阅读理解

　　For years I wanted a flower garden．I'd spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together．

　　But then we had Matthew．And Marvin．And the twins, Alisa and Alan．And then Helen．Five children．I was too busy raising them to grow a garden．

　　Money was tight, as well as time．Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I'd have to say,“Do you see a money tree outside?Money doesn't grow on trees, you know．”

　　Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own．I started thinking again about having a garden．

　　I wasn't sure, though．I mean, gardens do cost money．Then, one spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen when suddenly I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard．I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches．Then I put my glasses on and I couldn't believe what I saw．There was a money tree in my yard!

　　I went outside to look．It was true!There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree．Think of all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars!There was also a note attached：“IOU eight hours of digging time．Love, Marvin．”

　　Marvin kept his promise, too．He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed(花坛)for me．And my other children bought me gardening tools and books．

　　That was three years ago．My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted．When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did．It feels like they're right there with me．

　　I live up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where winters are long and cold, and summers are too short．But every year now, when winter sets in, I look out my window and think of the flowers I'll see next spring in my little garden．I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes－every time．

　　I'm still not sure that money grows on trees．But I know love does!

阅读理解

　　It is normal for parents to question their children’s hairstyle or the clothes they wear．But today teenagers and their parents argue over something else：money．

　　Children are spending lots of it．Parents used to say to their children, “You’re wearing that?” Now they say, “You paid how much for that?”

　　Children in the US today spend five times more money than their parents did when they were young．

　　So what are all these children buying? The list is long：iPods, trainers, cell phones and jeans are typical items that children “have to”buy．And they will do anything to get them．They ask their parent’s over and over until they buy them．

But parents also need to take the blame for spending so much money．They want their children to have the best stuff．They end up competing with other parents over what their children have．

　　So no wonder children find it hard to learn the importance of saving money rather than spending it all the time．

　　And it’s hard to save when companies use advertising and clever slogans to encourage young people to buy their products．They even encourage children to keep asking their parents for something until they get it．

　　Today, you don’t even need to have money in order to buy something．Banks give out credit cards and loans all the time so people are saving less and less．We are used to there being lots of money around．And if you don’t have much you can always borrow some．

　　But this hasn’t always been the case．When our grandparents were young there was very little money and everyone had to save hard for things they bought．They only bought things they needed, not things they just wanted．

　　The older generation made the wise expression, “Money doesn’t grow on trees．”This is as true now as it was 50 years ago．They give money a great deal of value．And we all have a lot to learn from them．