1 . When I travel the country speaking to high school and college students about exactly what they need to do to become financially successful in life, I always begin my presentation by asking three questions:
“How many want to be financially successful in life?”
“How many think they will be financially successful in life?”
Almost every time I ask the first two questions every hand rises in the air. Then I ask the magic third question:
“How many have taken a course in school on how to be financially successful in life?”
Not one hand rises in the air, ever. Clearly every student wants to be successful and thinks they will be successful but none have been taught by their parents or their school system how to be financially successful in life. Not only are there no courses on basic financial success principles but there are no structured courses teaching basic financial literacy. We are raising our children to be financially illiterate and to fail in life. Is it any wonder that most Americans live paycheck to paycheck? That most Americans accumulate more debt than assets? That many Americans lose their homes when they lose their job? Is it any wonder that most Americans cannot afford college for their children and that student loan debt is now the largest type of consumer debt?
What's worse is what our children are being taught by their parents, the school system, politicians and the media. They are teaching our children that the wealthy are corrupt, greedy, have too much wealth and that this wealth needs to be redistributed. What kind of a message do you think that sends to America's future generation? It is teaching them that seeking financial success by pursuing the American Dreams is a bad thing.
The statistics from my five-year study on the daily habits that separate the wealthy from the poor illustrate the fact that the poor are poor because they have too many Poverty Habits and too few Rich Habits. Poor parents teach their children the Poverty Habits and wealthy parents teach their children the Rich Habits. We don't have a wealth gap in this country, we have a parent gap. We don't have income inequality, we have parent inequality.
Parents and our schools need to work together to instill good daily success habits as follows:
•Limit T. V., social media and cell phone use to no more than one hour a day.
• Require that children read one to two educational books a month.
• Require that children set monthly, annual and 5-year goals.
• Require that children save at least 25% of their earnings or gifts they receive.
• Teach children the importance of relationship building by requiring them to call friends, family, teachers, coaches etc. on their birthdays and to send thank you cards for gifts or help they received from anyone.
• Reassure children that mistakes are good not bad.
• Children need to learn how to manage money.
• Teach children how to manage their time.
1. What's the writer's purpose of raising the three questions at the beginning of the presentation?| A．To show children's ambition to lead a successful life. |
| B．To attach importance to financial success. |
| C．To blame parents, teachers, and the media for the lack of courses about money management. |
| D．To emphasize the association between financial success and financial literacy. |
| A．Get used to. | B．Increase. | C．Pay back. | D．Borrow. |
| A．Parents open up a checking account or savings account for children and force them to use their savings to buy the things they want. |
| B．Children understand that the very foundation of success in life is built on learning from parents' mistakes. |
| C．Children spend no more than 1 hour per day on Internet use. |
| D．Children are required to create daily “to do” lists and these lists are monitored by parents. |
2 . One of the major problems in our economy is inflation, a situation in which prices are going up faster than wages. Thus, a person has to work more hours to pay for the same items.
For example, let's say that this year a loaf of bread costs S1. 00 and the average salary in the United States is $10. 00 per hour. That means a person could earn enough money to buy a loaf of bread in one-tenth of an hour, or six minutes. Then, halfway through the year, the price of the bread goes up to $1.25, while wages stay the same.
That means that a person now has to work one-eighth of an hour-seven and a half minutes-to buy the same loaf of bread.
Now let's say that at the end of the year, wages go up to $11. 00 per hour, but the price of bread goes up to $1.50. Now a person has to work more than one-seventh of an hour-over eight minutes -to buy the same loaf of bread. As you can see, if more and more work time is spent earning money to buy loaves of bread, employees will have less money left over to buy other things. Inflation means that the same money buys fewer things, and everybody's standard of living goes down, even if salaries are going up.
Some kinds of inflation are worse than others. Moderate inflation does not distort relative prices or incomes severely. Galloping inflation happens rapidly, say at a rate of 100 percent or more within a year. And then there is hyperinflation-inflation so severe that people try to get rid of their currency before prices rise further and render the money worthless. Times of hyperinflation are usually characterized by social and political disorder.
