It may not be news to parents of teenage girls, but researchers have confirmed that no one can stop their 16-year-old daughter from deciding how the family spends its money.
The willpower and determination of teenage girls give them a big say in how a family’s money is spent on everything from food and meals to mobile phones, and, of course, clothes. Teenage boys did not show up at all in the analysis, which was designed to find out the influence of young people on household spending.
The findings on the spending power of teenage girls were calculated from Office for National Statistics records of family spending during the 1980s and 1990s. Researchers examined how much money went on services and leisure goods in different kinds of homes. They checked spending on food, restaurant meals, alcohol, tobacco, services, heating, transport, clothes and sports in 2,745 British families.
They found that teenage girls in the UK typically played an active role in family decisions about the allocation（分配）of household resources. But older children— those over the age of 21 who are still living with their parents—appear to have no say in household decisions.
They also tried to calculate to what extent the bargaining power of a teenager affected family budgets. “Every parent knows that children, even at a very early age, have their own preferences with regard to consumption, researchers said. “But children are only interested in a limited range of goods—mainly sweets and toys—and parents are able to use punishment to reduce their children’s bargaining power or remove it.” When they become teenagers, however, girls are much more independent and they are capable of earning their own money, which improves their bargaining power in family decisions.
The researchers could not explain why girls have more influence over spending while the evidence for boys is much less conclusive. However, this study could be of great significance to market research and how marketers target children. From the passage we can learn that .
| A．teenage girls have more influence over family budgets than teenage boys |
| B．teenage boys don't want to decide on household spending |
| C．teenage boys have some influence over household |
| D．teenage girls have weaker willpower and determination than teenage boys |
What does the underlined part “give them a big say” in the second paragraph mean?
| A．Make them dare to say something. |
| B．Make them want to know. |
| C．Make them say something meaningful. |
| D．Make their influence stronger. |
It appears that household decisions are NOT affected by .
| A．girls living with parents |
| B．girls over 21 |
| C．girls over 12 |
| D．girls living alone |
How can parents reduce children’s bargaining power?
| A．By persuading them |
| B．By offering them sweets or toys. |
| C．By threatening to punish them. |
| D．By allocating household resources. |
A staycation is a vacation when you do not travel at all. Some people use a staycation to just stay at home, and others prefer to experience the attractions around them without traveling very far.
There are many choices for staycations. Any town or city has plenty of choices for things to do if you know where to look. If the weather is nice, you can visit the local gardens or forests for a hike. You can look online for several historic places and create your own history tours. Of course, you can also visit other attractions in the areas like museums, restaurants, bars, parks, beaches, and so on. Often, if you drive just a few hours, you can find a city that you can walk around and see. Then by driving home you can save the cost of a hotel and a plane ride.
Others take the term “staycation” word for word and do not leave their houses at all. Some choices for this can include taking time off to cook a great meal and enjoy it together or spending all day at a pool.
Just as a coin has two sides, staycation has its advantages as well as disadvantages.
Since you are not traveling or staying in a hotel, a staycation can be unbelievably costeffective（低成本的）. You don’t have to pay for a hotel, so that cost has been completely eliminated. You are also saving by not driving very far and by not taking an airplane anywhere. Travel costs have become really high, and the farther you go, the higher they are. By staying close to home, you cut that cost by quite a bit. You are also pushing money back into your local economy（经济）by spending your money at local businesses rather than in cities that are far away from home. Finally, any stress that you feel with travel, whether that is from driving long distances or looking for an airport, will completely disappear.For what purpose is the text written?
| A．To introduce the general information of staycatons. |
| B．To compare staycatons with other vacations. |
| C．To persuade more people to have staycations. |
| D．To provide different ways of staycations. |
What is one of the advantages of a staycation?
| A．The economy in other cities is also improved. |
| B．People spend nothing when staying at home. |
| C．You can visit local attractions for free. |
| D．There is no stress from traveling. |
What does the underlined word “eliminated” in Paragraph 5 probably means?
| A．included | B．removed |
| C．covered | D．raised |
What will probably be discussed in the following paragraph?
| A．When to take a staycation. | B．What disadvantages a staycation has. |
| C．Why people prefer a staycation. | D．How to have a staycation safely. |
Animals Can Sense Natural Disasters
Among the dead in South Asia’ s tsunami（海啸）were many tourists at Sri Lanka’ s national wildlife park at Yala. But very few of the park’s animals — elephants, buffaloes, monkeys and wild cats — appear to have died. There are theories that animals can sense natural disasters and run away to safety.
