Many families in the United States have a larger income now than ever before, but people are finding it difficult to make ends meet anyway. Almost everyone is wondering, “What happens to all my money? I never seem to have anything left to put away.”

      Why isn’t a dollar worth as much as it used to be? One dollar is always worth the same amount, that is, 100 cents. But the value of a dollar is how much it can buy. The value of money depends on the cost of living. Economists say that the cost of living is the money that a family must pay for the necessities of life such as food, housing or rent, clothes and medical expenses. For many years now  the cost of living has increased greatly, so the value of the dollar has decreased. When a dollar has a low value, you cannot buy as many things with it.

      No one fully understands why the cost of living keeps increasing, but economists believe that workers and producers can make prices go up. As workers earn more money, they have more money to spend, so they demand more goods. If there is a great demand for certain goods, the prices of these goods go up. At the same time, if there’s a shortage of goods, the price also goes up. For example, if everyone wants to buy more and more gas, the price of gas goes up. When companies withhold gas from buyers, they can also make the price of gas go up.

      Families need to know what happens to their money. They need to make their income meet the cost of living, so many people plan a family budget. A budget is a list of monthly expenses. If your expenses add up to more than your income, you must find ways to save money. Maybe you’re spending too much on entertainment. Or if you’re spending too much on clothes, you may want to sew your own clothes. Budgeting helps you spend your money wisely as the cost of living increases.

41. What has troubled many families in the United States?

A not-large-enough income.                                B. Nothing is left over to put away.

C.The increasing cost of living.                           D. A shortage of certain goods.

42.    Why does the cost of living keep increasing?

A. There are always shortages of goods.              B. The workers are getting lower and lower pay.

C. The government makes no difference.              D. People demand more and better goods.

43.    Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Housewives needn’t know anything happening to the market.

B. People’s lives are affected by the value of money.

C. There seems no need for everyone to know about the rising cost of living.

D. The prices will go up if more goods are produced.

44.    According to the passage, when people find it hard to make ends meet, they need to _________.

A. find ways to save money                              B. do extra work to earn more money

C. try some other means of making money         D. raise a protest against the high cost of living

45.    Budgeting helps _____________.

A. one to make his income meet the cost of living

B. the government to battle the rising cost of living

C. merchants to produce more goods

D. the workers to earn more money

    Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes at reducing population growth-but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.

    Brazil's population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.

    As Martine puts it, among other things, soap operas and installment plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil's most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.

    "Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values-not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working," says Martine. "They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package."

   Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers. "This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction," says Martine.

1 According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth        .

     A. by chance

     B. by educating its citizens

     C. by careful family planning

     D. by developing TV programs

2. What is probably Brazil's present population growth rate according to para.2?

    A. 2.99%      B.1.93%       C.2.7%      D. lower than 1.93%

3. Soap operas have helped in lowering Brazil's birth rate because        .

    A. they keep people sitting long hours watching TV

    B. they have gradually changed people's way of life

    C. people are drawn to their attractive package

    D. they popularize birth control measures

4. What's the author's purpose to write this passage?

    A. To call on developing countries to learn from Brazil's experience of controlling population growth rate.

    B. To account for the reasons why Brazil succeeded in controlling its population growth rate.

    C. To tell us how Brazil benefited from its successful control of population growth rate.

D. To raise people's awareness of controlling population growth rate.