When 7-year-old Warren Buffett said,“I will be the richest man one day,” his friends made fun of his “daydreaming”. But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money by selling drinks, delivering newspaper and buying stocks. The American had already earned $9,000 (equal to $90,000 today) by the time he graduated from high school.

 And this month the 78-year-old man, who earned his fortune by making a lot of sound investment in the stock market, took the place of Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, as the world’s richest man. Gates’ worth declined $1.5 billion to $55.5 billion in 33 days after the recent financial storm, according to Forbes Magazine.

 Buffett, the only son of a stockbroker, was ready to think outside the box to develop his business from a very early age. At 8, he went to golf courses collecting and selling the used balls. At 11 when he sold soda pop door-to-door with a friend, the pair collected lids on streets to judge which flavor was the most popular.

 As a paper boy during high school, Buffett delivered two competitor papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions, he could still make a profit from the other. With his paper delivery savings, Buffett bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collected rent. Young Buffett stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only $5. The experience taught him one of the virtues in investing, patience.

After graduating from university, Buffett started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends. He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time. By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-Cola, Buffett has become rich.

“Learning is important to Buffett’s success. He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading. He keeps learning from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure. In this way, he over-achieved his aptitude (能力).” said Charlie Munger, his longtime business partner.

The passage is mainly about ___________.

A. why Buffett took the place of Bill Gates as the world’s richest man

B. what effect Buffett’s childhood experiences had on his success

C. how Buffett earned his fortune and achieved his aptitude

D. what Buffett dreamt about when he was a child

Which of the following is true about Buffett?

A. His worth is more than $ 55.5 billion now.

B. He is next to Bill Gates in wealth at the present time.

C. He achieved great success on stepping into the stock market.

D. He bought 162,000 square meters of farmland by selling soda pop.

How did Buffett behave at the stock market?

A. He often prefers some inexpensive stocks.

B. He will buy the stock whose price is lower than its value.

C. He always borrows money from his friends to buy stocks.

D. He will sell the stock if its price doesn’t go up.

Which is the main factor that determines Buffett’s success?

A.  His education.                      B. His family background.

C.  His desire to learn.                D. His cooperation with his partner.

What can we infer from the passage?

A. Buffett is an immediate success in the stock market.

B．Buffett and Gates are business partners.

C．His father helped him a lot in his business.

D．Buffett has a good sense of business.

When 7-year-old Warren Buffett said,“I will be the richest man one day,” his friends made fun of his “daydreaming”. But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money by selling drinks, delivering newspapers and buying stocks. The American had already earned $9,000 (equal to $90,000 today) by the time he graduated from high school.

   And this month the 78-year-old man, who earned his fortune by making a lot of sound investment in the stock market, took the place of Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, as the world’s richest man. Gates’ worth declined $1.5 billion to $55.5 billion in 33 days after the recent financial storm, according to Forbes Magazine.

   Buffett, the only son of a stockbroker, was ready to think outside the box to develop his business from a very early age. At 8, he went to golf courses collecting and selling the used balls. At 11 when he sold soda pop door-to-door with a friend, the pair collected lids on streets to judge which flavor was the most popular.

   As a paper boy during high school, Buffett delivered two competitor papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions, he could still make a profit from the other. With his paper delivery savings, Buffett bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collected rent. Young Buffett stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only $5. The experience taught him one of the virtues in investing, patience.

   After graduating from university, Buffett started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends. He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time. By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-Cola, Buffett has become rich.

   “Learning is important to Buffett’s success. He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading. He keeps learning from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure. In this way, he over-achieved his aptitude (能力).” said Charlie Munger, his longtime business partner. 

16. The passage is mainly about ___________.

A. why Buffett took the place of Bill Gates as the world’s richest man

B. what effect Buffett’s childhood experiences had on his success

C. how Buffett earned his fortune and achieved his aptitude

D. what Buffett dreamt about when he was a child

17. Which of the following is true about Buffett?

A. His worth is more than $ 55.5 billion now.

B. He is next to Bill Gates in wealth at the present time.

C He achieved great success on stepping into the stock market.

D He bought 162,000 square meters of farmland by selling soda pop.

