Learning to save money when you are young is an important lesson. All good lessons and habits begin early, and saving is a skill that everyone needs, many people – adults included – do not have a good sense of saving for the long run.

I have been lucky to learn this lesson early because I have had a grass – cutting business since I was 10 years old. Of the money I make, I spent about 10 percent and save the other 99 percent.

Making sure you save and don’t spend too much is a good way to build up wealth. I have put my earnings in a bank. Many teens I know spend all the money they earn so it never has a chance to grow.

Young people should realize that their teenage years are a great time to begin saving.

At high school, many parents pay for almost everything, so your expenses can be small. If you have a job, you should have fun with some of the money. But you should also save some so that it will grow. Then you can begin planning for your future. When you spend money, you not only lose that money, but you also lose the interest you could have earned by saving it.

After high school, college is expensive and then “real” life begins, with the expense such as food and rent.

If you can hold onto a good percentage of the money you earn as a teen, going to college and buying a house will be much easier. The earlier you begin saving, the more time the money has to grow.

If you are in your thirties without any savings, you will always have to struggle. The earlier you begin saving the earlier it is to create a nest egg. Later in life it can be hard to start saving because general costs of living are most expensive and you may only have enough to pay your bills.

If you want to buy a house and have a family, you need money to start with, which comes from saving. Many say money cannot make you happy, and this is true. But money can help you to lead a secure life.

Saving early will mean you will have to work for fewer years when you are older. It will also allow you to spend time doing the things that you want.

1．People should learn to save because           .

       A．money can bring happiness to everyone

       B．saving money can make people live an interesting life

       C．saving money can make people live a secure life

       D．saving money can make people live a simple life

2．When he was ten years old, the writer          .

       A．got a job to cut grass

       B．spent most of his earnings

       C．had a lesson to learn how to save money

       D．supported himself and lived independently

3．“real” life probably means         .

       A．living together with parents

       B．living independently without the help of parents

       C．living together with classmates in dormitories

       D．living a happy and rich life

4．The best title for the article is         .

       A．Saving for the Future

       B．Working Hard for the Future

       C．Studying More Knowledge as a Teen

       D．Forming Good Habits

Now you’re a fool for helping. “I don’t want to get involved” seems to have become a national motto. One summer I was driving from my hometown of Tahoe City, California to New Orleans, Louisiana. In the middle of the desert, I passed a young man standing by the roadside. He had his  ?   out and held a gas can in his other hand. I drove right by him. There was a time  ?  you’d be called a jerk (混蛋) for passing by somebody ?? .

?? Several days later I was still  ?   about the hitchhiker (搭便车的人), about how I didn’t even lift my foot  ?   the accelerator (加速踏板) for him. “Does anyone stop any more?” I wondered. I recalled Blanche DuBois’s famous line—”I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Was that  ?   these days? One way to test this would be for a person to journey  ?   the US without any money, just  ?   on the good will of others. What would happen? Would he find food, shelter and support?

?? The idea intrigued (激起兴趣) me.

?? The week I  ?   37, I realized that I had never done something truly crazy.  ?   I decided to really do it: travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without a penny. I would only accept  ?   of rides, food and places to sleep. For six weeks I hitched 82 rides and covered 4,223 miles across 14 states. I was treated kindly  ?   I went. I was  ?   by people’s readiness to help a stranger.

   ? In Oregon, a house painter named Mike  ?   the cold weather and asked if I had a coat. I didn’t, so he gave me a big green army-style jacket. A lumber-mill worker in Michigan named Tim invited me to a  ?   dinner with his family in their shabby house. Then he offered me a tent. I refused, but Tim insisted, packing it into my bag himself. I found people were generally compassionate. Hearing I had no money and would take none, people bought me food or  ?   with them whatever they happened to have. Those who had the  ?   to give often gave the most.

?? I’m  ?   to all the people I met for their rides, their food, their shelter and their gifts. My faith in ordinary folks was  ? . I was proud to live in a country where people were still willing to help. In spite of everything, you can still depend on the  ?   of strangers.

