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 “______”.

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.”

1. 1.

   The underlined part “live below their means” (in Paragraph 3) probably means “______”

   1. A.
      take effective measures
   2. B.
      live a miserable life
   3. C.
      spend more money than they had
   4. D.
      spend less money than they had
2. 2.

   Since Steve Maxwell became a millionaire, he ______

   1. A.
      has been unwilling to help others
   2. B.
      hasn’t stopped learning from practice
   3. C.
      has been willing to follow others’ advice
   4. D.
      has stopped to invest in houses
3. 3.

   What would be the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      A self made engineer
   2. B.
      How to balance your checkbook
   3. C.
      Don’t avoid investing
   4. D.
      Educate yourself to become a millionaire
4. 4.

   It can be inferred from the passage that ______

   1. A.
      self education is very important to one’s life
   2. B.
      everyone should learn how to invest in their life
   3. C.
      Steve Maxwell was quite interested in finance classes in college
   4. D.
      Steve became rich because he saved every penny he had earned

    The host poured the tea into the cup and placed it on the small table in front of his guests，who were a father and his daughter，and put the lid on the cup with a clink．Obviously thinking of something．he hurried into the inner room，leaving the thermos (热水瓶)on the table．His two guests heard a chest of drawers opening and rustling.

    They remained sitting in the sitting room，the ten-year-old daughter looking at the flowers outside the window，the father just about to take his cup，when the crash came，right there in the sitting room．Something was hopelessly broken．

    It was the thermos，which had fallen to the floor．The girls looked over her shoulder suddenly，shocked, staring. It was mysterious；neither of them had touched it，not even a little bit．True．it hadn’t stood steadily when their host placed it on the table，but it hadn’t fallen then．

    The crash of the thermos caused the host，with a box of sugar cubes in his hand，to rush back from the inner room．He looked foolishly at the steaming floor and blurted out。“It doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter!’'

    The father started to say something．Then he said in a low voice，“Sorry I touched it and it fell．”

    “It doesn’t matter，”the host said．

    Later，when they left the house，the daughter said，“Daddy，did you touch it?’’

    “No．But it stood so close to me．”

    “But you didn’t touch it．I saw your reflection in the window .You were sitting perfectly still．”

    The father laughed．“Then how would you explain the cause of its fall?”

    “The thermos fell by itself , The floor is uneven. It wasn’t steady when Mr. Li put it there．

Daddy，why did you say that?”

    “That won’t do，girl．It sounds more acceptable when I say I knocked it down．There are things which people accept less true it sounds．”

    The daughter was lost in silence for a while．Then she said，“Can you explain it only this way?”

    “Only this way．”her father said．

49．Which statement is a possible main idea of this story?

    A．People seldom tell the truth．

    B．You can’t always make people believe the truth

    C．If you try to defend yourself，people will believe you．

    D．People never believe others．

50．It can be inferred from the story that the father          

A．didn’t know Mr. Li very well       

B．was sorry that he hadn’t told the host the truth

C．didn’t think Mr. Li would believe the truth

D．was glad that he had told the truth

 51．From the story，we know that the daughter          ．

    A．thought her father should have told the truth

    B．knew the thermos would fall and stepped out

    C．thought her father shouldn’t have told the truth

    D．thought her father must have known the cause

 52．From the passage，we can see the reason why the thermos fell was that         ．

    A．the table was too small

    B．the father sat too close to the thermos

    C．the father wanted to help himself with some water

    D．something impossible to explain happened

I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. While others had Cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids’ too. But at least, I wasn’t alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.
My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we’d be gone an hour, then we should be gone one hour or less -- not one hour and one minute. And she always insisted upon us telling the truth. Now you can see how mean she was.
The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We couldn’t sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept - my mother actually had the courage to break the Child Labor Law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, and learn to cook. We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath every day. The other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of disgrace because she made our clothes herself, just to save money. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.
Through the years, things didn’t improve a bit. We could not lie in bed “sick” like our friends did, and miss school. Our marks in school had to live up to expectations. Our friends’ report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, being as different as she was, would be satisfied with nothing less than ugly black marks.
As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame. We graduated from high school. With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.
My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have ever been arrested or divorced. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults. I am now trying to raise my three children. I am filled with pride when my children call me mean. Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the whole world

1. 1.

   The author’s mother wanted her children to _________

   1. A.
      do their best at school and be educated and respected citizens
   2. B.
      be top students in school and graduate with honors
   3. C.
      stop seeing her friends who pretended to be sick to skip classes
   4. D.
      bring home colored report cards like her friends did
2. 2.

   Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?

   1. A.
      The author has a deep hatred for her mother
   2. B.
      The author’s mother set timetables for her children whenever they went out
   3. C.
      Some of the children weren’t able to go to college because of their mean mother
   4. D.
      As a parent, the author is following her mother’s example
3. 3.

   It can be inferred from the passage that________

   1. A.
      All the other kids at school studied better than the author
   2. B.
      The author worked hard and usually got good grades in studies
   3. C.
      Mother was punished for breaking the Labor Law
   4. D.
      The author’s family lived a miserable life

I had to knock on the taxi to get his attention. Finally, the driver, a man about 60, looked up from behind the wheel and apologized, “I’m sorry, but I was reading a letter.” He sounded as if he had a cold or a cough.
Since I was in no hurry, I told him to finish his letter. He shook his head, explaining that he had already read it several times and almost knew it by heart. Curious, I asked whether it was from a child or maybe a grandchild. “This isn’t family,” he replied. “Though he might just as well have been a regular member of the family, Old Ed and I grew up together.”
They were always friends. But since he moved away from the neighborhood 30 years ago, it’d generally just been postcards at Christmas time between them. A couple of weeks ago, Ed died. “I should have kept in touch.” He repeated this, more to himself than to me. To comfort him, I said sometimes we just didn’t seem to find the time. “But we used to find the time,” he said. “Take a look.” He handed the letter over to me.
The first sentence “I’ve been meaning to write for some time, but I’ve always delayed it.” reminded me of myself. It went on to say that he often thought about the good times they had had together. When I read the part where it said “Your friendship really means a lot to me, more than I can say because I’m not good at saying things like that”, I found myself nodding in agreement.
We had gone several kilometers and were almost at my hotel, so I read the last paragraph: “So I thought you’d like to know that I was thinking of you.” And it was ended with “Your Old Friend, Tom.”
“I thought your friend’s name was Ed,” I said.
“I’m Tom,” he explained. “It’s a letter I wrote to Ed before I knew he’d died. I never put it in the mailbox. I guess I should have written it sooner.” His face was pale as he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.
When I got to my hotel room I didn’t unpack right away. I had to write a letter and post it.

1. 1.

   From Paragraph 4, we learn that the author _______.

   1. A.
      often fails to write to his friends
   2. B.
      doesn’t want to write to his friends
   3. C.
      had many great moments with his friends
   4. D.
      was good at expressing his feelings to friends
2. 2.

   Who wrote the letter?

   1. A.
      Old Ed
   2. B.
      The driver’s grandchild
   3. C.
      The author
   4. D.
      Tom
3. 3.

   It can be inferred from the passage that the driver regretted_____.

   1. A.
      missing Ed’s funeral
   2. B.
      moving away from his neighborhood
   3. C.
      forgetting to send Ed Christmas cards
   4. D.
      not being able to keep in touch with Ed