First, it’s possible that the animals may have heard the quake before the tsunami hit. The underwater burst produced sound waves known as infrasound（次声）. Humans can’t hear infrasound, but many animals including dogs, elephants, tigers and pigeons can.
A second early warning sign the animals might have sensed is ground vibration（震动）. The great quake would have produced vibrational waves known as Rayleigh waves. These vibrations move through the ground like waves moving on the surface of the ocean but faster. They travel at ten times the speed of sound. The Rayleigh waves would have reached Sri Lanka hours before the water hit. Mammals, birds, insects and spiders can sense Rayleigh waves. So the animals at Yala might have felt the Rayleigh waves and then run to higher ground.
But what about humans? While we can’t hear infrasound, we can feel it, although we don’t necessarily know we’re feeling it. We also experience Rayleigh waves by special sensors in our joints（关节）, which exist just for that purpose. Sadly, it seems we don’t pay attention to the information when we get it. Maybe we screen it out because there’s so much going on before our eyes and in our ears.Why did few animals at Yala die when the tsunamis that caused a huge number of human deaths hit?
| A．Because human beings cannot hear the infrasonic sound. |
| B．Because the animals were staying at a higher place in the park. |
| C．Because the animals were able to run much faster than human beings. |
| D．Because the animals might have picked up the danger signals and ran away. |
Which of the statements about “Rayleigh waves” is true?
| A．Rayleigh waves can be felt both by animals and human beings. |
| B．Rayleigh waves, just like infrasonic sound, can only be felt by animals. |
| C．Rayleigh waves are vibrational waves that usually cause quakes or tsunamis. |
| D．Rayleigh waves move on the ocean surface at a speed ten times that of sound waves. |
According to the passage, which of the statement is true?
| A．We can’t feel the infrasound so we can’t be informed of the danger. |
| B．We ignore the information of tsunami’s coming even though we can also get it. |
| C．We were so busy on our minds that we feel neither infrasound nor Rayleigh waves. |
| D．We can feel Rayleigh waves and infrasound so we can escape the danger like animals. |
Knott’s Berry Farm is the nation’s oldest, and first, theme park and draws around five million visitors each year. Knott’s Berry Farm hardly had a very good start. Arriving in Southern California in the 1920s, the Knott Family farmed about 20 acres of land and finally started a restaurant called Mrs. Knott’ s Chicken Dinner Restaurant. Mrs. Knott’s food became well known and her husband Walter built a Ghost Town as a way of entertaining waiting customers. Today Knott’s Berry Farm has 165 rides, shows, attractions and restaurants. For more than 80 years, Knott’s Berry Farm has been entertaining families and visitors from around the world.
There are six different themed areas with rides and attractions in Knott’s Berry Farm. Fiesta Village throws attention to California’s Spanish heritage（遗产）. Indian Trails is similar to Fiesta Village but with an accent on Native American legends, crafts, music and dancing. The heart and soul of Knott’s, Ghost Town is an 1880s California Boom Town with cowboys, gunfights, and a real steam train. The Boardwalk makes people think of Southern California beach. Wild Water Wilderness is an 1800s-style park with water rapids and a magical journey into Native North America. For Peanuts fans, Camp Snoopy is a six-acre children’s wonderland with 30 rides and attractions. Knott’s Berry Farm is in Buena Vista, Orange County, California. It is about half an hour from downtown Los Angeles and 10 minutes from Disneyland. Knott’s Berry Farm is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the week. The park is open on Saturdays from 10 a. m. to 10 p.m. and from 10 a. m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. During the summer months, the park is open later. The theme park is closed on Christmas Day.The first paragraph is mainly about Knott’s Berry Farm’s __________.
