12．Every month，Julia and her cousins would go to visit their grandparents．They would be excited because their grandfather would give them a few coins．Then they would buy toys or sweets．The grandparents commented that，behaving like this，the children would never learn to manage their money．So they planned a special test，in which the children would have to show，over the course of a year，just what they could manage to get with those few coins．
Some thought that they would save their money，but Ruben and Nico continued spending it all on sweets．So they give up saving．
Monty decided to manage his money by exchanging it：buying and selling things，or betting （打赌） it with others．Soon he surprised the whole family．He had accumulated （积聚） lots of money．However，Monty was not very careful，and he got involved in more and more risky deals．A few months later he became penniless after a losing bet．Alex，had a will of iron．He saved the money and at the end of the year he had collected more money than anyone．Even better，with so much money，he managed to buy sweets at a reduced price，so that on the day of the competition he was presented with enough sweets for much more than a year．And even then，he still had enough left over for a toy．He was the clear winner，and other children learned the advantages of knowing how to save and how to wait．
There was also Julia．Poor Julia didn't enjoy the competition，because even though she had had a wonderful secret plan，she had spent her money without giving her plan enough time to work．However，she was so sure that her plan was a good one，that she decided to carry on with it，and maybe change the expressions on her relatives'faces，who had seemed to be saying"What a poor girl shel is．She couldn't manage to save anything"．
When she was about to complete the second year of her plan，Julia surprised everyone by turning up at the grandparents'house with a violin and a lot of money．She did it really well．
24．Who saved nothing at the end of the first year？B
A．Ruben，Julia and Alex
B．Ruben，Nico and Monty
C．Ruben，Monty and Julia
D．Ruben，Nico and Alex
25．Why did the grandparents plan a test on the children？C
A．Because they wanted the children to learn to spend money．
B．Because they wanted the children to learn to save money．
C．Because they wanted the children to learn to manage money．
D．Because they didn't want the children to buy toys and sweets any more．
26．From Monty's story，the children learnedD．
A．to save and to wait．
B．to buy and to sell things
C．to set a achievable goal．
D．to be careful and self-disciplined
27．The underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph meansB．
A．Julia will bring disasters to herself and her family．
B．Julia is not good at managing money．
C．Julia is too stupid to do anything well．
D．Julia has so many secrets that nobody likes her．
分析 本文为一篇记叙文．讲述了爷爷奶奶试图教导孙子们如何理财的故事．看到孙子们一拿到钱就花掉，爷爷奶奶计划了一场特殊的比赛，那就是看每个人能用手里的几个硬币在一年的时间里收获多少东西．通过这个比赛孩子们明白了原来好好计划的话，很少的钱也可以带来意想不到的收获和惊喜，甚至还能实现自己的梦想．
解答 24．B．细节理解题．根据文章第二段和第三段的描述，可知Ruben和Nico放弃了攒钱，Monty把攒的钱都输光了，唯有Alex意志坚强，攒到了钱．故选B．
25．C．推理判断题．根据文章第一段"So they planned a special test，in which the children would have to show，over the course of a year，just what they could manage to get with those few coins"可知爷爷奶奶试图教导孙子们如何理财的故事．故选C．
26．D．细节理解题．根据第三段中的"He was the clear winner，and other children learned the advantages of knowing how to save and how to wait．"，可知孩子们懂得省钱和等待的好处，即学会省钱和自律．故选D．
27．B．细节理解题．根据前面"想要改变亲戚脸上的表情"，可知是亲戚们对她没有好印象，说她不会理财．故选B．
点评 考察学生的细节理解和推理判断能力，做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句，和题干进行比较，再做出正确的选择．在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实，要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断．
