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Wealth starts with a goal saving a dollar at a time. Call it the piggy bank strategy(策略). There are lessons in that time-honored coin-saving container.
Any huge task seems easier when reduced to baby steps. I f you wished to climb a 12,000-foot mountain, and could do it a day at a time, you would only have to climb 33 feet daily to reach the top in a year. If you want to take a really nice trip in 10 years for a special occasion, to collect the $15,000 cost, you have to save $3.93 a day. If you drop that into a piggy bank and then once a year put $1,434 in a savings account at 1% interest rate after-tax, you will have your trip money.
When I was a child, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me that, if I wanted something, I should save money to buy it. We associate piggy banks with children, but in many countries, the little containers are also popular with adults. Europeans see a piggy bank as a sign of good fortune and wealth. Around the world, many believe a gift of a piggy bank on New Year’s Day brings good luck and financial success. Ah, but you have to put something in it.
Why is a pig used as a symbol of saving? Why not an elephant bank, which is bigger and holds more coins? In the Middle Ages, before modern banking and credit instruments, people saved money at home, a few coins at a time dropped into a jar or dish. Potters(制陶工) made these inexpensive containers from an orange-colored clay(黏土) called “pygg,” and folks saved coins in pygg jars.The Middle English word
for pig was “pigge”. While the Saxons pronounced pygg, referring to the clay, as “pug”, eventually the two words changed into the same pronunciation, sounding the “i” as in pig or piggy. As the word became less associated with the orange clay and more with the animal, a clever potter fashioned a pygg jar in the shape of a pig, delighting children and adults. The piggy bank was born.
Originally you had to break the bank to get to the money, bringing in a sense of seriousness into savings. While piggy banks teach children the wisdom of saving, adults often need to relearn childhood lessons. Think about the things in life that require large amounts of money--- college education, weddings, cars, medical care, starting a business, buying a home, and fun stuff like great trips. So when you have money, take off the top 10%, put it aside, save and invest wisely. 
What is the piggy bank strategy?

A.Paying 1% income tax at a time.
B.Setting a goal before making a travel plan.
C.Aiming high even when doing small things.
D.Putting aside a little money regularly for future use.

Why did the writer’s parents give him a piggy bank as a gift?

A.To delight him with the latest fashion.
B.To encourage him to climb mountains.
C.To help him form the habit of saving.
D.To teach him English pronunciation.

What does then underlined word “something”(Paragraph 3) most probably refer to?

A.Money B.Gifts
C.Financial success D.Good luck

The piggy ban originally was _________.

A.a potter’s instrument
B.a cheap clay container
C.an animal-shaped dish
D.a pig-like toy for children

The last paragraph talks about ________.

A.the seriousness of educating children
B.the enjoyment of taking a great trip
C.the importance of managing money
D.the difficulty of starting a business
科目 英语   题型 阅读理解   难度 中等
知识点: 日常生活类阅读
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When we donate blood, a small amount is usually taken in advance for at least ABO and Ph systems typing. If you are O+, the O is your ABO type and the + is your Rh type. It is possible to be A, B, AB, or O as well as Rh + or Rh-.
The ABO system was discovered by Karl Landsteiner in the early 1900s. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his achievements. There are four basic types of blood in the ABO system: A, B, AB and O. Everybody is born with one of these four types of blood. We get blood type, just like hair color and height from parents. Because of the substances(物质) contained in each type, the four groups must be transfused carefully, If two different blood types are mixed together, it may put a person into an extremely dangerous situation. Basically, A and B cannot be mixed. A and B cannot receive AB, but AB may receive A or B. In an emergency, type O blood can be given because it is most likely to be accepted by all blood types, so it is often called the universal donor. However, there is still a risk. For the opposite reason, AB is sometimes called the universal receiver. However, because there can be so many reactions in the blood bank of the hospital.
There is a relationship between your blood type and your nationality. Among the Europeans, about 45 percent have type O while 42 percent have type A. The rarest is type AB. Other races have different percentage. For example, some American Indian groups have nearly 100 percent type O out of 100 donors in the world…