| A．attractions | B．history |
| C．services | D．prices |
Besides Indian Trails, you can also experience Native American culture in __________.
| A．Fiesta Village | B．the Boardwalk |
| C．Wild Water Wilderness | D．Camp Snoopy |
What do we know about Knott’s Berry Farm from the passage?
| A．It is in Northern California. | B．It is open all the year round. |
| C．It has eight themed areas. | D．It is not far from Disneyland. |
In high school, George Lucas didn’t do much work because he spent all his time dreaming about racing cars.
Just a few days before graduation, George was driving home from the library in his Fiat; he prepared for a left turn by looking in the minor. But as he started the turn, he heard the sound of another car, a blowing horn（喇叭）, and the speeding Chevy hit the driver side of his car. The little Fiat turned over four or five times before it was stopped by a big tree. Luckily, George did not die in the accident, but his recovery was slow and he needed months of physical treatment. He would never be able to race ears now.
The accident really changed George’s life. He decided there must be some reason he survived, and made up his mind to get his act together and make something out of his life. He decided to go to university and developed an interest in reading and writing. He got on quite well in his studies. He didn’t quite forget about racing cars. At that time instead of driving race cars, he began filming them.
You may have seen one or all of George Lucas’s most famous films from the Star Wars series or the Indiana Jones trilogy. Not only has George produced movies, but also he has helped invent and develop new technologies to modernize the movie industry.
Today, Lucas, who earns as much as ＄3.0 billion, is one of the American film industry’s most successful directors and producers.What was George Lueas’s life like in high school?
| A．He was the best race ear driver. |
| B．He did very well in his school subjects. |
| C．He didn’t spend much time on his studies. |
| D．He was one of the worst students in school. |
We can learn from this passage that __________.
| A．George’s Fiat was not seriously damaged |
| B．the Chevy driver didn’t break the traffic law |
| C．George was seriously injured in the accident |
| D．the Chevy driver wasn’t injured in the accident |
The greatness of George Lucas mainly lies in his __________.
| A．earning a great deal of money |
| B．directing several famous movies |
| C．making movies about racing cars |
| D．making the film industry more modern |
根据短文内容，从下面A—F 选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。
A．Different ways of making friends over the Internet
B．Forming a regular “chat”community
C．The changes the Internet has brought to our life
D．Meeting Internet friends face to face
E. Extension（延伸） of friends over the Internet
F. Maintenance（维持） of friendship by keeping contact 1 .We live in the information age,which is changing many of the ways in our daily life. One of the most interesting developments of the information age is the Internet, which is a vast network of computers that link people ,businesses and communities around the world.
2. How do we make friends using the Internet? One way is to search for websites that have topics that interest us. For example , you might be interested in football. Then you search for a site run by a popular football club.there are hundreds of football sites, and most of them have a special website for their fans . The same is true of popular culture ,and many popular music bands have websites . Once you have located the right football club or pop group , then you will see where to click in order to “chat” with other fans. The word “chat”has got popular because of the Internet, which means a light conversation among friends . Another way to make friends is to access sites that are devoted to this purpose . When you search the Internet for these sites you will find that there are plenty of opportunities to meet people of all ages and from many different backgrounds.
3. Making a new friend is only the first step. The key to a successful relationship over the Internet is to keep in touch with your friend . When the relationship works in this way .it is very rewarding for both parters .You can set the style and pace of the exchange to suit each other .If you use “instant messenger” systems,your chat becomes a dialogue,which is a lot of fun and can help strengthen the growing friendship.
4. You will soon find that the topics go far beyond a discussion of football or music,even though these topics brought you both together . Another way to strengthen the friendship is to include your school friends in your conversations too , and then you can form your own “chat”group that meets regularly and becomes a small community of friends.
5. It’s like belonging to a club.Your club can extend to many new and old friends. And their conversations will enrich your life in ways that you could have never imagined .If your Internet club grows then perhaps you will find ways to meet your friends face to face, which will be another story.