1. What is the main purpose of the article?| A．To list major economic problems. |
| B．To discuss some effects of inflation. |
| C．To explain why bread prices increase. |
| D．To classify the types of inflation. |
| A．To complain about the rising price of bread. |
| B．To illustrate the effect of price changes. |
| C．To compare bread with other foods. |
| D．To explain the cause of social and political disorder. |
| A．The government will regulate the economy. |
| B．People will save money rather than spend it. |
| C．Workers might lose their jobs if they complain. |
| D．People must work longer to buy the same things. |
3 . One very important institution in our economy is the bank. Banks
Of course, banks also lend money. Ordinary people take out bank
Banks pay interest on the money they hold, and charge interest on the money they lend. For a bank to make a
Sometimes banks invest money as well as lend it. To invest money means to put it into a corporation. or some other project - for example, building a housing complex or doing medical research-
You might wonder what would happen if all the people with money in a bank wanted to take their money out at the same time. I mean, how would the bank be able to give everyone their money, if it had lent out or
Bank failures used to be
| A．raise | B．manage | C．save | D．collect |
| A．quiet | B．public | C．secret | D．safe |
| A．transfer | B．borrow | C．donate | D．exchange |
| A．accounts | B．savings | C．loans | D．notes |
| A．otherwise | B．however | C．therefore | D．moreover |
| A．interest | B．fees | C．debts | D．damages |
| A．profit | B．fortune | C．name | D．hit |
| A．in view of | B．in place of | C．in search of | D．in exchange for |
| A．either | B．neither | C．both | D．each |
| A．spent | B．wasted | C．lost | D．invested |
| A．account for | B．count on | C．stick to | D．look at |
| A．withdraw | B．invest | C．lend | D．collect |
| A．checks | B．principles | C．deposits | D．clerks |
| A．sacrifice | B．respond | C．expand | D．fail |
| A．rare | B．common | C．serious | D．costly |
4 . American parents usually think that their child should not have more pocket money than the children with whom he regularly connects even if they are wealthier. But neither are children expected to
Whatever the pocket money is, its entire use is not controlled by the
The idea of a bank account is too early for so
He will be saving, earning, and spending
| A．deal | B．communicate | C．fight | D．compare |
| A．necessary | B．important | C．urgent | D．meaningful |
| A．pupils | B．teachers | C．children | D．parents |
| A．setting aside | B．dealing with | C．getting rid of | D．making up |
| A．main | B．slow | C．full | D．real |
| A．miss | B．lose | C．disappear | D．melt |
| A．tall | B．large | C．healthy | D．small |
| A．resist | B．avoid | C．enjoy | D．delay |
| A．encourage | B．force. | C．beg | D．allow |
| A．prizes | B．salaries | C．incomes | D．gifts |
| A．develop | B．grow | C．progress | D．decline |
| A．timely | B．equal | C．suitable | D．satisfactory |
| A．save | B．spend | C．calculate | D．manage |
| A．because | B．however | C．therefore | D．otherwise |
| A．miserable | B．poor | C．rich | D．smart |
5 . High-quality customer service is preached(宣扬)by many,but actually keeping customers happy is easier said than done.
Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a retail store,but instead will alert their friends,relatives,co-workers,strangers-and anyone who will listen.
Store managers are often the last to hear complaints,and often find out only when their regular customers decide to frequent their competitors,according to a study jointly conducted by Verde Group and Wharton School.
“Storytelling hurts retailers and entertains customers,” said Paula Courtney,President of the Verde Group. “The store loses the customers,but the shopper must also find a replacement.”
On average,every unhappy customer will complain to at-least four others,and will no longer visit the specific store. For every dissatisfied customer,a store will lose up to three more due to negative reviews. The resulting “snowball effect” can be disastrous to retailers.
According to the research,shoppers who purchased clothing encountered the most problems. Ranked second and third were grocery and electronics customers.
The most common complaints include filled parking lots,cluttered(塞满了的)shelves,overloaded racks,out-of-stock items,long check-out lines,and rude salespeople.
During peak shopping hours,some retailers solved the parking problems by getting moonlighting(业余兼职的)local police to work as parking attendants. Some hired flag wavers to direct customers to empty parking spaces. This guidance eliminated the need for customers to circle the parking lot endlessly,and avoided confrontation between those eyeing the same parking space.
Retailers can relieve the headaches by redesigning store layouts,pre-stocking sales items,hiring speedy and experienced cashiers,and having sales representatives on hand to answer questions.
Most importantly,salespeople should be diplomatic and polite with angry customers.
“Retailers who're responsive and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those who aren't so friendly,” said Professor Stephen Hoch. “Maybe something as simple as a greeter at the store entrance would help.”
Customers can also improve future shopping experiences by filing complaints to the retailer,instead of complaining to the rest of the world. Retailers are hard-pressed to improve when they have no idea what is wrong.
