Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter.
However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.
Parents can see that their children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today’s children lack self-respect and self-confidence.
The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be confident, happy and clever.
Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework.
Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking demands patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.
Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities are not merely teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.
【小题1】Generally speaking, children’s skills __________.

A．come from their parents

B．have nothing to do with their education

C．may be different from child to child

D．have something to do with their marks in the exams

【小题2】The writer of this passage does not seem to be satisfied with_______.

A．the parents’ ideas of educating their children

B．the education system

C．children’s skills

D．children’s hobbies

【小题3】Doing some cooking at home helps children_________.

A． learn how to serve their parents

B． learn how to become strong and fat

C． benefit from it and prepare themselves for the future

D． make their parents believe that they are clever

【小题4】According to the passage, which of the following is True?

A．Chinese are not very generous on educating their children.

B．All Parents know how to teach their children well.

C．Teaching a child to cook can improve the skills that he will need in the future.

D．Poor parents cannot buy a computer for their children.

Some places in the world have strange laws. It’s important for you to know about them before going there.

   Whoever likes to chew gum(口香糖) may have to leave Singapore. The government really wants to keep the city clean and will fine you for chewing gum.

   Before you leave for the United Arab Emirates you’d better make sure you aren’t visiting during Ramadan(斋月). During that time you aren’t allowed to eat or drink in public. Tourists have been fined up to $275 for drinking in public.

   Lovers spend so much time kissing each other goodbye at train stations that trains often start late. This law — no kissing your lover goodbye at train stations – is rather old, and isn’t in use today in France.

   In Thailand it’s against the law to drive a car or motorcycle without a shirt on, no matter how hot it is. Punishments are different in different areas and can include warnings and tickets costing about $10. No joke -- the local police will stop you.

  Studies in Denmark have shown that cars with their headlights on are more noticeable by other drivers than those with their headlights off. Drivers there are required to leave their headlights on even during the day, or they may face a fine up to $100.

   Do you often buy things using coins? Don’t do it in Canada. The Currency Law of 1985 doesn’t allow using only coins to buy things. Even the use of the dollar-coin is limited (受限制的). The shop owner has the right to choose whether to take your coins or not.

   Make sure you know about these laws before your next trip. Better safe than sorry.

What is mainly talked about in the text?

A. How to make your trip around the world safe.

B. Why there are strange laws in the world.

C. Interesting places you can go to around the world.

D. Some strange laws you should know about for your trip.

If you are driving a car in Thailand, _____.

A. the police will play a joke on you

B. you should wear your shirt even though it’s hot

C. the police will give you tickets costing about $10

D. you should always keep your headlights on

What can we learn from the text?

A. Kissing goodbye at train stations isn’t allowed in France today.

B. The Singaporean government cares a lot about its environment.

C. Tourists in the United Arab Emirates shouldn’t eat in public.

D. You can turn your headlights off in daytime in Denmark.

What do we know about the strange law in Canada?

A. It is a newly invented law.           B. You aren’t allowed to use dollar-coins.

C. You will be fined if you use coins.     D. Shop owners can decide if you can use coins.

When Steve Maxwell graduated from college, he had an engineering degree and a high tech job — but he couldn’t balance his checkbook. “I took one finance class in college but dropped it to go on a ski trip,” says the 45-year-old father of three, who lives in Windsor, Colorado. “I actually had to go to my bank and ask them to teach me how to read my statement.”
One of the biggest obstacles to making money is not understanding it: Thousands of us avoid investing because we just don’t get it. But to make money, you must be financially literate. “It bothered me that I didn’t understand this stuff,” says Steve, “so I read books and magazines about money management and investing, and I asked every financial whiz (能手) I knew to explain things to me.”
He and his wife started applying the lessons: They made a point to live below their means. They never bought on impulse, always negotiated better deals (on their cars，cable bills, furniture) and stayed in their home long after they went for an expensive vacation. They also put 20 percent of their annual salary into investments.
Within ten years, they were millionaires, and people were coming to Steve for advice. “Someone would say, ‘I need to refinance my house — what should I do? ‘A lot of times, I wouldn’t know the answer, but I’d go to find it and learn something in the process,” he says.
In 2003, Steve quit his job to become part owner of a company that holds personal finance seminars for employees of corporations like Wal Mart. He also started going to real estate investment seminars, and it’s paid off: He now owns $ 30 million worth of investment properties, including apartment complexes, a shopping mall and a quarry.
“I was an engineer who never thought this life was possible, but all it truly takes is a little self education,” says Steve. “You can do anything once you understand the basics.”
【小题1】The underlined part “live below their means” (in Paragraph 3) probably means “______”.

A．take effective measures	B．live a miserable life
C．spend more money than they had	D．spend less money than they had

【小题2】Since Steve Maxwell became a millionaire, he ______.

A．has been unwilling to help others

B．hasn’t stopped learning from practice

C．has been willing to follow others’ advice

D．has stopped to invest in houses

【小题3】What would be the best title for the passage?

A．A self made engineer

B．How to balance your checkbook

C．Don’t avoid investing

D．Educate yourself to become a millionaire

【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A．self education is very important to one’s life

B．everyone should learn how to invest in their life

C．Steve Maxwell was quite interested in finance classes in college

D．Steve became rich because he saved every penny he had earned

I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language — the way it can evoke（唤起） an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all — all the Englishes I grew up with.
Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as "broken" English. But I feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than "broken", as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked certain wholeness. I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions(认识) of the limited English speaker.
I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother's "limited" English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won't get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for a lack of a better term might be described as "broken", and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal (内在的) language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.
46. 【小题1】By saying "Language is the tool of my trade", the author means that ______.

A．she uses English in foreign trade	B．she is fascinated by languages
C．she works as a translator	D．she is a writer by profession

47. 【小题2】The author used to think of her mother's English as ______.

A．impolite

B．amusing

C．imperfect

D．practical

48. 【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A．Americans do not understand broken English.

B．The author's mother was not respected sometimes.

C．The author' mother had positive influence on her.

D．Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts.

49. 【小题4】The author gradually realizes her mother's English is _____.

A．well structured	B．in the old style
C．easy to translate	D．rich in meaning

50. 【小题5】What is the passage mainly about?

A．The changes of the author's attitude to her mother's English.

B．The limitation of the author's perception of her mother.

C．The author's misunderstanding of "limited" English.

D．The author's experiences of using broken English.