Who says Americans worship the almighty (全能的) dollar? It's not true. Having enough free time is more important to most Americans than being rich, according to a new survey.
Only 13 percent of more than 2,400 people questioned in the telephone survey ranked being wealthy as most important to them, while 67 percent ranked free time as their top priority (优先考虑的事), higher than having a successful career, getting married, and having children. "Everyone wants free time to do the things they want to do, young, middle-aged or old," said Richard Morin, of the Pew Social ~ Demographic Trends Project, which conducted the survey. "So our desire to play unites us."
The survey also showed that people who were educated in university valued career success over wealth, so did middle-aged people. Not surprisingly, those who didn't have money, ranked wealth very highly. This included minorities, first generation Americans and less educated people. The survey also revealed that a disproportionate (不成比例的) number of people under the age of 30 and retired people in the group made $ 20,000 or less a year. But the emphasis on wealth lessens with age, with younger people putting value on it but hardly any seniors. "It just diminishes (减弱) with time as the reality sets in that you would never be rich," Morin said. "But also, as for old people the reality sets in that you don't have to be rich to lead a very comfortable and fulfilling life. "
While wealth was not at the top of people's list of priorities, 43 percent still said it was somewhat important.The survey showed that the majority of American people ranked ______ as the most important.
| A．wealth | B．a successful career | C．marriage | D．free time |
Who cares least for wealth, according to the passage?
| A．Young people | B．First generation Americans |
| C．Old people | D．Less-educated people |
According to the survey, what did middle-aged people regard as more important?
| A．success in career | B．education level | C．wealth | D．comfort |
What is the belief of old people according to the third paragraph?
| A．Wealth is as important to the old as health. |
| B．One needs to put money away for his retired life. |
| C．One doesn't have to be rich to live a satisfying life. |
| D．One would never get rich until he retires. |
Dick was born in a poor family. His father had a small boat and went fishing in the morning and sold the fish in the market in the afternoon. Then he bought some food for his family. When winter came, they were often hungry. One morning the hungry man fell into the river and wasn’t found. Dick’s mother left her three-year-old son without saying good-bye. His aunt had to look after him.
Twenty years passed. Dick became a tall, strong man. He found work on a farm. He worked hard and wanted to get more money. He often went to see his aunt with some nice presents. The woman was very happy but one day she died in a traffic accident. The young man was very sad. After he buried her, he decided to buy a beautiful tombstone(墓碑)for her. He went to town and came in a shop, but all the tombstones were too expensive. He asked, “Do you sell an old tombstone, sir?” “Yes, we do, sir, ” answered the shopkeeper. “Is it as expensive as the new one?”
“No, it’s much cheaper,” said the man. “But another name was engraved (刻) on it.” “It doesn’t matter, ” said Dick. “My aunt couldn’t read.” If , the family members were hungry.
| A．Dick’s father could catch no fish in winter |
| B．Dick’s father had a boat in winter |
| C．Dick’s father had to look after him in winter |
| D．no food was sold in winter |
Dick wanted to get more money to.
| A．marry a wife | B．give his aunt nice presents |
| C．buy a farm | D．build a house |
Dick often went to see his aunt because.
| A．she felt lonely | B．she was often ill |
| C．she had no children | D．with her help he grew up |
Dick wanted to buy an old tombstone because.
| A．he didn’t had enough money to buy a new one |
| B．his aunt couldn’t read whose name was engraved |
| C．his aunt wasn’t going to mind it |
| D．nobody knew what his aunt’s name was |
Too many people want others to be their friends，but they don’t give friendship back. That is why some friendships don’t last long. To have a friend，you must learn to be one. You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules：be honest；be generous；be understanding.
Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you do not tell the truth，people usually find out. If a friend finds out that you haven’t been honest，you may lose the friend’s trust. Good friends always count_ on one another to speak and act honestly.
Generosity means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow. You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes .Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings. These can be very valuable to a friend. They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them，you help your friend know better.
Sooner or later every one needs understanding and helping with a problem. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be the first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend’s place so you can understand the problem better.
No two friendships are ever exactly alike .But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends，you must practice honesty，generosity and understanding.Some friendships don’t last very long because ________.
| A．there are too many people who want to make friends |
| B．some people receive friendship but don’t give friendship back |
| C．those who give others friendship receive friendship from others |
| D．they don’t know friendship is something serious |
According to the passage，honesty is________.
| A．something countable |
| B．the base of friendship |
| C．as important as money |
| D．more important than anything else |
The best title of this passage is ________.
| A．Honesty Is the Best Policy |
| B．A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed |
| C．How to Be Friends |
| D．Three Important Points in Life |
What’s the meaning of “count on” in this passage?
| A．数，点（数） | B．认为，看作 |
| C．重视 | D．期待 |
Linda Evans was my best friend—like the sister I never had. We did everything together：piano lessons，movies，swimming，horseback riding.