1.A. thumb    ?? B. finger       ?????? C. foot         ????????? D. hand

2.A. that ????  ? B. where      ?????? C. which      ???????? D. when

3.A. in danger     B. in need      ????? C. in trouble   ??????? D. in favor

4.A. worrying   ? B. considering  ???? C. bringing     ??????? D. thinking

5.A. off          ?? B. on          ??????? C. away         ???????? D. from

6.A. interesting   B. possible     ????? C. necessary      ?????? D. important

7.A. across   ??? B. through     ????? C. in      ???????????? D. over

8.A. basing   ??? B. relying    ??????? C. insisting   ???????? D. relating

9.A. seemed   ?? B. got      ????????? C. became   ????????? D. turned

10.A. But        ?? B. So    ??????????? C. And   ???????????  D. Howeve

11.A. jobs   ????? B. supplies      ????? C. helps           ?????? D. offers

12.A. nowhere  ?? B. everywhere ????   C. anywhere  ??????  D. somewhere

13.A. frightened ?  B. annoyed   ?????? C. disappointed  ????? D. amazed

14.A. noted  ????  B. saw           ?????  C. felt           ?    ???? D. sensed

15.A. simple   ??? B. rich            ????? C. delicious  ????????  D. interesting

16.A. supplied ??  B. offered  ???????  C. shared    ?????????? D. provided

17.A. fewest  ???  B. most    ????????? C. least   ??????????? D. best

18.A. careful  ???  B. grateful   ?????? C. hopeful   ?????????? D. helpful

19.A. created   ??? B. reminded   ????? C. renewed   ????????? D. returned

20.A. kindness ??  B. happiness      ??  C. fairness  ??????????  D. brightness

阅读理解

　　As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself (DIY) trend in the US continues to grow.

　　“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Ross, “and we just didn't have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.

　　Jim Hatfield had three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoemaking factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $ 420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I've finished a car repair course. I should be able to fix the car by myself.”

　　John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourselfer”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don't have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.

1．We can learn from the text that many newly married people ________.

[　　]

A．find it hard to pay for what they need

B．have to learn to make their own furniture

C．take DIY courses run by the government

D．seldom go to a department store to buy things

2．John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to ________.

[　　]

A．run a DIY shop

B．make or repair things

C．save time and money

D．improve the quality of life

3．When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ________.

[　　]

A．makes shoes in his home

B．does extra work at night

C．does his own car and home repairs

D．keeps house and looks after his children

4．Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when ________.

[　　]

A．his car repairs cost too much

B．the car repair class was not helpful

C．he could not possibly do two jobs

D．he had to raise the children all by himself

Comedian Groucho Mark said, “Those are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others.”

         You and I have principles and we also have  31  . I have opinions about what I think is right or wrong or good or bad. But they’re only opinions — I could be  32  ! I won’t try to build my life  around my opinions,  33   I’ll try to keep to my principles.

         A 15-year-old boy learned a valuable  34  about life principles. One day, he found a wallet that  35  $127 as well as a woman’s  36  . He jumped onto his  37  and went to her house. He told her he found her wallet and she gave him a big  38  . She also gave him twenty dollars.

         That evening the boy told his parents about the  39  and his father said, “I don’t think you should have  40  $20 for doing what you should have done. A person shouldn’t be rewarded for being  41  .”

         He considered his father’s statement and  42  that he would return the money. He  43  biked to the lady’s home and gave her back the money. She didn’t want to  44  it, but he told her she had to — that his father  45  something to him that he had  46  realized before.

         When ideals such as honesty and a personal standard of always doing the right thing guide our every action and decision, we  47  develop a good character. These great principles  48  our lives and make us into a person of  49  . They teach confidence. That boy is  50  to be raised by a wise father who had the wisdom to say, “Those are my principles.”

1.A. lives                     B. opinions                           C. conditions                        D. purposes

2.A. happy                            B. different                          C. wrong                               D. clever

3.A. so                                   B. and                                    C. or                             D. but

4.A. lesson                           B. skill                                    C. secret                               D. course

5.A. cost                      B. contained                        C. got                                     D. covered

6.A. name                   B. script                                C. identification                   D. house

7.A. bicycle                          B. car                                     C. horse                                D. taxi

8.A. hand                    B. surprise                            C. chance                             D. hug

9.A. performance               B. event                                C. principle                          D. trade

10.A. accepted          B. paid                                   C. earned                             D. saved

11.A. generous          B. honest                              C. selfless                    D. confident

12.A. imagined           B. expected                         C. predicted                         D. decided

13.A. once                           B. even                                 C. again                                 D. still

14.A. fetch                           B. take                                   C. return                               D. spare

15.A. pointed out               B. gave out                           C. picked up                         D. added up

16.A. always                         B. often                                 C. never                                D. ever

17.A. suddenly           B. actually                   C. immediately           D. personally

18.A. shape                          B. protect                             C. encourage                       D. understand

19.A. attitude                      B. sense                                C. direction                          D. character

20.A. sure                            B. free                                   C. fortunate                         D. tough