I want to talk about the economy．Not "the economy" we hear about endlessly in the news each day and in politicians' speeches．I want to talk about the real economy, the one we live in day by day．
Most people aren't particularly interested in "the economy"．"Share prices are flying high; interest rates are soaring;  the Dow Jones Index closed sixty-three points down on 8472．35．" We hear this and subconsciously switch off．
Notice that "the economy" is not the same as the economy, "The economy" is what men in suits play with to make vast personal wealth．The economy is where the rest of us live on a daily basis, earning our living, paying our taxes, and purchasing the necessities of life．
We are supposed to be benefiting from all the advantages of a well-off society．So why do we feel tired and stressed? We have no time for anything other than work, which is ridiculous given the number of labor-saving devices in our lives．Our towns become more and more crowded．We poison our air and seas, and our food is full of chemicals．There's something wrong here．If times were truly good, then you may think we'd all feel optimistic about the future．Yet the majority of us are deeply worried．More than 90 percent of us think we are too concerned about ourselves and not concerned enough about future generations．
The term "economic expansion" suggests something desirable, but expansion simply means spending more money．More spending doesn't mean that life is getting better．We all know it often means the opposite - greed, crime, poverty, pollution．More spending merely feeds our whole economic system, which is based on production and consumption．Unless money keeps circulating,  the economy breaks down．If we don't keep consuming,  the whole system goes into stalemate（僵局）．
How do we break the cycle and make some changes? We need to become far more aware of the results of our actions．We buy clothes that are made in sweat shops by virtual slaves in poor parts of the world．We create mountains of waste．We demand cheap food,  mindless of the fact that it totally lacks taste and is produced using chemicals that poison the land．
The consumption culture makes us unaware of the effect of our own behavior．Our main problem is not that we don't know what to do about it．It is gathering the desire to do it．
【小题1】According to the author, which one belongs to the real economy?

I want to tell you a story that changed my life many years ago. We were living in College Station, Texas and my wife and I were on our way home from Houston, Texas one Saturday morning. We decided to stop at a local restaurant to get something to eat since we had enough time. When we finished, we got back into our car and before I started it, we noticed a homeless man standing in front of the building. His clothes were worn and it looked as though he didn’t have any money. It was cold and I was sure he wanted something warm to drink; however, it was not this that I remember, because that is not what "moved" me. A dog was also walking up to the front of the building. Being a dog owner, I knew that the dog was a mother, and that she had just had some pups (小狗). She was hungry and weak and I felt bad for her. I knew if she didn’t eat soon, she and her pups would not live. People walking by didn’t even notice her. She was not as pretty and clean as most dogs, but she still deserved (值得) better. We still did not do anything, but someone else did. The homeless man, who I thought could not afford anything to eat, went into the store and bought dog food with all the money he had.
【小题1】Where did the story happen?

I want to talk about the economy．Not "the economy" we hear about endlessly in the news each day and in politicians' speeches．I want to talk about the real economy, the one we live in day by day．

         Most people aren't particularly interested in "the economy"．"Share prices are flying high; interest rates are soaring(令人伤心的）; the Dow Jones Index closed sixty-three points down on 8472．35．" We hear this and subconsciously switch off．

        Notice that "the economy" is not the same as the economy, "The economy" is what men in suits play with to make vast personal wealth．The economy is where the rest of us live on a daily basis, earning our living, paying our taxes, and purchasing the necessities of life．

        We are supposed to be benefiting from all the advantages of a well-off society．So why do we feel tired and stressed? We have no time for anything other than work, which is ridiculous given the number of labor-saving devices in our lives．Our towns become more and more crowded．We poison our air and seas, and our food is full of chemicals．There's something wrong here．If times were truly good, then you may think we'd all feel optimistic about the future．Yet the majority of us are deeply worried．More than 90 percent of us think we are too concerned about ourselves and not concerned enough about future generations．

    The term "economic expansion" suggests something desirable, but expansion simply means spending more money．More spending doesn't mean that life is getting better. We all know it often means the opposite - greed, crime, poverty, pollution. More spending merely feeds our whole economic system, which is based on production and consumption. Unless money keeps circulating, the economy breaks down. If we don't keep consuming, the whole system goes into stalemate（僵局）．

         How do we break the cycle and make some changes? We need to become far more aware of the results of our actions. We buy clothes that are made in sweat shops by virtual slaves in poor parts of the world. We create mountains of waste. We demand cheap food, mindless of the fact that it totally lacks taste and is produced using chemicals that poison the land．

    The consumption（消费） culture makes us unaware of the effect of our own behavior. Our main problem is not that we don't know what to do about it. It is gathering the desire to do it．

1.According to the author, which one belongs to the real economy?

A．The Dow Jones Index．       B．Increases in interest rates．

C．Shopping in a supermarket．      D．Skyrocketing share prices．

2.It can be concluded from Paragraph 4 that         ．

A．people are benefiting from a well-off society

B．the future generation is a big concern for most people

C．the majority of people are optimistic about the future

D．people still feel much pressure despite labor-saving devices

3.What is true about economic expansion?

