Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. Parents often give their children an amount of money that they may spend as they wish. The purpose is to let the children learn from experience at an early age when financial mistakes are not very costly.
A child may receive an allowance each week or each month. The amount is not so important. But parents should make clear what the child is expected to pay for with the money.
At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents should not offer more money until the next allowance is to be given.
Older children may be responsible enough to budget larger costs like those for clothing. The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving.
Many people who have written on the subject say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life. Paying children to do extra work around the home, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.
Allowances give children a chance to experience three things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving it to organizations. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it.
Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and investing. Many banks offer free savings accounts for young people with small amounts of money.
1.The functions of allowances given to children are the following EXCEPT ______.
A. they can save more money for their future business
B. they can give them to charities
C. they may spend them on what they like
D. they can learn to deal with money
2.The underlined word "sacrifice" in the last paragraph means "_____".
A. 牺牲 B. 计划 C. 选择 D. 放弃
3.What's the main idea of the passage?
A. Children should save part of their allowance.
B. Don’t pay your child for work around the home.
C. Allowance helps teach children early about money.
D. Parents should allow children to spend money as they wish.
4.How many advantages of saving has the passage mentioned?
A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 5
5.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Children are advised to buy anything they wish to with the allowance.
B. Parents should offer children more money if they spend all of their allowance soon after they get it.
C. It can be useful to pay children to do extra work around the home.
D. It is unnecessary for the children to save part of the allowance.
A Tchaikovsky concerto（协奏曲）is what made Romel Joseph fall in love with the violin.
He learned how to play in Haiti, where he was born, but a Fulbright scholarship brought him to the United States, and he finally earned a master’s degree, reports CBS News reporter Katie Couric. Music had changed his life. He wanted to do the same for the children of Haiti.
Joseph built a school in Port-au-Prince nearly 20 years ago. He was on the third floor when suddenly “It was like boom boom boom and everything just opened,” Joseph said. “And the next thing I knew I was on the ground.”
Blind since birth, Joseph tried to feel his way out, but was pinned（夹）beneath heavy concrete（混凝土）. He remained trapped for 18 hours. He prays that his new wife, seven months pregnant（怀孕的）, will be found.
He is now being treated at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital for two injured legs and an arm.
Joseph wonders if he’ll ever play the violin again. He can feel sensation（知觉）in his fingertips. He said, “If you were to give me a violin and if I didn’t have to fold the fingers, I would be able to play.”
Joseph’s daughter Victoria spent three terrifying days unsure of her father’s fate. For her, having him home is the sweetest music.
“Can you imagine your dad not being able to play the violin?” Couric asked.
“No, I can’t,” Victoria Joseph said. “But I will love him all the same if he can’t.”
Romel doesn’t know how many of his 300 students died in the quake. As he waits for news about his wife, Romel Joseph is already planning a return to Haiti to rebuild the school and continue teaching there.
“We can save two children, 20, 200, 300, 500 through education and music, and these children will make a difference,” Romel Joseph said.
1. Romel began to like music ________.
A. because he was blind since birth
B. after he had listened to a famous piece of music
C. when he got a scholarship to study in America
D. since he was born in Haiti
2.From what Romel said in Paragraph 6, we can infer that he was ________.
A. upset B. fearful C. excited D. optimistic
3.To Victoria, the best thing is ________.
A. to see her father recover from the injury quickly
B. to listen to her father playing the sweetest music
C. to play the violin as well as her father
D. to be sure that her father could play the violin
4.Why does Romel want to go back to Haiti?
A. To save his students from the earthquake.
B. To change the life of children by teaching music.
C. To find out how seriously his school was damaged.
D. To look for his wife who is pregnant.
5. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. Music education: keep your creativity alive
B. A great blind musician and his students
C. Haiti earthquake: a story of a music teacher
D. How did some Haiti earthquake victims survive
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空
It was a winter morning, just before Christmas, while most people were warming up their cars, my husband, Trevor, had to ride his bike 4 kilometers away from home to work. On his 1. (arrive), he parked his bike outside the back door 2. usual. After 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone, 3. was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, and also the bike was used 4. (get) groceries, saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live. I was so sad 5. I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, and then called my husband to fetch 6. . Once again my husband had a way to get to and 7. his job. It really is 8. honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before. People say that a smile can 9. (pass) from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect on our lives because it 10.(strong) our faith in humanity. And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others.
I stepped into my hotel room which was surrounded by a(n) 26 king-size bed, flanked（两侧有）by overstuffed armchairs. “Wow,” I thought to myself. “Nice place.”
I 27 hotels. I love to enter a clean room, look out the window, or walk out in the morning 28 that each afternoon when I return, someone else will have made the bed.
The 29 is that unless Alison travels with me, I never sleep well in hotels. I miss my family. Even though Linus and Camille, aged 4 and almost 2, find a way to interrupt even the 30 night’s sleep at home, still, I’d rather be with them.
I’m deeply 31 by the parents who wake up too late with the realization: “My children grew up too 32 . In the busy and noisy career and life, I 33 their childhood.”
A hundred years from now, nobody will remember the car you drove or the large house you lived. The world might 34 greatly however, based on your 35 on the life of a small child. Your life will most certainly improve, if you pay attention to your important 36 , and make the choice to put her or him first. What could you do today to let your loved ones know how much they 37 to you? What will you do tomorrow? And the next day?
Think of one specific 38 that you can take, and take it. Challenge yourself to find new ways to 39 your appreciation and love on a daily basis.
Room service will never kiss you goodnight! Nothing 40 family.
1.A. empty B. comfortable C. ordinary D. innocent
2. A. book B. visit C. love D. hate
3.A. knowing B. noticing C. expecting D. forgetting
4. A. surprise B. situation C. problem D. condition
5.A. worst B. longest C. shortest D. best
6. A. troubled B. moved C. amused D. impressed
7.A. slow B. early C. fast D. late
8.A. recorded B. understood C. valued D. missed
9. A. end B. differ C. boom D. stable
10.A. attraction B. benefit C. influence D. education
11. A. ability B. family C. career D. future
12. A. mean B. do C. pay D. work
13. A. word B. suggestion C. thought D. action
14. A. express B. suggest C. explain D. introduce
15. A. represents B. fights C. satisfies D. beats
He had to _______ paying the bills because of a lack of money.
A. put down B. put off C. put out D. put aside
When she saw her son liked reading, she did all she could ______ him.
A. help B. to help C. helping D. to helping