1. Why are store managers often the last to hear complaints？| A．Most customers won't bother to complain even if they have had unpleasant experiences. |
| B．Customers would rather relate their unhappy experiences to people around them. |
| C．Few customers believe the service will be improved. |
| D．Customers have no easy access to store managers. |
| A．can stay longer browsing in the store |
| B．won't have trouble parking their cars |
| C．won't have any worries about security |
| D．can find their cars easily after shopping |
| A．Manners of the salespeople. |
| B．Hiring of efficient employees. |
| C．Huge supply of goods for sale. |
| D．Design of the store layout. |
| A．exert pressure on stores to improve their service |
| B．settle their disputes with stores in a diplomatic way |
| C．voice their dissatisfaction to store managers directly |
| D．shop around and make comparisons between stores |
6 . Most people are surprised to learn how much money is deducted from their earnings. Gross pay is a person's total wages or salary, and net pay is what remains after deductions. Where does the deducted money go?
In the United States, about 6 percent of each paycheck goes to Social Security, which protects the income of retired or disabled people. Workers who pay into the fund receive benefits, usually when they retire. Employers also withhold part of each check for federal income tax. This tax is the federal government's largest source of revenue.
Taxpayers often wonder what they receive for the money taken from their paychecks. The president must answer that question every year. According to the U.S. Constitution, the president must have approval from Congress to spend money. The president prepares an annual budget that summarizes the government's income and suggests how it should be spent. Some expenses, such as veterans' benefits and interest on savings bonds, are fixed. However, the president suggests how much should be spent on discretionary expenses such as national defense or cancer research.
Americans have a right to know how their tax dollars are spent, so copies of the budget are available in print and online, but these copies contain thousands of pages. Tools such as The Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget help people find the data they need. Budget explorer, an online tutorial, allows people to compare their guesses about where their money goes to the actual numbers. Users can also try to balance the federal budget. For more details, they can visit the websites of different agencies. These tools are one more means of putting tax dollars to work.
1. The main source of revenue for the federal government is _____.| A．corporate tax | B．individual income tax |
| C．interest on the public debt | D．Social Security fund |
| A．fixed expenses. | B．net pay |
| C．discretionary expenses | D．the government's revenue |
| A．To explain how the federal budget works. |
| B．To argue that less money should go to Social Security. |
| C．To expose wasteful government spending. |
| D．To illustrate the process of filing a federal income tax return. |
7 . Scientists from Austria, Finland and Hungary are using laser scanners to study the day-night rhythm of trees. As it turns out, trees go to sleep too.
Most living organisms adapt their behavior to the rhythm of day and night. Plants are no exception: flowers open in the morning, some tree leaves close during the night. Researchers have been studying the day and night cycle in plants for a long time: Linnaeus observed that flowers in a dark cellar continued to open and close, and Darwin recorded the overnight movement of plant leaves and stalks and called it ''sleep. '' But even to this day, such studies have only been done with small plants grown in pots, and nobody knew whether trees sleep as well. Now, a team of researchers from Austria, Finland and Hungary measured the sleep movement of fully grown trees using a time series of laser scanning point clouds consisting, of millions of points each.
''Our results show that the whole tree droops(下垂)during night which can be seen as position change in leaves and branches, '' says Eetu Puttonen(Finnish Geospatial Research Institute), ''The changes are not too large,only up to 10 cm for trees with a height of about 5 meters,but they were systematic and well within the accuracy of our instruments. ''
To rule out effects of weather and location, the experiment was done twice with two different trees. The first tree was surveyed in Finland and the other in Austria. The leaves and branches were shown to droop gradually,with the lowest position reached a couple of hours before sunrise. In the morning, the trees returned to their original position within a few hours. It is not yet clear whether they were “woken up” by the sun or by their own internal rhythm.
Andras Zlinszky(Centre for Ecological Research,Hungarian Academy of Sciences) explains ''Plant movement is always closely connected with the water balance of individual cells, which is affected by the availability of light through photosynthesis(光合作用). But changes in the shape of the plant are difficult to document even for small herbs as classical photography uses visible light that interferes with the sleep movement. '' With a laser scanner, plant disturbance is minimal. The scanners use infrared light(红外线),which is reflected by the leaves. Individual points on a plant are only illuminated for fractions of a second. With this laser scanning technique, a full-sized tree can be automatically mapped within minutes with sub-centimeter resolution(分辨率).
''We believe that laser scanning point clouds will allow us to develop a deeper understanding of plant sleep patterns and to extend our measurement scope from individual plants to larger areas, like orchards or forest plots, '' says Norbert Pfeifer(TU Wien).
