was poor, he was always happy.

C. He was not famous until he died in 1916.

D. He killed himself because of poor health.