84 donors are Rh+
16 donors are Rh-
38 are O+
7 are O-
34 are A+
6 are A-
9 are B+
2 are B-
3 are AB+
1 is AB-

1. Which of the following shown the correct relationships in blood transfusions?
A B A B A B A B
AB O AB O AB O AB O
A B C D
2. The underlined word “transfuse” most probably means ________.
A. to put the blood into a container
B. to move the blood from one place to another
C. to put the blood of one person into the body of another
D. to give power to another person
3. The writer suggests that the third most common blood type among the Europeans is ______.
A. B B. A C. AB D. O
4 The text mainly tells us ______.
A. about the basic types of human blood
B. what kind of blood is the most common
C. about Karl Landsteiner who won the Nobel Prize
D. the relationship between blood type and nationality

第三部分阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。三百六十
An allowance(零用钱) is an important tool for teaching kids how to budget, save and make their own decisions. Children remember and learn from mistakes when their own dollars are lost or spent foolishly.
How large is an allowance appropriate? Experts say there is not right amount. Actual amounts differ from area to area, and from family to family.
To set an appropriate allowance for your child, work out a weekly budget. Allow for entertainment expenditures (花费) such as movie and snack. Next include everyday expenses such as lunch money, bus fare and school supplies. “If you make the child responsible for these bills, ”says Josephine Swanson, a consumer specialist, “he or she will learn to budget for necessary expenditures.”
Finally add some extra money to make saving possible. If you can, keep your child’s allowance in line with that of his friends, a child whose purchasing power falls away below his peers can feel left out.
It can be tough but avoid excusing your children when they make a mistake with their allowance. When Brooke Stephens was ten and growing up in Jacksonville, her mother gave her $5 a week. $1.75 of which was for bus fare and lunch. “ If you lose money” Brooke’s mother told her, “you walk home.”
One week the girl spent all her allowance in a candy store, and then she called home for a ride, “Mom made me walk home,” recalls Stephens, now a financial planner in Brooklyn. “At first I was angry. But I finally realized that she was trying to teach me an important lesson.”
Experts advise an allowance should not be tied directly to a child’s daily chore (琐事). Kids should help around the house not because they get paid for it but because they share responsibilities as members of family. You might, however, pay a child for doing extra jobs at home. That can develop his or her initiative (主动性).
1. What does the text mainly discuss?
A. How to develop a child’s initiative.
B. How to work up a budget.
C. How to teach a child to save money.
D. How to teach a child to manage money matters.
2. It can be inferred from the text that if a child is given an allowance, he or she may_____.
A. spend all the money very soon
B. be spoiled and finally ruined
C. lose the money and can not return home
D. feel responsible and be careful about money
3. The underlined part “his peers”(in Para.4)probably refers to ______.
A. his friends B. his brothers C. his parents D. his teachers
4 Why does the author mention Brooke Stephens?
A. To question the opinion about pocket money.
B. To compare Stephens with other experts.
C. To explain the parents should be strict when children are developing habits about money.
D. To suggest that pocket money is useless in developing a child’s sense of responsibility.


The food we eat seems to have a great effect on our health. Although science has made big steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of human illness is related to food and forty percent of cancer is related to food as well. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, some researchers realized that things commonly used to keep colour in meats and other food additives(添加剂)caused cancer.
Yet, these additives remain in our food, and it is difficult to know which things on the wrappings(包装)of foods are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to their animals, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of cows. Sometimes similar tings are supplied to animals not for their health, but just to make a profit.
The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to get a higher price on the market. Although some countries have tried to control such things, the practice continues.
1. According to this passage, we can know___________. .
A. perhaps most of human illness is caused by what we eat
B. perhaps most kinds of cancer are related to what people eat
C. cancer was discovered in 1945
D. science has made food unfit to eat
2.Things that are used to keep colours in meats are________. .
A. harmful B. useless C. helpless D. dangerous
3. All the additives________. .
A. are bright and colourless
B. are not bright and colourful
C. have indirect effects on our health
D. have direct effects on our health
4. People use additives_________ .
A. to make food more unfit to eat
B. to improve the colour and taste of the food
C. to change colour of the food
D. to take off the diseases of the food
5. Which of the following is not true?
A. Some wrappings of food are harmful.
B. Farmers try to make more money on the market by fattening their animals.
C. “The practice continues” means “things are still going on like that”.
D. We needn’t take care of what we eat..


