As a parent you have the responsibility to help your children understand money. But first you will need to understand your own attitude towards money, and make sure to practise what you teach.

Ask yourself what things that cost money are the most important to you. Also ask yourself what financial goals do you have for yourself and your family this year, in five years, and so on?

Take a minute to write down a list. Below are some ideas to get you started. There’s no right or wrong here. This exercise is just to help you grasp what money means to you so that you can help your children understand your values.

◆ Home

◆ Household expenses

◆ Education

◆ Recreation, entertainment

◆ Savings

◆ Charitable contributions

You can start discussing money when your children are as young as three years old. The best time to teach a child anything is when he or she shows an interest. So he prepared to start talking about money when your child starts asking you to buy candy or toys.

Begin by showing how money is exchanged for items or services. Show your children how money works by allowing them to buy something, such as a toy or a book.

Be open and honest, and explain to your children why they can or cannot have certain items. If you must say no to a child’s request to spend money, you might say, “You have enough toy trucks now.” Or, if the request is for multiple items, “You have a choice to make, between this toy and that one.”

You can start explaining the bigger picture once your children understand the basic function of money. Show an older child how money is used to provide for the whole family.

45. Why should parents understand their own money attitudes first?

A. To help their children earn money.      B. To set an exampel to their children.

C. To help them set financial goals.       D. To help them tell right from wrong.

46. Which of the following is NOT one of the major categories of things that cost money listed in the article?

A. Travel and investments.               B. Household expenses.

C. Education and entertainment.         D. Savings and charitable contributions.

47. Which of the following is NOT a way to teach the children about money?

A. Showing how money is exchanged.

B. Allowing children to buy whatever they like.

C. Explaining the limits involved in using money.

D. Having an open discussion about money.

48. According to the passage, when should parents start teaching a child about money?

A. When the child can understand its basic function.

B. When the child can understand how money is used to provide for the whole family.

C. When the child knows how to support a family.

D. As young as three, or when they start showing an interest.

 

Parents whose children show a special interest in a sport feel very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers. Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men or women? For many children it means starting schoolwork very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place. It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing.

Another problem is of course money. In many countries money for training is available from government for the best young sportsmen and women. If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc.

Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age. Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed. Professional ( 专业的) trainers however, believe that it is only by training young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person. It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training.

This article is probably taken from ________.

A. a letter                      B. an advertisement  

C. a personal diary               D. a newspaper article

According to the passage parents whose children show a special interest in a sport _______.

A. feel uncertain if they should let their children train to be sportsmen or women

B. try to get financial support from the government for their children’s training

C. have to get medical advice from doctors about training methods

D. prefer their children to be trained as young as possible

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. When young, sports men or women won’t have much time for their schoolwork

B. Early training may damage their muscles.

C. Most children may become professional sports men or women after a long period of training.

D. It’s very expensive for parents to support their child’s development in sports.

_______ can become the best players after many years of training.

A. Most people                        B. Some people 

C. Only a few people              D. No people

The life-long benefits of teaching children how to take care of their money make it well worth the effort. Children who are not taught these lessons pay the consequences for a life time. Some parents don’t teach children about money because they think they shouldn’t talk about money with children, don’t have the time, or think they don’t have enough money. Parents should take the time to teach children about money regardless of their income and should start when children are young.
Most people have strong feelings and opinions about money, based on childhood experiences and the values and beliefs of their families. Most often, these experiences, values, and beliefs are different for each parent. Parents should talk about these feelings and opinions and establish an unchanging approach（方式） to teaching children about money. This is important for the healthy development of children.
Here are some tips that parents can keep in mind as they begin teaching their children to manage money:
★ Guide and advise your children how to spend their money, rather than tell them what they can and cannot do.
★ Encourage and praise children rather than criticize their actions.
★ Allow children to learn by mistakes and by successes.
★ Be consistent（前后一致的） while taking children’s differences into consideration.
★ Include all family members in money management discussions, decision making, and activities that are suitable for their age. As children get older include them in discussions of limits and consequences.
★ Expect all family members to do some everyday chores based on their abilities without being paid.
★ Express your desire to have things you can’t afford. Children need to know that parents say “no” to themselves, too.
【小题1】It is _____ for parents to teach their children about money management in their childhood.

A．easy

B．useless

C．too early

D．beneficial

【小题2】15-year-old Harry isn’t good at managing his money. His mother is advised to _____.

A．explain to him how to manage his money better

B．pay him more money to deal with his chores

C．praise him for what he has done

D．allow him to buy what he wants

【小题3】When parents discuss how to manage the family finances, they should _____.

