阅读理解

　　Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time．

　　Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about．I know this from personal experience．

　　E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings．My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were，but I spend fewer of them at the office．This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool．

　　The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends．Say you do something fun -see a great movie perhaps and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it．If you call each one, you may be tired of telling the story．

　　With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested．They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to．They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience．

　　E-mail is also an inexpensive way to stay in close touch with people who live far away．More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college．

　　We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch．They don’t take the place of any of the old ways．

阅读理解

How Do People Plan Their Life？

　　The story of King Midas is not true．No man could really touch the things around him and make them turn to gold．It could be wonderful if we could turn things into gold as in the story．But the “magic touch”, the life without work is seldom part of life in an everyday world．

　　It costs money to do the things you want to do and to buy the things you want to buy．In order to give a present for a birthday you must first earn the money before you have any to spend．Your home, your food,and your clothes are basic needs．Everyone needs these three things．Many other things we want are really luxuries．Basic needs and luxuries together form our standard(标准)of living．Many of the things we feel we “need” in our homes would be regarded as luxuries to other people in other parts of the world．

　　Have you ever helped plan a family budget(预算)?If you know you have to balance the whole money the family have earned, you should pay for gas, electricity,water and your house．You should also plan for holidays and other special uses．At the same time you should have some of your money to be saved．

　　How people earn their money and how they spend their money is an important aspect of the study of economics．