We already know the fastest, least expensive way to slow climate change: Use less energy. With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more—doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets.
Not long ago, My wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet—not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change. Scientists have reported recently that the world is bending up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don’t keep reducing emissions(排放)of carbon dioxide(CO2)and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere.
We decided to try an experiment. For one month we recorded our personal emissions of CO2. . We wanted to see how much we could cut back, so we went on a strict diet. The average US household(家庭)produces about 150 pounds of CO2 a day by doing common-place things like turning on air-conditioning or driving cars. That’s more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average, mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses. But how much should we try to reduce?
For an answer, I checked with Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth. In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting(融化)of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica. “To stay below that point, we need to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent,” he said.
Good advice, I thought. I’d opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind. We’d gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock. I’d almost forgotten the windows even opened. We should not let this happen again. It’s time for us to change our habits if necessary.
1. Why did the author and his wife try a new diet?
A. To take special kinds of food B. To respond to climate change.
C. To lose weight D. To improve their health
2 The underlined words “tipping points” most probably refer to________.
A. freezing points B. burning points C. melting points D. boiling points
3. It can be inferred from the passage that_________
A. it is necessary to keep the air-conditioning on all the time
B. it seems possible for every household to cut emissions of CO2
C. the average US household produces about 3,000 pounds of CO2 a month
D. the average European household produces about 1,000 pounds of CO2 a month
4. Which of the following would be the title for this passage?
A. Saving Energy Starts at Home
B. Changing Our Habits Begins at Work
C. Changing Climate Sounds Reasonable
D. Reducing Emission of CO2 proves Difficult


When a close friend dies, it often forces you to consider your own death. The more you have in common with the friend, the more his death will make you wonder about your own. Sometimes you will naturally say to yourself, "It could just as easily have been me." Such a death has a way of reminding us how fragile life is, and it may cause you to reassess(重新评价) the direction of your own life.
Jack's story is a good example. A successful businessman making a lot of money, Jack didn't spend as much time with his family as he wanted. His job required him to work long hours. But three years ago one of his best friends, a man who worked in the same office, had a heart attack. He died while celebrating his daughter's eighteenth birthday in a restaurant. He was only fifty years old.
Not long after his friend's death, Jack started to have a chest pain. Finally he had a good physical check-up. He received a clean bill of health. But the chest pain continued. He kept thinking of the death of his friend. Jack thought about how much his friend missed in life and he saw how hard it was for his friend's family to manage after he passed away.
Jack realized that he didn't want to end up his life that way. He talked his feelings over with his wife and children, and decided to change his way of life. The family moved to a small town where he started a simple life. Now he is running a small art gallery(画廊). He is relaxed, and says he has never been so happy in his life, and he has got no more chest pain.
1. Your close friend's death is __________________ to you.
A. a warning B. common C. a direction of life D. an example
2. The underlined sentence in the third paragraph means "________________".
A. The doctor didn't write a word on his bill
B. The doctor didn't want Jack to pay for the bill
C. The doctor didn't find anything wrong with him
D. The doctor didn't want to treat his pain
3. His friend's death made Jack ________________.
A. lose much interest in life
B. realize that he missed the friend very much
C. doubt his way of life
D. ill for some time
4. While living in the small town Jack ________________.
A. earns less money B. gets more time
C. has a happier life D. does all these mentioned above

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