When I was 13，my family moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters，and we saw each other on special times—like my wedding(婚礼) and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes，and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back，stamped “Address(地址) Unknown” I had no idea how to find Linda.
Over the years，I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share(分享) happiness of my children and then grandchildren. And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.
One day I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman—Linda’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmans，” I thought，but I still wrote to her.
She called as soon as she got my letter. “Mrs.Tobin！”she said excitedly，“Linda Evans Wagman is my mother.”
Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much，even after 40 years，laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure：We won’t lose each other again!The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans ________.
| A．at the age of 13 |
| B．before she got married |
| C．after they moved to new homes |
| D．before the writer’s family moved away |
They didn’t often write to each other because they ________.
| A．got married |
| B．had little time to do so |
| C．didn’t like writing letters |
| D．could see each other on special time |
There was an empty place in the writer’s heart because she ________.
| A．was in trouble |
| B．didn’t know Linda’s address |
| C．received the card that she sent |
| D．didn’t have a friend like Linda to share her happiness or sadness |
They haven’t kept in touch ________.
| A．for about 40 years |
| B．for about 27 years |
| C．since they got married |
| D．since the writer’s family moved away |
A businessman walks into a bank in San Francisco and asks for the loan officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow ＄5,000. The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan. So the businessman hands over the keys to a Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checks out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Rolls into the bank’s underground garage and park it there.
Two weeks later, the businessman returns, and repays the ＄5,000 and the interest, which comes to ＄15.41
The loan officer says, “We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is that why you would bother to borrow ＄5,000?”
Laughing, the businessman replies, “Where else in San Francisco can I park my car for two weeks for ＄157.”The businessman walks into the bank with the true purpose of .
| A．borrowing ＄5,000 | B．meeting the loan officer |
| C．finding a place to park his car | D．showing how rich he is |
The loan officer is puzzled because .
| A．he never thought he could meet a multimillionaire in his bank |
| B．he thinks the businessman is crazy to leave his car in the bank |
| C．he never thought the businessman could drive a Roils Royce |
| D．he thinks ＄5,000 is so small a sum of money to the businessman |
The underlined word “collateral” In Paragraph 1 most probably means “” .
| A．security | B．payment | C．reward | D．deal |
Which of the following words can best describe the businessman according to the story?
| A．Honest. | B．Clever | C．Rich | D．Kind |
Should parents ever hit their children?
Research suggests many of us are likely to respond “no”, and public support for spanking (打屁股) has been falling over the years. But surveys also show that 75 percent to nearly 90 percent of parents admit spanking their child at least once.
I was raised in a zero-tolerance( 零容忍) home for disrespect, and my parents often turned to physical punishment. And, no, I don’t feel I was damaged by it.
Nothing is more annoying than watching ill-mannered behavior from children.
But there is data to suggest that a return to old-school spanking isn’t the answer.
Two years ago , Newsweek reported that it had found data suggesting that teens whose parents used physical punishment were more likely to become aggressive(好斗的).
Murray Straus, professor at the University of New Hampshire in America, has studied the topic of children and spanking for decades. He said that children who were physically punished have lower IQs than their peers. It may be that children with lower IQs were more likely to get spanked, but the punishment may have been counterproductive (反作用) to their mental development, as well.
Some researchers make the argument that occasional open-handed smacks (用巴掌打) on the bottom are not only harmless but can have some benefit.
Last year, Marjorie Gunnoe, a psychologist at Calvin College, studied teens who have never been spanked. There are a greater number of children growing up without ever having been physically punished. Gunnoe’s research suggests they don’t turn out any better than those who were sometimes spanked.
There are some parents who simply cannot control their tempers. But I still believe that the best parents are the ones who are able to offer fair and firm discipline (管教) without ever turning to physical punishment. What can we know from the research in the second paragraph?
| A．Many of the parents made no response to the survey. |
| B．More and more people support spanking in public. |
| C．Most parents have the experience of spanking their children. |
| D．Many of the parents think they should hit their children. |
According to Marjorie Gunnoe’s research, ________ .
| A．the children who have never been spanked do better than those who were sometimes spanked |
| B．instead of harmless, spanking can have a little benefit |
| C．spanking has little effect on the children’s future performance |
| D．the teens who were often spanked are more likely to be aggressive |
In the author’s opinion, the best parents are the ones ______.
| A．who often use physical punishment | B．who never use physical punishment |
| C．who use physical punishment properly | D．who take physical punishment as useful tool |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The author’s parents were strict with him when he was young. |
| B．The author thinks his parents’ spanking did no harm to him. |
| C．Murray Straus thinks spanking has nothing to do with children’s IQs. |
| D．Some parents spank their children because they can’t control their tempers. |