A．It may lead to some social problems．

B．It guarantees a better life for us．

C．It will stop the circulation of money．

D．It has only brought desirable effects．

4.The author writes the passage mainly to        ．

A．suggest a solution for over-consumption

B．call on us to change our behavior

C．make a distinction between two economies        

D．inform us of the effects of economic expansion

I want to make the most of every day. And, like most people, I've      that the best way to do it is (to) let go of past failures. But that's not all. One can never fully      today while thinking too much about past successes, either. People never      while resting comfortably on their laurels (荣誉). The      is that sometimes our successes hold us back more than our failures!

I once       a story about the Oscar owner, actor Clark Gable. A friend      Gable one afternoon at the actor's home. She brought along her      son, who was playing happily with toy cars on the floor. He      he was racing those cars around a great track, which in      was an imaginary circle around a golden statue. The small statue the boy played with was actually the Oscar Clark Gable      for his performance in the 1934 movie It Happened One Night.

When his mother told him the time had come to      , the little boy asked the actor, “Can I have this？”      to the Oscar.

“Sure,” he smiled. “It's yours.”

The horrified mother       . “Put that back immediately！”

Giving the child the golden statue, Clark Gable said, “Having the Oscar around doesn't mean anything to me;       it does.” The actor seemed to know that past success could be a       hammock (吊床) upon which he may be tempted to     , rather than a springboard setting him to begin a new start.

You may have learned to let go of past       and mistakes in order to free the present. But will you forget past successes and achievements in order to free the      ？Will your past be a springboard or a restful hammock?

“I like the       of the future better than the history of the past，” said Thomas Jefferson. I      . After all, the future, not the past, is where the rest of your life will be lived.

1.A.discovered　               B. inferred                  C. preferred             D. worried

2.A.spend                           B. live                         C. affect                    D. enjoy

3.A.struggle             B. work                       C. succeed                D. concentrate

4.A.story                             B. fact                        C. idea                       D. figure

5.A.wrote                           B. told                        C. knew            D. heard

6.A.saw                      B. recognized   C. met              D. visited

7.A.careful                B. small                        C. lonely                    D. clever

8.A.pretended                  B. believed                 C. insisted                 D. suggested

9.A.fact                      B. case                        C. turn             D. need

10.A.cared                         B. asked                       C. won                       D. looked

11.A.act                              B. leave                       C. play                        D. wait

12.A.running            B. getting                     C. pointing                D. shouting

13.A.shouted                     B. noticed                  C. suffered                D. breathed

14.A.selling               B. keeping                   C. earning                 D. sharing

15.A.special              B. comfortable          C. expensive  D. necessary

16.A.rest                            B. cheat                       C. stop                       D. sit

17.A.difficulties                 B. events                     C. failures              D. achievements

18.A.time                           B. future                      C. body             D. brain

19.A.idea                            B. meaning                  C. dreams                  D. thoughts

20.A.obey                          B. permit                    C. wish              D. agree

I want to talk about the economy．Not "the economy" we hear about endlessly in the news each day and in politicians' speeches．I want to talk about the real economy, the one we live in day by day．

Most people aren't particularly interested in "the economy"．"Share prices are flying high; interest rates are soaring;  the Dow Jones Index closed sixty-three points down on 8472．35．" We hear this and subconsciously switch off．

Notice that "the economy" is not the same as the economy, "The economy" is what men in suits play with to make vast personal wealth．The economy is where the rest of us live on a daily basis, earning our living, paying our taxes, and purchasing the necessities of life．

We are supposed to be benefiting from all the advantages of a well-off society．So why do we feel tired and stressed? We have no time for anything other than work, which is ridiculous given the number of labor-saving devices in our lives．Our towns become more and more crowded．We poison our air and seas, and our food is full of chemicals．There's something wrong here．If times were truly good, then you may think we'd all feel optimistic about the future．Yet the majority of us are deeply worried．More than 90 percent of us think we are too concerned about ourselves and not concerned enough about future generations．

The term "economic expansion" suggests something desirable, but expansion simply means spending more money．More spending doesn't mean that life is getting better．We all know it often means the opposite - greed, crime, poverty, pollution．More spending merely feeds our whole economic system, which is based on production and consumption．Unless money keeps circulating,  the economy breaks down．If we don't keep consuming,  the whole system goes into stalemate（僵局）．

How do we break the cycle and make some changes? We need to become far more aware of the results of our actions．We buy clothes that are made in sweat shops by virtual slaves in poor parts of the world．We create mountains of waste．We demand cheap food,  mindless of the fact that it totally lacks taste and is produced using chemicals that poison the land．

The consumption culture makes us unaware of the effect of our own behavior．Our main problem is not that we don't know what to do about it．It is gathering the desire to do it．

1.According to the author, which one belongs to the real economy?

A．The Dow Jones Index．

B．Increases in interest rates

C．Skyrocketing share prices

D．Shopping in a supermarket

2.It can be concluded from Paragraph 4 that        ．

A．people are benefiting from a well-off society

B．the future generation is a big concern for most people

C．people still feel much pressure despite labor-saving devices

D．the majority of people are optimistic about the future

3.What is true about economic expansion?

A．It guarantees a better life for us．

B．It may lead to some social problems．

C．It will stop the circulation of money．

D．It has only brought desirable effects．

4.The author writes the passage mainly to       ．

A．call on us to change our behavior

B．suggest a solution for over-consumption

C．make a distinction between two economies

D．inform us of the effects of economic expansion