A．include their children in the discussion

B．express their desire to have some valuable things

C．pay more attention to their children’s differences

D．try to meet their older children’s needs first

Have you ever noticed someone "talking" to them-selves? What did you think? The word "crazy" probably came to your mind. Wait a minute, though. Maybe they’re doing something meaningful.
Speaking practice can be effective in many different forms when people learn English or another foreign language. Imitating the speech of others is proven to be highly effective in developing a native speaker’s level of fluency in a language. Actually you’ve already proven that to your-self.
How? That’s how you learned your first language! Whether it was English, Spanish, French or some other language, you "imitated" your mother, father, other family members, friends, teachers and whoever else was around making "talking" noises at you as you formed your first communicative language skills.
So don’t think those who are talking to themselves are "crazy". At least don’t do so until you’ve tried it for your-self, in English or in your new foreign language.
As you go through your day, in English or your new foreign language, tell yourself what you’re doing at the moment and what you’re going to do during the day.
"Which of these shirts, ties, etc. should I wear today? Not this one, I wore it just last week. Maybe this one, but I don’t like this color with the pants. Let’s try another one," you might say as you are getting dressed.
If you live alone, you can talk aloud whenever you want without disturbing others. If you don’t live alone, however, then first explain to your family or roommates what you’ll be doing, to avoid a quiet phone call to the local psychiatrist (精神病学家).
【小题1】The author wrote the passage mainly to _______.

A．tell us how to talk to ourselves

B．introduce a method of learning a foreign language

C．tell us why some people talk to themselves

D．explain to us how we learned our native language

【小题2】What does the underlined word "it" in the fifth paragraph refer to?

A．The word "crazy".	B．A foreign language.
C．The skill of communicating.	D．The method of talking to oneself.

【小题3】From the passage we can know that ______.

A．people who talk to themselves are crazy

B．if you live alone, you should talk to yourself

C．you should tell yourself what you’re doing

D．we learned our native language by imitating

Everybody cheats. Whether it’s the taxi driver who tricks a visitor and takes them the long way round, or the shop assistant who doesn’t give the correct change, or the police officer who accepts a bribe (贿赂) – everybody’s at it. Cheats in the nest include the scientist whose research was based on fake data, the game show competitors who worked with a friend in the audience or win a million pounds, and the doctor who made up his qualifications and wasn’t really a doctor at all. Everybody cheats; nobody’s playing the game.

    Is cheating acceptable, a natural way of surviving and being successful? Or is it something that should be frowned on, and young people discouraged from doing? If it’s the latter how can we explain to children why so many bend the rules?

Take sport for example. The Word Cup was filled with cheating. Whether diving, pretending to be hurt or denying a handball, footballers will do anything for a free – kick or a penalty shot. France striker Henry denied cheating to win the free – kick which led to his side’s second goal in their 3 – 1 victory over Spain. Many footballers, however, are often putting it on. Whatever the nationality there’s one common ploy: the player rolls over holding their leg, ankle or head seeming to be in great pain. As a result a yellow card and / or free – kick is given for the foul and then, a few seconds later, the player is up and about as if nothing had happened ! The ref (裁判) may be taken in by it but youngsters watching the game aren’t. they also see their heroes getting away with it.

Of course it’s not just football. In 1998 the Tour de France, the world’s greatest cycling event, was hit by a drug – taking scandal (丑闻). The 40 bottles of forbidden drugs found with the Fustian team caused a massive investigation that almost caused the Tour to be abandoned. One rider, Veronique, was banned for 9 months. He claimed: “You have cheats in sport, just as you do in business – there will always be people trying to take a short cut. At least we’re not turning a blind eye to the problem, which other sports are.”

Is it all unavoidable? There’s huge pressure on all athletes to perform for their fans and for their sponsors. It’s success, money and power that rule professional sport rather than an honest at tempt to do the best one can.

Meanwhile companies around the world are losing billions of dollars to fake products. From cut price CDs and DVDs to sportswear, cheap fake products are everywhere. It has become socially acceptable to buy fake Gucci bags and illegal copies of films. If parents are doing this, their children will follow.

So perhaps it’s not surprising that around the world more pupils than ever are caught cheating during exams. In one case missing exam papers were put up for sale on the Internet. In another, widespread cheating took place by pupils using their mobile phones to receive tested answers. They blame the pressure put on them to do well in exams. It doesn’t help that their role models are also cheats. Surely we can’t complain when we’re setting such a bad example.

1.According to the passage, in which way can a game show player cheat?

A．By taking an indirect way.    B．By gaining aid from a friend.

C．By taking forbidden drugs.  D．By selling fake products.

2.The phrase “be frowned on”(Paragraph 2) most probably means           .

A．to be disapproved of            B．to be pushed forward

C．to be taken the place of       D．to be stuck with

3.The writer’s suppose for writing this passage is to         .

A．explain why people in almost every field cheat

B．complain about cheats in school education

C．persuade young people not to cheat in exams

D．blame the society for tolerating cheats

4.The writer mentions the example of the World Cup in Paragraph 3 in order to           .

A．show cheating is a common phenomenon nowadays

B．discuss the relationship between sport and cheating

C．explore the nature of cheating in important events

D．warn coaches and athletes of the danger of cheating

5.Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

A．Exams are not a good way of testing children.

B．Children are natural cheats.

C．If adults cheat, children will cheat too.

D．Everyone including children cheats.