In the current economic downturn, many American schools are adding a new subject to the curriculum（课程）; financial literacy. One program in Virginia even gets students out of the classroom for a day to learn how far their money will go in the real world.
What looks like a shopping mall is actually an educational field trip experience for a group of young people. Finance Park is a special facility where students apply what they have been taught in class about money management.
“They become, essentially, adults for the day,” says Alice Reilly, social studies coordinator for Fairfax County Public Schools. “They are asked to develop a budget for 18 line items that you and I might have in our budget; things like utilities, insurance, groceries, housing.”
Each budget item is represented by a storefront where students collect an option sheet. Students must refer to a card that shows their income and their family size, when they choose what to buy. There’s also a stock ticker so students can keep track of shares in their portfolios（投资组合）.
The facility opened last year in Fairfax, Virginia. It is the fifteenth Finance Park built in the last decade by Junior Achievement USA, a non-profit organization dedicated to preparing young people for financial success.
“Since the financial crisis, the demand for Finance Parks around the country has grown exponentially," says Ed Grenier, president of the Washington, DC chapter. "We have a number under way in the planning and building stages.”
Financial literacy has only recently become part of the regular curriculum in Fairfax County.“Some students, some teachers, some schools did it, but now it is much more systematic," Reilly says, "and it is much more consistent to ensure that all students get this background information.”
That is why every eighth grade student in Fairfax County will eventually spend a day here.Thirteen-year-old Sam says she has learned an important life lesson. “I didn’t know how expensive everything would be.”
Anthony, also 13, is looking forward to telling his parents what he learned. “I’ll probably tell them I want to stay a kid a little longer and take my time to become an adult.”
This isn’t the end of financial studies for Anthony and the other students here. Virginia is one of 13 states which requires students to take a financial education in high school in order to graduate.
【小题1】What is the aim of this Finance Park?
A . To raise enough money for the secondary schools in Virginia.        
B. To enable students to apply money management knowledge to   practice.        
C. To provide students in Virginia with special chances for Advanced Placement.         
D. To direct students in Washington,D.C. to learn more about money management.
【小题2】Who is expected to spend a whole day in the Finance Park?
A .Young people all over Virginia.        
B. Junior students in Washington,D.C.       
C. Eighth graders in Fairfax County.      
D. Eighth graders' parents in Virginia.
【小题3】What can we learn from this passage?
A . Extra curriculum is necessary in secondary schools.       
B. Fairfax County Public Schools set a good example.
C. An organization helps youth in U.S. for financial success.        
D. Financial Literacy is very popular in Washington,D.C.
【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that _________________.
A . Alice Reilly developed a budget for 18 items in the Finance Park.       
B. ED Grenier was against building more finance parks in U.S.A.        
C. Sam did quite well in  managing his budge in the Finance Park.        
D. Anthony came to know that adult life wasn't as good as expected.

 “A lot of learning comes through play,” says Mardy McGarry, 52, who has been a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She had seen the wood chips and sand of traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks. When she wanted to build a playground for children with special needs，she knew it wouldn’t take long to develop interest in it around the small fishing village. But she never expected that 2,800 people — a third of the town—would all be willing to make a great effort to bring her vision to life.

McGarry started doing some research into play equipment and contacting design companies and she also found a piece of land available. When the city council(市议会) agreed to set aside an area for a playground, she also asked physical and professional therapists(治疗专家) for their investment. And she turned to her friend, Sue, for help. “Neither of us is good at maths, which is why $450,000 didn’t sound like a lot of money,” McGarry says of the initial estimate.

Her Kiwanis Club came through with $7,000，and that’s when the grassroots movement really got started. One woman gave $25,000 and had her company match it. Soon, smaller businesses were joining in. There was a silent effort to collect money. The local Pieper Family Foundation offered to donate half of the remaining $170,000. All McGarry needed was 500 volunteers to work six 12-hour days.

On September 16, 2008, the first day of construction, they came. Two women heard about the project on the way to work and took the day off to help. A couple in their 80s operated their tractors. Ten-year-olds cleared up the mess. “None of them was paid. It was truly an amazing week,” says McGarry. Only three building managers were paid. Volunteers with “building experience” became coordinators(协调人); those who could operate power tools formed a separate group. One team served meals donated from local restaurants and churches, and another organized activities for the children of volunteers.

Today, Possibility Playground is one of the most popular destinations in Ozaukee County. All children, including the ones with special needs, play shoulder to shoulder. “Some playgrounds have special equipment in a different section. Here, you see all the kids in the same playground, all having fun.”