18. How did Buffett behave at the stock market?

A. He often prefers some inexpensive stocks.

B. He will buy the stock whose price is lower than its value.

C. He always borrows money from his friends to buy stocks.

D. He will sell the stock if its price doesn’t go up.

19. Which is the main factor that determines Buffett’s success?

A.  His education.                   B. His family background.

C.  His desire to learn.                D. His cooperation with his partner.

20. What can we infer from the passage?

A. Buffett is an immediate success in the stock market.

B. Buffett and Gates are business partners.

C. His father helped him a lot in his business.

D. Buffett has a good sense of business.

My 8­year­old son，Kevin，has made friends with some boys in the neighborhood. He has been 36    with them after school. My wife，and I are 37    he has other kids to be with and we have __38__ and encouraged him to play with his friends. We also want Kevin to learn __39__，so we have asked him to tell us __40__ he's going and to come home at a specified time.
The __41__ started when Kevin didn't come home on time. On one occasion，I asked Kevin to be back at 6 pm. By 6：30，I needed to go __42__ him. I found him at a friend's house，and he looked 43    that he couldn't continue playing. After we came home，I sat  Kevin down for a talk about the _44  _ of  keeping his word. I told him I was not worried about his arriving a few __45__ late， after a half hour， he told me he understood and I was _46_  _.
The next day，I came home from work at about 6:30 pm and my wife asked me to go and get Kevin back __47__ she said he should be back home at 6. I walked to his friend's house and a look of __48__ appeared on Kevin's face when he came to the door.
At __49__，my wife and I spoke to Kevin about why he didn't come home on time again. He said he just wanted to _50__ playing. This was __51__，so we decided to ground(罚不准出门)him for a week. This __52_ no playing with his friends.
For the next week，whenever his friends came to ask for Kevin，we let him __53__ to them that he was grounded. We felt this would help him be responsible for his __54__.
As a __55__，I believe one of the most important things we can teach our kids is self-responsibility and that actions have consequences.

My 8-year-old son, Kevin, has made friends with some boys in the neighborhood. He has been  36 with them after school. My wife，Qugen, and I are __37__ he has other kids to be with and we have __38__ and encouraged him to play with his friends. We also want Kevin to learn __39__，so we have asked him to tell us __40__ he's going and to come home at a specified time.
The __41__ started when Kevin didn't come home on time. On one occasion，I asked Kevin to be back at 6 pm. By 6：30，I needed to go __42__ him. I found him at a friend's house，and he looked __43__ that he couldn't continue playing. After we came home，I sat Kevin down for a talk about the __44__ of keeping his word. I told him I was not worried about him arriving a few __45__ late，but after half an hour，I’m going to be  46 . He told me he understood.
The next day，I came home from work at about 6:30 p.m. and Qugen asked me to go and get Kevin  __47__ she said he should be back home at 6. I walked to his friend's house and a look of __48__ appeared on Kevin's face when he came to the door.
At __49__，Qugen and I spoke to Kevin about why he didn't come home on time again. He said he just wanted to _ 50__ playing. This was __51__，so Qugen and I decided to ground(罚不准出门)him for a week. This __52_ no playing with his friends.
For the next week，whenever his friends came to ask for Kevin，we let him _53__ to them that he was grounded. We felt this would help him be responsible for his __54__.
As a __55__，I believe one of the most important things we can teach our kids is self-responsibility and that actions have consequences.

A 7.0 magnitude（级）earthquake killed more than 230,000 people in Haiti. Then an 8.8 magnitude quake killed more than 900 people in Chile. And few weeks later, a 6.0 magnitude quake struck rural eastern Turkey, killing at least 57 people.
The earthquakes kept coming hard and fast.   1 It’s not. The problem is what’s happening above ground, not underground, experts say.
  2 They’re rapidly putting up buildings that can’t stand up to earth quakes, scientists believe.
And news reports and better earthquake monitoring make it seem as if earth quakes are increasing all the time.
On average, there are 134 earthquakes a year that have a magnitude between 6.0 and 6.9. So far this year there have been 40 earthquakes—more than in most years for that time period. But that’s because the 8.8 quake in Chile caused a large number of strong aftershocks.
Also, it’s not the number of quakes, but their destructive effects that gain attention. The death is largely due to building standards,   3  Paul Earle, a US seismologist, called for better building standards in the world’s big cities.
Of the 130 cities worldwide with populations of more than I million, more than half are likely to be hit by earthquakes.   4 “If you have a problem feeding yourself, you’re not really going to worry about earthquakes,” said Paul.
The earthquakes made everyone start to think   5  “People are paying attention to the violent planet we’re always lived on. Come back an another six moths if there has been no earthquakes, most people will have forgotten it again,” said US disaster researcher Dennis Mileti.