''The next step will be collecting tree point clouds repeatedly and comparing the results to water use measurements during day and night, '' says Eetu Puttonen. ''This will give us a better understanding of the trees' daily tree water use and their influence on the local or regional climate. ''
1. What is the new discovery made by a team of researchers from Austria, Finland and Hungary?| A．Living organisms adapt their behavior to the rhythm of night. |
| B．Flowers in a dark cellar continued to open and close. |
| C．Plants grown in pots sleep at night. |
| D．Fully grown trees droop their branches at night. |
| A．They can document changes in the shape of branches and leaves. |
| B．They can connect plant movement with the water balance of cells. |
| C．They can use infrared light which is reflected by the leaves. |
| D．They can make trees automatically mapped with sub-centimeter resolution. |
| A．Visible light interferes with the sleep movement of plants. |
| B．Classical photography allows us to develop a deeper understanding of plant sleep patterns. |
| C．Researchers compared the results of forest plots to water use measurements. |
| D．It is clear that trees are woken up by their own internal rhythm. |
8 . Public Gardens
From rich rainforests to dryland gardens, the Hawaiian Islands feature gardens that display plants from nearly every climatic zone. The gardens featured in this leaflet represent a sampling of the botanical wonders you will find throughout the islands.
Kaua'
McBryde Garden
4425 Lawa'i Road
Koloa, Hawaii 96756
(808)742-2623
http://ntbg.org/
Formerly a sugar plantation, McBryde Garden is a green 252-acre valley garden with extensive plantings of palms, native plants, and early Polynesian introductions. McBryde serves as a research and conservation garden and is next door to Allerton Garden. Open daily. Call for hours and admission fees.
Big Island
Akaka Falls State Park
Highway 220
Hilo, Hawaii
Located at the end of Highway 220, just eleven miles west of Hilo, the park's star attraction is its namesake waterfall, plunging more than four hundred feet to a pool below. Green, jungle-like paths snake through the garden, requiring visitors to climb down several steep staircases. An excellent location for an afternoon picnic. Open from dawn to dusk. No entrance fee.
O'ahu
Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden
45-680 Luluku Road
Kane'ohe, Hawaii 96744
(808)233-7323
http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/parks/hbg/hmbg.htm
Ho'omaluhia displays plantings from the major tropical regions with a special emphasis on native Hawaiian plants. More than 400 acres of gardens with a jaw-dropping view of the Ko'olau Mountains. Open daily from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., except some holidays. No entrance fee. Campgrounds with bathroom facilities are provided free of charge. Guided nature hikes are offered.
1. What was McBryde Garden used to be?| A．A popular campsite. | B．A sugar plantation. |
| C．A research facility. | D．An ideal place for picnic. |
| A．Shocking. | B．Enormous. | C．Interesting. | D．Extraordinary. |
| A．All of the gardens open daily throughout the year. |
| B．None of the gardens charges admission fees. |
| C．All of the gardens can serve other purposes than a garden for visitors. |
| D．Visitors can find all the three gardens on the same island. |
9 . The American elm tree, with its soaring height and gracefully arching branches, was once a common sight throughout the eastern half of the United States. Yet by 1969, ninety percent of the American elms were
How did this happen? By the early 1900s, the European
To fight this disease, scientists crossbred American elms with European and Asiatic elms to create a disease-resistant hybrid. But these hybrids lack the characteristic
In the late 1970s, scientists tried another plan. Here and there around the countryside a few American elm trees had
| A．alive | B．dead | C．uprooted | D．cut |
| A．enemies | B．branches | C．origins | D．relatives |
| A．elsewhere | B．somewhere | C．nowhere | D．everywhere |
| A．separated | B．served | C．imported | D．floated |
| A．littering | B．tolerating | C．carrying | D．ignoring |
| A．kidnapped | B．presented | C．released | D．spread |
| A．height | B．trunk | C．width | D．bark |
| A．raised | B．developed | C．offered | D．attempted |
| A．satisfied | B．shocked· | C．honoured | D．rescued |
| A．suffered | B．survived | C．prevented | D．caught |
| A．ideal | B．golden | C．natural | D．strong |
| A．offered | B．awarded | C．guided | D．exposed |
| A．originally | B．completely | C．accidentally | D．continuously |
| A．tolerance | B．hostility | C．curiosity | D．ignorance |
| A．theory | B．gift | C．frame | D．cure. |
许多饲养宠物的人和宠物关系亲密,他们视鸟、狗、猫等宠物为家里的一员。你觉得这种人与宠物的关系好吗？请说说你的看法,并举例说明你那样认为的理由。
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