It’s exactly what McGarry imagined. “People used to ask, ‘Why do you want to build a playground just for children with disabilities?” She says, “It’s only when you build a playground for children with disabilities that you build one for all children.”

1. It didn’t occur to Mardy McGarry that __________.

A. her plan would soon draw the interest of people in the small village

B. so many people would volunteer to help her realize her dream

C. she would meet with so many difficulties in raising funds

D. the playground would be the most popular destination in Ozaukee County

2.We can learn from the fourth paragraph that __________.

A. the playground was finished in September 2008

B. everything was well prepared, apart from the volunteers

C. everyone worked unpaid, except for three building managers

D. the playground is so popular that it is overcrowded all the time

3.It can be inferred from the text that __________.

A. Mardy McGarry is a famous architect in the small town

B. Sue was forced to join in the project because of her son

C. people always ignore the real needs of disabled children

D. Mardy McGarry’s vision has been successfully accomplished at last

4.What would be the best title for this text?

A. Mardy McGarry: A Woman with Great Determination.

B. Cooperation: The Greatest Power in Overcoming Any Difficulty.

C. Show Real Concern for Poor Disabled Children.

D. Make it Matter to Build a Playground for Disabled Children.

“A lot of learning comes through play,” says Mardy McGarry, 52, who has been a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She had seen the wood chips and sand of traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks. When she wanted to build a playground for children with special needs，she knew it wouldn’t take long to develop interest in it around the small fishing village. But she never expected that 2,800 people — a third of the town—would all be willing to make a great effort to bring her vision to life.

McGarry started doing some research into play equipment and contacting design companies and she also found a piece of land available. When the city council(市议会) agreed to set aside an area for a playground, she also asked physical and professional therapists(治疗专家) for their investment. And she turned to her friend, Sue, for help. “Neither of us is good at maths, which is why $450,000 didn’t sound like a lot of money,” McGarry says of the initial estimate.

Her Kiwanis Club came through with $7,000，and that’s when the grassroots movement really got started. One woman gave $25,000 and had her company match it. Soon, smaller businesses were joining in. There was a silent effort to collect money. The local Pieper Family Foundation offered to donate half of the remaining $170,000. All McGarry needed was 500 volunteers to work six 12-hour days.

On September 16, 2008, the first day of construction, they came. Two women heard about the project on the way to work and took the day off to help. A couple in their 80s operated their tractors. Ten-year-olds cleared up the mess. “None of them was paid. It was truly an amazing week,” says McGarry. Only three building managers were paid. Volunteers with “building experience” became coordinators(协调人); those who could operate power tools formed a separate group. One team served meals donated from local restaurants and churches, and another organized activities for the children of volunteers.

Today, Possibility Playground is one of the most popular destinations in Ozaukee County. All children, including the ones with special needs, play shoulder to shoulder. “Some playgrounds have special equipment in a different section. Here, you see all the kids in the same playground, all having fun.”

It’s exactly what McGarry imagined. “People used to ask, ‘Why do you want to build a playground just for children with disabilities?” She says, “It’s only when you build a playground for children with disabilities that you build one for all children.”

It didn’t occur to Mardy McGarry that __________.

A. her plan would soon draw the interest of people in the small village

B. so many people would volunteer to help her realize her dream

C. she would meet with so many difficulties in raising funds

D. the playground would be the most popular destination in Ozaukee County

We can learn from the fourth paragraph that __________.

A. the playground was finished in September 2008

B. everything was well prepared, apart from the volunteers

C. everyone worked unpaid, except for three building managers

D. the playground is so popular that it is overcrowded all the time

It can be inferred from the text that __________.

A. Mardy McGarry is a famous architect in the small town

B. Sue was forced to join in the project because of her son

C. people always ignore the real needs of disabled children

D. Mardy McGarry’s vision has been successfully accomplished at last

What would be the best title for this text?

A. Mardy McGarry: A Woman with Great Determination.

B. Cooperation: The Greatest Power in Overcoming Any Difficulty.

C. Show Real Concern for Poor Disabled Children.

D. Make it Matter to Build a Playground for Disabled Children.

   Editor’s notes: AWL is well known for its dictionaries and English language teaching materials． Some readers have written in to ask us for the latest information on high quality books on English, so here we introduce two texts that aim to improve spoken English fluency．

Let’s speak （Beginner)

By Bev Dusuya, Naoko Ozeki and Kevin Bergman

ISBN: 962001359X

Speak Up（Pre-Intermediate)

By Bev Kusuya, Nako Zeki

ISBN: 0583338050

“Teach the students about your culture and help them talk about their own．” How often are these worthy goals kept from being achieved by the limitations of your beginner level learners? Students at all levels want to talk about culture．

Topics include food, shopping, sports, fashion, the roles of men and women, health, music, and many more．

These are all chosen from surveys of over 15,000 students about their own interests in cross-cultural communication．

“Let’s Speak” and “Speak Up” share a special but excellent way that allows all students to take part in．

 The series has questions which start thinking and then help collect opinions about personal topics． Conversation practice is provided by ready to use （现成的)models of basic exchanges on the topic． Also, the cultural information presented in the series comes in the form of interesting, relevant（相关的）facts and ideas from other countries through listening tasks and Culture Quiz exercises．

Team activities in books provide lively problem solving games to enable sharing and comparison of cultural values．

“Let’s Speak” is fit for entry level students of all ages． “Speak Up” provides for the needs of higher level beginners, offering the same careful listening and speaking help, but with slightly more open ended discussion．

For any information about AWL’s books, please get in touch with the following addresses:

Beijing Addison Wesley Longman Information Center

Room 2306, FLTRP Beijing

19 Xi San Huan Beilu, Beijing 100081

Tel: （010)68917488 （010) 68917788

Fax: （010) 68917499E-mail: zrh@public．bat．net．cn

In the sentence “Teach the students about your culture and help them talk about their own”, “your culture” here means the culture of           ．

    A．the English native speakers　   B．the English learners

    C．the readers of the two books     D．the readers of the newspaper

Which of the following are mentioned about the two books in the passage above?

    a．publisher    b．titles  c．content      d．writers 

    e．prices  f．pages    g．book number

    A．a,b,d,f　        B．a,c,d,g          C．b,c,d,e          D．b,c,e,f

The two books have in common everything EXCEPT         ．

    A．the same interesting topics

    B．the same level of learners

    C．proper ways to excite the learners to talk

The passage above is probably taken from the            section in a newspaper．

    A．EDUCATION        B．NEWS

    C．ENTERTAINMENT    D．BOOKSHELF   

   Editor’s notes: AWL is well known for its dictionaries and English language teaching materials． Some readers have written in to ask us for the latest information on high quality books on English, so here we introduce two texts that aim to improve spoken English fluency．

Let’s speak （Beginner)

By Bev Dusuya, Naoko Ozeki and Kevin Bergman

ISBN: 962001359X

Speak Up（Pre-Intermediate)

By Bev Kusuya, Nako Zeki

ISBN: 0583338050

“Teach the students about your culture and help them talk about their own．” How often are these worthy goals kept from being achieved by the limitations of your beginner level learners? Students at all levels want to talk about culture．

Topics include food, shopping, sports, fashion, the roles of men and women, health, music, and many more．

These are all chosen from surveys of over 15,000 students about their own interests in cross-cultural communication．

“Let’s Speak” and “Speak Up” share a special but excellent way that allows all students to take part in．

 The series has questions which start thinking and then help collect opinions about personal topics． Conversation practice is provided by ready to use （现成的)models of basic exchanges on the topic． Also, the cultural information presented in the series comes in the form of interesting, relevant（相关的）facts and ideas from other countries through listening tasks and Culture Quiz exercises．

Team activities in books provide lively problem solving games to enable sharing and comparison of cultural values．

“Let’s Speak” is fit for entry level students of all ages． “Speak Up” provides for the needs of higher level beginners, offering the same careful listening and speaking help, but with slightly more open ended discussion．

For any information about AWL’s books, please get in touch with the following addresses:

Beijing Addison Wesley Longman Information Center

Room 2306, FLTRP Beijing

19 Xi San Huan Beilu, Beijing 100081

Tel: （010)68917488 （010) 68917788

Fax: （010) 68917499E-mail: zrh@public．bat．net．cn

1.In the sentence “Teach the students about your culture and help them talk about their own”, “your culture” here means the culture of           ．

    A．the English native speakers　        B．the English learners

    C．the readers of the two books         D．the readers of the newspaper

2.Which of the following are mentioned about the two books in the passage above?

    a．publisher        b．titles           c．content          d．writers 

    e．prices           f．pages            g．book number

    A．a,b,d,f　        B．a,c,d,g          C．b,c,d,e          D．b,c,e,f

3.The two books have in common everything EXCEPT         ．

    A．the same interesting topics

    B．the same level of learners

    C．proper ways to excite the learners to talk

4.The passage above is probably taken from the            section in a newspaper．

    A．EDUCATION                            B．NEWS

    C．ENTERTAINMENT    D．BOOKSHELF